The disclosed technology is directed towards locating and counting unused nodes, such as free Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) address blocks. A hierarchical structure of nodes is created from an origin block to a specified lower level, and the hierarchical structure is processed using mapping and eliminating to locate free nodes. A first node group comprises node(s) in use, a second node group identifies intermediate subnets between the first node of the first node group and the specified origin block, and a third node group identifies any subnets hierarchically below node(s) in use. Unused (free) node count information is obtained based on nodes below the origin block that are not in the first node group, the second node group, or the third node group.

A method and apparatus for communications in internet-of-things devices are provided. An exemplary apparatus includes an IoT server device. The IoT server device includes a communications device and a resource name map including a full identifier string and a short identifier string. A discovery responder provides the full identifier string and a short identifier string to a client device through the communications device.

Techniques are described for managing communications between multiple computing nodes, such as for computing nodes that are part of managed virtual computer networks provided on behalf of users or other entities. In some situations, one or more of the computing nodes of a managed virtual computer network is configured to perform actions to extend capabilities of the managed virtual computer network to other computing nodes that are not part of the managed virtual computer network, such as by forwarding communications between computing nodes of the managed virtual computer network and the other external computing nodes so as to enable the other external computing nodes to participate in the managed virtual computer network. In some situations, the computing nodes may include virtual machine nodes hosted on one or more physical computing machines or systems, such as by or on behalf of one or more users.

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for receiving a packet from a client, the packet having header information including a destination Internet Protocol (IP) address, a destination port, a source IP address, and a source port, and wherein the source IP address and source port are associated with the client; selecting a destination virtual machine based on the destination port; modifying the packet by replacing the destination IP address in the header information with an IP address of the selected destination virtual machine; and sending the modified packet to the destination virtual machine.

Certain aspects of the disclosure are directed to communication bridging in a telecommunication system. According to a specific example, a data-communications service provider uses a data-communication server and a uniform resource locator (URL) generation circuit to form a communication bridge between a different disparate chat rooms. The URL generation circuit generates a URL associated with the communication bridge. Using the generated URL an assimilation and processing circuitry, chat messages may be received and conveys by using the server and respective communication protocols associated with the chat rooms, between participants of the chat rooms.

In one embodiment, packets are forwarded in a network based on multiple compact forwarding identifiers represented in a single 128-bit Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) address, such as, but not limited to being in the destination address field of the IPv6 header (e.g., possibly in an extended IPv6 header). One embodiment follows the forwarding order of these multiple compact forwarding identifiers by respectively placing them in the single IPv6 address from high-order to lower-order bit positions. In one embodiment, a compact forwarding identifier prefix is part of the address represented by each compact forwarding identifier, typically with the compact forwarding identifier prefix stored in the highest-order bit positions. One embodiment uses a longest prefix matching operation to match the compact forwarding identifier to be used in determining how to next process the packet.

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for receiving a packet from a client, the packet having header information including a destination Internet Protocol (IP) address, a destination port, a source IP address, and a source port, and wherein the source IP address and source port are associated with the client; selecting a destination virtual machine based on the destination port; modifying the packet by replacing the destination IP address in the header information with an IP address of the selected destination virtual machine; and sending the modified packet to the destination virtual machine.

A network includes at least two nodes that employ a routing protocol to communicate across a network. One of the nodes is a parent node and another of the nodes is a child node of the parent node. An address generator assigns a unique network address to the child node by appending an address value of a number of bits to a parent address of the parent node to create the unique network address for the child node.

This invention provides a method of operating a wireless local area network, the wireless local area network including a user device, a wireless access point and a wireless repeater, wherein the wireless repeater is configured to virtualise a Media Access Control, MAC, address of the user device when the user device is connected to the wireless repeater by changing the Organisationally Unique Identifier, OUI, of the MAC address, the method comprising the steps of: obtaining data including a plurality of records, wherein each record of the plurality of records relates to the user device and includes a MAC address and a device label of the user device, wherein at least one record of the plurality of records includes a MAC address that has been virtualised by the wireless repeater; processing each record of the plurality of records by: determining that the MAC address of the processed record is a local MAC address, and, if so, identifying another record of the plurality of records that is uniquely associated with the user device based on the MAC address of the processed record by determining a Network Interface Controller, NIC, value of the MAC address of the processed record, determining that the determined NIC value is uniquely associated with a device label in the plurality of records, and identifying another record of the plurality of records having the associated device label, and assigning a unique identifier to the processed record based on the MAC address of the identified other record of the plurality of records; analysing the plurality of records having the unique device identifier; and causing a reconfiguration in the wireless local area network based on the analysis.

This invention provides a method of operating a wireless local area network, the wireless local area network including a user device, a wireless access point and a wireless repeater, wherein the wireless repeater is configured to virtualise a Media Access Control, MAC, address of the user device when the user device is connected to the wireless repeater by changing the Organisationally Unique Identifier, OUI, of the MAC address, the method comprising the steps of: obtaining data including a plurality of records, wherein each record of the plurality of records relates to the user device and includes a MAC address and a device label of the user device, wherein at least one record of the plurality of records includes a MAC address that has been virtualised by the wireless repeater; processing each record of the plurality of records by: determining that the MAC address of the processed record is a local MAC address, and, if so, identifying another record of the plurality of records that is uniquely associated with the user device based on the MAC address of the processed record by determining a Network Interface Controller, NIC, value of the MAC address of the processed record, determining that the determined NIC value is uniquely associated with a device label in the plurality of records, and identifying another record of the plurality of records having the associated device label, and assigning a unique identifier to the processed record based on the MAC address of the identified other record of the plurality of records; analysing the plurality of records having the unique device identifier; and causing a reconfiguration in the wireless local area network based on the analysis.