Patent ID: 8724519

Claim:
A dual homing connection DH for interconnecting a first and a second communication networks, the DH comprising three or four edge nodes divided into a first and a second groups of nodes, node groups, respectively residing in the first communication network and the second communication network, wherein the first node group comprises one or two nodes and the second node group comprises the remaining two or one nodes; said first node group and said second node group being interconnected by two bidirectional data communication paths for performing protected traffic transmission between the two networks, while all the nodes of the DH being interconnected by a ring-like path suitable for carrying control messages; the dual homing connection utilizing a local loop protocol, being G.8032 protocol, in such a manner that only the first node group is enabled to actively utilize said loop protocol by issuing and processing control messages of the protocol, decisions of said protocol to utilize one or another of the bidirectional communication paths for said traffic transmission are made at the first node group and based on processing of said control messages being issued and/or received at the first node group only, thereby said local loop protocol being deployed and utilized only at the first node group of the DH, separately and independently from deploying any loop protocol at the second node group, wherein said first and second networks are VPLS networks, and wherein at least one node of the first node group is adapted to distinguish one or more unprotected VPLS data streams, assigned to a physical port via which said node is connected to an opposite node of the DH residing in a second network, from one or more protected VPLS data streams assigned to the same physical port; in case of logically blocking said physical port according to the protocol decision, to perform said logical blocking only for the protected one or more VPLS data streams, while preserving unblocked said unprotected VPLS data streams; and wherein said protected data streams are data streams protected by the loop protocol, and said unprotected data streams are data streams not protected by the loop protocol.