Packet relay apparatus
First Claim
1. A packet relay apparatus connecting a sub-network accommodated by the apparatus itself to a global network, grouping terminals within the sub-network virtually and building up a virtual private network by an intra-group member communication that is a communication between members within a group made by a grouping of the terminals, comprising:
- a first storage unit which stores routing information for use in an intra-group member communication relating to a main route and a sub-route, of a first Internet protocol (IP) packet and a second IP packet, and route identification information for identifying an event of being transferred by way of the main route and the sub-route, wherein the first IP packet is managed by an internal management transfer number for identifying the main route used for the intra-group member communication, a sub internal management transfer number for identifying the sub-route used for the intra-group member communication, a transfer number for identifying a transfer route of the first IP packet which is transferred to another packet relay apparatus on the global network and a group number for identifying a group, and the second IP packet is transmitted and received to and from a terminal under a control of the apparatus itself;
an information management unit which sets and updates the routing information and the route identification information stored in the first storage unit;
a first transmission/reception unit which transmits and receives the second IP packet between itself and the terminal under the control of the apparatus itself;
a first packet creation unit which creates the first IP packet by adding an inter-packet relay apparatus header to the second IP packet received by the first transmission/reception unit by referring to the routing information and the route identification information which are stored in the first storage unit, the inter-packet relay apparatus header including information related to the main route, the route identification information and a packet identification information for identifying a packet;
a second transmission/reception unit which transmits the first IP packet created by the first packet creation unit to another packet relay apparatus by referring to the routing information and route identification information which are stored in the first storage unit and also receives the first IP packet created by the first packet creation unit of another packet relay apparatus and addressed to a terminal under a control of the apparatus itself; and
a second packet creation unit which creates the second IP packet by deleting the inter-packet relay apparatus header from the first IP packet received by the second transmission/reception unit and outputs the second IP packet to the first transmission/reception unit.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A unicast-use tunnel is added between the Note-C and GW-B (i.e., a unicast optimization). Then, the Note-C transmits, to a GW-C, a second IP packet encapsulating a first IP packet, to which an inter-GW header is added, by an IP header to which a multicast address is set. The multicast-use second IP packet is transferred to a CE by way of a tunnel. The CE copies the received second IP packet and transfers it to a GW-A and the GW-B by way of the tunnel (i.e., a multicast optimization).
2 Citations
28 Claims
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1. A packet relay apparatus connecting a sub-network accommodated by the apparatus itself to a global network, grouping terminals within the sub-network virtually and building up a virtual private network by an intra-group member communication that is a communication between members within a group made by a grouping of the terminals, comprising:
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a first storage unit which stores routing information for use in an intra-group member communication relating to a main route and a sub-route, of a first Internet protocol (IP) packet and a second IP packet, and route identification information for identifying an event of being transferred by way of the main route and the sub-route, wherein the first IP packet is managed by an internal management transfer number for identifying the main route used for the intra-group member communication, a sub internal management transfer number for identifying the sub-route used for the intra-group member communication, a transfer number for identifying a transfer route of the first IP packet which is transferred to another packet relay apparatus on the global network and a group number for identifying a group, and the second IP packet is transmitted and received to and from a terminal under a control of the apparatus itself; an information management unit which sets and updates the routing information and the route identification information stored in the first storage unit; a first transmission/reception unit which transmits and receives the second IP packet between itself and the terminal under the control of the apparatus itself; a first packet creation unit which creates the first IP packet by adding an inter-packet relay apparatus header to the second IP packet received by the first transmission/reception unit by referring to the routing information and the route identification information which are stored in the first storage unit, the inter-packet relay apparatus header including information related to the main route, the route identification information and a packet identification information for identifying a packet; a second transmission/reception unit which transmits the first IP packet created by the first packet creation unit to another packet relay apparatus by referring to the routing information and route identification information which are stored in the first storage unit and also receives the first IP packet created by the first packet creation unit of another packet relay apparatus and addressed to a terminal under a control of the apparatus itself; and a second packet creation unit which creates the second IP packet by deleting the inter-packet relay apparatus header from the first IP packet received by the second transmission/reception unit and outputs the second IP packet to the first transmission/reception unit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A terminal apparatus performing an IP packet communication with a first packet relay apparatus that connects a sub-network accommodated by the first packet relay apparatus to a global network, groups terminals within the sub-network virtually and builds up a virtual closed net by an intra-group member communication that is a communication between members within a group made by a grouping of the terminals in the sub-network, comprising:
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a storage unit which stores routing information for use in an intra-group member communication relating to a main route and a sub-route, of a first Internet protocol (IP) packet and a second IP packet, and route identification information for identifying an event of being transferred by way of the main route and the sub-route, wherein the first IP packet is managed by an internal management transfer number for identifying the main route used for the intra-group member communication, a sub internal management transfer number for identifying the sub-route used for the intra-group member communication, a transfer number for identifying a transfer route of the first IP packet which is transferred to a second packet relay apparatus on the global network via the first packet relay apparatus, and a group number for identifying a group, and the second IP packet is transmitted and received to and from a terminal under a control of the terminal apparatus itself; an information management unit which sets and updates the routing information and the route identification information stored in the storage unit; a first packet creation unit which creates the first IP packet by adding a terminal-packet relay apparatus header being used for transfer a packet in a communication between a terminal and the packet relay apparatus to the second IP packet in which a real IP address of the terminal apparatus itself is set as a sender address of an IP header and a virtual IP address of a transmission destination terminal is set as a destination address, by referring to the routing information stored in the storage unit, the terminal-packet relay apparatus header including information related to the main route, the route identification information and a packet identification number for identifying a packet; a transmission/reception unit which transmits the first IP packet created by the first packet creation unit to the first packet relay apparatus accommodating the terminal apparatus itself by referring to the routing information and the route identification information which are stored in the storage unit and also receives the first IP packet created by the first packet relay apparatus; and a second packet creation unit which deletes the terminal-packet relay apparatus header from the first IP packet received by the transmission/reception unit, followed by creating the second IP packet by referring to the routing information stored in the storage unit. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A packet relay method for connecting a sub-network accommodated by the apparatus itself to a global network, grouping terminals within the sub-network virtually and building up a virtual private network by an intra-group member communication that is a communication between members within a group made by a grouping of the terminals, the method being performed by a packet relay apparatus, wherein
the packet relay apparatus comprises a storage unit which stores routing information for use in an intra-group member communication relating to a main route and a sub-route, of a first Internet protocol (IP) packet and a second IP packet, and route identification information for identifying an event of being transferred by way of the main route and the sub-route, wherein the first IP packet is managed by an internal management transfer number for identifying the main route used for the intra-group member communication, a sub internal management transfer number for identifying the sub-route used for the intra-group member communication, a transfer number for identifying a transfer route of the first IP packet which is transferred to another packet relay apparatus on the global network and a group number for identifying a group, and the second IP packet is transmitted and received to and from a terminal under a control of the apparatus itself, and wherein the packet relay apparatus performs: -
setting and updating the routing information and the route identification information stored in the storage unit; transmitting and receiving the second IP packet between itself and the terminal under the control of the apparatus itself; creating the first IP packet by adding an inter-packet relay apparatus header to the received second IP packet by referring to the routing information and the route identification information which are stored in the storage unit, the inter-packet relay apparatus header including information related to the main route, the route identification information and a packet identification information for identifying a packet; transmitting the created first IP packet to another packet relay apparatus by referring to the routing information and route identification information which are stored in the storage unit and also receiving the first IP packet created by another packet relay apparatus and addressed to a terminal under a control of the apparatus itself; and creating the second IP packet by deleting the inter-packet relay apparatus header from the received first IP packet and outputting the second IP packet.
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Specification