Architecture for open communication in a heterogeneous network

• US 8,665,789 B2
• Filed: 04/13/2011
• Issued: 03/04/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 04/13/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Telcordia Technologies Incorporated (Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson), Toyota Infotechnology Center USA, Inc. (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Telcordia Technologies Incorporated (Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson), Toyota Infotechnology Center Co., Ltd. (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Chen, Wai, Lee, John, Guha, Ratul, Ling, Yibei, Kwon, Taek-Jin, Vuyyuru, Rama, Fukuyama, Junichiro
• Primary Examiner(s): Sefcheck, Gregory
• Assistant Examiner(s): MITCHELL, DANIEL D
• Application Number:
  US13/085,967
• Publication Number:
  US 20120263102A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,056 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 370/328
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/16 Multipoint routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/306 Route determination based on the nature of the carried application
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/741 Routing in networks with a plurality of addressing schemes, e.g. with both IPv4 and IPv6
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/10 of different types
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/20 based on geographic position or location

Abstract

Network architecture configured for open communication between a plurality of sub-networks. Each of the plurality of sub-networks has a different routable network addressing scheme. The architecture includes at least one broker node adapted to communicate using at least two different routable network addressing schemes. The broker node comprises an identification management module configured to collect peer-application addresses for nodes currently accessing a specific application, the peer-application addresses being associated with a specific application, an address resolution module configured to map each of the peer-application addresses to a sub-network specific routable network address and a network coordination module configured to monitor and coordinate sub-network communication capabilities between the broker node and at least one other broker node and elect a primary broker node for each sub-network which the broker node and at least one other broker node is capable of communication.

Claims

1. A mobile communication network configured for open communication between at least two sub-networks, where each of the at least one sub-networks has a different routable network addressing scheme, comprising:

a plurality of nodes configured for communicating using a first sub-network of the at least two sub-networks via a corresponding routable network addressing scheme;

a plurality of nodes configured for communicating using a second sub-network of the at least two sub-networks via a corresponding routable network addressing scheme; and

at least one broker node configured for communicating using at least two of the at least two sub-network via the corresponding routable network addressing schemes for each of the sub-networks, the at least one broker node receives a message from one node of the plurality of nodes of the first sub-network of the at least two sub-network and forwards the message to at least one node in a second sub-network of the at least two-sub-networks based at least upon an application in which the message is created;

each of the at least one broker node receives update messages from each of the plurality of nodes configured for communicating using the first or second sub-networks, the update messages including all pending applications running at each node and a corresponding peer-application address for the application, sub-network specific routable network address and stores a pending application identifier, corresponding peer-application address, peer-application address and sub-network specific routable network address for each node, the pending application identifier and corresponding peer-application address is associated with each other and the peer-application address and the sub-network specific routable network address is associated with each other;

wherein each of the plurality of nodes configured for communicating using the first or second sub-networks receives the broadcast and maintains a list of broker nodes; and

wherein the application generates an unicast packet for an unicast message.

2. The mobile communication network according to claim 1, wherein one node of either of the plurality of nodes configured for communicating using the first or second sub-networks broadcasts a request for a list of peer-application addresses for nodes currently accessing an application, each of the at least one broker nodes responds to the request with a list of peer-application addresses corresponding to the requested application.

3. The mobile communication network according to claim 2, wherein the one node either of the plurality of nodes configured for communicating using the first or second sub-networks transmits an unicast packet having the peer-application address as an application destination and a routable address for a broker node that responded to the request with the peer-application address in a network header and has a message in a payload.

4. The mobile communication network according to claim 3, wherein the broker node that responded to the request with the peer-application address receives the unicast packet and replaces its routable address with a sub-network specific routable network address that corresponds to the peer-application address in the unicast packet in the network header and forwards the unicast packet to the application destination.

5. The mobile communication network according to claim 4, wherein the unicast packet has multiple destination points.