Mobile mesh Ad-Hoc networking

• US 6,879,574 B2
• Filed: 06/24/2002
• Issued: 04/12/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 06/24/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Kärkkäinen, Tero, Mäkinen, Jarmo T., Mustonen, Kai, Lindstrom, Tapio, Naghian, Siamäk, Lähetkangas, Keijo
• Primary Examiner(s): HSU, ALPUS
• Application Number:
  US10/179,477
• Publication Number:
  US 20030235175A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,023 Days
• Field of Search: 370/252, 370/254, 370/328, 370/329, 370/331, 370/338, 370/340, 370/341, 370/349, 370/351, 370/352, 370/389, 370/395.1, 370/401, 370/406, 370/465, 370/466, 370/467, 370/395.5, 370/409, 370/420, 370/310, 455/405, 455/406, 455/410, 455/411, 455/422.1, 455/426.1, 455/426.2, 455/436, 455/450, 455/509, 709/220, 709/223, 709/230, 709/249, 709/250, 709/252
• US Class Current: 370/338
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/66 Arrangements for connecting between networks having differing types of switching systems, e.g. gateways
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0853 using an additional device, e.g. smartcard, SIM or a different communication terminal cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication involving additional secure or trusted devices H04L9/3234
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/069 using certificates or pre-shared keys
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/16 Gateway arrangements

Abstract

An architectural solution in which standalone ad-hoc network cells are used as an extension of the backbone infrastructure in terms of network architecture or/and its service capabilities is provided. These Ad-Hoc networks will integrate to the Internet via cellular and other access networks. This integration brings new possibilities to network operators and ISP'"'"'s. In its extended architecture, it is envisaged that the mobility issues are handled by utilizing the IP mobility capabilities, taking into account the mobile mesh Ad-Hoc specific requirements.

Claims

1. A system for a hybrid architecture in a communications system comprising:

a backbone access network;

an access domain;

an Ad-Hoc domain underlying the access domain and arranged to provision wireless communication for nodes within a service area of the Ad-Hoc domain and the access domain;

a trunk node elected from the nodes within the service area of the Ad-Hoc domain and configured to act as a gateway between the nodes within the Ad-Hoc domain and the backbone access network.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the backbone access network is selected from a wired entity and a wireless entity.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the trunk node is elected from a set of criteria, wherein the set of criteria comprises location coordinates, movement characteristics of the nodes, a number of hops, a handover capability, a service profile, service availability, a Quality of Service, a power level, routing metrics, an accounting and billing policy, and an identifier.

4. The system of claim 1, further comprising an accounting and billing mechanism.

5. The system of claim 1, further comprising an authentication mechanism.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the authentication mechanism is configured to authorize the trunk node to join the nodes within the Ad-Hoc domain to the backbone access network or/and an Ad-Hoc sub network of nodes.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein the authentication mechanism may be selected from a set of mechanisms comprising a mechanism for providing authentication signaling, a mechanism for providing authentication, a mechanism for encryption/decryption and integrity check keys arrangement, and a method for generating random parameters used in an authentication algorithm.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the Ad-Hoc domain comprises a standalone proximity Ad-Hoc network.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the Ad-Hoc domain is integrated into other networks.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the backbone access network is an Internet infrastructure.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the access domain includes radio accesses that provide infrastructure oriented radio connection for the nodes.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the radio accesses include at least one of a mesh network, a WLAN network, and a cellular network.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the Ad-Hoc domain provides peer-to-peer single-hop, multi-hop and multi-branch radio communication, including both infrastructure-less and infrastructure-oriented radio communication for the nodes.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the Ad-Hoc domain includes at least one of fixed nodes and mobile nodes.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the access domain is configured to transfer multi-hop traffic.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein the access domain is configured to support transfer of authentication for an Ad-Hoc node moving between a single hop and a multihop connection.

33. The system of claim 1, wherein the Ad-Hoc domain is automatically arranged to provision multi-hop wireless communication for the nodes within the service area of the Ad-Hoc domain.

34. The system of claim 1, wherein the Ad-Hoc domain is automatically arranged to provision multi-channel wireless communication for the nodes within the service area of the Ad-Hoc domain.

17. A method for a communications system that includes a plurality of access domains and backbone entities underlaid by Ad-Hoc domains for provisioning of wireless communication for nodes within an Ad-Hoc service area, and Trunk Nodes adapted to handle connection to/from at least one of the access domains, the Ad-Hoc domains, and the backbone entities, comprising:

associating the Ad-Hoc domains with one of the backbone entities;

selecting a trunk node from among the nodes within the Ad-Hoc service area to act as a gateway between nodes within at least one of the Ad-Hoc domains and the one of the backbone entities; and

communicating information between the Ad-Hoc domains and the one of the backbone entities.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising selecting the one of the backbone entities from a wired entity and a wireless entity.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein selecting a trunk node to act as a gateway further comprises, selecting the trunk node based on a set of criteria.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the set of criteria comprises location coordinates, movement characteristics of the nodes, a number of hops, a handover capability, a service profile, service availability, a Quality of Service, a power level, routing metrics, an accounting and billing policy, and an identifier.

21. The method of claim 17, wherein the step of selecting a Trunk Node and a further step of coordinating radio resources of the Trunk Node are performed by an access domain.

22. The method of claim 17, further comprising charging for services relating to the at least one of the Ad-Hoc domains.

23. The method of claim 17, wherein each node within the at least one of the Ad-Hoc domains has a local unambiguous networking address network, in addition to a standard IP address.

24. The method of claim 17, wherein a local Ad-Hoc address is formed based on a local link layer address by utilizing Ad-Hoc protocols, keeping the local Ad-Hoc address auto-configurable.

25. The method of claim 17, further comprising authenticating nodes within the at least one of the Ad-Hoc domains.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein authenticating the nodes within the at least one of the Ad-Hoc domains further comprises allowing only authorized nodes to join the at least one of the Ad-Hoc domains.

27. The method of claim 25, further comprising providing a set of authentication mechanisms including a mechanism for providing authentication signaling, a mechanism for providing authentication, a mechanism for encryption/decryption and integrity check keys arrangement, and a mechanism for generating random parameters used in an authentication algorithm.

28. The method of claim 17, further comprising integrating the Ad-Hoc domain into other networks.

29. The method of claim 17, further comprising allowing the Ad-Hoc domain to be stand-alone and partitioned.

30. The method of claim 17, further comprising providing peer-to-peer single-hop, multi-hop and multi-branch radio communication, including both infrastructure-less and infrastructure-oriented radio communication for the nodes within the at least one of the Ad-Hoc domains.

31. The method of claim 30, further comprising transferring multi hop traffic using the access domain.

32. The method of claim 30, further comprising transferring of authentication for an Ad-Hoc node moving between a single hop and a multihop connection using the access domain.

35. A system for a hybrid architecture in a communications system comprising:

a backbone access network;

an access domain for radio access to the backbone access network;

an Ad-Hoc domain underlying the access domain and automatically arranged to provision at least one of multi-hop and multi-channel wireless communication with the access domain for and among nodes that arbitrarily come within a service area of the Ad-Hoc domain;

a trunk node of the Ad-Hoc domain that is elected from the nodes that arbitrarily come within a service area of the Ad-Hoc domain and is automatically configured to act as a gateway between the nodes within the Ad-Hoc domain and the backbone access network.

36. A method for a communications system that includes a plurality of access domains and entities underlaid by Ad-Hoc domains for automatically provisioning at least one of multi-hop and mult-channel wireless communication for and among nodes within an Ad-Hoc service area, and Trunk Nodes of the Ad-Hoc domains adapted to automatically handle connection to/from at least one of the access domains, the Ad-Hoc domains, and overlaid backbone entities, comprising:

associating the Ad-Hoc domains with an operator backbone entity;

selecting a trunk node from the nodes of an Ad-Hoc domain to act as a gateway between the nodes within the Ad-Hoc domain and a backbone entity; and

communicating information between the Ad-Hoc domain and the backbone entity.