Remote message routing device and methods thereof

• US 9,270,570 B2
• Filed: 11/26/2008
• Issued: 02/23/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 11/29/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Beverly, Harlan T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Phillips, Hassan
• Assistant Examiner(s): SWEET, LONNIE V
• Application Number:
  US12/324,226
• Publication Number:
  US 20090141713A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,645 Days
• Field of Search: 370/389, 370/392, 370/401
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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 for routing messages, the method comprising:

receiving, via a network interface of a routing node, a first message and a second message from a first data source node of a communication network;

determining, by a processor of the routing node, a first message type associated with the first message and a second message type associated with the second message based at least in part on inspecting a first data payload of the first message and a second data payload of the second message;

in response to determining, based at least in part on the first message type, that the first message is a 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 routing the first message to the first destination node; and

in response to determining, based at least in part on the second message type, that the second message is a second type of message, establishing at the routing node a server-client connection between the first data source node and a server of the communication network and routing the second message to the server;

wherein the first type of message is associated with a first software component and the second type of message is associated with a second software component.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to determining that the first message is the first type of message, establishing a first plurality of peer-to-peer connections at the routing node between the first data source node and a first plurality of destination nodes comprising the first destination node and routing the first message to the first plurality of destination nodes;

receiving a third message; and

in response to determining that the third message is a third type of message, establishing a second plurality of peer-to-peer connections at the routing node between the first data source node and a second plurality of destination nodes and routing the third message to the second plurality of destination nodes, the second plurality of destination nodes different from the first plurality of destination nodes.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein:

said routing the first message of the first type of message to the first plurality of destination nodes comprises;

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

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

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

said establishing the server-client connection between the first data source node and the server comprises;

determining a server address associated with the server;

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

routing the second packet to the server address.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an establishment request from the first data source node;

in response to the establishment request, receiving a set of rules at the routing node, the set of rules indicating routing rules for the first type of message and the second type of message; and

routing the first type of message and the second type of message based on the routing rules.

5. 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.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a third message and a fourth message at the routing node from the first data source node;

in response to determining that the third message is a third type of message, establishing at the routing node a second peer-to-peer connection between the first data source node and a second destination node; and

in response to determining that the fourth message is a fourth type of message, establishing at the routing node a second server-client connection between the first data source node, the second destination node, and the server.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a third message at the routing node from a second data source node;

establishing at the routing node a second server-client connection between the second data source node, a second destination node, and the server in response to determining that the third message is a third type of message.

8. 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.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein establishing the server-client connection comprises establishing the server-client connection in response to determining a second destination node is not a trusted node based on the trust authentication procedure.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the trust authentication procedure is performed between the routing node and the first destination node.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the routing node comprises a network interface card for a computer device.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein inspecting the first data payload comprises inspecting the first data payload according to a routing rule that indicates an offset into the first data payload and a size of the first message.

13. A method for routing messages, the method comprising:

receiving, via a network interface of a routing node, a first plurality of messages from a first data source node of a communication network;

determining, by a processor of the routing node, types of messages associated with the first plurality of messages received at the routing node from the first data source node;

in response to determining that a first message of the first plurality of messages is a first type of message, determining at the routing node a first group of destination nodes associated with the first type of message;

in response to determining that a second message of the first plurality of messages is a second type of message, determining at the routing node a second group of destination nodes associated with the second type of message, the second group of destination nodes different from the first group of destination nodes;

routing the first message of the first type of message to the first group of destination nodes via a first set of peer-to-peer connections; and

routing the second message of the second type of message to the second group of destination nodes via a second set of peer-to-peer connections, the second message not routed to the first group of destination nodes;

wherein the first type of message is associated with a first software component and the second type of message is associated with a second software component.

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

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

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

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

receiving a communication rule at the routing node; and

determining the first group of destination nodes based, at least in part, on the communication rule.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein said determining the types of messages associated with the first plurality of messages comprises determining the types of messages associated with the first plurality of messages based, at least in part, on corresponding data payloads of the first plurality of messages.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the communication rule indicates an offset value, and wherein routing the first message comprises determining the first group of destination nodes based on the offset value.

18. A network device, comprising:

a processor configured to execute a first software component and a second software component; and

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

receive a first message and a second message from the processor;

determine, based at least in part on inspection of a first data payload of the first message and a second data payload of the second message, a first message type associated with the first message and a second message type associated with the second message;

in response to determining, based at least in part on the first message type, that the first message is a first type of message, establish a peer-to-peer connection between the network device and a first destination node and route the first message to the first destination node; and

in response to determining, based at least in part on the second message type, that the second message is a second type of message, establish a server-client connection between the network device and a remote server of a communication network;

wherein the first type of message is associated with the first software component and the second type of message is associated with the second software component.

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

in response to determining that the first message is the first type of message, establish a first plurality of peer-to-peer connections between the network device and a first plurality of destination nodes comprising the first destination node;

receive a third message; and

in response to determining that the third message is a third type of message, establish a second plurality of peer-to-peer connections between the network device and a second plurality of destination nodes, the second plurality of destination nodes different from the first plurality of destination nodes.

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

21. A network device, comprising:

a processor configured to execute a first software component and a second software component; and

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

receive a first plurality of messages from the processor;

determine types of messages associated with the first plurality of messages ;

in response to determining that a first message of the first plurality of messages is a first type of message,

determine a first group of destination nodes associated with the first type of message;

route the first message of the first type of message to the first group of destination nodes via a first set of peer-to-peer connections; and

in response to determining that a second message of the first plurality of messages is a second type of message,

determine a second group of destination nodes associated with the second type of message, the second group of destination nodes different from the first group of destination nodes;

route the second message of the second type of message to the second group of destination nodes via a second set of peer-to-peer connections;

wherein the first type of message is associated with the first software component and the second type of message is associated with the second software component.

22. The network device of claim 21, wherein the network interface device is further configured to:

communicate an establishment request to a server of a communication network to be configured as a routing node; and

in response to the establishment request, receive a set of routing rules from the server and employ the set of routing rules to determine different groups of destination nodes associated with different types of messages and to route messages received at the network interface device from the processor to a corresponding group of destination.