System for context transfer for wireless internet devices

• US 20030214922A1
• Filed: 12/12/2002
• Published: 11/20/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 12/14/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Interdigital Technology Corporation (InterDigital, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Interdigital Technology Corporation (InterDigital, Inc.)
• Inventors: Shahrier, Sharif M.
• Granted Patent: US 7,974,294 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/331
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/164 at the network layer
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/16 Implementation or adaptation of Internet protocol [IP], of transmission control protocol [TCP] or of user datagram protocol [UDP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/161 Implementation details of TCP/IP or UDP/IP stack architecture; Specification of modified or new header fields
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/16 Central resource management; Negotiation of resources or communication parameters, e.g. negotiating bandwidth or QoS [Quality of Service]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/24 Negotiating SLA [Service Level Agreement]; Negotiating QoS [Quality of Service]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0033 with transfer of context information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/12 Reselecting a serving backbone network switching or routing node
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/36 due to handover
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/00 Wireless channel access
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/08 Mobility data transfer
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/20 Transfer of user or subscriber data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/04 Network layer protocols, e.g. mobile IP [Internet Protocol]

Abstract

A system and method for feature context transfer store all currently “active” feature contexts locally at an Access Router (AR), and store all “inactive” feature contexts centrally in a main database. The main database can be accessed by all the ARs within the same administrative domain. When a new microflow becomes active, its active feature contexts are brought from the main database and loaded into the local directory, thus replacing any inactive feature contexts that are not needed at the time.

Claims

1. A communication domain having a central node coupled with at least a first access router (AR) and a second AR, each of said ARs being in wireless communication with at least one mobile node (MN) via at least one active microflow, the communication domain including a system for transferring an MN from said first AR to said second AR in the event of a handover, the system comprising:

a central database at said central node for storing feature contexts for all microflows in the communication domain, said feature contexts comprising active feature contexts for active microflows and inactive feature contexts for inactive microflows;

a local database at each AR, each local database for storing active feature contexts for each active microflow to a NM; and

a memory transfer agent at each AR, for handling the transfer of only said active feature contexts are from said first AR to said second AR in the event of a handover.

2. The system of claim 1, whereby inactive feature contexts may also be stored in each said local database.

3. The system of claim 2 whereby said forwarded active feature contexts overwrite inactive feature contexts.

4. The system of claim 1, further comprising a context transfer agent (CTA) at each AR, for determining whether said forwarding of said active feature contexts may proceed.

7. The system of claim 1, whereby inactive feature contexts may also be stored in each said local database, and said forwarded active feature contexts overwrite inactive feature contexts.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising a context transfer agent (CTA) at each AR for forwarding said active feature contexts.

5. A method for transferring context data from a first access router (AR) to a second AR upon handover within a domain containing a plurality of ARs, said first and second ARs being coupled to a central node, and said first AR being wirelessly coupled to a mobile node (MN), said wireless coupling including an active microflow, the method comprising:

storing all feature contexts related to all microflows within the domain at the central node;

storing active feature contexts related to said active microflow at said first AR; and

initiating handover to said second AR, including forwarding said active feature contexts to said second AR.

6. A communication system having a central node coupled with a plurality of access routers (ARs), each being in wireless communication with at least one mobile node (MN) via at least one active microflow, the communication domain including a system for transferring an MN from said first AR to said second AR, the system comprising:

a central database at said central node for storing feature contexts for all microflows in the communication domain, said feature contexts comprising active feature contexts for active microflows and inactive feature contexts for inactive microflows;

a local database at each AR for storing only active feature contexts for each active microflow; and

a memory transfer agent at each AR, for handling the transfer of only said active feature contexts are from a first AR to a second AR.

9. A method for transferring context data from a first access router (AR) to a second AR upon handover within a domain containing a plurality of ARs, said first and second ARs being coupled to a central node, and each AR being wirelessly coupled to a mobile node (MN) via an active microflow, the method comprising:

storing all feature contexts related to all microflows within the domain at the central node;

storing active feature contexts related to an active microflow at said first AR; and

forwarding only said active feature context from said first AR to said second AR.