Method and system for partitioning wireless local area network

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9756682-B2
Application number	US-201213414548-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 7, 2012
Priority date	Feb 6, 2012
Publication date	Sep 5, 2017
Grant date	Sep 5, 2017

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.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. 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.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
performing, by the first access point, a destination network address translation prior to transmitting the packet to the second access point.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein retrieving the second TCP/IP connection session further comprises:
determining, by the first access point, the first TCP/IP connection session based on the packet; and
retrieving, by the first access point, the session link that associates the first TCP/IP connection session with the second TCP/IP connection session based on the first TCP/IP connection session.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
searching, by the first access point, in a cache for a MAC address of the second access point, wherein the first access point and the second access point are connected through the MAC layer switching device.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
identifying, by the first access point, an Internet Protocol (IP) address that uniquely identifies the client based on a source IP address attribute of the second TCP/IP connection session.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the packet comprises the identified IP address and the MAC address resulting from searching the cache.

7. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
providing, by the first access point, a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) service for a plurality of clients connected to the first access point and the second access point,
wherein the plurality of clients comprises the client, and
wherein the IP address uniquely identifying the client is within a non-overlapping IP sub network address scope.

8. 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.

9. The first network device of claim 8 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to perform a destination network address translation prior to transmitting the packet to the second network device.

10. The first network device of claim 8 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:
determine the first TCP/IP connection session based on the packet; and
retrieve the session link that associates the first TCP/IP connection session with the second TCP/IP connection session.

11. The first network device of claim 10 , wherein the instructions further the processor to search in a cache for a MAC address of the second network device, wherein the first network device and the second network device are connected through a MAC layer switching device.

12. The first network device of claim 11 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to identify an Internet Protocol (IP) address that uniquely identifies the client based on a source IP address attribute corresponding to the second TCP/IP connection session.

13. The first network device of claim 12 , wherein the packet comprises the identified IP address and the MAC address resulting from searching the cache.

14. The first network device of claim 12 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:
provide a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) service for a plurality of clients connected to the first network device and the second network device, wherein the plurality of clients comprises the client, and wherein the IP address uniquely identifying the client is within a non-overlapping IP sub network address scope.

15. 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.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:
perform a destination network address translation prior to transmitting the packet to the second network device.

Assignees

• Iyer Pradeep
• Palchaudhuri Santashil
• Aruba Networks Inc

Inventors

• Iyer Pradeep
• Palchaudhuri Santashil

Classifications

• H04L61/2076

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04L67/1027

  Persistence of sessions during load balancing · CPC title

• H04L12/4679

  Arrangements for the registration or de-registration of VLAN attribute values, e.g. VLAN identifiers, port VLAN membership · CPC title

• H04L61/2061

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04W84/12 Primary

  WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks] · CPC title