Method and system for mobile IP home agent redundancy by using home agent control nodes for managing multiple home agents

• US 7,080,151 B1
• Filed: 04/01/2002
• Issued: 07/18/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 04/01/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: UTStarcom Incorporated (UTStarcom Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: UTStarcom Incorporated (UTStarcom Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Warrier, Chandra, Bhatia, Ravideep, Alex, Arun, Kunnath, Sudhir, Borella, Michael S., Sharma, Abhishek
• Primary Examiner(s): Najjar, Saleh
• Assistant Examiner(s): Duong, Oanh
• Application Number:
  US10/113,184
• Time in Patent Office: 1,569 Days
• Field of Search: 709/105, 709/230, 709/245, 709/248, 455/432.1
• US Class Current: 709/230
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/40 for recovering from a failure of a protocol instance or entity, e.g. service redundancy protocols, protocol state redundancy or protocol service redirection management of faults, events, alarms or notifications in data switching networks H04L41/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/16 Communication-related supplementary services, e.g. call-transfer or call-hold
• 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 and system for Mobile Internet Protocol (IP) device redundancy. As mobile devices roam away from a home network and change a connective status, mobility binding records are sent to a multicast network address on the home network. The multicast network address multicasts the mobility binding records to other active Mobile IP home agent control nodes, standby home agent control nodes and standby home agents on the home network. The method and system allows standby home agent control nodes or standby home agents to be transparently switched for active home agent control nodes or active home agents that fail without downloading or uploading large numbers of mobility binding records after a failure. The method and system may also help reduce failed calls (e.g., data sessions including Voice over IP (VoIP), H.323, etc.), network congestion and improve user satisfaction in Mobile IP systems.

Claims

1. A method for reducing communications failures associated with mobile network devices, comprising:

providing a multicast network address on a home network for a plurality of non-mobile network devices, wherein the plurality of non-mobile network devices are used to control a plurality of mobile network devices, and wherein the plurality of non-mobile network devices include a plurality of active non-mobile network devices and a plurality of standby non-mobile network devices that transparently replace active non-mobile network devices in the event of failures of active non-mobile network devices;

receiving an update message in a mobile protocol on an active non-mobile network device control node on the home network from a mobile network device whenever the mobile network devices roams to a foreign network and changes a network connectivity status; and

sending mobile communications information associated with update message from the active non-mobile network device control node to the multicast network address, which sends the mobile communications information to a plurality of other active non-mobile network devices and the plurality of standby non-mobile network devices,

thereby providing the plurality of other active non-mobile network devices and the plurality of standby non-mobile network devices with identical mobile communications information from the mobile network device that can be transparently used by a standby non-mobile network device to replace an active non-mobile network device in the event of a failure of an active non-mobile network device without downloading all of the mobile communications information.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the multicast address is a multicast Internet Protocol address.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the mobile protocol is Mobile Internet Protocol.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the plurality of non-mobile network devices include Mobile Internet Protocol home agent network devices and Mobile Internet Protocol home agent control node network devices.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the plurality of non-mobile network devices includes a plurality of separate logical groups, wherein a logical group includes a plurality of distinct active non-mobile network devices and a plurality of distinct standby non-mobile network devices.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the mobile communications information includes Mobile Internet Protocol mobility binding records.

7. A method for switching between active and standby non-mobile network devices on a home network for mobile network devices, comprising:

receiving an identifier with a resolution protocol on a standby non-mobile network device from an active non-mobile network device control node for an active non-mobile network device that has failed on a home network;

determining on the standby non-mobile network device which active communications the standby non-mobile network device will take over using the identifier and mobile communications information multicast to the standby non-mobile network device via a multicast network address on the home network, and

wherein the mobile communications information includes mobile communication information for other mobile network devices that have roamed away from the home network;

deleting any mobile communications information on the standby non-mobile network device that is not relevant to the active communications the standby non-mobile network device will take over from the active non-mobile network device that has failed, thereby creating a set of optimized mobile communications information;

after receiving the identifier, synchronizing with the resolution protocol between the standby non-mobile network device and the active non-mobile network device control node any optimized mobile communications information associated with the active communications the standby non-mobile communications device will take over that needs updating, if necessary; and

changing the status of the standby non-mobile network device from standby to active to create a new active non-mobile network device, thereby transparently replacing the active non-mobile network device that has failed with the standby non-mobile network device on the home network.

8. The method of claim 7 where in the multicast address is a multicast Internet Protocol address.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein the resolution protocol is a mobility binding records resolution protocol.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the mobility binding records resolution protocol is an application layer protocol.

11. The method of claim 7 wherein the active non-mobile network device control node includes Mobile Internet Protocol home agent control node network devices and the active and standby non-mobile network devices include Mobile Internet Protocol home agent network devices.

12. The method of claim 7 wherein the mobile communications information includes Mobile Internet Protocol mobility binding records.

13. The method of claim 7 wherein the identifier is an Internet Protocol address.

14. The method of claim 7 wherein the active communications include Voice over Internet Protocol voice communications or Internet Protocol data communications.

15. The method of claim 7 wherein the synchronizing step includes:

calculating a hash value over the set of optimized mobile communications information stored on the standby,non-mobile network device;

sending the hash value with the resolution protocol from the standby non-mobile network device to the active non-mobile network device control node; and

receiving an indication with the resolution protocol on the standby non-mobile network device from the active non-mobile network device control node as to whether the standby non-mobile network device should update any of the optimized mobile communications information associated with the active communications the standby non-mobile communications device will take over.

16. A method for switching between active and standby non-mobile network devices on a home network for mobile network devices, comprising:

determining on an active non-mobile network device control node that an active non-mobile network device on a home network has failed;

sending an identifier with a resolution protocol device for the active non-mobile network device that has failed from the active non-mobile network device control node to a standby non-mobile network device;

receiving a first hash value with the resolution protocol on the active non-mobile network device control node from the standby non-mobile network device, wherein the first hash value is calculated for a set of optimized mobile communications information stored on the standby non-mobile network device,

wherein mobile communications information was multicast to the standby non-mobile network device via a multicast network address on the home network, and

wherein the set of optimized mobile communications was created by deleting any mobile communications information on the standby non-mobile network device that is not relevant to active communications the standby non-mobile network device will take over from the active non-mobile network device that has failed;

calculating a second hash value for the same set of optimized mobile communications information stored on the active non-mobile network device control node;

determining whether the first hash value and the second hash value are equal, and if not,

sending an indication with the resolution protocol to the standby non-mobile network device from the active non-mobile network device control node to indicate the standby non-mobile network device should update certain optimized mobile communications information associated with the active communications the standby non-mobile communications device will take over.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the multicast address is a multicast Internet Protocol address.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein the resolution protocol is a mobility binding records resolution protocol.

19. The method of claim 16 wherein the non-mobile network device control nodes Mobile Internet Protocol home agent control node network devices and the active and standby non-mobile network devices include Mobile Internet Protocol home agent network devices.

20. The method of claim 16 wherein the mobile communications information includes Mobile Internet Protocol mobility binding records.

21. A method for switching between active and standby non-mobile network device control nodes on a home network for mobile network devices, comprising:

determining on a standby non-mobile network device control node that an active non-mobile network device control node on a home network has failed,

wherein the standby non-mobile network device control node includes stored mobile communications information for a plurality of mobile network devices that have roamed away from the home network, and

wherein the mobile communications information was multicast to the standby non-mobile network device control node via a multicast network address on the home network;

synchronizing with a resolution protocol between the standby non-mobile network device control node and any of a plurality of active non-mobile network devices, any mobile communications information associated with the active communications the standby non-mobile network device control node will take over that need updating, if necessary; and

changing the status of the standby non-mobile network device control node from standby to active to create a new active non-mobile network device control node, thereby transparently replacing the active non-mobile network device control node that has failed with the standby non-mobile network device control node on the home network.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein the multicast address is a multicast Internet Protocol address.

23. The method of claim 21 wherein the resolution protocol is a mobility binding records resolution protocol.

24. The method of claim 21 wherein the active and standby non-mobile network device control nodes include active and standby Mobile Internet Protocol home agent control node network devices and the standby non-mobile network devices include Mobile Internet Protocol home agent network devices.

25. The method of claim 21 wherein the mobile communications information includes Mobile Internet Protocol mobility binding records.

26. A method for later inserting an standby non-mobile network device on a home network for mobile network devices, comprising:

inserting a standby non-mobile network device on the home network;

downloading mobile communications information with a resolution protocol on the standby non-mobile network device for any of a plurality of mobile network devices that have previously roamed away from the home network,

wherein the downloaded mobile communications information was unicast via a non-mobile network device control node on the home network; and

accepting simultaneously mobile communications information on the standby non-mobile network device with a resolution protocol for any of a plurality of mobile network devices that roam away from the home network,

wherein the mobile communications information is multicast to the standby non-mobile network device via the non-mobile network device control node address on the home network,

thereby storing a complete set of mobile communications information on the standby non-mobile network device for the plurality of mobile network devices that have roamed away from the home network,

wherein standby non-mobile network device can be used to transparently replace an active non-mobile network device that has failed on the home network without upload or download of a large amount of mobile communications information for mobile network devices that have roamed away from the home network.

27. The method of claim 26 further comprising:

searching the complete set of mobile communications information on the standby non-mobile network device for any expired or deleted mobile communications information; and

removing any expired mobile communications information from the complete set of mobile communications on the standby non-mobile network device,

thereby storing an up-to-date complete set of mobile communications information on the standby non-mobile network device for the plurality of mobile network devices that have roamed away from the home network.

28. The method of claim 26 wherein the resolution protocol is a mobility binding records resolution protocol.

29. The method of claim 26 wherein the non-mobile network device control node is a Mobile Internet Protocol home agent control node network devices and the standby non-mobile network devices include Mobile Internet Protocol home agent network devices.

30. The method of claim 26 wherein the mobile communications information includes Mobile Internet Protocol mobility binding records.

31. A method for later inserting an standby non-mobile network device control node on a home network for mobile network devices, comprising:

inserting a standby non-mobile network device control on the home network;

downloading mobile communications information with a resolution protocol on the standby non-mobile network device control node for any of a plurality of mobile network devices that have previously roamed away from the home network,

wherein the downloaded mobile communications information was multicast via a multicast network address on the home network;

accepting simultaneously mobile communications information on the standby non-mobile network device control node with a resolution protocol for any of a plurality of mobile network devices that roam away from the home network,

wherein the mobile communications information is multicast to the standby non-mobile network device via the multicast network address on the home network,

thereby storing a complete set of mobile communications information on the standby non-mobile network device control node for the plurality of mobile network devices that have roamed away from the home network,

wherein standby non-mobile network device control node can be used to transparently replace an active non-mobile network device control node that has failed on the home network without upload or download of a large amount of mobile communications information for mobile network devices that have roamed away from the home network.

32. The method of claim 31 further comprising:

searching the complete set of mobile communications information on the standby non-mobile network device for any expired or deleted mobile communications information; and

removing any expired mobile communications information from the complete set of mobile communications on the standby non-mobile network device,

thereby storing an up-to-date complete set of mobile communications information on the standby non-mobile network device for the plurality of mobile network devices that have roamed away from the home network.

33. The method of claim 31 wherein the multicast address is a multicast Internet Protocol address.

34. The method of claim 31 wherein the resolution protocol is a mobility binding records resolution protocol.

35. The method of claim 31 wherein the non-mobile network device control nodes include Mobile Internet Protocol home agent control node network devices and the standby non-mobile network devices include Mobile Internet Protocol home agent network devices.

36. The method of claim 35 wherein the mobile communications information includes Mobile Internet Protocol mobility binding records.

37. A method for reducing communications failures associated with mobile network devices, comprising:

providing a multicast Internet Protocol address on a home network for a plurality of non-mobile Mobile Internet Protocol network devices, wherein the plurality of non-mobile Mobile Internet Protocol network devices are used to control a plurality of mobile network devices and wherein the plurality of non-mobile Mobile Internet Protocol Network devices include a plurality of active home agents, a plurality of standby home agents, a plurality of active home agent control nodes, and a plurality of standby home agent control nodes, wherein a standby home agent transparently replaces an active home agent in the event of failures of an active home agent and a standby home agent control node transparently replaces active home agent control node in the event of failures of an active home agent control node;

receiving update messages in Mobile Internet Protocol on a active home agent on the home network from a plurality of mobile network devices whenever the plurality of mobile network devices roam to a foreign network and change a network connectivity status; and

sending mobility binding records associated with the update messages with a resolution protocol from the active home agent to the multicast Internet Protocol address on the home network, wherein the multicast Internet Protocol address multicasts the plurality of mobility binding records to the plurality of standby home agents, the plurality of active home agent control nodes and the plurality of standby home agents control nodes,

thereby providing the plurality of standby home agents and the plurality of active home agent control nodes and the plurality of standby home agent control nodes with identical mobile communications information for the mobile network device that can be used in the event of a failure of an active home agent or an active home agent control node, without downloading all of the Mobile Internet Protocol mobility binding records for the active home agent or active home agent control node that has failed.

38. A system for reducing communications failures associated with mobile network devices, comprising in combination:

a plurality of non-mobile network devices on a home network, wherein the plurality of non-mobile network devices are used to control a plurality of mobile network devices, and wherein the plurality of non-mobile network devices include a plurality of active non-mobile network devices and a plurality of standby non-mobile network devices that transparently replace active non-mobile network devices in the event of failures of active non-mobile network devices;

a multicast network address on the home network for a plurality of non-mobile network devices, wherein the plurality of non-mobile network devices are used to control the plurality of mobile network devices, thereby providing the plurality of active non-mobile network devices and the plurality of standby non-mobile network devices with identical mobile communications information that can be transparently used by a standby non-mobile network device to replace an active non-mobile network device in the event of a failure of an active non-mobile network device without downloading all of the mobile communications information; and

a resolution protocol for receiving an identifier on a standby non-mobile network device from an active non-mobile network device control node for an active non-mobile network device that has failed on a home network, for downloading mobile communications information to and from a non-mobile network device, for sending and receiving an indication as to whether a standby non-mobile network device should update any mobile communications information associated with active communications the standby non-mobile communications device will take over from an active non-mobile network device that has failed, and for synchronizing any mobile communications information associated with active communications a standby non-mobile network device will take over from an active non-mobile network device that has failed, that need updating.

39. The system of claim 38 wherein the multicast address is a multicast Internet Protocol address.

40. The system of claim 38 wherein the plurality of non-mobile network devices include Mobile Internet Protocol home agent network devices and Mobile Internet Protocol home agent control node network devices.

41. The system claim 38 wherein the mobile communications information includes Mobile Internet Protocol mobility binding records.

42. A computer readable medium having stored therein instruction for causing a processor to execute functions comprising:

receiving an identifier with a resolution protocol on a standby non-mobile network device from an active non-mobile network device control node for an active non-mobile network device that has failed on a home network;

determining on the standby non-mobile network device which active communications the standby non-mobile network device will take over using the identifier and mobile communications information multicast to the standby non-mobile network device via a multicast network address on the home network, and

wherein the mobile communications information includes mobile communication information for other mobile network devices that have roamed away from the home network;

deleting any mobile communications information on the standby non-mobile network device that is not relevant to the active communications the standby non-mobile network device will take over from the active non-mobile network device that has failed, thereby creating a set of optimized mobile communications information;

synchronizing with the resolution protocol between the standby non-mobile network device and the active non-mobile network device control node any optimized mobile communications information associated with the active communications the standby non-mobile communications device will take over that needs updating, if necessary; and

changing the status of the standby non-mobile network device from standby to active to create a new active non-mobile network device, thereby transparently replacing the active non-mobile network device that has failed with the standby non-mobile network device on the home network.

43. A computer readable medium having stored therein instruction for causing a processor to execute functions comprising:

determining on an active non-mobile network device control node that an active non-mobile network device on a home network has failed;

sending an identifier with a resolution protocol device for the active non-mobile network device that has failed from the active non-mobile network device control node to a standby non-mobile network device;

receiving a first hash value with the resolution protocol on the active non-mobile network device control node from the standby non-mobile network device, wherein the first hash value is calculated for a set of optimized mobile communications information stored on the standby non-mobile network device,

wherein mobile communications information was multicast to the standby non-mobile network device via a multicast network address on the home network, and

wherein the set of optimized mobile communications was created by deleting any mobile communications information on the standby non-mobile network device that is not relevant to active communications the standby non-mobile network device will take over from the active non-mobile network device that has failed;

calculating a second hash value for the same set of optimized mobile communications information stored on the active non-mobile network device control node;

determining whether the first hash value and the second hash value are equal, and if not,

sending an indication with the resolution protocol to the standby non-mobile network device from the active non-mobile network device control node to indicate the standby non-mobile network device should update certain optimized mobile communications information associated with the active communications the standby non-mobile communications device will take over.

44. A computer readable medium having stored therein instruction for causing a processor to execute functions comprising:

determining on a standby non-mobile network device control node that an active non-mobile network device control node on a home network has failed,

wherein the standby non-mobile network device control node includes stored mobile communications information for a plurality of mobile network devices that have roamed away from the home network, and

wherein the mobile communications information was multicast to the standby non-mobile network device control node via a multicast network address on the home network;

synchronizing with a resolution protocol between the standby non-mobile network device control node and any of a plurality of active non-mobile network devices, any mobile communications information associated with the active communications the standby non-mobile network device control node will take over that need updating, if necessary; and

changing the status of the standby non-mobile network device control node from standby to active to create a new active non-mobile network device control node, thereby transparently replacing the active non-mobile network device control node that has failed with the standby non-mobile network device control node on the home network.

45. A computer readable medium having stored therein instruction for causing a processor to execute functions comprising:

inserting a standby non-mobile network device on a home network;

downloading mobile communications information with a resolution protocol on the standby non-mobile network device for any of a plurality of mobile network devices that have previously roamed away from the home network,

wherein the downloaded mobile communications information was unicast via a network address on the home network; and

accepting simultaneously mobile communications information on the standby non-mobile network device with a resolution protocol for any of a plurality of mobile network devices that roam away from the home network,

wherein the mobile communications information is multicast to the standby non-mobile network device via the multicast network address on the home network,

thereby storing a complete set of mobile communications information on the standby non-mobile network device for the plurality of mobile network devices that have roamed away from the home network,

wherein standby non-mobile network device can be used to transparently replace an active non-mobile network device that has failed on the home network without upload or download of a large amount of mobile communications information for mobile network devices that have roamed away from the home network,

whereby a standby non-mobile network device may be later inserted on a home network for mobile network devices.

46. A computer readable medium having stored therein instruction for causing a processor to execute functions comprising:

inserting a standby non-mobile network device control on a home network;

downloading mobile communications information with a resolution protocol on the standby non-mobile network device control node for any of a plurality of mobile network devices that have previously roamed away from the home network,

wherein the downloaded mobile communications information was multicast via a multicast network address on the home network;

accepting simultaneously mobile communications information on the standby non-mobile network device control node with a resolution protocol for any of a plurality of mobile network devices that roam away from the home network,

wherein the mobile communications information is multicast to the standby non-mobile network device via the multicast network address on the home network,

thereby storing a complete set of mobile communications information on the standby non-mobile network device control node for the plurality of mobile network devices that have roamed away from the home network,

wherein standby non-mobile network device control node can be used to transparently replace an active non-mobile network device control node that has failed on the home network without upload or download of a large amount of mobile communications information for mobile network devices that have roamed away from the home network.

47. A computer readable medium having stored therein instruction for causing a processor to execute functions comprising:

providing a multicast Internet Protocol address on a home network for a plurality of non-mobile Mobile Internet Protocol network devices, wherein the plurality of non-mobile Mobile Internet Protocol network devices are used to control a plurality of mobile network devices and wherein the plurality of non-mobile Mobile Internet Protocol Network devices include a plurality of active home agents, a plurality of standby home agents, a plurality of active home agent control nodes, and a plurality of standby home agent control nodes, wherein a standby home agent transparently replaces an active home agent in the event of failures of an active home agent and a standby home agent control node transparently replaces active home agent control node in the event of failures of an active home agent control node;

receiving update messages in Mobile Internet Protocol on a active home agent on the home network from a plurality of mobile network devices whenever the plurality of mobile network devices roam to a foreign network and change a network connectivity status; and

sending mobility binding records associated with the update messages with a resolution protocol from the active home agent to the multicast Internet Protocol address on the home network, wherein the multicast Internet Protocol address multicasts the plurality of mobility binding records to the plurality of standby home agents, the plurality of active home agent control nodes and the plurality of standby home agents control nodes,

thereby providing the plurality of standby home agents and the plurality of active home agent control nodes and the plurality of standby home agent control nodes with identical mobile communications information for the mobile network device that can be used in the event of a failure of an active home agent or an active home agent control node, without downloading all of the Mobile Internet Protocol mobility binding records for the active home agent or active home agent control node that has failed.