Method for the routing of IP frames between the users of a variable graph network

1. A carrier network fulfilling a distributed virtual routing function, said cattier network comprising one or more components, each of the components comprising at least two nodes communicating with one another by means of an artery, each node comprising an access function, wherein at least one component of said network comprises the following elements:

several bridge ELANs, each bridge ELAN being connected to a virtual network VLAN,

at least one transit ELAN, all access functions of the same component being adjacent through said transit ELAN, and

at the level of an access function:

router LEC means adapted to connect the access function to at least one bridge ELAN associated with a VLAN,

means for the identification of the VLANs serviced by the access function,

means (transit LEC) to connect the transit ELAN to the access function.

2. The carrier network of claim 1 , wherein the identification means is a list, wherein for a component of the network comprising m nodes, said list is one of m lists, said m lists defined so that the intersection of any two of the lists provides an empty set.

3. The carrier network of claim 1 , wherein said access function comprises an election function, said election function interfacing with corresponding election functions of other nodes by exchange of packets on the bridge ELANs using the router LEC means.

4. The carrier network of claim 3 , wherein said election function ensures implementation of an election protocol.

5. The carrier network of claim 1 , wherein a VLAN comprises at least one LEC user connected to a node of the carrier network.

6. The carrier network of claim 5 , wherein the LEC user function is implanted in a node of the carrier network for ethernet type access operations.

7. The carrier network of claim 1 wherein the carrier network is an ATM type carrier network with IP type data packets.

8. A method of routing in a switched network comprising one or more components, the component or components comprising at least two nodes connected by a communications artery, each of the nodes comprising an access function, wherein the method comprises relaying data packets received on a router LEC or a transit LEC using the access function as follows:

(a) if the addressee of a packet is an internal routing function laid out at a node X, the packet is directly handed over to said function,

(b) if the addressee of a packet is a VLAN serviced by the access function, the data packet is relayed to the router LEC of the node X corresponding to the VLAN serviced, and

(c) if the addressee of a packet is a VLAN that is not serviced, the packet is relayed on a transit ELAN via the transit LEC of a node X to the transit LEC of a node Y.

9. The method of claim 8 ,

wherein said access function comprises a list of identifying VLANs serviced, a routing table, and a relaying function, and

wherein the step (b) is carried out as follows:

if the addressee VLAN belongs to the list, the relaying function of the access function is activated and the data packet is relayed to the router LEC having an identifier that is the identifier of the addressee VLAN, and

wherein the step (c) is carried out as follows:

if the addressee VLAN does not belong to the list, the data packet is relayed to the transit LEC of a node Y as mentioned in the routing table.

10. The method of claim 8 or 9 , wherein the data packet data packets relayed using the access function are received from the router LEC implanted in an access function.

11. The method of claim 8 or 9 , wherein the data packets relayed using the access function are received from the transit LEC implanted in an access function.

12. The routing method of claim 8 , wherein the switched network is an ATM type carrier network with IP data packets.