ROUTING DIFFERENT SUBSETS OF AN INTERNET PROTOCOL FLOW OVER DIFFERENT POINTS OF ATTACHMENT

• US 20120257566A1
• Filed: 04/08/2011
• Published: 10/11/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 04/08/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Malikie Innovations Limited (Key Patent Innovations Limited)
• Original Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Inventors: Le, Khiem, Wu, Wei, Faccin, Stefano
• Granted Patent: US 8,942,193 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/328
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/308 Route determination based on user's profile, e.g. premium users
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/38 Flow based routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/17 Selecting a data network PoA [Point of Attachment]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 60/005 Multiple registrations, e.g. multihoming
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/04 Network layer protocols, e.g. mobile IP [Internet Protocol]

Abstract

An IP flow is received by an Internet Protocol (IP) mobility anchor point, where the IP mobility anchor point is to anchor traffic of a mobile node. The IP mobility anchor point routes different subsets of the packets of the IP flow to corresponding different points of attachment of the mobile node.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by an Internet Protocol (IP) mobility anchor point, an IP flow of packets, where the IP mobility anchor point is to anchor traffic of a mobile node; and

routing, by the IP mobility anchor point, different subsets of the packets of the IP flow to corresponding different points of attachment of the mobile node.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the routing further comprises routing copies of packets of at least a particular one of the subsets to another point of attachment of the mobile node.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein routing the different subsets of the packets to the corresponding different points of attachment comprises routing the different subsets of the packets to corresponding different addresses of the mobile node.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein routing the different subsets of the packets to the corresponding different points of attachment comprises routing the different subsets of the packets over corresponding different access networks to which the mobile node is attached.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing a mapping data structure at the IP mobility anchor point, wherein the mapping data structure maps the IP flow to the points of attachment.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the mapping data structure contains an indicator to indicate whether or not an extended binding is present in the mapping data structure, the extended binding enabling the routing of the different subsets of the packets of the IP flow to the corresponding different points of attachment.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the IP mobility anchor point is one of (a) a home agent in a home network of the mobile node, and (b) a router in a visited network of the mobile node.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving, by the IP mobility anchor point, signaling to create an extended binding to enable the routing of the different subsets of the packets of the IP flow to the corresponding different points of attachment of the mobile node.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising limiting, by the IP mobility anchor point, an amount of signaling to modify bindings within a predefined time interval to less than a predefined threshold.

10. A method of a first node, comprising:

communicating, with a second node, an information element relating to an extended binding, where the first node is one of a mobile node and an Internet Protocol (IP) mobility anchor point, where the second node is the other of the mobile node and the IP mobility anchor point, and where the IP mobility anchor point is to anchor traffic of the mobile node,

wherein the extended binding defines an association between an IP flow and plural points of attachment of the mobile node, and wherein the extended binding is to cause the IP mobility anchor point to route different subsets of packets of the IP flow over corresponding different points of attachment.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

communicating, with the second node, a second information element establishing a limit on a rate at which extended bindings can be modified.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the second information element is communicated in a Binding Acknowledgement message.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the information element is communicated in a Binding Update message.

14. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

creating a first mapping data structure that maps the extended binding to the plural points of attachment.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

creating a second mapping data structure that maps the IP flow to the extended binding.

16. An Internet Protocol (IP) mobility anchor point, comprising:

an interface to receive an IP flow of packets; and

at least one processor configured to;

in response to the IP flow, access a mapping of the IP flow to plural points of attachment of a mobile node;

according to the mapping, route different subsets of the packets of the IP flow to corresponding different ones of the points of attachment of the mobile node.

17. The IP mobility anchor point of claim 16, wherein the mapping contains an indicator to indicate whether or not an extended binding is present in the mapping, the extended binding enabling the routing of the different subsets of the packets of the IP flow to the corresponding different points of attachment.

18. The IP mobility anchor point of claim 17, wherein the at least one processor is configured to receive a Binding Update message to create the extended binding.

19. The IP mobility anchor point of claim 18, wherein the at least one processor is configured to send a Binding Acknowledgment message to prevent a number of Binding Update messages for modifying bindings relating to the mobile node within a predefined time interval from exceeding a predefined threshold.

20. The IP mobility anchor point of claim 19, wherein the at least one processor is configured to further:

upon sending the Binding Acknowledgment message, start a timer that is set to expire after the predefined time interval.

21. The IP mobility anchor point of claim 20, wherein the at least one processor is configured to further:

in response to receiving a further Binding Update message to modify an extended binding relating to the mobile node, determine if a total number of Binding Update messages from the mobile node has exceeded the predefined threshold.

22. The IP mobility anchor point of claim 21, wherein the at least one processor is configured to further:

in response to determining that the total number of Binding Update messages has exceeded the predefined threshold and the timer has not yet expired, send an indication to reject the further Binding Update message.

23. A mobile node comprising:

an interface to communicate with an Internet Protocol (IP) mobility anchor point; and

at least one processor configured to;

send signaling to the IP mobility anchor containing an information element relating to an extended binding, wherein the extended binding defines an association between an IP flow and plural points of attachment of the mobile node, where the IP flow is associated with the mobile node, and

wherein the extended binding is to cause the IP mobility anchor point to route different subsets of packets of the IP flow over corresponding different points of attachment.

24. The mobile node of claim 23, wherein the signaling comprises a Binding Update message that contains the information element.

25. The mobile node of claim 23, wherein the at least one processor is configured to further receive responsive signaling from the IP mobility anchor point that contains an information element limiting an amount of signaling that the mobile node is able to send to modify bindings within a predefined time interval.