Patent ID: 6978308

Claim:
Method for nesting IP Sec-based VPN connections between a plurality of nodes in a communication network in which nested connections establish a tunnel within a tunnel including an inner connection and an outer connection having at least one coincident endpoint residing on a same node, comprising the steps of: receiving at a first node on said outer connection a request from a second node to establish a coincident endpoint for nesting a secure inner connection within said outer connection; negotiating over said outer connection parameters defining said inner connection and resulting from Internet key exchange (IKE) negotiations for establishing an agreed upon encryption algorithm and key generation; and thereafter responsive to communication occurring on said inner connection, at said first node linking said inner connection to said outer connection for selectively receiving and sending said communication double nested on said outer connection to allow subsequent traffic to be correctly processed by said inner connection, then by said outer connection, at both ends of both connections and thereby enabling outbound traffic between respective nodes selectively to flow inside said outer tunnel and not said inner tunnel, in said inner tunnel and said outer tunnel, and in neither tunnel.