Method and node for employing network connections over a connectionless transport layer protocol

• US 8,750,112 B2
• Filed: 03/16/2009
• Issued: 06/10/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/16/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dish Network Technologies India Private Limited (Echostar Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Echostar Technologies LLC (Echostar Corporation)
• Inventors: Bajpai, Parimal, Jain, Vikal Kumar, Akella, Aparna Sarma
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Jay P
• Application Number:
  US12/405,062
• Publication Number:
  US 20100232438A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,912 Days
• Field of Search: 370/231
• US Class Current: 370/231
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/5645 Connectionless
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/38 Flow based routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/10 Flow control; Congestion control
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/2483 involving identification of individual flows
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/16 Implementation or adaptation of Internet protocol [IP], of transmission control protocol [TCP] or of user datagram protocol [UDP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/161 Implementation details of TCP/IP or UDP/IP stack architecture; Specification of modified or new header fields
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/162 involving adaptations of sockets based mechanisms secure socket layer H04L63/168
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/164 Adaptation or special uses of UDP protocol
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/22 Parsing or analysis of headers

Abstract

A method of establishing a network connection between two nodes of a communication network via a connectionless transport layer communication protocol is presented. In the method, a plurality of data packets is exchanged between a first node and a second node. Each of the data packets comprises a header and a payload formatted according to the connectionless protocol. The connectionless protocol payload of each of the data packets includes a separate header comprising a first port indicator for the first node and a second port indicator for the second node. The separate header of at least one of the data packets also includes an indication to establish a connection between the first node and the second node. In response to the exchange of data packets, the first and second nodes establish the connection, wherein the first port indicator and the second port indicator are associated with the established connection between the nodes.

Claims

1. A method of establishing a network connection via a connectionless transport layer communication protocol, the method comprising:

exchanging a plurality of data packets between a first node of a network and a second node of the network, wherein each of the data packets comprises a header and a payload formatted according to the connectionless protocol, wherein the connectionless protocol payload of each of the data packets comprises a separate header comprising a first port indicator for the first node randomly selected by the first node and a second port indicator for the second node, and wherein the separate header of at least one of the data packets comprises an indication to establish a connection between the first node and the second node; and

establishing, at the first node and the second node, in response to exchanging the data packets, the connection between the first node and the second node, wherein the connection is established using a port at the first node associated with first port indicator and a port at the second node associated with the second port indicator.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

exchanging a second plurality of data packets between the first node and the second node, wherein each of the second plurality of data packets comprises a header and a payload formatted according to the connectionless protocol, wherein the connectionless protocol payload of each of the second plurality of data packets comprises a separate header comprising a third port indicator for the first node selected by the first node and a fourth port indicator for the second node, and wherein the separate header of at least one of the second plurality of data packets comprises an indication to establish a second connection between the first node and the second node, and wherein the third port indicator identifies a different port than the first port indicator; and

at the first node and the second node, in response to exchanging the second plurality of data packets, establishing the second connection between the first node and the second node, wherein the third port indicator and the fourth port indicator are associated with the second established connection, and wherein the first connection and the second connection are established concurrently.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the separate header of at least one of the data packets comprises a first session identifier for the first node and a second session identifier for the second node, wherein the first session identifier and the second session identifier are associated with the connection; and

the method further comprises verifying whether the at least one of the data packets belongs to a current session using at least one of the first session identifier and the second session identifier.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

discarding the at least one of the data packets if the at least one of the data packets does not belong to the current session.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein exchanging the plurality of data packets comprises:

transmitting a first data packet of the data packets from the first node to the second node, wherein the separate header of the first data packet comprises the indication to establish the connection with the second node, the first port indicator, and the second port indicator;

receiving the first data packet at the second node; and

transmitting a second data packet of the data packets from the second node to the first node, wherein the separate header of the second data packet comprises an indication of a first acknowledgment of the indication to establish the connection, the first port indicator, and the second port indicator.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein exchanging the plurality of data packets further comprises:

awaiting the second data packet at the first node; and

retransmitting the first data packet from the first node to the second node if the second data packet is not received at the first node within a first predetermined time period after the transmitting of the first data packet.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein exchanging the plurality of data packets further comprises:

receiving the second data packet at the first node; and

transmitting a third data packet of the data packets from the first node to the second node, wherein the separate header of the third data packet comprises an indication

of a second acknowledgment of the first acknowledgment, the first port indicator, and the second port indicator;

wherein establishing the connection occurs at the first node in response to transmitting the third data packet.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein exchanging the plurality of data packets further comprises:

awaiting the third data packet at the second node; and

retransmitting the second data packet from the second node to the first node if the third data packet is not received at the second node within a second predetermined time period after the transmitting of the second data packet.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein exchanging the plurality of data packets further comprises:

receiving the third data packet at the second node;

wherein establishing the connection occurs at the second node in response to receiving the third data packet.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein:

for each of the data packets, the connectionless protocol header comprises a port indicator different from the first port indicator and the second port indicator, wherein the first port indicator is not a user datagram protocol port and wherein the second port indicator is not a user datagram protocol port.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein:

the connectionless protocol comprises a user datagram protocol.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

after establishing the connection between the first node and the second node, transmitting a second plurality of data packets between the first node and the second node, wherein each of the second plurality of data packets comprises a header and a payload formatted according to the connectionless protocol, wherein the connectionless protocol payload of each of the second plurality of data packets comprises user data and a separate header comprising the first port indicator, the second port indicator, and an indication that the associated data packet includes the user data.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

after transmitting the second plurality of data packets, exchanging a third plurality of data packets between the first node and the second node, wherein each of the third plurality of data packets comprises a header and a payload formatted according to the connectionless protocol, wherein the connectionless protocol payload of each of the third plurality of data packets comprises a separate header comprising the first port indicator and the second port indicator, and wherein the separate header of at least one of the third plurality of data packets comprises an indication to terminate the established connection between the first node and the second node.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein exchanging the third plurality of data packets comprises:

transmitting a first data packet of the third plurality of data packets from the first node to the second node, wherein the separate header of the first data packet of the third plurality of data packets comprises the first port indicator, the second port indicator, and the indication to terminate the established connection;

receiving the first data packet of the third plurality of data packets at the second node;

transmitting a second data packet of the third plurality of data packets from the second node to the first node, wherein the separate header of the second data packet of the third plurality of data packets comprises an acknowledgment of the indication to terminate the established connection, the first port indicator, and the second port indicator;

terminating the connection in the second node in response to transmitting the second data packet of the third plurality of data packets;

receiving the second data packet of the third plurality of data packets at the first node; and

terminating the connection in the first node in response to receiving the second data packet of the third plurality of data packets.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein exchanging the third plurality of data packets comprises:

awaiting the second data packet of the third plurality of data packets at the first node; and

retransmitting the first data packet of the third plurality of data packets from the first node to the second node if the second data packet of the third plurality of data packets is not received at the first node within a first predetermined time period.

16. A node for a communication network, the node comprising:

a communication interface configured to transmit and receive data packets with another node of the network; and

control circuitry configured to randomly generate a first port indicator, generate a data packet comprising a header and a payload formatted according to a connectionless transport layer communication protocol, wherein the connectionless protocol payload comprises a separate header comprising the first port indicator for the node, a second port indicator for the other node, and an indication to establish a connection with the other node using a port associated with the first port indicator at the node and a port associated with the second port indicator at the other node;

wherein the control circuitry is configured to transmit the data packet by way of the communication interface to the other node;

wherein the control circuitry is configured to receive by way of the communication interface a second data packet from the other node, wherein the second data packet comprises a header and a payload formatted according to the connectionless protocol, and wherein connectionless protocol payload of the second data packet comprises a separate header comprising an indication of a first acknowledgment of the indication to establish the connection, the first port indicator, and the second port indicator; and

wherein the control circuitry is configured to determine that a connection between the node and the other node is established using the port associated with the first port indicator at the node and the port associated with the second port indicator at the other node after the second data packet is received at the node.

17. The node of claim 16, wherein:

the control circuitry is configured to await the second data packet from the other node via the communication interface for a predetermined period of time after the transmission of the first data packet to the other node, and to retransmit the first data packet via the communication interface to the other node if the second data packet is not received via the communication interface within the predetermined period of time.

18. The node of claim 16, wherein:

the control circuitry is configured to generate a third data packet comprising a header and a payload formatted according to the connectionless protocol, wherein the connectionless protocol payload of the third data packet comprises a separate header comprising the first port indicator, the second port indicator, and an indication of a second acknowledgment to the first acknowledgment, and to transfer the third data packet by way of the communication interface to the other node.

19. The node of claim 16, wherein:

the connectionless protocol comprises a user datagram protocol, wherein the first port indicator is not a user datagram protocol port and wherein the second port indicator is not a user datagram protocol port.

20. A node for a communication network, the node comprising:

a communication interface configured to transmit and receive data packets with another node of the network; and

control circuitry configured to receive a data packet comprising a header and a payload formatted according to a connectionless transport layer communication protocol from the other node via the communication interface, wherein the communication protocol payload comprises a separate header comprising a first port indicator for the other node randomly selected by the other node, a second port indicator for the node, and an indication to establish a connection with the other node using a port associated with the first port indicator at the other node and a port associated with the second port indicator at the node;

wherein the control circuitry is configured to generate a second data packet comprising a header and a payload formatted according to the connectionless protocol, and wherein the connectionless protocol payload of the second data packet comprises a separate header comprising an indication of a first acknowledgment of the indication to establish the connection, the first port indicator, and the second port indicator;

wherein the control circuitry is configured to transmit the second data packet by way of the communication interface to the other node; and

wherein the control circuitry is configured to determine that a connection between the node and the other node is established using the port associated with the first port indicator at the other node and the port associated with the second port indicator at the node after the second data packet is transmitted via the communication interface.

21. The node of claim 20, wherein:

the control circuitry is configured to await a third data packet from the other node via the communication interface for a predetermined period of time after the transmission of the second data packet to the other node, and to retransmit the second data packet via the communication interface to the other node if the third data packet is not received via the communication interface within the predetermined period of time.

22. The node of claim 20, wherein:

the connectionless protocol comprises a user datagram protocol.