Methods and apparatus for separating home agent functionality
First Claim
1. A method of supporting mobility in a communications system, the system including a mobile node, a routing control node, a data packet forwarding node and an access node, said access node serving as the mobile node'"'"'s point of attachment to a network via a wireless link, the method comprising:
- operating the mobile node to transmit a forwarding control message to the routing control node via said access node, said message being forwarded to said routing control node over a control path which does not traverse said data packet forwarding node, wherein the routing control node is located outside of a firewall that is used to protect the data packet forwarding node;
operating the routing control node to establish a data packet forwarding path between the data packet forwarding node and one of said access node and mobile node, said routing control node being outside said data packet forwarding path; and
operating the routing control node to transmit a response message to said mobile node indicating acceptance of a request for establishment of said data packet forwarding path.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
MIP Home Agent (HA) architectures are described that decompose, e.g., split, packet forwarding control functionality from actual data packet forwarding operations performed by a conventional MIP HA. This places MIP routing control in a node which is distinct from the tunnel end-points which perform packet forwarding operations to direct packets including a mobile'"'"'s Home Address. Tunneling establishment and control functionality is implemented by what is referred to herein as decomposed HA (DHA) while data packet forwarding and redirection is performed, under the control of the DHA, by a tunneling agent (TA) node. The tunneling agent node serves as the data packet redirection node for a mobile as it moves from one location to another and may be located outside of a firewall used to protect the DHA. Tunnel endpoint nodes (Mobile Nodes and/or Access Nodes) send tunnel packets to the tunnel agent whilst directing control signaling packets to the DHA.
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Citations
46 Claims
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1. A method of supporting mobility in a communications system, the system including a mobile node, a routing control node, a data packet forwarding node and an access node, said access node serving as the mobile node'"'"'s point of attachment to a network via a wireless link, the method comprising:
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operating the mobile node to transmit a forwarding control message to the routing control node via said access node, said message being forwarded to said routing control node over a control path which does not traverse said data packet forwarding node, wherein the routing control node is located outside of a firewall that is used to protect the data packet forwarding node; operating the routing control node to establish a data packet forwarding path between the data packet forwarding node and one of said access node and mobile node, said routing control node being outside said data packet forwarding path; and operating the routing control node to transmit a response message to said mobile node indicating acceptance of a request for establishment of said data packet forwarding path. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A communications system comprising:
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a mobile node having a Home Address; a routing control node for receiving routing control messages from a mobile node and for controlling redirection of packets including the Home Address of said mobile node towards the mobile node'"'"'s current location; a data packet forwarding node for receiving packets including said Home Address and for redirecting said packets towards the current location of said mobile node; an access node, said access node serving as the mobile node'"'"'s point of attachment to a network which includes said access node and said routing control node, said access node being coupled to said mobile node via a wireless link; said mobile node including means for transmitting a forwarding control message to the routing control node via said access node, said message being forwarded to said routing control node over a control path extending between said access node and said routing control node which does not traverse said data packet forwarding node; and said routing control node including; i) means for establishing a data packet forwarding path between the data packet forwarding node and one of said access node and mobile node, said routing control node being outside said data packet forwarding path; and ii) means for transmitting a response message to said mobile node indicating acceptance of a request for establishment of said data packet forwarding path. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
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17. A communications method for use with a communication system including a first node, an access node, a second node, and a third node, wherein one of said access node and the first node operates as a tunnel endpoint node, the method comprising:
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operating said second node to transmit a routing advertisement for an address associated with a first identifier; operating said access node to transmit a routing advertisement for an address associated with a second identifier; operating the tunnel endpoint node to transmit a first signal towards the third node, said signal requesting installation, in a table in said third node, of a tunnel state entry associating the first and second identifiers; operating the tunnel endpoint node to receive a second signal originating from the third node indicating that the third node has installed said tunnel state entry; and operating said tunnel endpoint node to receive a redirected data packet from the second node, said redirected packet including a data packet with a destination address including the address associated with the first identifier. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A communications method for use in a communications including a first node, an access node, a second node, and a third node, wherein one of said access node and the first node operates as a tunnel endpoint node, the method comprising:
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operating the second node to transmit a routing advertisement for an address associated with a first identifier, said second node including tunnel state entries that map between an addresses associated with the first identifier and address associated with a second identifier; operating said access node to transmit a routing advertisement for the address associated with the second identifier; operating the second node to transmit a first signal towards the third node indicating installation of a tunnel state entry associated with the first identifier, said first signal including the second identifier; operating the second node to receive a data packet including a destination address that includes said address associated with the first identifier; and operating the second node to redirect said received data packet, said redirected data packet being modified by said second node to add a destination address that includes said address associated with the second identifier. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. A tunneling agent node for use in a communications system including a mobile node, an access node, said tunneling agent node, and a routing control node, wherein one of said access node and the mobile node operates as a tunnel endpoint node, the tunneling agent node comprising:
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means for generating and sending a routing advertisement for an address associated with a first identifier, said tunneling agent node including tunnel state entries that map between an addresses associated with the first identifier and address associated with a second identifier; means for generating and sending a first signal towards the routing control node indicating installation of a tunnel state entry associated with the first identifier, said first signal including the second identifier; means for receiving a data packet including a destination address that includes said address associated with the first identifier; and means for redirecting said received data packet, said redirected data packet being modified by said tunneling agent node to add a destination address that includes said address associated with the second identifier. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40)
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41. A non-transitory computer program product comprising:
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machine readable medium embodying machine executable instructions for controlling a tunneling agent node in a communications system including a mobile node, an access node, said tunneling agent node, and a routing control node, wherein one of said access node and the mobile node operates as a tunnel endpoint node, the machine readable medium comprising; instructions for causing the tunneling agent node to generate and send a routing advertisement for an address associated with a first identifier, said tunneling agent node including tunnel state entries that map between an addresses associated with the first identifier and address associated with a second identifier; instructions for causing the tunneling agent node to generate and send a first signal towards the routing control node indicating installation of a tunnel state entry associated with the first identifier, said first signal including the second identifier; instructions for causing the tunneling agent node to receive a data packet including a destination address that includes said address associated with the first identifier; and instructions for causing the tunneling agent node to redirect said received data packet, said redirected data packet being modified by said tunneling agent node to add a destination address that includes said address associated with the second identifier. - View Dependent Claims (42)
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43. A tunneling agent node in a communications system including a mobile node, an access node, said tunneling agent node, and a routing control node, wherein one of said access node and the mobile node operates as a tunnel endpoint node, the tunneling agent node comprising a processor configured to:
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control the tunneling agent node to generate and send a routing advertisement for an address associated with a first identifier, said tunneling agent node including tunnel state entries that map between an addresses associated with the first identifier and address associated with a second identifier; control the tunneling agent node to generate and send a first signal towards the routing control node indicating installation of a tunnel state entry associated with the first identifier, said first signal including the second identifier; control the tunneling agent node to receive a data packet including a destination address that includes said address associated with the first identifier; and control the tunneling agent node to redirect said received data packet, said redirected data packet being modified by said tunneling agent node to add a destination address that includes said address associated with the second identifier. - View Dependent Claims (44)
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45. A tunneling agent node for use in a communications system including a mobile node, an access node, said tunneling agent node, and a routing control node, wherein one of said access node and the mobile node operates as a tunnel endpoint node, the tunneling agent node comprising:
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an interface for transmitting a routing advertisement for an address associated with a first identifier, said tunneling agent node including tunnel state entries that map between an addresses associated with the first identifier and address associated with a second identifier; a mobility tunneling agent signaling module for sending a first signal towards the routing control node indicating installation of a tunnel state entry associated with the first identifier, said first signal including the second identifier; said interface further being for receiving a data packet including a destination address that includes said address associated with the first identifier; and a forwarding module for redirecting said received data packet, said redirected data packet being modified by said tunneling agent node to add a destination address that includes said address associated with the second identifier. - View Dependent Claims (46)
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Specification