Communications infrastructure for content delivery using edge servers

• US 7,885,223 B2
• Filed: 08/31/2005
• Issued: 02/08/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/03/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Uber Technologies, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Caradec, Jean-Philippe
• Primary Examiner(s): CHO, HONG SOL
• Application Number:
  US11/660,947
• Publication Number:
  US 20080205326A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,987 Days
• Field of Search: 370/328, 370/400, 370/401, 709/203, 709217-219
• US Class Current: 370/328
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/02 Communication route or path selection, e.g. power-based or shortest path routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/26 Network addressing or numbering for mobility support

Abstract

A communications infrastructure, such as a public land mobile network (PLMN) complying with the GPRS standards, is described comprising at least a local support node for packet stream communication with a plurality of terminals and a gateway support node for packet stream communication with an external network, which may be an IP network such as the public internet. The local support node and the gateway support node are arranged for interconnection by a point to point tunnel, a GTP tunnel in the case of GPRS via for instance an IP network, for carrying packets between each terminal and addressed servers on the external network. A control element and one or more edge servers are associated with the local support node. The edge servers are each associated with respective addresses on the external network and the control element is interposed between the local support node and the gateway support node. The control element is arranged in operation to extract from the tunnel packets destined for a predeterminable set of external network addresses and redirect the extracted packets to corresponding ones of the edge servers. Finally, the control element is arranged route packets received from the edge servers to a corresponding terminal via the local support node.

Claims

1. A communications infrastructure comprising at least

a local support node for packet stream communication with a plurality of terminals and

a gateway support node for packet stream communication with an external network,

the local support node and the gateway support node being arranged for interconnection by a point-to-point tunnel over a core network for carrying packets between each terminal and addressed servers on the external network, wherein a control element and one or more edge servers are associated with the local support node, the edge servers being each associated with respective addresses on the external network and the control element being interposed in the core network between the local support node and the gateway support node and arranged in operation to

(i) extract from the tunnel and redirect packets destined for a predeterminable set of external network addresses to corresponding ones of the edge servers and

(ii) to route packets received from said edge servers to a corresponding terminal via the local support node associated with the support element.

2. A communications infrastructure as claimed in claim 1 wherein the terminals are mobile terminals, the infrastructure comprising a plurality of local support nodes each serving a corresponding locality and a handover mechanism such that each terminal may only be located in one of said localities at any one time.

3. A communications infrastructure as claimed in claim 2 wherein each control element is arranged to intercept communications between the local support node with which it is associated and the gateway support node to detect registration of a terminal within the locality of the local support node and to communicate corresponding routing control data to other such control elements within the infrastructure and/or to the edge servers so that packet streams transmitted by the edge servers may be directed to the terminal via the control element and local support node with which the control element is associated.

4. A communications infrastructure as claimed in claim 1 wherein one of more of the edge servers are associated uniquely with a single local support node.

5. A communications infrastructure as claimed in claim 1 wherein at least one of the edge servers and the local support node are co-located in a single premises.

6. A communications infrastructure as claimed in claim 1 wherein the local support node and the gateway support node are interconnected by an IP network.

7. A communications infrastructure as claimed in claim 6 wherein the IP network is private to the operator of the communications infrastructure.

8. A communications infrastructure as claimed in claim 1 wherein the tunnels are GTP tunnels, and the control element terminates the GTP tunnels from the local support node and opens corresponding new GTP tunnels with the gateway support node.

9. A communications infrastructure as claimed in claim 1 wherein the control element and edge servers are associated with a first locality and the control element is configured to transfer an ongoing data stream originating at one of the edge servers to a different control element associated with a second locality based on one of the terminals moving from the first locality to the second locality while the data stream is being transferred to the terminal.

10. A communications infrastructure as claimed in claim 1 wherein the external network is an IP network and the external network addresses are IP addresses.

11. A communications infrastructure as claimed in claim 1 wherein the control element is configured to appear to the local support node to be the gateway support node and to appear to the gateway support node to be the local support node.

12. A communications infrastructure as claimed in claim 1 in the form of a public land mobile network.

13. A communications infrastructure as claimed in claim 12 complying with the GPRS standards, the local support node being a standard SGSN and the gateway support node a standard GGSN.

14. A content delivery system comprising at least one edge server that forms part of a communications infrastructure as claimed in claim 1.

15. A content delivery system as claimed in claim 14 wherein the at least one edge server is collocated with a local support node of the communications infrastructure in a single premises.

16. A routing area subsystem for a communications infrastructure, the subsystem comprising a local support node for packet stream communication with a plurality of terminals, the local support node being arranged for interconnection over a core network with a gateway support node by a point to point tunnel for packet stream communication with an external network, the point to point tunnel carrying packets between each terminal and addressed servers on the external network, the subsystem comprising a control element and one or more edge servers associated with the local support node, the edge servers being each associated with respective addresses on the external network and the control element being interposed between the local support node and the gateway support node and arranged to extract from the tunnel and redirect packets destined for a predeterminable set of external network addresses to corresponding ones of the edge servers and to route packets received from said edge servers to a corresponding terminal via the local support node.

17. A routing area subsystem as claimed in claim 16 wherein the control element is arranged to intercept communications between the local support node and the gateway support node to detect registration of a terminal within the locality of the local support node and to communicate corresponding routing control data to other such control elements and/or edge servers within the communications infrastructure so that packets transmitted by the edge servers may be directed to the terminal via the local support node.

18. A method for operating a communications infrastructure comprising at least a local support node for packet stream communication with a plurality of terminals and a gateway support node for packet stream communication with an external network, the local support node and the gateway support node being arranged for interconnection over a core network by a point to point tunnel for carrying packets between each terminal and addressed servers on the external network, the method comprising:

providing one or more edge servers associated with the local support node, the edge servers being each associated with respective addresses on the external network;

extracting packets destined for a predeterminable set of external network addresses from the tunnel and redirecting said extracted packets to corresponding ones of the edge servers; and

to routing packets received from said edge servers to a corresponding terminal via the local support node.

19. A method as claimed in claim 18 comprising intercepting communications between the local support node and the gateway support node to detect registration of a terminal within the locality of the local support node and communicating corresponding routing control data within the infrastructure so that packets transmitted by the edge servers may be directed to the terminal via the local support node.

20. A communications infrastructure comprising at least a local element for packet stream communication with a plurality of terminals and a gateway element for packet stream communication with an external network, the local element and the gateway element being arranged for interconnection by a point-to-point tunnel over a core network for carrying packets between each terminal and addressed servers on the external network, wherein a control element and one or more edge servers are associated with the local element, the edge servers being each associated with respective addresses on the external network and the control element being interposed in the core network between the local element and the gateway element and arranged in operation to (i) extract from the tunnel and redirect packets destined for a predeterminable set of external network addresses to corresponding ones of the edge servers and (ii) to route packets received from said edge servers to a corresponding terminal via the local element associated with the support element.

21. A control element for use in a communications infrastructure comprising at least a local support node for packet stream communication with a plurality of terminals and a gateway support node for packet stream communication with an external network, the local support node and the gateway support node being arranged for interconnection by a point-to-point tunnel over a core network for carrying packets between each terminal and addressed servers on the external network, wherein one or more edge servers are associated with the local support node, the edge servers being each associated with respective addresses on the external network, the control element being arranged in operation to (i) extract from the tunnel and redirect packets destined for a predeterminable set of external network addresses to corresponding ones of the edge servers and (ii) to route packets received from said edge servers to a corresponding terminal via the local support node associated with the support element;

and wherein the control element is configured to appear to the local support node to be the gateway support node and to appear to the gateway support node to be the local support node.

22. A control element as claimed in claim 21 arranged to intercept communications between a local support node with which it is associated and the gateway support node to detect registration of a terminal within the locality of the local support node and to communicate corresponding routing control data to other such control elements within the infrastructure and/or to the edge servers so that packet streams transmitted by the edge servers may be directed to the terminal via the control element and local support node with which the control element is associated.

23. A non-transitory computer program product for use in a communications infrastructure comprising at least a local support node for packet stream communication with a plurality of terminals and a gateway support node for packet stream communication with an external network, the local support node and the gateway support node being arranged for interconnection by a point-to-point tunnel over a core network for carrying packets between each terminal and addressed servers on the external network, wherein one or more edge servers are associated with the local support node, the edge servers being each associated with respective addresses on the external network, the computer program product coded with program code elements that when executed provide a control node for (i) extracting from the tunnel and redirecting packets destined for a predeterminable set of external network addresses to corresponding ones of the edge servers and (ii) routing packets received from said edge servers to a corresponding terminal via the local support node associated with the support element;

wherein the program code elements cause the control node to emulate the gateway support node with regard to the local support node and to emulate the local support node with regard to the gateway support node.

24. A non-transitory computer program product as claimed in claim 23 coded with program code elements for intercepting communications between a local support node with which it is associated and the gateway support node to detect registration of a terminal within the locality of the local support node and program code elements for communicating corresponding routing control data to other such control elements within the infrastructure and/or to the edge servers so that packet streams transmitted by the edge servers may be directed to the terminal via the control element and local support node with which the control element is associated.