Network-based reliability of mobility gateways

• US 20080101314A1
• Filed: 10/27/2006
• Published: 05/01/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 10/27/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Bachmutsky, Alexander
• Granted Patent: US 7,848,338 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/342
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0817 by checking functioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/04 Arrangements for maintaining operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/16 Gateway arrangements

Abstract

A gateway node provides an interface connectivity between communication networks. The gateway node is configured to be operably connected to another gateway node as well as to a base station providing connectivity for a plurality of mobile terminals over a radio interface. Further, the gateway node is configured to send a first peer status report message indicating the respective status of a group of functions of the gateway node which are predetermined to be vital to an application connectivity over the gateway node of selected ones of said plurality of mobile terminals. The first peer status report message is sent periodically.

Claims

1. A gateway node for providing an interface connectivity between communication networks, wherein the gateway node is configured to

be operably connected to another gateway node as well as to a base station providing connectivity for a plurality of mobile terminals over a radio interface;

and

send a first peer status report message indicating the respective status of a group of functions of the gateway node which are predetermined to be vital to an application connectivity over the gateway node of selected ones of said plurality of mobile terminals,

wherein the first peer status report message is sent periodically.

2. The gateway node according to claim 1, further configured to

receive a second peer status report message indicating the respective status of a group of functions of the another gateway node which are predetermined to be vital to an application connectivity over the another gateway node of other selected ones of said plurality of mobile terminals;

and

send a base station report message to the base station indicating the status of the another gateway node in case the status of the another gateway node has changed according to a changed indication within two consecutively received second peer status report messages, wherein

the peer second status report message is received periodically.

3. The gateway node according to claim 2, further configured to consider the absence of a second peer status report message within the periodicity of its receipt as the receipt of a second peer status report message indicating a function failure.

4. The gateway node according to claim 1, wherein the group of functions comprises one or more of the following:

user plane forwarding, internet protocol forwarding, foreign agent, authenticator, paging, datapath.

5. The gateway node according to claim 2, further configured to exchange state information messages with said another gateway node indicating states at least selected from the group of authentication and encryption keys, as well as mobile internet protocol registrations.

6. A base station for providing connectivity for selected ones of a plurality of mobile terminals to a communication network over a radio interface, wherein the base station is configured to

be operably connected to first and second gateway nodes as well as to said plurality of mobile terminals;

and

receive a base station report message indicating a status of the first gateway node, wherein the status is either failed or recovered.

7. The base station according to claim 6, further configured to trigger a full communication network re-entry of the selected ones of the plurality of mobile terminals in case the status of the first gateway node has changed according to a changed indication within two consecutively received base station report messages, wherein the full communication network re-entry involves a gateway node selection for serving the plurality of mobile terminals, and wherein the first gateway node is only considered for selection if its currently indicated status is recovered.

8. The base station according to claim 7, further configured to trigger those mobile terminals out of the selected ones of the plurality of mobile terminals which are actively exchanging data in case of an indicated failed status of the first gateway node with a higher priority, and in case of an indicated recovered status of the first gateway node with lower priority.

9. The base station according to claim 6, further configured to trigger a full communication network re-entry of active mobile terminals of the selected ones of the plurality of mobile terminals in case the status of the first gateway node has changed according to a changed indication within two consecutively received base station report messages, wherein the full communication network re-entry involves a gateway node selection for serving the active mobile terminals, and wherein the first gateway node is only considered for selection if its currently indicated status is recovered.

10. The base station according to claim 6, further configured to trigger a partial communication network re-entry of the selected ones of the plurality of mobile terminals in case the status of the first gateway node has changed according to a changed indication within two consecutively received base station report messages, wherein the partial communication network re-entry involves a gateway node selection for serving the plurality of mobile terminals, wherein the first gateway node is only considered for selection if its currently indicated status is recovered, and wherein state information present at said second gateway node is utilized for the communication network re-entry with said state information being at least selected from the group of authentication and encryption keys, as well as mobile internet protocol registrations.

11. A system for providing a gateway node resiliency within a communication network, comprising:

a plurality of gateway nodes for providing an interface connectivity between communication networks; and

a plurality of base stations for providing connectivity for selected ones of a plurality of mobile terminals to a communication network over a radio interface, wherein

each of the gateway nodes is configured to be operably connected with each of the base stations and vice versa, respectively, and

each of the gateway nodes is configured to periodically send a peer status report message indicating its status, the status being either failed or recovered.

12. The system according to claim 11, wherein the system is configured to consider the absence of a peer status report message within the periodicity of its sending as the sending of a peer status report message indicating a failure status.

13. The system according to claim 12, wherein each of the gateway nodes is further configured

to send the peer status report message to at least another gateway node,

to receive the peer status report message from at least said another or still another gateway node, and

to send a base station report message to each of the plurality of base stations indicating the status of the said another or still another gateway node, in case the status of the said another or still another gateway node has changed according to a changed indication within two consecutively received peer status report messages.

14. The system according to claim 11, further comprising a plurality of mobile terminals, wherein each of the base stations is configured to assign a mobile terminal which is connected to it via the radio interface upon communication network entry to a selected gateway node.

15. The system according to claim 13, wherein

each of the base stations is configured to trigger a full communication network re-entry of a mobile terminal which is connected to it via the radio interface in case the status of any one of the plurality of gateway nodes has changed according to a changed indication within two consecutively received base station report messages, and

the full communication network re-entry involves a gateway node selection for serving each of the plurality of mobile terminals, with a gateway node only being considered for selection if its currently indicated status is recovered.

16. The system according to claim 15, wherein each of said base station is further configured to trigger those mobile terminals out of the selected ones of the plurality of mobile terminals which are actively exchanging data in case of an indicated failed status of the first gateway node with a higher priority, and in case of an indicated recovered status of the first gateway node with lower priority.

17. The system according to claim 13, wherein

each of the base stations is configured to trigger a full communication network re-entry of an active mobile terminal which is connected to it via the radio interface in case the status of any one of the plurality of gateway nodes has changed according to a changed indication within two consecutively received base station report messages, and

the full communication network re-entry involves a gateway node selection for serving each active mobile terminal, with a gateway node only being considered for selection if its currently indicated status is recovered.

18. The system according to claim 11, wherein

each of the gateway nodes is further configured to exchange state information messages with at least another gateway node indicating state information at least selected from the group of authentication and encryption keys, as well as mobile internet protocol registrations, and

each of the base stations is further configured to trigger a partial communication network re-entry of the selected ones of the plurality of mobile terminals in case the status of any one of the plurality of gateway nodes has changed according to a changed indication within two consecutively received base station report messages, wherein the partial communication network re-entry involves a gateway node selection for serving the plurality of mobile terminals, with a gateway node only being considered for selection if its currently indicated status is recovered, and wherein state information present at each of the gateway nodes which are not in failed status is utilized for the communication network re-entry.

19. A method of providing a gateway node resiliency within a communication network, comprising:

providing an interface connectivity between communication networks by a plurality of gateway nodes;

providing connectivity for selected ones of a plurality of mobile terminals to a communication network over a radio interface by each of a plurality of base stations;

operably connecting each of the gateway nodes with each of the base stations and vice versa, respectively; and

periodically sending a peer status report message by each of the gateway nodes indicating its status, the status being either failed or recovered.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein the absence of a peer status report message within the periodicity of its sending is considered as the sending of a peer status report message indicating a failure status.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein the peer status report message is sent to at least another gateway node, further comprising:

receiving the peer status report message from at least said another or still another gateway node; and

sending a base station report message to each of the plurality of base stations indicating the status of the said another or still another gateway node, in case the status of the said another or still another gateway node has changed according to a changed indication within two consecutively received peer status report messages.

22. The method according to claim 19, further comprising:

assigning upon communication network entry each of a plurality of mobile terminals by a base station to which it is connected via the radio interface to a selected gateway node.

23. The method according to claim 21, further comprising:

triggering by each of the base stations a full communication network re-entry of a mobile terminal which is connected to it via the radio interface in case the status of any one of the plurality of gateway nodes has changed according to a changed indication within two consecutively received base station report messages, and

involving a gateway node selection by the full communication network re-entry for serving each of the plurality of mobile terminals, wherein a gateway node is only considered for selection if its currently indicated status is recovered.

24. The method according to claim 23, wherein said triggering includes triggering those mobile terminals out of the selected ones of the plurality of mobile terminals which are actively exchanging data in case of an indicated failed status of the first gateway node with a higher priority, and in case of an indicated recovered status of the first gateway node with lower priority.

25. The method according to claim 21, further comprising:

triggering by each of the base stations a full communication network re-entry of an active mobile terminal which is connected to it via the radio interface in case the status of any one of the plurality of gateway nodes has changed according to a changed indication within two consecutively received base station report messages, and

involving a gateway node selection by the full communication network re-entry for serving each active mobile terminal, wherein a gateway node is only considered for selection if its currently indicated status is recovered.

26. The method according to claim 19, further comprising:

exchanging by each of the gateway nodes state information messages with at least another gateway node indicating state information at least selected from the group of authentication and encryption keys, as well as mobile internet protocol registrations,

triggering by each of the base stations a partial communication network re-entry of the selected ones of the plurality of mobile terminals in case the status of any one of the plurality of gateway nodes has changed according to a changed indication within two consecutively received base station report messages,

involving a gateway node selection by the partial communication network re-entry for serving the plurality of mobile terminals, with a gateway node only being considered for selection if its currently indicated status is recovered, and

re-entering the communication network by the selected ones of the plurality of mobile terminals, wherein state information present at each of the gateway nodes which are not in failed status is utilized.

27. A gateway node for providing an interface connectivity between communication networks, comprising:

means for operably connecting to another gateway node as well as to a base station providing connectivity for a plurality of mobile terminals over a radio interface; and

means for sending a first peer status report message indicating the respective status of a group of functions of the gateway node which are predetermined to be vital to an application connectivity over the gateway node of selected ones of said plurality of mobile terminals,

wherein the first peer status report message is sent periodically.

28. A base station for providing connectivity for selected ones of a plurality of mobile terminals to a communication network over a radio interface, comprising:

means for operably connecting to first and second gateway nodes as well as to said plurality of mobile terminals; and

means for receiving a base station report message indicating a status of the first gateway node, wherein the status is either failed or recovered.

29. A system for providing a gateway node resiliency within a communication network, comprising:

a plurality of gateway node means for providing an interface connectivity between communication networks; and

a plurality of base station means for providing connectivity for selected ones of a plurality of mobile terminal means to a communication network over a radio interface, wherein

each of the gateway node means is configured to be operably connected with each of the base station means and vice versa, respectively, and

each of the gateway node means is configured to periodically send a peer status report message indicating its status, the status being either failed or recovered.

30. A computer program product comprising instructions which are operable to control a data processor, the instructions including:

to provide an interface connectivity between communication networks by a plurality of gateway nodes;

to provide connectivity for selected ones of a plurality of mobile terminals to a communication network over a radio interface by each of a plurality of base stations;

to operably connect each of the gateway nodes with each of the base stations and vice versa, respectively; and

to periodically send a peer status report message by each of the gateway nodes indicating its status, the status being either failed or recovered.