US 2022/0030665 A1Published application

Multiple virtual interfaces through a single physical interface

AssigneeARRIS Enterprises LLC

InventorsGregory Nobutaka NAKANISHI, Kwoktung Brian LO, Ken HAASE

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Abstract

A method for providing multiple virtual interfaces over a single physical interface of a gateway device includes configuring a first physical Wi-Fi interface with a first virtual interface for a WAN side and a second virtual interface for a LAN side by assigning SSIDs to the first virtual interface and the second virtual interface, and storing the SSIDs as virtual interface configuration data. The method further includes determining whether a packet is received over the first virtual interface or the second virtual interface based on the virtual interface configuration data, and performing virtual input processing to manage flow of the packet to a router, depending on the input virtual interface, by tagging the packet as WAN traffic associated with the first virtual interface based on the WAN SSID or as LAN traffic associated with the second virtual interface based on the LAN SSID, and forwarding the packet to the router.

Claims19

Dependent claims

A gateway device for providing multiple virtual interfaces over a single physical interface of the gateway device, the gateway device comprising:

a memory storing computer-readable instructions;
and
a processor configured to execute the computer-readable instructions to:
configure a first physical Wi-Fi interface of the gateway device with a first virtual interface for a wide area network (WAN) side of the gateway device and a second virtual interface for a local area network (LAN) side of the gateway device, wherein, when configuring the first physical Wi-Fi interface, the processor is further configured to:
assign a first service set identifier (WAN SSID) to the first virtual interface for the WAN side of the gateway device;
assign a second service set identifier (LAN SSID) to the second virtual interface for the LAN side of the gateway device;
and
store the WAN SSID and the LAN SSID in the memory of the gateway device as virtual interface configuration data associated with the first physical Wi-Fi interface;
receive a packet at a physical Wi-Fi interface of the gateway device;
determine whether the packet is received over the first virtual interface for the WAN side or the second virtual interface for the LAN side based on the virtual interface configuration data stored in the memory of the gateway device;
and
in response to determining that the packet is received over the first virtual interface for the WAN side or the second virtual interface for the LAN side, perform virtual input processing to manage flow of the packet to a router of the gateway device depending on the input virtual interface, wherein, when performing the virtual input processing, the processor is further configured to:
tag the packet as WAN traffic associated with the first virtual interface based on the WAN SSID, or tag the packet as LAN traffic associated with the second virtual interface based on the LAN SSID;
and
forward the packet to the router of the gateway device for packet forward processing.

12 more elements

A method for providing multiple virtual interfaces over a single physical interface of a gateway device, the method comprising:

configuring a first physical Wi-Fi interface of the gateway device with a first virtual interface for a wide area network (WAN) side of the gateway device and a second virtual interface for a local area network (LAN) side of the gateway device, wherein configuring the first physical Wi-Fi interface includes:
assigning a first service set identifier (WAN SSID) to the first virtual interface for the WAN side of the gateway device;
assigning a second service set identifier (LAN SSID) to the second virtual interface for the LAN side of the gateway device;
and
storing the WAN SSID and the LAN SSID in a memory of the gateway device as virtual interface configuration data associated with the first physical Wi-Fi interface;
receiving a packet at a physical Wi-Fi interface of the gateway device;
determining whether the packet is received over the first virtual interface for the WAN side or the second virtual interface for the LAN side based on the virtual interface configuration data stored in the memory of the gateway device;
and
in response to determining that the packet is received over the first virtual interface for the WAN side or the second virtual interface for the LAN side, performing virtual input processing to manage flow of the packet to a router of the gateway device depending on the input virtual interface, wherein the virtual input processing includes:
tagging the packet as WAN traffic associated with the first virtual interface based on the WAN SSID, or tagging the packet as LAN traffic associated with the second virtual interface based on the LAN SSID;
and
forwarding the packet to the router of the gateway device for packet forward processing.

9 more elements

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing one or more programs for providing multiple virtual interfaces over a single physical interface of a gateway device, which when executed by a processor of the gateway device, cause the gateway device to perform operations comprising:

configuring a first physical Wi-Fi interface of the gateway device with a first virtual interface for a wide area network (WAN) side of the gateway device and a second virtual interface for a local area network (LAN) side of the gateway device, wherein configuring the first physical Wi-Fi interface includes:
assigning a first service set identifier (WAN SSID) to the first virtual interface for the WAN side of the gateway device;
assigning a second service set identifier (LAN SSID) to the second virtual interface for the LAN side of the gateway device;
and
storing the WAN SSID and the LAN SSID in a memory of the gateway device as virtual interface configuration data associated with the first physical Wi-Fi interface;
receiving a packet at a physical Wi-Fi interface of the gateway device;
determining whether the packet is received over the first virtual interface for the WAN side or the second virtual interface for the LAN side based on the virtual interface configuration data stored in the memory of the gateway device;
and
in response to determining that the packet is received over the first virtual interface for the WAN side or the second virtual interface for the LAN side, performing virtual input processing to manage flow of the packet to a router of the gateway device depending on the input virtual interface, wherein the virtual input processing includes:
tagging the packet as WAN traffic associated with the first virtual interface based on the WAN SSID, or tagging the packet as LAN traffic associated with the second virtual interface based on the LAN SSID;
and
forwarding the packet to the router of the gateway device for packet forward processing.

9 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 17/314,733Filed 7 May 2021
Priority: 27 Jul 2020
Published: 27 Jan 2022
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification10 codes

H04L 12/2807
Home automation networks: exchanging configuration information on appliance services in a home automation network
H04W 88/16
Devices specially adapted for wireless communication networks, e.g. terminals, base stations or access point devices: gateway arrangements
H04L 12/2854
Characterised by path configuration, e.g. LAN [Local Area Networks] or WAN [Wide Area Networks]: wide area networks, e.g. public data networks
H04L 12/4641
Interconnection of networks: virtual LANs, VLANs, e.g. virtual private networks [VPN]