Method and apparatus for privacy of traffic behavior on a shared medium network

摘要

The present invention provides a telecommunication network utilizing a passive optical network connecting a plurality of network terminations to a local exchange. Information cells and commands are transmitted on the network by the local exchange to all the network terminations. The information cells and commands contain routing address information for the particular network termination to which the information cell or command is destined. The address information contains the address of the destination network termination and additional identifier bits to facilitate encryption of the address information for security and privacy of traffic behavior without producing misdelivery occurrences. In addition, a system for repeatedly changing encryption patterns for the network terminations which detects misdelivery conditions is provided.