Technique for IP communication among wireless devices

• US 20030214929A1
• Filed: 05/14/2002
• Published: 11/20/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 05/14/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Magnolia Licensing LLC (IP Edge LLC)
• Original Assignee: Thomson Licensing (Vantiva SA)
• Inventors: Bichot, Guillaume, Zhang, Junbiao, Verma, Shaily
• Granted Patent: US 7,050,416 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/338
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/04 Interdomain routing, e.g. hierarchical routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/248 Connectivity information update
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/34 Modification of an existing route
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/36 due to handover
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/26 Network addressing or numbering for mobility support
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/04 Network layer protocols, e.g. mobile IP [Internet Protocol]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/14 Backbone network devices

Abstract

A General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) network (14₁) includes at least one, and preferably, a plurality of radio access networks (16₁-16_m), each providing radio access to one or more mobile terminal users (12₁-12_n). Associated with one or more of the access networks is a corresponding one of a plurality of Serving GPRS Service Nodes (SGSNs) (24₁-24_m), each node serving to identify and authenticate a mobile terminal user. Advantageously, each SGSN also serves to cache IP packets from a sending mobile terminal user and to examine each packet to determine if the destination IP address corresponds to another mobile terminal user in the network. If so, then that SGSN routes the packet to the destination mobile terminal user. Otherwise, if the packet destination lies outside the network, the SGSN routes the packet to a gateway (32) for routing beyond the network.

Claims

1. A method for communicating at least one data packet among mobile terminal users served by a Packet Radio Service Network, comprising the steps of:

caching at a source service node in the network a packet from a mobile terminal user, the packet having a destination IP address;

checking at the source service node whether the destination IP address of the identifies any mobile terminal users served by the network, and if so,

routing the packet to a destination mobile terminal user identified by the destination IP address in the packet.

2. The method according to claim 1 further including the step of routing the packet to a gateway when the destination IP address identifies an external destination destined to receive the packet.

3. The method according to claim 1 further including the step of updating the source service node each time a new mobile terminal user attaches itself to the network.

4. The method according to claim 1 wherein the checking step includes the step of querying a routing table maintained by the source service node that lists mobile terminal users and their corresponding IP addresses.

5. The method according to claim 4 wherein the source service node discards routing information in its routing table after a prescribed interval.

6. The method according to claim 4 wherein the source service node updates its routing table by querying a home location register in the network when the source service node lacks knowledge of whether the destination IP address lies within the network.

7. The method according to claim 6 wherein the source service node dynamically updates the home location register with dynamically allocated IP address information each time a new mobile terminal user attaches itself to the service node.

8. The method according to claim 1 further including the steps of:

determining at the source service node whether the mobile terminal user whose packet the service node had cached no longer remains associated with that service node, and if so,

updating an internal routing table maintained by the source service node to reflect that the mobile terminal user no longer remains associated with that node.

9. The method according to claim 8 wherein the source service node alerts at least a second service node in the network that the mobile terminal is no longer associated with the first service node.

10. The method according to claim 8 wherein the source service node alerts at least a second service node in the network when a new mobile terminal user has become attached to the source service node.

11. The method according to claim 1 wherein the routing step includes the step of routing the packet to a destination service node to which the destination mobile terminal user is attached.

12. The method according to claim 11 wherein the packet is temporarily routed by the source service node to the destination service node even after the destination mobile terminal user has detached itself from the destination service node and attached itself to a new destination service node, such temporary routing continuing until the new destination service node notifies the source service node of a new routing path.

13. A General Packet Radio Service Network, comprising:

at least one radio access network for radio access to mobile terminal users; and

at least one service node in the network coupled to the at least one access network for caching from a sending a mobile terminal user an IP packet having an IP destination address, the service node checking the destination IP address to determine if the packet is destined for at least one recipient mobile terminal user served by the at least one access network, and if so, then routing the packet to the recipient mobile terminal user identified by the destination IP address in the packet.

14. The apparatus according to claim 13 further including a gateway coupled to the one service node for assigning an identifying address to each mobile terminal user on the at least one network, and for routing the IP packet to an external destination when the IP destination address in the packet identifies the external destination for the packet.

15. For use with a General Packet Radio Service Network having at least one radio access network for radio access to mobile terminal users,

at least one service node for coupling to the one access network for caching a from a sending a mobile terminal user an IP packet having an IP destination address, the service node checking the destination IP address to determine if the packet is destined for at least one recipient mobile terminal user served by the at least one network, and if so, then routing the packet to the recipient mobile terminal user identified by the destination IP address in the packet.

16. The apparatus according to claim 15 further including a gateway coupled to the one service node for assigning an identifying address to each mobile terminal user on the at least one network, and for routing the IP packet to an external destination when the IP destination address designates the external destination for the packet.