Remote Message Routing Device and Methods Thereof

• US 20090141713A1
• Filed: 11/26/2008
• Published: 06/04/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/29/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Bigfoot Networks, Inc. (Qualcomm, Inc.)
• Inventors: Beverly, Harlan T.
• Granted Patent: US 9,270,570 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/389
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/00 Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks routing or path finding in wireless networks H04W40/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/302 Route determination based on requested QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/306 Route determination based on the nature of the carried application
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/42 Centralised routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/63 Routing a service request depending on the request content or context

Abstract

A message routing method includes receiving a plurality of messages at a routing node. The routing node is configured to route each received message based on the message type. Accordingly, the routing node is able to establish a peer-to-peer connection between the message source and a destination node for a designated message type, while establishing a server-client connection between the message source and a server for other message types. The routing node can also route messages to different groups of destination nodes depending on the message type, thereby providing a flexible way to route messages over a network.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving a first plurality of messages at a routing node from a first data source node of a communication network, the first plurality of messages comprising a first type of message and a second type of message;

for the first type of message, establishing a peer-to-peer connection at the routing node between the first data source node and a first destination node; and

for the second type of message establishing at the routing node a server-client connection between the first data source node and a server.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

for the first type of message, establishing a peer-to-peer connection at the routing node between the data source node and a plurality of destination nodes comprising the first destination node.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein:

establishing the peer-to-peer connection comprises;

determining a plurality of destination addresses, each destination address uniquely associated with a corresponding one of the plurality of destination nodes;

forming a first packet including at least a portion of a first message of the first type; and

routing the first packet to each of the plurality of destination addresses; and

establishing the server-client connection comprises;

determining a server address associated with the server;

forming a second packet including at least a portion of a second message of the second type; and

routing the second packet to the server address.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first type of message is associated with a first group of communication nodes and the second type of message is associated with a second group of communication nodes.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first type of message is associated with a first software application and the second type of message is associated with a second software application.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first type of message is associated with a first game event of a network game and the second type of message is associated with a second game event.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a second plurality of messages at the routing node from the first data source node of the communication network, the second plurality of messages comprising a third type of message and a fourth type of message;

for the third type of message, establishing a peer-to-peer connection at the routing node between the first data source node and a second destination node; and

for the fourth type of message establishing at the routing node a server-client connection between the first data source node, the second destination node, and the server.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a second plurality of messages at the routing node from a second data source node of the communication network, the second plurality of messages comprising a third type of message and a fourth type of message;

for the third type of message, establishing a peer-to-peer connection at the routing node between the second data source node and a second destination node; and

for the fourth type of message establishing at the routing node a server-client connection between the second data source node, the second destination node, and the server.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein establishing the peer-to-peer connection comprises establishing the peer-to-peer connection in response to determining the first destination node is a trusted node based on a trust authentication procedure.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein establishing the server-client connection comprises establishing the server-client connection in response to the determining a second destination node is not a trusted node based on the trust authentication procedure.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the trust authentication procedure is performed between the routing node and the first destination node.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the routing node comprises a network interface device configured to route communications from a first processor to the communication network.

13. A method, comprising:

receiving a first plurality of messages at a routing node from a first data source node of a communication network, the first plurality of messages comprising a first message of a first type and a second message of a second type;

determining at the routing node a first group of destination nodes based on the first type;

determining at the routing node a second group of destination nodes based on the second type;

routing the first message to the first group of destination nodes; and

routing the second message to the second group of destination nodes.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein routing the first message comprises:

establishing a one-to-one connection between the routing node and a first destination node of the first group; and

routing the first message via the one-to-one connection.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

receiving a first set of communication rules at the routing node; and

determining the first group based on the first set of communication rules.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein receiving the first plurality of messages comprises receiving the first plurality of messages from a router.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein the router is a unicast router.

18. A device, comprising:

a processor configured to execute a first software program; and

a network interface device coupled to the processor, the network interface device configured to;

receive a first plurality of messages from the processor, the first plurality of messages comprising a first type of message and a second type of message;

for the first type of message, establish a peer-to-peer connection at the routing node between the device and a first destination node; and

for the second type of message establish at the routing node a server-client connection between the device and a server.

19. The device of claim 18, wherein the network interface device is further configured to:

for the first type of message, establish a peer-to-peer connection between device and a plurality of destination nodes comprising the first destination node.

20. The device of claim 19, wherein the network interface device is configured to provide a physical layer interface for communications between the processor and the network.