Mobile communication network system for managing the location of a mobile IP terminal

• US 7,436,762 B2
• Filed: 08/27/2003
• Issued: 10/14/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 08/29/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Original Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Inventors: Nakatsugawa, Keiichi, Oka, Kazuyuki
• Primary Examiner(s): MARCELO, MELVIN C
• Application Number:
  US10/649,918
• Publication Number:
  US 20040049532A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,875 Days
• Field of Search: 370/338, 370/328, 370/310, 370/217, 370/218, 709/212, 709/215
• US Class Current: 370/218
• 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 24/04 Arrangements for maintaining operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/16 Communication-related supplementary services, e.g. call-transfer or call-hold
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/02 Processing of mobility data, e.g. registration information at HLR [Home Location Register] or VLR [Visitor Location Register]; Transfer of mobility data, e.g. between HLR, VLR or external networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/085 involving hierarchical organized mobility servers, e.g. hierarchical mobile IP [HMIP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/04 Network layer protocols, e.g. mobile IP [Internet Protocol]

Abstract

When a failure occurs in a node managing the location information of mobile node MN, it is possible to resume packet transfer from correspondent node CN to mobile node MN after the node is restored from the failure, in a mobile communication network. The mobile communication network includes a plurality of nodes including a home agent, a correspondent node, and a mobility anchor point connected to the network, wherein each node produces a duplication of a binding cache on receipt of location registration information from a mobile terminal, maintains and manages the duplication of the binding cache, and on restoration of the node from a failure, each node obtains the contents of the binding cache stored before the node failure from the duplicated binding cache.

Claims

1. A mobile communication network system comprising a plurality of nodes including a home agent, a correspondent node, and a mobility anchor point connected to the network,

wherein each node produces a duplication of a binding cache on receipt of location registration information from a mobile terminal, maintains and manages the duplication of the binding cache for backup purposes, and

on restoration of the node from a failure, each node obtains the contents of the binding cache as generated and stored before the node failure from the duplicated binding cache,

wherein the node transmits a location registration request to the mobile terminal in accordance with the contents of the binding cache obtained as generated before the node failure, and when no response is received against the location registration request, the node determines the obtained binding cache as invalid, and deletes the location information of said mobile terminal.

2. The mobile communication network system according to claim 1,

wherein, when a plurality of mobile terminals exist as objects for transmitting the location registration request, the node controls transmission intervals of said location registration requests to the plurality of mobile terminals by successively transmitting with delay.

3. A mobile communication network system comprising a plurality of nodes each connected to the network,

wherein, when a mobile terminal moves from a particular node to another different node, said mobile terminal obtains from an external link a node address after the movement as a care-of address, and transmits the obtained care-of address to the particular node as location registration information,

the particular node registers the location registration information into a binding cache, manages the location registration information, duplicates the contents of the binding cache for backup purpose, and maintains and manages the duplicated contents of the binding cache, and

when the particular node is restored from a failure and initiated for restoration, the particular node transmits a location registration request to the mobile terminal which is registered in the duplicated contents of the binding cache, and when no response is received from the mobile terminal against the location registration request, the node deletes the location information of the mobile terminal from the binding cache.

4. The mobile communication network system according to claim 3,

wherein the plurality of nodes include a correspondent node and a home agent, and

when the correspondent node transmits a packet to the mobile terminal using a home address of the mobile terminal, the home agent transfers the packet to the care-of address registered in the binding cache.

5. The mobile communication network system according to claim 4, farther comprising a mobility anchor point as one of the plurality of nodes,

wherein the mobile terminal transmits the care-of address, which is transmitted to the home agent as location registration information, to the mobility anchor point as location registration information, and registers the care-of address into a binding cache of the mobility anchor point.

6. The mobile communication network system according to claim 5,

wherein, when a packet is transmitted from the correspondent node to the mobile terminal using the home address of the mobile terminal, the packet is intercepted by the home agent and the mobility anchor point, and transferred to the mobile terminal.