System and method for using a mobile routing tunneling protocol to locate functionality in a distributed architecture

• US 20040202160A1
• Filed: 04/11/2003
• Published: 10/14/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 04/11/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia, Inc. (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Westphal, Cedric
• Granted Patent: US 7,058,052 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/389
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4633 Interconnection of networks using encapsulation techniques, e.g. tunneling

Abstract

The system and method provides virtual mobility to an application by using a mobile router tunneling protocol (MRTP). The system and method use a MRTP to enable bi-directional tunneling between gateways so as to facilitate processing at a second network cluster in a way that is transparent to the user.

Claims

1. A method performed in an originating gateway communicatively coupled to a first network cluster, comprising:

maintaining a service location in a fixed network environment using a bi-directional tunnel to a second network cluster according to a mobile router tunneling protocol;

resolving a destination of a received packet based on the maintaining; and

forwarding the packet to the resolved destination.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising performing route optimization.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the maintaining is based on load balancing analysis.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising communicating with the corresponding gateway to determine if a load in the second network cluster exceeds a fixed threshold.

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising communicating with the corresponding gateway to determine if a load in the second network cluster exceeds a load in the first network cluster.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the maintaining is based on the distance between an origin of the received packet and the second network cluster.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the distance is measured in terms of space coordinates.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the distance is measured in terms of delays.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the first network cluster runs a first service and the second network cluster runs a second service.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile router tunneling protocol includes the NEMO standardized protocol.

11. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions to cause an originating gateway, communicatively coupled to a first network cluster, to execute a method, the method comprising:

maintaining a service location in a fixed network environment using a bi-directional tunnel to a second network cluster according to a mobile router tunneling protocol;

resolving a destination of a received packet based on the maintaining; and

forwarding the packet to the resolved destination.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the method further comprises performing route optimization.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the maintaining is based on load balancing analysis.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the method further comprises communicating with the corresponding gateway to determine if a load in the second network cluster exceeds a fixed threshold.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the method further comprises communicating with the corresponding gateway to determine if a load in the second network cluster exceeds a load in the first network cluster.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the maintaining is based on the distance between an origin of the received packet and the second network cluster.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the distance is measured in terms of space coordinates.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the distance is measured in terms of delays.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the first network cluster runs a first service and the second network cluster runs a second service.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the mobile router tunneling protocol includes the NEMO standardized protocol.

21. A gateway system in an originating gateway communicatively coupled to a first network cluster, comprising:

a gateway data structure capable of listing corresponding network cluster data;

a mobile router tunneling protocol engine, communicatively coupled to the gateway data structure, capable of using the gateway data structure to determine a second network cluster that corresponds with the first network cluster and capable of using a mobile router tunneling protocol to establish a bi-directional tunnel between the second network cluster and the originating gateway; and

an application, communicatively coupled to the engine, capable of invoking the mobile router tunneling protocol engine.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the mobile router tunneling protocol engine is further capable of performing route optimization.

23. The system of claim 21, wherein the maintaining is based on load balancing analysis.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the mobile router tunneling protocol engine is further capable of communicating with the corresponding gateway to determine if a load in the second network cluster exceeds a fixed threshold.

25. The system of claim 23, wherein the mobile router tunneling protocol engine is further capable of communicating with the corresponding gateway to determine if a load in the second network cluster exceeds a load in the first network cluster.

26. The system of claim 21, wherein the establishing is based on the distance between an origin of the received packet and the second network cluster.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein the distance is measured in terms of space coordinates.

28. The system of claim 26, wherein the distance is measured in terms of delays.

29. The system of claim 21, wherein the first network cluster runs a first service and the second network cluster runs a second service.

30. The system of claim 21, wherein the mobile router tunneling protocol includes the NEMO standardized protocol.

31. An originating gateway communicatively coupled to a first network cluster, comprising:

means for maintaining a service location in a fixed network environment using a bi-directional tunnel to a second network cluster according to a mobile router tunneling protocol;

means for resolving a destination of a received packet based on the maintaining; and

means for forwarding the packet to the resolved destination.