Tunnel interworking

Claim 2

A computer implemented method comprising: receiving at a first network element of a network a subscriber session from a subscriber; routing at least a portion of the subscriber session to a second network element within the network using a first tunneling protocol; determining at the second network element whether the subscriber session should be routed to a destination using a second tunneling protocol different than the first tunneling protocols; switching the subscriber session to the destination out of the network via the second network element using the second tunneling protocol if the subscriber session should be routed to the destination using the second tunneling protocol; and authenticating the subscriber session based on authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) information associated with the subscriber, and wherein the AAA information further includes information regarding whether the subscriber session should be switched out and which tunneling protocol should be used when a set of packets is routed to the destination.

Claim 3

The method of claim 1 wherein switching the subscriber session comprises: the second network element decapsulating the subscriber session to extract a payload of the subscriber session according to the first tunneling protocol; the second network element encapsulating the extracted payload of the subscriber session with the second tunneling protocol; and the second network element transmitting the encapsulated subscriber session to the destination out of the network.

Claim 4

The method of claim 2 wherein encapsulating the extracted payload comprises the second network element remotely invoking an encapsulation process from a third network element within the network to encapsulate the payload of the subscriber session using the second tunneling protocol, if the second network is not capable of handling the second tunneling protocol.

Claim 6

A computer implemented method comprising: receiving at a second network element of a network a session encapsulated with a first tunneling protocol from a first network element within the network, the session having a control message; the second network element decapsulating the encapsulated session to extract the control message according to the first tunneling protocol; using the control message to determine if the session is to be transmitted with a second tunneling protocol different than the first tunneling protocol; if the session is to be transmitted with the second tunneling protocol, creating a session structure indicating the second tunneling protocol associating the session with the session structure; transmitting the session as indicated by the session structure to a destination, wherein the session is encapsulated with the second tunneling protocol based on the protocol information stored within the session structure prior to transmitting the session to a destination; and authenticating the session based on authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) information associated with a subscriber, and wherein using the control message to determine if the session is to be transmitted with the second tunneling protocol comprises: retrieving a subscriber record from a database, the subscriber record including authentication, authorization, and accounting information and the record corresponding to a subscriber indicated by the control message; determining whether the session is to be tunneled out and which tunneling protocol should be used when the session is tunneled out, based on the record.

Claim 7

A computer implemented method comprising: receiving at a second network element of a network a session encapsulated with a first tunneling protocol from a first network element within the network, the session having a control message; the second network element decapsulating the encapsulated session to extract the control message according to the first tunneling protocol; using the control message to determine if the session is to be transmitted with a second tunneling protocol different than the first tunneling protocol; if the session is to be transmitted with the second tunneling protocol, creating a session structure indicating the second tunneling protocol associating the session with the session structure; transmitting the session as indicated by the session structure to a destination, wherein the session is encapsulated with the second tunneling protocol based on the protocol information stored within the session structure prior to transmitting the session to a destination; and authenticating the session based on authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) information associated with a subscriber, and wherein using the control message to determine if the session is to be transmitted with the second tunneling protocol comprises: retrieving a subscriber record from a database, the subscriber record including authentication, authorization, and accounting information and the record corresponding to a subscriber indicated by the control message; determining whether the session is to be tunneled out and which tunneling protocol should be used when the session is tunneled out, based on the record.

Claim 8

The method of claim 5 further comprising: encapsulating the session with the second tunneling protocol determined from the record; transmitting the encapsulated session to a destination, wherein the session is decapsulated according to the second tunneling protocol at the destination.

Claim 9

A computer implemented method comprising: receiving at a second network element of a network a subscriber session with a first tunneling protocol from a first network element within the network; the second network element determining that the subscriber session is to be transmitted with a second tunneling protocol different than the first tunneling protocol; associating the subscriber session with a session structure, the session structure indicating the second tunneling protocol; transmitting the subscriber session as indicated by the session structure to a destination, wherein the subscriber session is encapsulated using the second tunneling protocol indicated by the session structure; and authenticating the subscriber session based on authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) information associated with a subscriber, and wherein the AAA information further includes the session structure regarding whether the subscriber session should be switched out and which tunneling protocol should be used when a set of packets is routed to the destination.

Claim 10

A computer implemented method comprising: receiving at a second network element of a network a subscriber session with a first tunneling protocol from a first network element within the network; the second network element determining that the subscriber session is to be transmitted with a second tunneling protocol different than the first tunneling protocol; associating the subscriber session with a session structure, the session structure indicating the second tunneling protocol; transmitting the subscriber session as indicated by the session structure to a destination, wherein the subscriber session is encapsulated using the second tunneling protocol indicated by the session structure; and authenticating the subscriber session based on authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) information associated with a subscriber, and wherein the AAA information further includes the session structure regarding whether the subscriber session should be switched out and which tunneling protocol should be used when a set of packets is routed to the destination.

Claim 11

The method of claim 7 wherein determining if the subscriber session is to be transmitted with a second tunneling protocol comprises: retrieving a set of data corresponding to the subscriber session, the set of data indicating the subscriber session is to be tunneled out.

Claim 12

The method of claim 7 wherein associating the subscriber session with the session structure comprises processing the subscriber session as indicated by the session structure.

Claim 13

A computer implemented method comprising: receiving at a second network element of a network a subscriber session encapsulated with a first of a plurality of tunneling protocols from a first network element within the network; the second network element determining that the subscriber session is to be transmitted with a second of the plurality of tunneling protocols different than the first tunneling protocol; the second network element creating a session structure, the session structure indicating the second of the plurality of tunneling protocols; transmitting the subscriber session as indicated by the session structure to a destination, wherein the subscriber session is encapsulated using the second tunneling protocol indicated by the session structure; and authenticating the subscriber session based on authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) information associated with a subscriber, and wherein the AAA information further includes information regarding whether the subscriber session should be switched out and which tunneling protocol should be used when a set of packets is routed to the destination.

Claim 14

A computer implemented method comprising: receiving at a second network element of a network a subscriber session encapsulated with a first of a plurality of tunneling protocols from a first network element within the network; the second network element determining that the subscriber session is to be transmitted with a second of the plurality of tunneling protocols different than the first tunneling protocol; the second network element creating a session structure, the session structure indicating the second of the plurality of tunneling protocols; transmitting the subscriber session as indicated by the session structure to a destination, wherein the subscriber session is encapsulated using the second tunneling protocol indicated by the session structure; and authenticating the subscriber session based on authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) information associated with a subscriber, and wherein the AAA information further includes information regarding whether the subscriber session should be switched out and which tunneling protocol should be used when a set of packets is routed to the destination.

Claim 15

The method of claim 10 wherein the first of the plurality of protocols is one of a compulsory and voluntary tunneling protocol.

Claim 16

The method of claim 10 wherein the second of the plurality of protocols is a compulsory tunneling protocol.

Claim 17

The method of claim 10 further comprising determining whether the second of the plurality of tunneling protocols is supported locally, and to access the second of the plurality of protocols from a remote server if not supported locally.

Claim 18

A network element comprising a circuit to receive a subscriber session, the subscriber session being encapsulated with a first tunneling protocol and received from a remote network element within a network; a logic to determine if the subscriber session is to be transmitted with a second tunneling protocol different than the first tunneling protocol, to encapsulate the subscriber session with the second tunneling protocol if the logic determines that the subscriber session is to be transmitted with the second tunneling protocol, to transmit the subscriber session encapsulated with the second tunneling protocol to a destination out of the network; and to authenticate the subscriber session based on authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) information associated with a subscriber, and wherein the AAA information further includes information regarding whether the subscriber session should be switched out and which tunneling protocol should be used when a set of packets is routed to the destination.

Claim 19

A network element comprising a circuit to receive a subscriber session, the subscriber session being encapsulated with a first tunneling protocol and received from a remote network element within a network; a logic to determine if the subscriber session is to be transmitted with a second tunneling protocol different than the first tunneling protocol, to encapsulate the subscriber session with the second tunneling protocol if the logic determines that the subscriber session is to be transmitted with the second tunneling protocol, to transmit the subscriber session encapsulated with the second tunneling protocol to a destination out of the network; and to authenticate the subscriber session based on authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) information associated with a subscriber, and wherein the AAA information further includes information regarding whether the subscriber session should be switched out and which tunneling protocol should be used when a set of packets is routed to the destination.

Claim 20

The network element of claim 14 wherein the logic to determine if the session is to be transmitted with the second tunneling protocol comprises: a control module to retrieve a set of data corresponding to the session, the set of data indicating the session is to be tunneled out; and a tunnel module to associate the session to a session structure, the session structure indicating the second tunneling protocol.

Claim 21

The network element of claim 14 wherein the first tunneling protocol is one of a compulsory and voluntary tunneling protocol.

Claim 22

The network element of claim 14 wherein the second tunneling protocol is a compulsory tunneling protocol.

Claim 23

A network element comprising: a tunnel decapsulation module to decapsulate a subscriber session received over an ingress tunnel according to a first of a plurality of protocols from a remote network element of a network; a payload decapsulation module coupled to said tunnel decapsulation module to decapsulate a control packet that is part of said subscriber session; a control process coupled to said payload decapsulation module to determine if said subscriber session is to be transmitted over an egress tunnel that uses a second of said plurality of protocols; a tunnel module, coupled to said tunnel encapsulation module and said control process, to encapsulate the traffic from said session in the second of said, plurality of protocols used for said egress tunnel; and an authentication module to authenticate the subscriber session based on authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) information associated with a subscriber, and wherein the AAA information further includes information regarding whether the subscriber session should be switched out and which tunneling protocol of said plurality of protocols should be used when a set of packets is routed to the destination.

Claim 24

A network element comprising: a tunnel decapsulation module to decapsulate a subscriber session received over an ingress tunnel according to a first of a plurality of protocols from a remote network element of a network; a payload decapsulation module coupled to said tunnel decapsulation module to decapsulate a control packet that is part of said subscriber session; a control process coupled to said payload decapsulation module to determine if said subscriber session is to be transmitted over an egress tunnel that uses a second of said plurality of protocols; a tunnel module, coupled to said tunnel encapsulation module and said control process, to encapsulate the traffic from said session in the second of said, plurality of protocols used for said egress tunnel; and an authentication module to authenticate the subscriber session based on authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) information associated with a subscriber, and wherein the AAA information further includes information regarding whether the subscriber session should be switched out and which tunneling protocol of said plurality of protocols should be used when a set of packets is routed to the destination.

Claim 25

The network element of claim 18 , wherein: said control process to also determine whether the second of said plurality of protocols used for said egress tunnel is stored locally, and to access the one of said plurality of protocols from a remote server if the second of said plurality of protocols is not stored locally.

Claim 26

The network element of claim 18 , wherein said tunnel module includes at least two of said plurality of protocols.

Claim 29

The apparatus of claim 21 wherein the first tunneling protocol is one of a voluntary and a compulsory tunneling protocol.

Claim 30

The apparatus of claim 21 wherein the second tunneling protocol is a compulsory tunneling protocol.

Claim 31

A machine readable medium that provides instructions, which when executed by a set of processors, cause said set of processors to perform operations comprising: receiving at a first network element of a network a subscriber session from a subscriber; routing at least a portion of the subscriber session to a second network element within the network using a first tunneling protocol; determining at the second network element whether the subscriber session should be routed to a destination using a second tunneling protocol different than the first tunneling protocol; switching the subscriber session to the destination out of the network via the second network element using the second tunneling protocol if the subscriber session should be routed to the destination using the second tunneling protocol; and authenticating the subscriber session based on authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) information associated with a subscriber, and wherein the AAA information further includes information regarding whether the subscriber session should be switched out and which tunneling protocol should be used when a set of packets is routed to the destination.

Claim 32

A machine readable medium that provides instructions, which when executed by a set of processors, cause said set of processors to perform operations comprising: receiving at a first network element of a network a subscriber session from a subscriber; routing at least a portion of the subscriber session to a second network element within the network using a first tunneling protocol; determining at the second network element whether the subscriber session should be routed to a destination using a second tunneling protocol different than the first tunneling protocol; switching the subscriber session to the destination out of the network via the second network element using the second tunneling protocol if the subscriber session should be routed to the destination using the second tunneling protocol; and authenticating the subscriber session based on authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) information associated with a subscriber, and wherein the AAA information further includes information regarding whether the subscriber session should be switched out and which tunneling protocol should be used when a set of packets is routed to the destination.

Claim 33

The machine readable medium of claim 24 wherein switching comprises: determining the subscriber session is to be transmitted with the second tunneling protocol; encapsulating the subscriber session with the second tunneling protocol; and transmitting the encapsulated subscriber session.

Claim 34

The machine readable medium of claim 24 wherein the first tunneling protocol can be a compulsory tunneling protocol or voluntary tunneling protocol.

Claim 35

The machine readable medium of claim 24 wherein the second tunneling protocol is a compulsory tunneling protocol.