Apparatus and methods for providing small cell backhaul are disclosed. A network node that acts as a gateway for a local communication network to a main communication network through a bonded link with the main communication network also provides a wireless communication module with a backhaul communication link to the main communication network through its bonded link. A switch module in the network node switches communication traffic between the local communication network, the wireless communication module and the bonded link to the main communication network. The network node may power the wireless communication module utilizing remote power provided by the main communication network, the local communication network, and/or a local source of power. Apparatus and methods for providing a transparent bonded link through a network access multiplexer are also disclosed, including management of the bonded link and of nodes subtending from the bonded link.

In one embodiment, a method includes receiving non-Internet Protocol (IP) traffic from one or more non-IP traffic sources. The method also includes terminating the non-IP traffic and re-originating the non-IP traffic as first IP traffic in accordance with one or more software-defined networking in a wide area network (SD-WAN) protocols. The method further includes communicating the first IP traffic to an SD-WAN link in accordance with one or more SD-WAN policies.

In one embodiment, a method includes receiving non-Internet Protocol (IP) traffic from one or more non-IP traffic sources. The method also includes terminating the non-IP traffic and re-originating the non-IP traffic as first IP traffic in accordance with one or more software-defined networking in a wide area network (SD-WAN) protocols. The method further includes communicating the first IP traffic to an SD-WAN link in accordance with one or more SD-WAN policies.

A method for adjusting capacity in a multi-stage routing network includes monitoring a number of available connections between a router in a first stage of a multi-stage router network and one or more routers in a second stage of the multi-stage router network. Each of the stages of the multi-stage router network may include a plurality of routers. The method may also include detecting that the number of available connections falls below a threshold number. A notification can be sent to one or more routers in a third stage of the multi-stage router network that the router in the first stage is deprioritized. The one or more routers in the third stage can be operated so that communications to the first stage are routed to one or more other routers in the first stage.

Various example embodiments for supporting stateless multicast in communication networks are presented. Various example embodiments for supporting stateless multicast in communication networks may be configured to support stateless multicast in multi-domain packet distribution networks. Various example embodiments for supporting stateless multicast in communication networks may be configured to support stateless multicast in multi-domain packet distribution networks which may be based on Internet Protocol (IP). Various example embodiments for supporting stateless multicast in a multi-domain packet distribution network may be configured to support multicast of packets based on use of internal multicast packets for multicast communication of the multicast packets within sub-domains of the multi-domain packet distribution network and use of external multicast packets for unicast communication of the multicast packets across or between sub-domains of the multi-domain packet distribution network.

In an OpenFlow network, a “proactive type” is attained and hardware (HW) performance problem is solved. Specifically, in the OpenFlow network, each of a plurality of switches executes, on a reception packet that meets a rule of an entry registered in its own flow table, an operation based on an action defined in the entry. A controller registers an entry, in which an identifier unique to a path calculated based on a physical topology of a network composed of the plurality of switches is set as a rule and an output from a predetermined output port as an action, in each of the plurality of switches before communication is started among the plurality of switches.

A system for optimising routing of traffic in a multilayer telecommunications network is described. The multilayer telecommunications network comprises a first layer and a second layer in which a subset of links in the first layer are served by the second layer. The system is configured to receive network topology data describing topology of the first layer and of the second layer and to receive service requirements data describing data transport services required of the multilayer telecommunications network. The system is configured to generate a flat model by modelling the multilayer telecommunications network as a single-layer telecommunications network, the flat model being based on the network topology data and excluding links of the first layer that are served by the second layer. The system is configured to optimise routing of traffic through the single-layer telecommunications network based on the service requirements data and the flat model using a routing engine, and to convert the optimized routes through the single-layer telecommunications network into first-layer optimized routes through the first layer of the multilayer telecommunications network and second-layer optimized routes through the second layer of the multilayer telecommunications network.

An electronic device that relays an Internet Protocol (IP) packet compliant with one of a plurality of IP versions includes circuitry configured to process the IP packet in each of a first mode operating as a router and a second mode operating as a bridge; and set, as a mode of the electronic device, one of the first mode or the second mode, based on which of the plurality of IP versions the IP packet to be processed is compliant with.

An electronic device that relays an IPv4 packet includes circuitry configured to process the IPv4 packet in each of a first mode operating as a router and a second mode operating as a bridge, set one of the first mode and the second mode as a mode of the electronic device, terminate an IPv4 over IPv6 tunnel, and perform a communication test through the IPv4 over IPv6 tunnel with respect to another electronic device, and the another electronic device is connected with the electronic device via the IPv4 over IPv6 tunnel and terminates the IPv4 over IPv6 tunnel, and set the first mode as the mode, when a result of the communication test shows that communication is available.

Example implementations may relate to a software defined networking (SDN) controller. A method may include receiving, at a SDN controller, a tagged initialization packet from a software defined network enabled switch. The method may include identifying, at the SDN controller, a tenant corresponding to or based on the tagged initialization packet. The method may include implementing a policy specific to the identified tenant.