Reconfigurable computer networks

• US 7,293,077 B1
• Filed: 08/17/2000
• Issued: 11/06/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 08/17/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Antlabs Pte Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Antlabs Pte Ltd.
• Inventors: Teo, Wee Tuck, Singh, Rhandeev
• Primary Examiner(s): DUONG, OANH L
• Application Number:
  US10/344,784
• Time in Patent Office: 2,637 Days
• Field of Search: 709/220, 709/221, 709/224, 709/227, 709/238, 709/245, 709/226, 709/250, 709/246, 709/249, 370/395.53, 370/395.54
• US Class Current: 709/221
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/36 Backward learning
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/10 of different types
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/25 of the same type
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4511 using domain name system [DNS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/5084 Providing for device mobility network addressing or numbering for mobility support in wireless networks H04W8/26; mobile IP H04W80/04

Abstract

A computer network is configured to allow addition, deletion and movement of networked objects within the network, which includes a configurable router and a plurality of networked objects, each located at a network node in the network. Configuration of the network includes the steps of:

• • (a) providing a point-to-point link between the configurable router and each network node;
  • (b) assigning a point-to-point link identifier to each of the point-to-point links;
  • (c) obtaining for each networked object a link layer identifier;
  • (d) receiving at the configurable router communications from the networked objects, the source of each communication being determinable by reference to an identifier pair consisting of a point-to-point link identifier and a link layer identifier associated with the communication;
  • (e) receiving at the configurable router communications intended for individual networked objects, the destination for each communication being determinable by reference to an identifier pair consisting of a point-to-point link identifier and a link layer identifier obtained by translating a network address associated with the communication; and
  • (f) detecting the addition or deletion of a networked object from the network, or the movement of a networked object from one point-to-point link to another by detecting at the configurable router discrepancies between identifier pairs associated with current communications and identifier pairs associated with previous communications, and/or by detecting non-receipt of communications.

Claims

1. A method of configuring a computer network, which includes a configurable router and a plurality of networked objects, each of the networked objects located at a network node in the network, the method including the steps of:

(a) providing a point-to-point link between the configurable router and each network node;

(b) assigning a point-to-point link identifier to each of the point-to-point links;

(c) obtaining for the each of the networked objects a link layer identifier;

(d) receiving at the configurable router a previous communication from at least one of the networked objects, a source of the previous communication is determinable by reference to a previous identifier pair consisting of a previous point-to-point link identifier and a previous link layer identifier associated with the previous communication;

(e) receiving at the configurable router a current communication, wherein when the current communication is received from the at least one of the networked objects, a source of the current communication is determined by reference to a current identifier pair consisting of a current point-to-point link identifier and a current link layer identifier, and when the current communication is intended for the at least one of the networked objects, a destination of the current communication is determinable by reference to the current identifier pair consisting of the current point-to-point link identifier and the current link layer identifier obtained by translating a network address associated with the current communication; and

(f) detecting movement of the at least one of the networked objects from one point-to-point link to another by detecting at the configurable router discrepancies between the current identifier pair associated with the current communication and the previous identifier pair associated with the previous communication, wherein a physical location of the at least one of the networked objects is tracked in the event of the movement of the at least one of the networked objects from one point-to-point link to another based on the previous point-to-point link identifier and the current point-to-point link identifier; and

(g) automatically resolving addressing of the current communication in accordance with the detected movement.

2. The method of configuring a computer network according to claim 1, including the further steps of:

detecting addition of the at least one of the networked objects when the current identifier pair does not match any identifier pair in a routing table of the configurable router, or detecting deletion of the at least one of the networked objects by detecting a time-out of an address resolution protocol message sent to the at least one of the networked objects; and

automatically resolving addressing of the current communication in accordance with the detected addition or deletion.

3. The method of configuring a computer network according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the configurable router consists of a plurality of networked routers which operate together.

4. The method of configuring a computer network according to claim 3, wherein the each of the networked objects also is assigned network layer identifier which is non-unique within the computer network, wherein communications to the each of the networked objects within the computer network are routed using point-to-point link identifiers, but communications to objects external to the computer network are routed from the configurable router to the external objects using the network layer identifiers.

5. The method of configuring the computer network according to claim 4, wherein routing of messages to and from the configurable router is accomplished by use of a routing table which includes, for each link layer identifier, a corresponding network layer identifier, a corresponding point-to-point link identifier and a corresponding network interface, wherein the network interface indicates a location associated with the router through which communications are made to a networked object associated with each link layer identifier.

6. The method of configuring a computer network according to claim 5, including the further steps of:

(a) intercepting Domain Name System (DNS) requests from the networked objects;

(b) analyzing the DNS requests; and

(c) where appropriate, creating information indicative of successful Domain Name System requests and forwarding that information to the requesting networked objects.

7. The method of configuring the computer network according to claim 4, including the further steps of:

(a) intercepting Domain Name System (DNS) requests from the networked objects;

(b) analyzing the DNS requests; and

(c) where appropriate, creating information indicative of successful Domain Name System requests and forwarding the information to the requesting networked objects.

8. The method of configuring a computer network according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the each of the networked objects is also assigned a network layer identifier which is non-unique within the computer network, wherein communications to networked objects within the computer network are routed using point-to-point link identifiers, but communications to objects external to the computer network are routed from the configurable router to the external objects using the network layer identifiers.

9. The method of configuring the computer network according to claim 8, wherein routing of messages to and from the configurable router is accomplished by use of the routing table which includes, for each link layer identifier, a corresponding network layer identifier, a corresponding point-to-point link identifier and a corresponding network interface, wherein the network interface indicates a location associated with the configurable router through which communications are made to a networked object associated with each link layer identifier.

10. The method of configuring the computer network according to claim 8, the further steps of:

(a) intercepting Domain Name System (DNS) requests from the networked objects;

(b) analyzing the DNS requests; and

(c) where appropriate, creating information indicative of successful Domain Name System requests and forwarding the information to the requesting networked objects.

11. The method of configuring a computer network according to claim 1 or 2, comprising the further steps of:

(a) intercepting Domain Name System (DNS) requests from the networked objects;

(b) analyzing the DNS requests; and

(c) where appropriate, creating information indicative of successful Domain Name System requests and forwarding that the information to the requesting networked objects.

12. A method of network address translation for communications between an internal computer network and an external network, and allowing movement of each of the internal network objects within the internal network which has a configurable router, the method including the following steps:

(a) providing a logical point-to-point link between the configurable router and each of the internal network objects;

(b) assigning a point-to-point link identifier to each of the point-to-point links;

(c) obtaining for the each of the internal network objects a link layer identifier;

(d) receiving at the configurable router a previous communications from at least one of the internal network objects addressed to an external network object in the external network, an address of the external network object being determinable by means of a network layer identifier associated with the external network object, an internal network source of the previous communication being determinable by reference to a previous identifier pair consisting of a previous point-to-point link identifier and a previous link layer identifier associated with the previous communication;

(e) forwarding the previous communication to the external network object;

(f) receiving at the configurable router a current communication, wherein when the current communication is received from the at least one of the internal network objects, a source of the current communication is determined by reference to a current identifier pair consisting of a current point-to-point link identifier and a current link layer identifier, and when the current communication is received from one of the external network objects in the external network intended for the at least one of the internal networked objects, a destination of the current communication is determined by the current identifier pair consisting of the current point-to-point link identifier and the current link layer identifier obtained by translating a network address associated with the current communication, and forwarding the current communication to the determined destination; and

(g) detecting movement of the at least one of the internal network objects from one point-to-point link to another by detecting at the configurable router discrepancies between the current identifier pair associated with the current communication and the previous identifier pair associated with the previous communication, wherein a physical location of the at least one of the networked objects is tracked in the event of the movement of the at least one of the networked objects from one point-to-point link to another based on the previous point-to-point link identifier and the current point-to-point link identifier; and

(h) automatically resolving addressing of the current communication in accordance with the detected movement.

13. The method of network address translation according to claim 12, wherein the network layer identifier is assigned to the previous communication forwarded from the configurable router to the external network object, the assigned network layer identifier being the network layer identifier or one of a group of network layer identifiers associated with the configurable router.

14. The method of network address translation according to claim 12 or 13, including the further steps of detecting addition of the at least one of the internal network objects when the current identifier pair does not match any identifier pair in a routing table of the configurable router, or detecting deletion of the at least one of the internal network objects by detecting a time-out of an address resolution protocol message sent to the at least one of the networked objects;

and automatically resolving addressing of the current communication in accordance with the detected addition or deletion.

15. The method of network address translation according to claim 14, including the further step of providing transparent routing services for one or more of:

(a) Domain Name System services;

(b) electronic mail services;

(c) Hypertext Transfer Protocol services;

(d) audio services;

(e) video services;

(f) telephone services.

16. The method of network address translation according to claim 12 or 13, including the further step of providing transparent routing services for one or more of:

(a) Domain Name System services;

(b) electronic mail services;

(c) Hypertext Transfer Protocol services;

(d) audio services;

(e) video services;

(f) telephone services.

17. A method of configuring a computer network, which includes two or more transparent routers and a plurality of networked objects, each of the networked objects located at a network node in the network and having a network layer identifier, the method including the steps of:

(a) providing a point-to-point link between one of the transparent routers and each network node;

(b) assigning a point-to-point link identifier to each of the point-to-point links;

(c) obtaining for the each of the networked objects a link layer identifier;

(d) receiving at one of the transparent routers a previous communication from at least one of the networked objects, a source of the previous communication is determinable by reference to a previous identifier pair consisting of a previous point-to-point link identifier and a previous link layer identifier associated with the previous communication;

(e) receiving at one of the transparent routers a current communication, wherein when the current communication is received from the at least one of the networked objects, a source of the current communication is determined by reference to a current identifier pair consisting of a current point-to-point link identifier and a current link layer identifier, and when the current communication is intended for the at least one of the networked objects, a destination of the current communication is determinable by reference to the current identifier pair consisting of the current point-to-point link identifier and the current link layer identifier obtained by translating a network address associated with the current communication; and

(f) detecting movement of the at least one of the networked objects from one point-to-point link to another by detecting at the one of the transparent routers discrepancies between the current identifier pair associated with the current communication and the previous identifier pair associated with the previous communication, wherein a physical location of the at least one of the networked objects is tracked in the event of the movement of the at least one of the networked objects from one point-to-point link to another based on the previous point-to-point link identifier and the current point-to-point link identifier; and

(g) automatically resolving addressing of the current communication in accordance with the detected movement;

wherein the two or more transparent routers are connected to form a routing hierarchy, and each of the two or more transparent routers is allocated a network layer identifier from a local loopback segment of network layer identifiers, thereby avoiding collisions with any valid network layer identifier currently in use by a network node.

18. A method of configuring a wireless computer network to allow movement of networked objects within the network, which includes a transparent router and a plurality of networked objects, each of the networked objects located at a network node in the wireless computer network, the method-including the steps of:

(a) providing a point-to-point link between the transparent router and each network node;

(b) assigning a point-to-point link identifier to each of the point-to-point links;

(c) obtaining for the each of the networked objects a link layer identifier;

(d) receiving at the transparent router a previous communication from at least one of the networked objects, a source of the previous communication is determinable by reference to a previous identifier pair consisting of a previous point-to-point link identifier and a previous link layer identifier associated with the previous communication;

(e) receiving at the transparent router a current communication, wherein when the current communication is received from the at least one of the networked objects, a source of the current communication is determined by reference to a current identifier pair consisting of a current point-to-point link identifier and a current link layer identifier, and when the current communication is intended for the at least one of the networked objects, a destination of the current communication being determinable by reference to the current identifier pair consisting of the current point-to-point link identifier and the current link layer identifier obtained by translating a network address associated with the current communication; and

(f) detecting movement of the at least one of the networked objects from one point-to-point link to another by detecting at the transparent router discrepancies between the current identifier pair associated with the current communication and the previous identifier pair associated with the previous communication, wherein a physical location of the at least one of the networked objects is tracked in the event of the movement of the at least one of the networked objects from one point-to-point link to another based on the previous point-to-point link identifier and the current point-to-point link identifier; and

(g) automatically resolving addressing of current communication in accordance with the detected movement.

19. The method of configuring a wireless computer network according to claim 18, including the further steps of:

detecting addition of the at least one of the networked objects when the current identifier pair does not match any identifier pair in a routing table of the configurable router, or detecting deletion of the at least one of the networked objects by detecting a time-out of an address resolution protocol message sent to the at least one of the networked objects; and

automatically resolving addressing of the current communication in accordance with the detected addition or deletion.

20. The method of configuring a wireless computer network according to claim 18 or claim 19, wherein the transparent router consists of a hierarchy of routers wherein each router in the hierarchy is allocated a network layer identifier from a local loopback segment of network layer identifiers, thereby avoiding collisions with any valid network layer identifier currently in use by a network node;

wherein further each router which connects directly to the at least one of the network objects is the transparent router.