US 9,756,682 B2Granted

Method and system for partitioning wireless local area network

AssigneeAruba Networks, Inc.

InventorsPradeep Iyer, Santashil PalChaudhuri

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Abstract

The present disclosure discloses a method and system for partitioning WLAN in order to separate network traffic from different WLANs. Specifically, a network device receives a packet from a client connected to a first network device on an access network. The network device then determines that the received packet is associated with a VLAN that is pre-configured on the first network device based on the access network to which the client is connected. Furthermore, the network device transmits the packet to a MAC layer switching device, which is not configured with the VLAN that is pre-configured on the network device. The packet includes one of a DHCP discovery message, an ARP request message, a unicast message, a multicast message, and a broadcast message. The unicast message will be transmitted to the second network device on the pre-configured VLAN prior to being transmitted to another network device outside the pre-configured VLAN.

Claims21

Dependent claims

A method comprising:

receiving, by a first access point, a packet from an external network destined for a client via a first Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) connection session connecting the first access point and the external network, wherein the packet is associated with a first virtual local area network (VLAN) that is pre-configured on the first access point, and wherein a destination address in the packet comprises an address of the first access point;
determining that the first access point serves as a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server;
obtaining an IP address allocation from a DHCP service on the first access point when the first access point is a DHCP server;
retrieving, by the first access point, a second TCP/IP connection session based on a session link that associates the first TCP/IP connection session with the second TCP/IP connection session, wherein the session link identifies an IP address of the client from a source IP address field in the first TCP/IP connection session;
obtaining an address of a second access point based on the retrieved second TCP/IP connection session;
changing, by the first access point, the destination address in the packet to the address of the second access point to which the client is connected;
and
transmitting, by the first access point, the packet to the second access point that forwards the packet to the client.

5 more elements

A first network device comprising:

a processor;
and
a memory storing instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to:
receive a packet from an external network destined for a client via a first Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) connection session, wherein the packet is associated with a first virtual local area network (VLAN) that is pre-configured on the first network device, and wherein a destination address in the packet comprises an address of the first network device;
determine that a first access point serves as a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server;
obtain an IP session allocation from a DHCP service on the first access point;
retrieve a second TCP/IP connection session based on a session link that associates the first TCP/IP connection session with the second TCP/IP connection session, wherein the session link identifies an IP address of the client from a source IP address field in the first TCP/IP connection session;
obtain an address of a second network device based on the retrieved second TCP/IP connection session;
change the destination address in the packet to the address of the second network device to which the client is connected;
and
transmit the packet to the second network device that forwards the packet to the client.

8 more elements

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that when executed by a processor in a first network device cause the processor to:

receive a packet from an external network destined for a client via a first Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) connection session, wherein the packet is associated with a first virtual local area network (VLAN) that is pre-configured on the first network device, and wherein a destination address in the packet comprises an address of the first network device;
determine that a first access point serves as a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server;
obtain an IP session allocation from a DHCP service on the first access point;
retrieve a second TCP/IP connection session based on a session link that associates the first TCP/IP connection session with the second TCP/IP connection session, wherein the session link identifies an IP address of the client from a source IP address field in the first TCP/IP connection session;
obtain an address of a second network device based on the retrieved second TCP/IP connection session;
change the destination address in the packet to the address of the second network device to which the client is connected;
and
transmit the packet to the second network device that forwards the packet to the client.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 13/414,548Filed 7 Mar 2012 · continuation
Priority: 6 Feb 2012
Published: US 2013/0201978 A18 Aug 2013
Granted: 5 Sep 2017
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification11 codes

H04W 84/12
Small scale networks; Flat hierarchical networks: wLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
H04L 12/4675
Virtual LANs, VLANs, e.g. virtual private networks [VPN]: dynamic sharing of VLAN information amongst network nodes
H04L 12/4679
Dynamic sharing of VLAN information amongst network nodes: arrangements for the registration or de-registration of VLAN attribute values, e.g.…
H04L 67/1027
For accessing one among a plurality of replicated servers: persistence of sessions during load balancing

Family

Application61/595,521Us provisional application · filed 6 Feb 2012
Application13/414,405Parent of this continuation · filed 7 Mar 2012
US 2013/0201979 A1Pre-grant publication · published 8 Aug 2013
US 2013/0201978 A1Published application
US 9,730,269 B2Related patent
US 9,756,682 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.