Claims
1. A hybrid access gateway (HAG) apparatus for native bridged communication in a
communication network, comprising:
- an upstream interface configured for receiving downlink Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) layer 2 traffic in said communication network;
- at least one downstream cellular coupling interface configured to be communicatively coupled to a user equipment (UE) represented by an OSI layer 2 address via a cellular access network of said communication network;
- an inspection module configured for inspecting an OSI layer 2 header of said received traffic; and
- a direction module configured for, based on said inspected OSI layer 2 header, directing said received traffic to said user equipment via said at least one downstream cellular coupling interface.
2. The hybrid access gateway (HAG) apparatus of claim 1, comprising:
- a table configured for storing associations between a number of user equipments including said
user equipment and a number of OSI layer 2 addresses respectively representing said number of
user equipments.
3. The hybrid access gateway (HAG) apparatus of any one of the previous claims, wherein said downstream cellular coupling interface is configured to be communicatively coupled to said user equipment via a cellular access network comprising a shared or common channel or radio access bearer (RAB), supporting concurrent, preferably contention-based, access by multiple user equipments.
4. The hybrid access gateway (HAG) apparatus of any one of the previous claims, wherein said inspection module is configured for inspecting said OSI layer 2 header by performing 4-tuple Shallow Frame Inspection on a source MAC (Media Access Layer) address, a destination MAC address, a protocol indication, and a bridged subnetwork identification; wherein said bridged subnetwork identification is an identification of a bridged subnetwork of said communication network; wherein said bridged subnetwork is a virtual network configured to allow inter-UE communication at OSI layer 2 in bridged mode by UE which are attached to the same bridged subnetwork, and to disallow inter-UE communication at OSI layer 2 in bridged mode by UE which are attached to a different bridged subnetwork.
5. The hybrid access gateway (HAG) apparatus of any one of the previous claims, wherein the user equipment (UE) connected to said cellular access network is identified by an OSI layer 2 address

(cellular MAC address: cMAC) which is derived from a temporary identifier for said UE; and wherein the same UE in addition is also connected to a non-cellular access network of said communication network where it is identified by another OSI layer 2 address (non-cellular MAC address: ncMAC).
6. A hybrid access controller (HAC) apparatus for hybrid access control in a communication
network, wherein said hybrid access controller is configured for being communicatively coupled to
and for controlling a hybrid access gateway according to any one of the claims 1-5, by setting up
and controlling:
- an upstream interface of said hybrid access gateway, which is configured for receiving downlink Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) layer 2 traffic in said communication network;
- at least one downstream cellular coupling interface of said hybrid access gateway, which is configured to be communicatively coupled to a user equipment (UE) represented by an OSI layer 2 address via a cellular access network of said communication network;
- an inspection module of said hybrid access gateway, which is configured for inspecting an OSI layer 2 header of said received traffic; and
- a direction module of said hybrid access gateway, which is configured for, based on said inspected OSI layer 2 header, directing said received traffic to said user equipment via said at least one downstream cellular coupling interface.

7. A communication network system for hybrid access control and native bridged communication, comprising a hybrid access controller (HAC) according to any one of the claims 6 and a hybrid access gateway (HAG) according to any one of the claims 1-5, communicatively coupled to each other.
8. A method for native bridged communication in a communication network, comprising, preferably at a hybrid access gateway (HAG) apparatus according to any one of the claims 1-5:

- receiving downlink Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) layer 2 traffic in said communication network;
- communicatively coupling to a user equipment (UE) represented by an OSI layer 2 address via a cellular access network of said communication network;
- inspecting an OSI layer 2 header of said received traffic; and
- based on said inspected OSI layer 2 header, directing said received traffic to said user equipment via said at least one downstream cellular coupling interface.
9. The method of claim 8, comprising:

- storing associations between a number of user equipments including said user equipment and a
number of OSI layer 2 addresses respectively representing said number of user equipments.
10. The method according to any one of the claims 8-9, comprising:
- communicatively coupling to said user equipment via a cellular access network comprising a
shared or common channel or radio access bearer (RAB) supporting concurrent, preferably
contention-based, access by multiple user equipments.
11. The method according to any one of the claims 8-10, comprising:
- inspecting said OSI layer 2 header by performing 4-tuple Shallow Frame Inspection on a source
MAC (Media Access Layer) address, a destination MAC address, a protocol indication, and a
bridged subnetwork identification; wherein said bridged subnetwork identification is an
identification of a bridged subnetwork of said communication network; wherein said bridged
subnetwork is a virtual network configured to allow inter-UE communication at OSI layer 2 in
bridged mode by UE which are attached to the same bridged subnetwork, and to disallow inter-UE
communication at OSI layer 2 in bridged mode by UE which are attached to a different bridged
subnetwork.
12. The method according to any one of the claims 8-11, wherein the user equipment (UE) connected to said cellular access network is identified by an OSI layer 2 address (cellular MAC address: cMAC) which is derived from a temporary identifier for said UE; and wherein the same UE in addition is also connected to a non-cellular access network of said communication network where it is identified by another OSI layer 2 address (non-cellular MAC address: ncMAC).
13. A method for hybrid access control in a communication network, comprising, preferably at a hybrid access controller (HAC) apparatus according to claim 6 and configured for being communicatively coupled to and for controlling a hybrid access gateway (HAG) apparatus according to any one of the claims 1-5, setting up and controlling:

- an upstream interface of said hybrid access gateway, which is configured for receiving downlink Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) layer 2 traffic in said communication network;
- at least one downstream cellular coupling interface of said hybrid access gateway, which is configured to be communicatively coupled to a user equipment (UE) represented by an OSI layer 2 address via a cellular access network of said communication network;
- an inspection module of said hybrid access gateway, which is configured for inspecting an OSI layer 2 header of said received traffic; and

- a direction module of said hybrid access gateway, which is configured for, based on said
inspected OSI layer 2 header, directing said received traffic to said user equipment via said at least
one downstream cellular coupling interface.
14. The method of claim 13, comprising:
- receiving notification from said hybrid access gateway having detected OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) layer 2 traffic originating from an unknown MAC (Media Access Layer) address via a cellular access network (cMAC) or non-cellular access network (ncMAC) of said communication network;
- analyzing said notification in order to determine the presence of a user equipment in said respective access network; and
- associating a virtual MAC address (vMAC) with said user equipment.
15. A computer program product comprising computer-executable instructions for performing a
method when the program is run on a computer, the method comprising one or more of the steps of
any one of the methods of the claims 1-15.