IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,526,282
Granted Patent B2
US 12,526,282 · App. 17/552,394 · Granted Jan 13, 2026

Group identity assignment and policy enforcement for devices within the same network

Inventors: Roberto Muccifora (Ropraz, CH); Domenico Ficara (Essertines-sur-Yverdon, CH); Amine Choukir (Lausanne, CH); Ugo Mario Campiglio (Morges, CH); Shree Murthy (San Jose, CA); Stephen M. Orr (Wallkill, NY)
Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc.
H04L63/102H04L45/74H04L61/5038H04L63/0876H04L63/104H04L2101/622
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,526,282
App. No.
17/552,394
Granted
Jan 13, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

Group identity assignment and policy enforcement may be provided. A User Defined Network Identifier (UDN ID) defining a group of client devices may be received. Next, a client identifier (ID) associated with a source client device that is associated with the group of client devices may be received. The UDN ID and the client ID may be encoded in an Extended Local Identifier (ELI) Media Access Control (MAC) address associated with the source client device. A source MAC address of a packet received from the source client device may then be substituted with the ELI MAC address. Then the packet may be forwarded.

Claims (42)

1 . A method comprising:

receiving, by a first Access Point (AP), a User Defined Network Identifier (UDN ID) defining a group of client devices, wherein each client device of the group of client devices is assigned a same UDN ID;

receiving, by the first AP, a client ID associated with a source client device that is associated with the group of client devices;

encoding, by the first AP, the UDN ID and the client ID in an Extended Local Identifier (ELI) Media Access Control (MAC) address associated with the source client device;

substituting, by the first AP, a source MAC address of a packet received from the source client device with the ELI MAC address; and

forwarding, by the first AP, the packet.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving, by a second AP, the packet;

extracting the UDN ID from the ELI MAC address of the packet; and

comparing the UDN ID from the ELI MAC address with a UDN ID associated with a destination client.

3 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

forwarding, by the second AP, the packet to the destination client when comparing the UDN ID from the ELI MAC address with the UDN ID associated with the destination client indicates the UDN ID from the ELI MAC address and the UDN ID of the destination client match.

4 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

dropping, by the second AP, the packet when comparing the UDN ID from the ELI MAC address with the UDN ID associated with the destination client indicates the UDN ID from the ELI MAC address and the UDN ID of the destination client do not match.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising mapping the ELI MAC address to the source MAC address in a table.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising encoding a Company ID in a first three octets of the ELI MAC address.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein encoding the UDN ID and the client ID in the ELI MAC address comprises encoding the UDN ID and the client ID in the ELI MAC address in a second three octets of the ELI MAC address.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein encoding the UDN ID and the client ID in the ELI MAC address in the second three octets of the ELI MAC address comprises encoding the UDN ID in two bytes of the second three octets of the ELI MAC address.

9 . The method of claim 7 , wherein encoding the UDN ID and the client ID in the ELI MAC address in the second three octets of the ELI MAC address comprises encoding the client ID in one byte of the second three octets of the ELI MAC address.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the UDN ID was generated when the group of client devices was provisioned.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the client ID was generated when the source client device was authenticated.

12 . A system comprising:

a memory storage; and

a processing unit implemented using at least one hardware processor coupled to the memory storage, wherein the processing unit is operative to:

receive a User Defined Network Identifier (UDN ID) defining a group of client devices, wherein each client device of the group of client devices is assigned a same UDN ID,

receive a client ID associated with a source client device that is associated with the group of client devices,

encode the UDN ID and the client ID in an Extended Local Identifier (ELI) Media Access Control (MAC) address associated with the source client device,

substitute a source MAC address of a packet received from the source client device with the ELI MAC address, and

forward the packet.

13 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the processing unit is further operative to encode a Company ID in a first three octets of the ELI MAC address.

14 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the processing unit being operative to encode the UDN ID and the client ID in the ELI MAC address comprises the processing unit being operative to encode the UDN ID and the client ID in the ELI MAC address in a second three octets of the ELI MAC address.

15 . The system of claim 14 , wherein the processing unit being operative to encode the UDN ID and the client ID in the ELI MAC address in the second three octets of the ELI MAC address comprises the processing unit being operative to encode the UDN ID in two bytes of the second three octets of the ELI MAC address.

16 . The system of claim 14 , wherein the processing unit being operative to encode the UDN ID and the client ID in the ELI MAC address in the second three octets of the ELI MAC address comprises the processing unit being operative to encode the client ID in one byte of the second three octets of the ELI MAC address.

17 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium that stores a set of instructions which when executed perform a method executed by the set of instructions comprising:

receiving, by a first Access Point (AP), a User Defined Network Identifier (UDN ID) defining a group of client devices, wherein each client device of the group of client devices is assigned a same UDN ID;

receiving a client ID associated with a source client device that is associated with the group of client devices;

encoding the UDN ID and the client ID in an Extended Local Identifier (ELI) Media Access Control (MAC) address associated with the source client device;

substituting a source MAC address of a packet received from the source client device with the ELI MAC address; and

forwarding the packet.

18 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein encoding the UDN ID and the client ID in the ELI MAC address comprises encoding the UDN ID and the client ID in the ELI MAC address in a second three octets of the ELI MAC address.

19 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18 , wherein encoding the UDN ID and the client ID in the ELI MAC address in the second three octets of the ELI MAC address comprises encoding the UDN ID in two bytes of the second three octets of the ELI MAC address.

20 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18 , wherein encoding the UDN ID and the client ID in the ELI MAC address in the second three octets of the ELI MAC address comprises encoding the client ID in one byte of the second three octets of the ELI MAC address.

Assignments (2)
CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT TO CORRECT THE SPELLING ERROR ON THE ASSIGNEMENT COVERSHEET CONVEYING PARTY DATA: ASSIGNOR, "ROBERT" MUCCIFORA SHOULD BE "ROBERTO" MUCCIFORA PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL: 058403 FRAME: 0483. ASSIGNOR(S) HEREBY CONFIRMS THE ASSIGNMENT. Recorded Jun 22, 2022
From: MUCCIFORA, ROBERTO; FICARA, DOMENICO; CHOUKIR, AMINE; CAMPIGLIO, UGO MARIO; MURTHY, SHREE; ORR, STEPHEN M.
To: CISCO TECHNOLOGY, INC.
Reel/Frame 061572/0172 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 16, 2021
From: MUCCIFORA, ROBERT; FICARA, DOMENICO; CHOUKIR, AMINE; CAMPIGLIO, UGO MARIO; MURTHY, SHREE; ORR, STEPHEN M.
To: CISCO TECHNOLOGY, INC.
Reel/Frame 058403/0483 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20230198990A1 · Jun 22, 2023
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