Abstract: Methods and apparatuses for process a corssconnect switchover in a network element are described. According to one embodiment, an exemplary method includes synchronizing state information regarding broadband subscriber sessions of one or more circuits of a network element between one or more hub devices of an active control card and a standby control card of the network element, and in response to a crossconnect switchover, starting up one or more sessions associated with the one or more hub devices of the standby control card using the synchronized information, such that the one or more sessions are started up as if they are restarted. Other methods and apparatuses are also described.

Abstract: Methods and apparatuses for a network element having DHCP proxy functionality are described. According to one embodiment, an exemplary method includes receiving, at a network element, a request for an IP address from a subscriber, in response to the request, on behalf of the subscriber, communicating with one or more IP address providers over a network to process the request, and responding to the subscriber with respect to the request as if the network element is an IP address provider, on behalf of the one or more IP address providers.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for providing redirect services are described herein. According to one embodiment, there is a service selection network element used to provide access of computing devices to a set of one or more services provided by one or more providers. In addition, the service selection network element includes a redirect facility and a set of routing policies stored in a machine readable medium within the service selection network element to handle redirect services within the service selection network element. Furthermore, the routing policies optionally include one or more replacement routing policies for each of the routing policy corresponding to the respective context. Other methods and apparatuses are also described.