Patent ID: 7042877

Claim:
A method for a multi-protocol edge switch to process received data frames, the edge switch connected to at least two networks that each use distinct data link layer network protocols, the method comprising: receiving multiple data frames transmitted from source nodes on a first of the networks that uses a first data link layer network protocol, each data frame comprising a header and a payload specified in a manner specific to the first data link layer network protocol, each header including an indication of a destination network address corresponding to a node on a second of the networks and each payload including a message specified using an application layer network protocol; and for each of the multiple received data frames, deconstructing the data frame to identify the indicated destination network address and the payload for the data frame, the deconstructing performed in a manner based on the first data link layer network protocol; without deconstructing the data frame a second time, processing the deconstructed data frame by, analyzing the identified payload in order to determine a type of the included message, the analyzing performed in a manner based on the application layer network protocol used to specify the included message; analyzing the identified payload to verify an absence of disallowed content; selecting one of multiple nodes of the second network to which the identified destination network address corresponds, the multiple nodes each associated with the identified destination network address, the selecting performed so as to balance processing loads on the multiple nodes; and constructing a distinct data frame for transmission to the selected one node, the distinct data frame comprising a header and the identified payload and specified in a manner specific to the data link layer network protocol used by the second network; and transmitting the constructed distinct data frame to the selected one node on the second network, so that each of the received data frames can be processed in multiple ways based on a single deconstruction of the data frame before transmitting the payload of the data frame to a destination node.