Methods and apparatus for supporting session registration messaging

• US 20030137962A1
• Filed: 12/18/2002
• Published: 07/24/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 06/14/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Tsirtsis, George, OʼNeill, Alan
• Granted Patent: US 7,477,629 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/338
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/00 Network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/123 received data contents, e.g. message integrity
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1043 Gateway controllers, e.g. media gateway control protocol [MGCP] controllers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1104 Session initiation protocol [SIP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/062 Pre-authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/12 Setup of transport tunnels
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/02 Processing of mobility data, e.g. registration information at HLR [Home Location Register] or VLR [Visitor Location Register]; Transfer of mobility data, e.g. between HLR, VLR or external networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/087 for preserving data network PoA address despite hand-offs
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/04 Network layer protocols, e.g. mobile IP [Internet Protocol]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/10 adapted for application session management, e.g. SIP [Session Initiation Protocol] connection management H04W76/00; arrangements for session management H04L67/14
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/005 Data network PoA devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/08 Access point devices

Abstract

Session signaling register message transmission methods and apparatus well suited for use in a communication system which supports mobile nodes capable of moving between domains and access nodes in a domain are described. Broadcasting of session signaling register messages is supported to reduce the number of registration messages which need to be transmitted between a mobile node and an access node. A paging and location server is used to reduce the number of session signaling register messages transmitted between domains. A visiting node registers with a paging and location server. The session signaling address of the paging and location server being used by a visiting mobile node is registered with the visiting node'"'"'s home session signaling server. As the visiting node moves between access nodes in the visited domain the paging and location server it uses remains the same eliminating the need to update the home session signaling servers.

Claims

1. A communications method, comprising the steps of:

operating a home session signaling server node to receive a first registration message including an end node session signaling address and an access node session signaling address; and

operating the home session signaling server node to store registration information associating said access node session signaling address with said end node session signaling address.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said first registration message is from an access node including a session signaling server module.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

operating the access node to receive a second registration message from said end node;

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

operating the session signaling module in the access node to perform a forwarding address translation operation to generate said first registration message from said second registration message.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein performing a forwarding address translation operation includes substituting at least a portion of an end node session signaling address for at least a portion of an access node session signaling address, the access node session signaling address being included in a forwarding address field of the second registration message.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the substituted portion of an end node session signaling address is a domain part of said session signaling address.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein said second registration message includes multiple session signaling server destination addresses.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

operating said access node to generate a plurality of registration messages from the second registration message received from said end node, the first registration message being one of said plurality of generated registration messages.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein at least one registration message is generated by the access node for each of the multiple session signaling server destination addresses included in the second registration message.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein each of said plurality of registration messages generated by said access node includes a different destination address obtained from the registration message received from said end node.

11. The method of claim 3, wherein the second registration message received from said end node is addressed to said home session signaling server mode.

12. The method of claim 3, wherein said second registration message includes multiple session signaling server destination addresses.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

operating said access node to generate a plurality of registration messages from the second registration message received from said end node, the first registration message being one of said plurality of generated registration messages.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein at least one registration message is generated by the access node for each of the multiple session signaling server destination addresses included in the second registration message.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein each of said plurality of registration messages generated by said access node includes a different destination address obtained from the registration message received from said end node.

16. A communications system comprising:

a home session signaling server including;

means for receiving registration messages including an end node session signaling address and an access node session signaling address; and

a memory for storing registration information associating access node session signaling address with end node session signaling address included in received registration messages.

17. The communication system of claim 16, further comprising:

an access node including a session signaling server module.

18. The communication system of claim 17, wherein said session signaling server module includes:

means for performing a forwarding address translation operation to generate a second registration message from a first registration message received from an end node, said forwarding address translation operation including substituting at least a portion of an end node session signaling address for at least a portion of an access node session signaling address included in the first registration message, the access node session signaling address being included in a forwarding address field of the first registration message.

19. The communication system of claim 16, further comprising:

an access node including means for generating a plurality of session signaling registration messages from a single session signaling registration message received from a mobile node.

20. The communication system of claim 16, wherein said access node further includes:

transmission circuitry for transmitting each of said plurality of generated session signaling registration messages to a different home session signaling server.

21. The communication system of claim 20, wherein said single session signaling registration message includes the address of multiple destination home session signaling servers.

22. A method of operating an access node to process a first session signal registration message from an end node, the method comprising:

performing a forwarding address translation operation on said first session signaling registration message to generate as second session signaling registration message; and

transmitting said second session signaling message.

23. The method of claim 22,

wherein performing a forwarding address translation operation includes substituting at least a portion of an end node session signaling address for at least a portion of an access node session signaling address, the access node session signaling address being included in a forwarding address field of the second registration message.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the substituted portion of an end node session signaling address is a domain part of said session signaling address.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein said first registration message includes multiple session signaling server destination addresses.

26. The method of claim 25, further comprising:

generating a plurality of registration messages from the first registration message, the second registration message being one of said plurality of generated registration messages.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein at least one registration message is generated by the access node for each of the multiple session signaling server destination addresses included in the second registration message.

28. A machine-readable storage medium comprising a session signaling register message, the session signaling register message including:

a target field;

a contact field; and

at least two different end node session signaling identifiers.

29. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 28, wherein the two different end node session signaling identifiers are first and second session signaling addresses corresponding to the same end node.

30. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 29, wherein the first session signaling address is the address of the end node in a first domain and wherein the second session signaling address is the address of the end node in a second domain.

31. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 29, wherein the first session signaling address is the address of the end node in a first domain and wherein the second session signaling address is the address of the end node in a second domain.

32. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 31,

wherein a portion of said first session signaling address identifies a first target;

and

wherein a portion of said second session signaling address identifies a second target.

33. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 32,

wherein said first portion is the session signaling address of a first home session signaling server;

and

wherein said second portion is the session signaling address of a second home session signaling server.

34. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 29,

wherein said target field includes a NULL value.

35. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 29,

wherein said target field includes at least two different session signaling addresses, each one of the different session signaling addresses in the target field corresponding to a single one of said addresses in the record field, the target and record fields each including the same number of session signaling addresses.

36. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 29,

wherein said contact field includes a single session signaling address corresponding to the current location of the end node.

37. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 29, wherein each session signaling address in said register message includes a user part and a domain part.