Method and Apparatus for Extending Multipoint Control Protocols to Mixed Media Access Systems

1 . A network device, comprising:

a first physical layer device that is configured to receive first network traffic from an optical line terminal at a first transmission rate via a fiber optic media;

a second physical layer device that is configured to transmit second network traffic to an end station at a second transmission rate, wherein said second network traffic is based on said first network traffic; and

a medium-to-medium adaptor that is configured to extract a resource apportionment identifier from a header portion of a frame structure contained in said first network traffic and to include said resource apportionment identifier in an Ethernet frame contained in said second network traffic, wherein said resource apportionment identifier is assigned to said end station by said optical line terminal and enables said end station to report a status to said optical line terminal and to grant bandwidth by said optical line terminal to said end station.

2 . The network device of claim 1 , wherein said second physical layer device is configured to communicate with said network unit via a coaxial cable.

3 . The network device of claim 1 , wherein said second physical layer device is configured to communicate with said network unit via copper twisted pair.

4 . The network device of claim 1 , wherein said second physical layer device is configured to communicate with said network unit via wireless communication.

5 . The network device of claim 1 , wherein said second physical layer device is configured to communicate with said network unit via a second fiber optic media.

6 . The network device of claim 1 , wherein said resource apportionment identifier is a Logical Link Identifier (LLID).

7 . The network device of claim 1 , wherein said resource apportionment identifier is an Allocation Identifier (AllocID).

8 . The network unit of claim 1 , wherein said resource apportionment identifier is inserted into a VLAN tag field in said Ethernet frame.

9 . The network device of claim 1 , wherein said first transmission rate is different from said second transmission rate.

10 . The network device of claim 9 , wherein said medium-to-medium adaptor is further configured to perform a rate conversion between said first transmission rate and said second transmission rate.

11 . The network device of claim 1 , wherein said medium-to-medium adaptor is further configured to decrypt data received from said optical line terminal via said fiber optic media and to encrypt data for transmission to said network unit.

12 . A network device, comprising:

a physical layer device that is configured to receive network traffic from a medium-to-medium adaptor; and

a media access control module that is configured to extract a resource apportionment identifier contained inside an Ethernet frame in said first network traffic, wherein said resource apportionment identifier is assigned to said network device by an optical line terminal that is coupled to said medium-to-medium adaptor, said resource apportionment identifier enabling said network device to report a status to said optical line terminal and to grant bandwidth by the optical line terminal to said network device.

13 . The network device of claim 12 , wherein said physical layer device is configured to communicate with said medium-to-medium adaptor via one of a coaxial cable, copper twisted pair, wireless communication and fiber optic media.

14 . The network device of claim 12 , wherein said resource apportionment identifier is a Logical Link Identifier (LLID).

15 . The network device of claim 12 , wherein said resource apportionment identifier is an Allocation Identifier (AllocID).

16 . The network device of claim 12 , wherein said resource apportionment identifier is extracted from a VLAN tag field in said Ethernet frame.

17 . A method performed by a network device, comprising:

receiving, via a first physical layer device in the network device, first network traffic at a first transmission rate, said first physical layer device being coupled to an optical line terminal via fiber optic media;

extracting a resource apportionment identifier from a header portion of a frame structure contained in said first network traffic, said resource apportionment identifier being assigned to said end station by said optical line terminal and enables said end station to report a status to said optical line terminal and to grant bandwidth by said optical line terminal to said end station;

inserting said extracted resource apportionment identifier into an Ethernet frame; and

transmitting, via a second physical layer device in the network device, second network traffic that includes said Ethernet frame to said end station at a second transmission rate.

18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein said transmitting comprises transmitting via one of a coaxial cable, copper twisted pair, wireless communication and a second fiber optic media.

19 . The method of claim 17 , wherein said resource apportionment identifier is a Logical Link Identifier (LLID).

20 . The method of claim 17 , wherein said resource apportionment identifier is an Allocation Identifier (AllocID).

21 . The method of claim 17 , wherein said inserting comprises inserting said resource apportionment identifier into a VLAN tag field in said Ethernet frame.

22 . The method of claim 17 , wherein said first transmission rate is different from said second transmission rate.

23 . The method of claim 22 , further comprising performing a rate conversion between said first transmission rate and said second transmission rate.

24 . The method of claim 17 , further comprising decrypting said received first network traffic and encrypting said second network traffic.