Patent ID: 6950862

Claim:
A method for providing a predetermined service on a portion of a point-to-point communication link, the method comprising: receiving a request from a remote client device on a first network device over a first communication link, where the request corresponds to establishment of a point-to-point communication link between the remote client device and a second network device; forwarding the request from the remote client device to the second network device from the first network device over a second communication link; transmitting a service capability parameter from the first network device to the second network device, where the service capability parameter indicates that the first network device is capable of supporting the predetermined service; negotiating the point-to-point communication link between the remote client device and the second network device, where the second network device, based on the service capability parameter, permits the remote client device to negotiate the predetermined service on the point-to-point communication link; sending a negotiated service parameter from the second network device to the first network device, where the negotiated service parameter indicates that the predetermined service applies to the point-to-point communication link; establishing the point-to-point communication link between the remote client device and the second network device, where the point-to-point communication link includes the first communication link between the remote client device and the first network device; and providing the predetermined service between the remote client device and the first network device on the first communication link.