Extendedgate

Extendedgate is a term used in computer networking to describe a modular gateway architecture designed to extend network boundaries across heterogeneous environments. It combines elements of API gateways, protocol translators, and policy-driven security to enable interoperation between distinct network domains such as on-premises data centers, public clouds, and Internet of Things networks.

A typical extendedgate comprises a control plane and a data plane. The control plane manages policy, identity, and configuration, while the data plane handles traffic translation, routing, and enforcement. Protocol adapters interface with multiple communication styles and protocols, including HTTP/REST, MQTT, AMQP, and legacy TCP/UDP services. Transport security features such as TLS, DTLS, and VPN tunnels are supported, alongside mechanisms for data transformation, quality of service, and traffic shaping.

Key capabilities include policy-driven access control, identity propagation across domains, data filtering and masking, auditing, and telemetry. Extendedgates often provide lifecycle tooling for onboarding new adapters, versioned policies, and observability through logs, metrics, and tracing. They are designed to operate at the edge or within cloud environments, emphasizing pluggable components, declarative configuration, and scalable performance.

Applications of extendedgate concepts include hybrid cloud integration, secure exposure of services across tenants, IoT gateway functions, and bridging service meshes that span multiple administrative boundaries. They are related to, but distinct from, API gateways, service meshes, and traditional VPN gateways, with a focus on cross-domain policy enforcement and protocol translation across heterogeneous networks.

Notes: the term is not universally standardized, and implementations vary in scope and terminology.