Communications control
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- outputting in a packet data network a first data packet from a network party towards a terminal;
associating the first data packet with a time-to-live (TTL) adjusted to enable the first data packet to reach one or more intervening network entities but not to enable the first data packet to reach the terminal, in order to maintain traffic through the one or more intervening network entities to postpone expiry of a connection between the terminal and the network party in the one or more intervening network entities.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A client and a host communicate in a packet data network including a plurality of routing nodes such as routers and firewalls. The host is configured to provide the client with a session and to detect the accessibility of the client by repeatedly sending keep-alive messages to the client. In order to reduce the traffic actually arriving at the client, at least some of the keep-alive message are adjusted such that their routing towards the client will be stopped before the client by storing in a Time-To-Live field specified in the Internet Protocol a value of maximum routing hops defined to correspond with the last routing node before the client on a route from the host to the client. The adaptation of the keep-alive message can also be configured to allow some keep-alive message to reach the client to occasionally test the communication path between the client and server.
37 Citations
41 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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outputting in a packet data network a first data packet from a network party towards a terminal; associating the first data packet with a time-to-live (TTL) adjusted to enable the first data packet to reach one or more intervening network entities but not to enable the first data packet to reach the terminal, in order to maintain traffic through the one or more intervening network entities to postpone expiry of a connection between the terminal and the network party in the one or more intervening network entities. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. An adaptation element, comprising:
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an input configured to input a first data packet traveling in a packet data network from a network party towards a terminal, which packet data network comprises one or more intervening network entities on a route between the network party and the terminal; a processor configured to associate the first data packet with a time-to-live (TTL) adjusted to enable the first data packet to reach the one or more intervening network entities but not to enable the first data packet to reach the terminal, in order to maintain traffic through the one or more intervening network entities in order to postpone expiry of a connection between the terminal and the network party in the one or more intervening network entities. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A computer program stored in a computer readable medium, the computer program comprising computer executable program code adapted to control an intermediate network element, comprising:
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computer executable program code for causing the intermediate network element to input a first data packet traveling in a packet data network from a network party towards a terminal, which packet data network comprises one or more intervening network entities on a route between the network party and the terminal; computer executable program code for causing the intermediate network element to associate the first data packet with a time-to-live (TTL) adjusted to enable the first data packet to reach the one or more intervening network entities but not to enable the first data packet to reach the terminal, in order to maintain traffic through the one or more intervening network entities in order to postpone expiry of a connection between the terminal and the network party in the one or more intervening network entities.
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31. A terminal comprising:
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a communication unit for receiving a first data packet from a packet data network; a processor configured to detect the number of time-to-live hops the first data packet has passed in the packet data network before arriving at the terminal; and an output for outputting to the packet data network a response packet indicative of the detected number of hops. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. A computer program stored in a computer readable medium, the computer program comprising computer executable program code adapted to control a terminal, comprising:
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computer executable program code for causing the terminal to receive a first data packet from a packet data network; computer executable program code for causing the terminal to detect the number of time-to-live hops the first data packet has passed in the packet data network before arriving at the terminal; and computer executable program code for causing the terminal to output to the packet data network a response packet indicative of the detected number of hops.
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40. An adaptation element, comprising:
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means for inputting a first data packet traveling in a packet data network from a network party towards a terminal, which packet data network comprises one or more intervening network entities on a route between the network party and the terminal; means for associating the first data packet with a time-to-live (TTL) adjusted to enable the first data packet to reach the one or more intervening network entities but not to enable the first data packet to reach the terminal, in order to maintain traffic through the one or more intervening network entities in order to postpone expiry of a connection between the terminal and the network party in the one or more intervening network entities.
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41. A terminal comprising:
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means for receiving a first data packet from a packet data network; means for detecting the number of time-to-live hops the first data packet has passed in the packet data network before arriving at the terminal; and means for outputting to the packet data network a response packet indicative of the detected number of hops.
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Specification