Methods and apparatus for managing addresses related to virtual partitions of a session exchange device

• US 7,912,062 B2
• Filed: 09/28/2007
• Issued: 03/22/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/28/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ribbon Communications Operating Company, Inc. (Ribbon Communications, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Genband US LLC (Ribbon Communications, Inc.)
• Inventors: Gulati, Aman, Tyagi, Paritosh
• Primary Examiner(s): Hsu; Alpus H
• Assistant Examiner(s): HASSAN, SAAD K
• Application Number:
  US11/864,206
• Publication Number:
  US 20090086728A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,271 Days
• Field of Search: 370/392, 370/395.2, 370/395.3, 370/395.52, 370/409, 370/469, 709/227, 709/238
• US Class Current: 370/392
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/103 across network layers, e.g. resolution of network layer into physical layer addresses or address resolution protocol [ARP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/2503 Translation of Internet protocol [IP] addresses
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/2525 Translation at a client
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment

Abstract

In one embodiment, a method includes receiving an IP packet associated with a first virtual partition defined at a session exchange device. The first virtual partition is associated with a first IP address space. The method also includes receiving an IP packet associated with a second virtual partition defined at the session exchange device. The second virtual partition is associated with a second IP address space having a portion that corresponds with the first IP address space. The IP packet associated with the first virtual partition is modified such that the IP packet associated with the first virtual partition has an IP address value from a third IP address space different from the portion of the second IP address space.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving an internet protocol (IP) packet associated with one of a plurality of virtual partitions of a session exchange device defined at the session exchange device, the IP packet being routed over a media over internet protocol (MoIP) network associated with the session exchange device based on an external IP address value of the IP packet, wherein the external IP address value is used to route packets associated with at least two or more of the plurality of virtual partitions of the session exchange device over the MoIP network to the two or more virtual partitions;

replacing, after the receiving, the external IP address value of the IP packet with an internal IP address value based on an identifier associated with the one virtual partition and based on the external IP address value;

sending the IP packet to a portion of an operating system of the session exchange device associated with network processing; and

replacing, after the sending, the internal IP address value of the IP packet with the external IP address value before the IP packet is transmitted from the session exchange device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

routing the IP packet to an application based on the internal IP address value, the application executing at the session exchange device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the one virtual partition is a first virtual partition, the external IP address value is from an IP address space associated with the first virtual partition, the IP address space associated with the first virtual partition having a portion corresponding to an IP address space associated with a second virtual partition defined at the session exchange device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the replacing the internal IP address value is based on the external IP address value.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the internal IP address value is associated with a socket of an application executing at the session exchange device.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the external IP address value is included in a layer-3 header of the IP packet.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the IP packet is a first IP packet, the method further comprising:

receiving a second IP packet associated with a transport layer of the MoIP network from the portion of the operating system, the second IP packet having the internal IP address value; and

replacing the internal IP address value of the second IP packet with the external IP address value before the second IP packet is transmitted from the session exchange device.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the internal IP address value is selected from a private IP address space having a plurality of IP address values that are unroutable over the MoIP network.

9. A method, comprising:

receiving at an address translation module of a session exchange device having a plurality of virtual partitions, an address resolution protocol (ARP) packet defined at an operating system of the session exchange device, the ARP packet having an internal Internet protocol (IP) address value associated with a virtual partition defined at the session exchange device, the address translation module being associated with the operating system; and

replacing, at the address translation module, the internal IP address value of the ARP packet with an external IP address value before the ARP packet is transmitted from the session exchange device over a media over internet protocol (MoIP) network, wherein the external IP address value is used to route packets associated with at least of two or more of the plurality of virtual partitions of the session exchange device over the MoIP network to the two or more virtual partitions.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the virtual partition is a first virtual partition, the external IP address value is from an IP address space associated with the first virtual partition, the IP address space associated with the first virtual partition having a portion corresponding to an IP address space associated with a second virtual partition defined at the session exchange device.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the virtual partition is a first virtual partition, the external IP address value is associated with the first virtual partition and associated with a second virtual partition defined at the session exchange device, the internal IP address value is uniquely associated with the first virtual partition.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the ARP packet is associated with a transport layer of the MoIP network, the internal IP address value is included in a payload of the ARP packet.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the virtual partition is associated with a virtual local area network having a plurality of realms, the replacing includes replacing at the address translation module.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein the internal IP address value is associated with a media access control (MAC) address of a component of the session exchange device, the external IP address value is associated with the MAC address when the internal IP address value is replaced with the external IP address value.

15. A method, comprising:

receiving a first internet protocol (IP) packet associated with a first virtual partition of a plurality of virtual partitions of a session exchange device defined at the session exchange device, the first virtual partition being associated with a first IP address space;

receiving a second IP packet associated with a second virtual partition of the plurality of virtual partitions of the session exchange device, the second virtual partition being associated with a second IP address space having a portion corresponding with the first IP address space, wherein the first and second virtual partitions include a same IP address value that is used to route the first or second packets associated with the first or the second virtual partition over a media over internet protocol (MoIP) network associated with the session exchange device to the first or the second virtual partition; and

modifying the first IP packet associated with the first virtual partition such that the first IP packet associated with the first virtual partition has an IP address value from a third IP address space different from the portion of the second IP address space.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein each IP address value from the third IP address space is different than at least one of each IP address value from the first IP address space or each IP address value from the second IP address space.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

sending the first IP packet associated with the first virtual partition to an operating system of the session exchange device, the modifying includes modifying at a first address translation module before the sending; and

receiving, after the sending, the first IP packet associated with the first virtual partition at a second address translation module associated with an application of the session exchange device.

18. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

sending the first IP packet associated with the first virtual partition to an operating system of the session exchange device, the modifying includes modifying at a first address translation module before the sending; and

replacing, after the sending, the IP address value from the third IP address space with an IP address value from the first IP address space at a second address translation module associated with an application of the session exchange device.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein the third IP address space is used locally at the session exchange device.

20. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

modifying the first IP packet associated with the first virtual partition such that the first IP packet associated with the first virtual partition has an IP address value from the first IP address space before the IP packet associated with the first virtual partition is transmitted from the session exchange device over the MoIP network to an entity associated with the MoIP network.