Patent attributes
Redundancy for Virtual Private Network (VPN) service with an Ethernet access network is provided by a full-mesh of dedicated pseudowires connected among the network-facing provider edge (n-PE) devices, each of which is associated with the same Ethernet access network. A provider Bridge Protocol Data Unit (BPDU) generated by a provider bridge node in the Ethernet access network and received at an input interface of one n-PE device is relayed (without being processed) to all other n-PEs associated with that access network over the full-mesh of dedicated pseudowires. It is emphasized that this abstract is provided to comply with the rules requiring an abstract that will allow a searcher or other reader to quickly ascertain the subject matter of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims.
