Patent ID: 8626945

Claim:
A method for transparently exchanging data packets of a packet-oriented network by a network node device, the packet oriented network comprised of at least one network element connected to the network node device, each network element having a unique address within the packet-oriented network, the network node device utilizing the method comprising: setting up a connection between a first network element and an external device, the connection being set up such that the unique address of the first network element is converted to an address valid for the external device; verifying message header entries of data packets exchanged between the external device and the first network element; determining whether a message header entry characterizing an expanded packet-oriented protocol is within the message header entries; if the message header entry is determined to characterize an expanded packet-oriented protocol, establishing a temporarily transparent connection between the first network element and the external device, the unique address of the first network element that is valid for the external device being transferred to the external device without converting that unique address for a duration of the temporarily transparent connection.