Extended local IP access for a converged gateway in a hybrid network

• US 9,198,021 B2
• Filed: 12/03/2010
• Issued: 11/24/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/04/2009
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: InterDigital Patent Holdings, Inc. (InterDigital, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: InterDigital Patent Holdings, Inc. (InterDigital, Inc.)
• Inventors: Tomici, John L., Chitrapu, Prabhakar R., Cartmell, John, Di Girolamo, Rocco, Gauvreau, Jean-Louis, Ye, Chunxuan, Laha, Kushanava, Varshney, Reeteshkumar, Chandra, Arty, Demir, Alpaslan Y., Freda, Martino, Hergenhan, Scott C., Seed, Dale N., Starsinic, Michael F., Touag, Athmane, Upadhyay, Onkarnath, Russell, Paul L., Kamarajugadda, Aravind, Podias, Nicholas J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hamza, Faruk
• Assistant Examiner(s): Zaman, Shah R
• Application Number:
  US12/960,160
• Publication Number:
  US 20110228750A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,817 Days
• Field of Search: 370/338, 370/328, 370/331, 370/221, 709/24, 709/207
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/30 for supporting lawful interception, monitoring or retaining of communications or communication related information circuit switched telephony call monitoring H04M3/2281
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/02 Protecting privacy or anonymity, e.g. protecting personally identifiable information [PII]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/03 Protecting confidentiality, e.g. by encryption
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/12 Setup of transport tunnels
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/082 for traffic bypassing of mobility servers, e.g. location registers, home PLMNs or home agents
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/045 using private Base Stations, e.g. femto Base Stations, home Node B
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/22 between access point controllers

Abstract

The implementation of Local IP Access (LIPA), “Extended” LIPA (ELIPA), and Selected IP Traffic Offload (SIPTO) for the design of a “Converged Gateway” (CGW) are disclosed. The gateway system may provide various features such as femtocell access to local networks, public Internet, and private service provider networks.

Claims

1. A communication system, comprising:

a first home network having a first local gateway and a first home network gateway; and

a second home network having a second local gateway and a second home network gateway,

wherein the first and second home network gateways are associated with a mobile core network,

wherein the first local gateway is configured to establish a user data plane communication between a wireless transmit receive unit (WTRU) on the second home network and a device on the first home network that bypasses a packet data network egress of the mobile core network, wherein the user data plane communication is established via at least a direct tunnel between the first and second local gateways or the first local gateway and the second home network gateway such that the user data plane communication uses a backhaul through which the direct tunnel is routed to bypass the packet data network egress of the mobile core network, wherein the packet data network egress of the mobile core network bypassed comprises at least one of a general packet radio service support node (GGSN) or a packet data network gateway (P-GW) of the mobile core network, and wherein the first local gateway is configured to perform a subset of functions provided by the GGSN or the P-GW bypassed including WTRU policy based packet filtering, rate policing or shaping, WTRU IP address assignment, and direct tunneling between the first local gateway and at least one of the first and second home network gateways.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the first and second home network gateways are femto access points.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the network egress of the mobile core network provides communication to the Internet.

4. A method to enable communication between a wireless transmit receive unit (WTRU) on a first home network and a user device on a second home network, wherein the first home network has a first local gateway and a first home network gateway, the second home network has a second local gateway and a second home network gateway, and the first and second home network gateways are each associated with a mobile core network, the method comprising

establishing user data plane communication between a WTRU on the first home network and the user device on the second home network via at least a direct tunnel between the first and second local gateways or the first home network gateway and the second local gateway such that the user data plane communication uses a backhaul through which the direct tunnel is routed to bypasses the packet data network egress of the mobile core network, wherein the packet data network egress of the mobile core network bypassed comprises at least one of a general packet radio service support node (GGSN) or a packet data network gateway (P-GW) of the mobile core network, and wherein the first local gateway is configured to perform a subset of functions provided by the GGSN or the P-GW bypassed including WTRU policy based packet filtering, rate policing or shaping, WTRU IP address assignment, and direct tunneling between the first local gateway and at least one of the first and second home network gateways;

receiving user data from a WTRU at a first logical interface, the user data intended for the user device on the second home network;

signaling the mobile core network to indicate that data being sent is to bypass a packet data network egress of the mobile core network; and

sending the user data to the user device on the second home network using the established user data plane commination via the direct tunnel through the backhaul.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the first and second home network gateways are femto access points.

6. A device to enable communication between a wireless transmit receive unit (WTRU) on a first home network and a user device on a second home network, wherein the first home network has a first local gateway and a first home network gateway, the second home network has a second local gateway and a second home network gateway, and the first and second home network gateways are each associated with a mobile core network, the device comprising:

a first logical interface to the WTRU,

a second logical interface to the mobile core network; and

a processor configured to;

signal to the mobile core network via the second logical interface that user data plane communications received at the first logical interface intended for the second home network are to bypass the packet data network egress of the mobile core network, wherein the packet data network egress of the mobile core network bypassed comprises at least one of a general packet radio service support node (GGSN) or a packet data network gateway (P-GW) of the mobile core network, and wherein the device is configured to perform a subset of functions provided by the GGSN or the P-G bypassed including WTRU policy based packet filtering, rate policing or shaping, WTRU IP address assignment, and tunneling between the first local gateway and at least one of the first and second home network gateways.

7. The device of claim 6, wherein the first and second home network gateways are femto access points.

8. The device of claim 6, wherein the network egress of the mobile core network provides communication to the Internet.

9. The device of claim 6, wherein the packet data network egress of the mobile core network is a general packet radio service support node (GGSN).

10. The device of claim 6, wherein the packet data network egress of the mobile core network is a packet data network gateway (P-GW).

11. The device of claim 6, wherein the first and second home network gateways are H(e)NBs.

12. The device of claim 6, wherein the processor is further configured to:

establish a path for the user data plane communications so that the path route reflects the user data plane communications at a first mobile core network entity.

13. The device of claim 6, wherein the tunnel comprises an internet protocol based tunnel, and wherein the processor is further configured to:

establish the internet protocol based tunnel with the first home network gateway, wherein the tunnel setup is configured by a device of the mobile core network.

14. The device of claim 6, wherein the tunnel comprises an internet protocol based tunnel, and wherein the processor is further configured to:

establish the internet protocol based tunnel with the first or second local gateway, wherein the tunnel setup is configured by a device of the mobile core network.

15. The device of claim 13, wherein the device of the mobile core network is a serving general packet radio service support node (SGSN).

16. The device of claim 13, wherein the processor is further configured to:

register with a local gateway (LGW) aggregator.

17. The device of claim 16, wherein the LGW aggregator has a mapping of a LGW access point name (APN) and an internet protocol (IP) address.

18. The device of claim 12, wherein the first mobile core network entity is a security gateway.

19. The device of claim 13, wherein the processor is further configured to:

signal to the mobile core network via the second logical interface such that the user data plane communications are routed via the Internet and bypass the mobile core network.