Abstract: A rogue access point in a wireless local-area network can be disabled by an authorized access point wirelessly transmitting a layer-2 broadcast packet. If a rogue access point receives this broadcast packet, it will forward a copy to the switch to which it is connected. The switch then determines whether the port on which the copy of the broadcast packet is received is associated an authorized access point port. If the switch determines the port is not an authorized access point port, the switch shuts down the port.

Abstract: In a distributed switching environment, a plurality of switches are clustered together to form a stack, and it is generally desirable for forwarding tables, such as MAC tables, to be synchronized so that their mappings are consistent. When a switch receives a packet having a source address (e.g., MAC address) that is unknown, the switch is configured to disseminate the source address to the other switches of the stack. Rather than using software protocols to disseminate the source address, the switch instead transmits a multicast packet that (1) includes the unknown source address and (2) spoofs the other switches into believing that the packet was received on the same port from which the unknown source address was received on ingress to the stack. Thus, the other switches learn the unknown source address in hardware without having to rely on software for updating their forwarding tables.

Abstract: A rogue access point in a wireless local-area network can be disabled by an authorized access point wirelessly transmitting a layer-2 broadcast packet. If a rogue access point receives this broadcast packet, it will forward a copy to the switch to which it is connected. The switch then shuts down the port on which it received the forwarded copy of the broadcast packet.

Abstract: A rogue access point in a wireless local-area network can be disabled by an authorized access point wirelessly transmitting a layer-2 broadcast packet. If a rogue access point receives this broadcast packet, it will forward a copy to the switch to which it is connected. The switch then determines whether the port on which the copy of the broadcast packet is received is associated an authorized access point port. If the switch determines the port is not an authorized access point port, the switch shuts down the port.

Abstract: A power sourcing equipment is connected to a powered device via a cable. The power sourcing equipment is configured to provide power to different types of devices and the powered device is configured to receive power from different types of power sourcing equipment. The power sourcing equipment has a control system for determining the type of powered device that is connected to the cable and furnishes power in response to the determination. The powered device has a detection resistance that is detectable by different types of power sourcing equipment. Also described is a powered device capable of establishing communication with PSEs of multiple types.

Abstract: A midspan device for providing power and data from a one-pair power sourcing equipment to a two-pair powered device is described. The midspan device is connected to the one-pair power sourcing equipment and takes a portion of the power from the power sourcing equipment to power a converter. The converter converts one-pair data into a two-pair data and forwards the converted data to the two pairs of the powered device. Another portion of the power from the power sourcing equipment is on a DC path and coupled through center tap transformers to provide power to the powered device.

Abstract: A power sourcing equipment is connected to a powered device via a cable. The power sourcing equipment is configured to provide power to different types of devices. The power sourcing equipment has a control system for determining the type of powered device that is connected to the cable and furnishes power in response to the determination. Also described is a powered device capable of establishing communication with PSEs of multiple types.

Abstract: A power sourcing equipment is connected to a powered device via a cable. The power sourcing equipment is configured to provide power to different types of devices and the powered device is configured to receive power from different types of power sourcing equipment. The power sourcing equipment has a control system for determining the type of powered device that is connected to the cable and furnishes power in response to the determination. The powered device has a detection resistance that is detectable by different types of power sourcing equipment. Also described is a powered device capable of establishing communication with PSEs of multiple types.

Abstract: A power sourcing equipment is connected to a powered device via a cable. The power sourcing equipment is configured to provide power to different types of devices. The power sourcing equipment has a control system for determining the type of powered device that is connected to the cable and furnishes power in response to the determination. Also described is a powered device capable of establishing communication with PSEs of multiple types.

Abstract: A midspan device for providing power and data from a one-pair power sourcing equipment to a two-pair powered device is described. The midspan device is connected to the one-pair power sourcing equipment and takes a portion of the power from the power sourcing equipment to power a converter. The converter converts one-pair data into a two-pair data and forwards the converted data to the two pairs of the powered device. Another portion of the power from the power sourcing equipment is on a DC path and coupled through center tap transformers to provide power to the powered device.

Abstract: An integrated processor-controlled router and switch fabric architecture provides connectivity between local area network (LAN) ports of an Ethernet switch serving a plurality of local area network users and a wide area network (WAN) interface that provides connectivity with the internet. Packets received from user ports of the Ethernet switch contain priority-representative information. Packets delivered by the processor-controlled router to the WAN interface are prioritized in accordance with the priority-representative information.

Abstract: An integrated processor-controlled router and switch fabric architecture provides connectivity between local area network (LAN) ports serving a plurality of local area network users and a wide area network (WAN) port that provides connectivity with the internet. IEEE 802.1Q virtual local area network (VLAN) trunks are automatically created by the processor in response to a reduced set of command inputs. No user-configurable physical link exists between the switch fabric and the router. Instead, a virtual IEEE 802.1Q trunk is created through software to provide connectivity between the switch fabric and the router's control processor.

Abstract: An integrated processor-controlled router and switch fabric architecture provides connectivity between local area network (LAN) ports of an Ethernet switch serving a plurality of local area network users and a wide area network (WAN) port that provides connectivity with the internet. The integrated switch fabric treats the processor interface back to the router as though it were a regular LAN port; as a result, all incoming (WAN-to-LAN) traffic and all outgoing (LAN-to-WAN) traffic relative to the processor interface can be mirrored to any LAN port of the Ethernet switch.

Abstract: A differential time domain digital communication bridge module interfaces 100 Mbps Ethernet traffic with a T3 communication link, using a relatively small sized data buffer. To avoid dropping packets, the relatively large sized buffer in the Ethernet switch is used to temporarily store packets, in when an upper threshold of the storage capacity of the buffer is reached. The upper threshold leaves enough storage overhead in the buffer to allow the Ethernet switch to complete its current transmission of a maximum length packet. When a lower threshold is reached a ‘resume transmission’ packet is sent to the switch. The lower threshold provides sufficient buffer space to allow the T3 transmitter to read out the contents of the buffer without underflow.