Method and apparatus for L3-aware switching in an Ethernet passive optical network

A method for performing L3-aware switching in an EPON which includes a central node and at least one remote node, comprising:

• maintaining at a remote node a list of IP addresses associated with one or more subscribers coupled to that remote node;
• forwarding a packet from a user if the source IP address of the packet matches the IP address corresponding to the subscriber;
• and
• discarding a packet from a subscriber if the source IP address of the packet does not match the IP address corresponding to the subscriber.

An apparatus for performing L3-aware switching in an EPON which includes a central node and at least one remote node, the apparatus comprising:

• a mapping table configured to maintain a set of mapping information which indicates a correspondence relationship between a logical link identifier of a remote node, a MAC address for a subscriber coupled to the remote node, and an IP address for the subscriber;
• a receiving mechanism configured to receive a packet which contains an IP address;
• and
• a switching mechanism configured to selectively attach a proper logical link identifier to the packet based on the mapping information and the IP address contained in the packet, thereby allowing only one proper remote node to receive the packet.

A apparatus for performing L3-aware switching in an EPON which includes a central node and at least one remote node, comprising:

• a mapping table configured to maintain at a remote node a list of IP addresses associated with one or more subscribers coupled to that remote node;
• a forwarding mechanism configured to forward a packet from a user if the source IP address of the packet matches the IP address corresponding to the subscriber;
• and
• a discarding mechanism configured to discard a packet from a subscriber if the source IP address of the packet does not match the IP address corresponding to the subscriber.