Mobile data routing

• US 20030021275A1
• Filed: 09/06/2002
• Published: 01/30/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2000
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: British Telecommunications PLC (BT Group PLC)
• Original Assignee: British Telecommunications PLC (BT Group PLC)
• Inventors: Shabeer, Mohammed
• Application Number:
  US10/220,856
• Publication Number:
  US 20030021275A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/393
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2212/00 Encapsulation of packets
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/00 Network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4511 using domain name system [DNS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/08 Access restriction or access information delivery, e.g. discovery data delivery signalling during connection H04W76/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 60/00 Affiliation to network, e.g. registration; Terminating affiliation with the network, e.g. de-registration
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/04 Registration at HLR or HSS [Home Subscriber Server]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/082 for traffic bypassing of mobility servers, e.g. location registers, home PLMNs or home agents
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/04 Network layer protocols, e.g. mobile IP [Internet Protocol]

Abstract

The present invention relates to the routing of data within communications networks, including but not confined to networks such as the Internet, and particularly, but not exclusively, to a method of routing data directed to a mobile node.

In this invention a protocol is provided which is backward compatible with Mobile IP and Mobile IP with route optimisation. The new protocol uses existing defined messages, utilising unused bits to overcome the problems of triangular routing and tunnelling.

Claims

1. A method of allocating a network address for an application to use during a session between a first node in a domain and a mobile node in a visited domain, said method comprising the steps of:

allocating a care-of address to the mobile node;

registering the allocated care-of address with a global home agent associated with the mobile node;

the global home agent informing the first node of the allocated care of address; and

the first node informing the application of the care-of address.

2. A method according to claim 1, in which the global home agent informs the first node of the allocated care-of address in response to a request from the first node.

3. A method according to claim 1 or claim 2 in which the care-of address is allocated to the mobile node using dynamic host configuration protocol.

4. A method according to any preceding claim, further comprising the steps of:

registering the care of address with a regional home agent when the mobile node moves from the visited domain to a second visited domain;

the regional home agent tunnelling received packets to the mobile node; and

the mobile node tunnelling packets for the session to the first node via the regional home agent.

5. A method according to any one of the preceding claims in which registering the allocated care of address with the global home agent includes an indication that the mobile node supports direct routing.

6. A method according to any one of the preceding claims in which the global home agent informing the first node of the allocated care of address includes an indication that the mobile node supports direct routing.