Patent ID: 8046452

Claim:
Apparatus for providing communication between a network device in a first network and a network device in a second network, the first network operating in accordance with a first communication protocol and the second network operating in accordance with a second communication protocol, the apparatus comprising: (i) first means for assigning an alias to a target network device in said first network, the alias being compatible with the second communication protocol of said second network; (ii) second means for translating said assigned alias to an address for the target network device, said translated address being compatible with the first communication protocol of said first network, said second means comprising a plurality of further devices, said further devices having respective routing identifiers such that communications are routed individually to said further devices using said respective routing identifiers; and (iii) selecting means for selecting one of the plurality of further devices in accordance with predetermined criteria; wherein the first means and the second means are each separately addressable in said second network, and wherein said assigned alias corresponds to an address of the second means and includes a routing identifier of a selected one of the plurality of further devices of the second means, such that, when a network device in the second network sends one or more communication(s) using an address comprising the assigned alias, each of the one or more communication(s) is routed to the selected further device of the second means, wherein upon the selected further device of the second means translates the alias into the address of the target network device in the first network and sends the one or more communication(s) into the first network.