Seamless MAC address rotation in multi-link device using multiple IP stacks

An apparatus comprising:

• one or more network input/output interfaces to communicate wirelessly;
• and
• a processor of a multi-link device configured for multi-link operation, the processor coupled to the one or more network input/output interfaces and configured to perform:
• establishing a first Internet Protocol (IP) stack configured with a first IP address that is associated to a first multi-link device media access control (MAC) address of a first station of the multi-link device;
• establishing a second IP stack that exists concurrently with the first IP stack and is configured with a second IP address associated to a second multi-link device MAC address of a second station of the multi-link device;
• bundling a first link MAC address configured on a first physical interface and a second link MAC address configured on a second physical interface under one or more of the first multi-link device MAC address and the second multi-link device MAC address;
• by a multi-link proxy layer implemented on the multi-link device with interfaces to the first IP stack and the second IP stack, forwarding data traffic between an application and a peer multi-link device using the first physical interface and the second physical interface and using one or more of (i) the first IP stack and the second multi-link device MAC address, or (ii) the second IP stack and the second multi-link device MAC address;
• and
• rotating the first multi-link device MAC address to a third multi-link device MAC address.

A non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with instructions that, when executed by a processor of a multi-link device configured for multi-link operation, cause the processor to perform:

• establishing a first Internet Protocol (IP) stack configured with a first IP address that is associated to a first multi-link device media access control (MAC) address of a first station of the multi-link device;
• establishing a second IP stack that exists concurrently with the first IP stack and is configured with a second IP address associated to a second multi-link device MAC address of a second station of the multi-link device;
• bundling a first link MAC address configured on a first physical interface and a second link MAC address configured on a second physical interface under one or more of the first multi-link device MAC address and the second multi-link device MAC address;
• by a multi-link proxy layer implemented on the multi-link device with interfaces to the first IP stack and the second IP stack, forwarding data traffic between an application and a peer multi-link device using the first physical interface and the second physical interface and using one or more of (i) the first IP stack and the second multi-link device MAC address, or (ii) the second IP stack and the second multi-link device MAC address;
• and
• rotating the first multi-link device MAC address to a third multi-link device MAC address.