Home agent duplication method and home agent duplication apparatus

• US 20050207429A1
• Filed: 09/22/2004
• Published: 09/22/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 03/17/2004
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Original Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Inventors: Seto, Koujirou, Akita, Kenichi, Nakamori, Futoshi, Sakurai, Yamato, Takezaki, Junji, Nagaki, Makoto
• Application Number:
  US10/946,976
• Publication Number:
  US 20050207429A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/401
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/16 Communication-related supplementary services, e.g. call-transfer or call-hold
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/04 Registration at HLR or HSS [Home Subscriber Server]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/12 between location registers or mobility servers
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/04 Network layer protocols, e.g. mobile IP [Internet Protocol]

Abstract

A method for duplicating a home agent including an address correspondence maintaining unit for maintaining a destination address of a mobile terminal in correspondence with a home address of the mobile terminal, and a transferring unit for encapsulating an IP packet addressed to the home address of the mobile terminal and transferring the encapsulated IP packet to the destination address of the mobile terminal is disclosed. The method includes the steps of setting a home agent address, which is the same as a home agent address of an operation system home agent, to a standby system home agent, and receiving a location registration request, which is sent from the mobile terminal and addressed to the operation system home agent, with the standby system home agent.

Claims

1. A method for duplicating a home agent including an address correspondence maintaining unit for maintaining a destination address of a mobile terminal in correspondence with a home address of the mobile terminal, and a transferring unit for encapsulating an IP packet addressed to the home address of the mobile terminal and transferring the encapsulated IP packet to the destination address of the mobile terminal, the method comprising the steps of:

setting a home agent address, which is the same as a home agent address of an operation system home agent, to a standby system home agent; and

receiving a location registration request, which is sent from the mobile terminal and addressed to the operation system home agent, with the standby system home agent.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

generating a corresponding relation between the destination address of the mobile terminal and the home address of the mobile terminal with the standby system home agent, the generated corresponding relation having the same content as the corresponding relation of the operation system home agent;

maintaining the generated corresponding relation in an address correspondence maintaining unit of the standby system home agent; and

returning no response from the standby system home agent with respect to the location registration request sent from the mobile terminal.

3. The method as claimed in claim 2, further comprising a step of:

periodically transmitting location registration requests registered in an address correspondence maintaining unit of the operation system home agent to the standby system home agent.

4. The method as claimed in claim 3, further comprising the steps of:

monitoring an operation state of the operation system home agent; and

switching a transmission destination from the operation system home agent to the standby system home agent when a disorder of the operation system home agent is detected from monitoring the operation state of the operation system home agent, so that packets addressed to the home address and the operation system home agent are transferred to the standby system home agent.

5. The method as claimed in claim 4, further comprising the steps of:

transmitting location registration requests registered in the address correspondence maintaining unit of the standby system home agent to the operation system home agent when a recovery of the disorder of the operation system home agent is detected from monitoring the operation state of the operation system home agent;

generating another corresponding relation between the destination address of the mobile terminal and the home address of the mobile terminal with the operation system home agent, the other generated corresponding relation having the same content as the corresponding relation of the standby system home agent;

maintaining the generated corresponding relation in the address correspondence maintaining unit of the standby system home agent; and

returning no response from the operation system home agent with respect to the location registration request sent from the mobile terminal.

6. The method as claimed in claim 5, further comprising a step of:

switching a transmission destination from the standby system home agent to the operation system home agent when completing the transmission of the location registration requests from the standby system home agent to the operation system home agent after detecting the recovery of the disorder of the operation system home agent, so that packets addressed to the home address and the operation system home agent are transferred to the operation system home agent.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a step of:

setting another home agent address, which is the same as another home agent address of another operation system home agent, to the standby system home agent.

8. A standby system home agent used for a method for duplicating a home agent including an address correspondence maintaining unit for maintaining a destination address of a mobile terminal in correspondence with a home address of the mobile terminal, and a transferring unit for encapsulating an IP packet addressed to the home address of the mobile terminal and transferring the encapsulated IP packet to the destination address of the mobile terminal, the standby system home agent comprising:

a home agent address maintaining unit for maintaining a home agent address which is the same as a home agent of an operation system agent,

wherein the standby system home agent receives a location registration request which is sent from the mobile terminal and addressed to the operation system home agent.

9. The standby system home agent as claimed in claim 8, further comprising a no response unit for generating a corresponding relation between the destination address of the mobile terminal and the home address of the mobile terminal, the generated corresponding relation having the same content as the corresponding relation of the operation system home agent, for maintaining the generated corresponding relation in an address correspondence maintaining unit of the standby system home agent, and for returning no response with respect to the location registration request sent from the mobile terminal.

10. The standby system home agent as claimed in claim 9, further comprising a switching unit for switching a transmission destination from the operation system home agent to the standby system home agent when a disorder of the operation system home agent is detected from monitoring an operation state of the operation system home agent, so that packets addressed to the home address and the operation system home agent are transferred to the standby system home agent.

11. The standby system home agent as claimed in claim 10, further comprising a transmitting unit for transmitting location registration requests registered in the address correspondence maintaining unit of the standby system home agent to the operation system home agent when a recovery of the disorder of the operation system home agent is detected from monitoring the operation state of the operation system home agent.

12. The standby system home agent as claimed in claim 11, wherein the switching unit switches a transmission destination from the standby system home agent to the operation system home agent when completing the transmission of the location registration requests from the standby system home agent to the operation system home agent after detecting the recovery of the disorder of the operation system home agent, so that packets addressed to the home address and the operation system home agent are transferred to the operation system home agent.

13. An operation system home agent used for a method for duplicating a home agent including an address correspondence maintaining unit for maintaining a destination address of a mobile terminal in correspondence with a home address of the mobile terminal, and a transferring unit for encapsulating an IP packet addressed to the home address of the mobile terminal and transferring the encapsulated IP packet to the destination address of the mobile terminal, the operation system home agent comprising:

a transmitting unit for periodically transmitting location registration requests registered in an address correspondence maintaining unit of the operation system home agent to the standby system home agent.

14. The operation system home agent as claimed in claim 13, further comprising a no response unit for receiving location registration requests registered in the address correspondence maintaining unit of the standby system home agent from the standby system home agent, for generating a corresponding relation between the destination address of the mobile terminal and the home address of the mobile terminal, the generated corresponding relation having the same content as the corresponding relation of the standby system home agent, for maintaining the generated corresponding relation in the address correspondence maintaining unit of the standby system home agent, and for returning no response with respect to the location registration request sent from the mobile terminal.