Bridging wireless network traffic

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10051688-B1
Application number	US-201615166188-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	May 26, 2016
Priority date	May 28, 2015
Publication date	Aug 14, 2018
Grant date	Aug 14, 2018

Abstract

A wireless network bridge controls a first network interface to operate as a first station in a first wireless network, and controls a second network interface to operate as an access point in a second wireless network. The bridge controls a bridge table that includes an entry associating one or more network addresses of a second station with the second network interface. The second station is accessible through the second network interface operating as an access point. The bridge receives a packet for communication between the second station and a network device in the first wireless network; examines the packet to find one or more network addresses included in the packet; associates the packet with the second station by performing a lookup of the bridge table; and communicates packet information with the second station through the second network interface, and with the network device through the first network interface.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A wireless network bridge apparatus comprising:
one or more processors; and
a storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, are configured to cause the one or more processors to:
control a first network interface to operate as a first station in a first wireless network;
control a second network interface to operate as an access point in a second wireless network;
control a bridge table that includes an entry that associates one or more network addresses of a second station with an identifier for the second network interface, wherein the second station is accessible in the second wireless network through the second network interface operating as the access point in the second wireless network;
receive a packet for communication between the second station and a network device in the first wireless network;
examine the packet to find one or more network addresses included in the packet;
associate the packet with the second station by performing a lookup of the bridge table based on the one or more network addresses included in the packet;
communicate information associated with the packet to the second station through the second network interface; and
communicate information associated with the packet to the network device through the first network interface,
wherein the network device is an external access point in the first wireless network and wherein receiving the packet for communication comprises:
receiving, at the first network interface, an address resolution protocol (ARP) request packet for communication from the external access point to the second station;
forwarding the ARP request packet to the second station through the second network interface;
receiving, at the second network interface, an ARP response packet from the second station, the ARP response packet including a network layer address and a link layer address of the second station;
replacing, in the ARP response packet, the link layer address of the second station with a link layer address of the first network interface; and
forwarding the ARP response packet with the link layer address of the first network interface to the external access point through the first network interface.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the entry associating the one or more network addresses of the second station with the identifier for the second network interface includes information associating at least one of a network layer address or a link layer address corresponding to the second station with the identifier for the second network interface, wherein the identifier for the second network interface comprises a port number.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein receiving the packet for communication comprises:
receiving, at the second network interface, an address resolution protocol (ARP) request packet for communication from the second station to the network device, the ARP request packet including a network layer address and a link layer address of the second station;
replacing, in the ARP request packet, the link layer address of the second station with a link layer address of the first network interface;
forwarding the ARP request packet with the link layer address of the first network interface to the network device through the first network interface;
receiving, at the first network interface, an ARP response packet from the network device, the ARP response packet including the network layer address of the second station and the link layer address of the first network interface;
associating the ARP response packet with the second station by performing a lookup of the bridge table based on the network layer address of the second station included in the ARP response packet;
obtaining the link layer address of the second station from the bridge table;
replacing, in the ARP response packet, the link layer address of the first network interface with the link layer address of the second station; and
forwarding the ARP response packet with the link layer address of the second station to the second station through the second network interface.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein forwarding the ARP request packet with the link layer address of the first network interface to the network device through the first network interface comprises:
placing the ARP request packet with the link layer address of the first network interface in a frame buffer associated with the second network interface;
creating a copy of data in the frame buffer including the ARP request packet with the link layer address of the first network interface;
associating the copy with the first network interface;
accessing the ARP request packet with the link layer address of the first network interface from the copy by the first station; and
sending, by the first station, the ARP request packet with the link layer address of the first network interface to the network device through the first network interface.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein receiving the packet for communication comprises:
receiving, at the first network interface, a unicast frame from the network device;
examining one or more fields in a header portion of the unicast frame;
in response to examining the one or more fields in the header portion, determining that the unicast frame is directed from the first wireless network to the second wireless network;
obtaining a network layer address included in the unicast frame, the network layer address identifying a destination of the unicast frame;
associating the obtained network layer address with a network layer address of the second station by performing a lookup of the bridge table;
obtaining, from the bridge table, a link layer address of the second station and a link layer address of the second network interface;
updating, in the unicast frame, a first address field with the link layer address of the second station and a second address field with link layer address of the second network interface; and
forwarding the unicast frame with the updated first and second address fields to the second station through the second network interface.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a third network interface that is configured to operate as an access point in a third wireless network, wherein the instructions are configured to cause the one or more processors to:
control the bridge table to include an entry that associates one or more network addresses of a third station to an identifier for the third network interface, wherein the third station is accessible in the third wireless network through the third network interface operating as the access point in the third wireless network.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the instructions are further configured to cause the one or more processors to:
receive, at the second network interface, a unicast frame from the second station;
examine fields in a header portion of the unicast frame;
in response to examining the fields in the header portion, determine that the unicast frame is directed from the second wireless network to one of the first wireless network or the third wireless network;
obtain a link layer address of a destination included in the unicast frame;
perform a lookup of the bridge table for an entry corresponding to the obtained link layer address;
in response to determining that the obtained link layer address matches a link layer address of the third station based on the lookup of the bridge table, forward the unicast frame to the third station through the third network interface; and
in response to determining that an entry corresponding to the obtained link layer address is absent from the bridge table:
replace, in the unicast frame, a link l

Assignees

• Marvell Int Ltd

Inventors

• Huang Frank
• Li Hao
• Song Tao
• Inamdar Amey Dattatray
• Li Tian
• Donovan Timothy J

Classifications

• H04W92/02 Primary

  Inter-networking arrangements · CPC title

• H04W76/40

  for selective distribution or broadcast · CPC title

• H04W52/0206

  in access points, e.g. base stations · CPC title

• H04L63/08

  for authentication of entities (cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32) · CPC title

• H04L67/145

  avoiding end of session, e.g. keep-alive, heartbeats, resumption message or wake-up for inactive or interrupted session · CPC title