US6947401B2
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Hierarchical mobility management for wireless networks
Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson AB
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Filing: 2001-02-16
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Granted: 2005-09-20
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Expires: 2021-02-16
Abstract
Abstract Methods and apparatus for providing a hierarchical mobility management function for routing packets to mobile nodes are provided. The hierarchical mobility management function may be placed anywhere within the network and provide efficient use of IPv6 addresses. A node implementing the hierarchical mobility management function receives packets intended for the mobile node and routes the packets to the mobile node's current address. Load sharing of packets intended for a mobile node may be implemented across several access routers. Additional, bi-casting of packets is provided to allow for seamless handoff of the mobile node as it switches from one access router to another access router.
Inventors
- 👤 Karim El-Malki
- 👤 Hesham Soliman
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-24 13:27
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04L; H04L45/00; H04L45/22; H04L69/00; H04L69/16; H04L69/167; H04W; H04W36/00; H04W36/0005; H04W36/0011; H04W36/0019; H04W8/00; H04W8/02; H04W8/08; H04W8/085; H04W28/00; H04W28/02; H04W28/10; H04W36/12; H04W36/16; H04W36/18; H04W4/00; H04W4/18; H04W8/26; H04W80/00; H04W80/04; H04W80/045
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 30
Claim 1
Independent Claim
232 words
A method for routing packets to a mobile node comprising the steps of: providing an address update, including a regional care-of-address associated with the mobile node, to a node communicating with the mobile node; sending packets, from the node communicating with the mobile node, to a node associated with the regional care-of-address; receiving packets at the node associated with the regional care-of-address; determining, at the node associated with the regional care-of-address, a current address of the mobile node; routing the received packets to a node associated with the current address of the mobile node; forwarding packets, from the node associated with the current address, to the mobile node; wherein the packets are sent between the node communicating with the mobile node and the mobile node in accordance with mobile Internet Protocol version 6 (MIPv6) protocol; sending a message, from the mobile node to the node associated with the mobile node's regional care-of-address, requesting that packets be routed to the mobile node's current address and at least another current address of the mobile node; routing a first group of packets, from the node associated with the mobile node's regional care-of-address, to a node associated with the mobile node's current address; and routing a second group of packets, from the node associated with the mobile node's regional care-of-address, to a node associated with the at least another one of the mobile node's current addresses.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
232 words
A method for routing packets to a mobile node comprising the steps of: providing an address update, including a regional care-of-address associated with the mobile node, to a node communicating with the mobile node; sending packets, from the node communicating with the mobile node, to a node associated with the regional care-of-address; receiving packets at the node associated with the regional care-of-address; determining, at the node associated with the regional care-of-address, a current address of the mobile node; routing the received packets to a node associated with the current address of the mobile node; forwarding packets, from the node associated with the current address, to the mobile node; wherein the packets are sent between the node communicating with the mobile node and the mobile node in accordance with mobile Internet Protocol version 6 (MIPv6) protocol; sending a message, from the mobile node to the node associated with the mobile node's regional care-of-address, requesting that packets be routed to the mobile node's current address and at least another current address of the mobile node; routing a first group of packets, from the node associated with the mobile node's regional care-of-address, to a node associated with the mobile node's current address; and routing a second group of packets, from the node associated with the mobile node's regional care-of-address, to a node associated with the at least another one of the mobile node's current addresses.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the node associated with the regional care-of-address implements mobility anchor point functionality.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
18 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the node associated with the current address is an access router.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
47 words
The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of: receiving a message, from the node associated with the mobile node's current address, by the mobile node, wherein the message indicates the availability of nodes which can be used as regional care-of-addresses for the mobile node.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
39 words
The method of claim 4 , wherein the nodes which can be used as regional care-of-addresses for the mobile node have mobility anchor point functionallty and wherein the message is a router advertisement containing a mobility anchor point option.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
44 words
The method of claim 4 , further comprising the step of: receiving the message by the node associated with the mobile node's current address, wherein the message is received by the node associated with the mobile node's current address via a hierarchy of routers.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
27 words
The method of claim 4 , further comprising the step of: selecting, by the mobile node, a new regional care-of-address based upon information contained in the message.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
44 words
The method of claim 7 , wherein the new regional care-of-address is selected based upon one of a distance of a node associated with the new regional care-of-address and the mobile node and a preference for the node associated with the new regional care-of-address.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
31 words
The method of claim 8 , wherein the preference for the node associated with the new regional care-of-address is based upon one of network loading, network failures and local network policies.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
35 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the packets are sent from the node communicating with the mobile node to the mobile node without being routed by a home agent associated with the mobile node.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
91 words
The method of claim 1 , further comprising the steps of: sending an update message from the mobile node to the node associated with the mobile node's regional care-of-address, wherein the update message includes an address associated with a node which the mobile node will be using as its new regional care-of-address; receiving packets by the node associated with the mobile node's regional care-of-address; and forwarding the received packets to the node associated with the mobile node's current address and to the node associated with the mobile node's new regional care-of-address.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
47 words
The method of claim 11 , wherein the update message is a binding update and wherein the binding update includes an indication that the mobile node is registering with the node associated with the mobile node's new regional care-of-address, that the mobile node requires bi-casting of packets.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
70 words
The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of: determining, by the node associated with the mobile node's regional care-of-address, a load on the node associated with the mobile node's current address and a load on the node associated with the at least another one of the mobile node's current addresses, wherein packets are selected for the first group or the second group based on the determined loads.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
13 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the message is a binding update.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
222 words
A network comprising: a mobile node; a node communicating with the mobile node, wherein the mobile node provides an address update, including a regional care-of-address associated with the mobile node, to the node communicating with the mobile node; a node associated with the regional care-of-address, wherein the node communicating with the mobile node sends packets to the node associated with the regional care-of-address; a node associated with a current address of the mobile node, wherein the node associated with the current address of the mobile node receives packets from the node associated with the regional care-of-address of the mobile node and sends the received packets to the mobile node; means for sending a message to the node associated with the mobile node's regional care-of-address requesting that packets be routed to the mobile node's current address and at least another current address of the mobile node; means for routing a first group of packets, from the node associated with the mobile node's regional care-of-address, to a node associated with the mobile node's current address; and means for routing a second group of packets, from the node associated with the mobile node's regional care-of-address, to a node associated with the at least another one of the mobile node's current addresses; wherein the network operates in accordance with mobile Internet Protocol version 6 (MIPv6) protocol.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
222 words
A network comprising: a mobile node; a node communicating with the mobile node, wherein the mobile node provides an address update, including a regional care-of-address associated with the mobile node, to the node communicating with the mobile node; a node associated with the regional care-of-address, wherein the node communicating with the mobile node sends packets to the node associated with the regional care-of-address; a node associated with a current address of the mobile node, wherein the node associated with the current address of the mobile node receives packets from the node associated with the regional care-of-address of the mobile node and sends the received packets to the mobile node; means for sending a message to the node associated with the mobile node's regional care-of-address requesting that packets be routed to the mobile node's current address and at least another current address of the mobile node; means for routing a first group of packets, from the node associated with the mobile node's regional care-of-address, to a node associated with the mobile node's current address; and means for routing a second group of packets, from the node associated with the mobile node's regional care-of-address, to a node associated with the at least another one of the mobile node's current addresses; wherein the network operates in accordance with mobile Internet Protocol version 6 (MIPv6) protocol.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
19 words
The network of claim 15 , wherein the node associated with the regional care-of-address implements mobility anchor point functionality.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
18 words
The network of claim 15 , wherein the node associated with the current address is an access router.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
46 words
The network of claim 15 , further comprising: means for receiving a message, from the node associated with the mobile node's current address, by the mobile node, wherein the message indicates the availability of nodes which can be used as regional care-of-addresses for the mobile node.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
39 words
The network of claim 18 , wherein the nodes which can be used as regional care-of-addresses for the mobile node have mobility anchor point functionality and wherein the message is a router advertisement containing a mobility anchor point option.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
43 words
The network of claim 18 , further comprising: means for receiving the message by the node associated with the mobile node's current address, wherein the message is received by the node associated with the mobile node's current address via a hierarchy of routers.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
26 words
The network of claim 18 , further comprising: means for selecting, by the mobile node, a new regional care-of-address based upon information contained in the message.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
44 words
The network of claim 21 , wherein the new regional care-of-address is selected based upon one of a distance of a node associated with the new regional care-of-address and the mobile node and a preference for the node associated with the new regional care-of-address.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
31 words
The network of claim 22 , wherein the preference for the node associated with the new regional care-of-address is based upon one of network loading, network failures and local network policies.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
35 words
The network of claim 15 , wherein the packets are sent from the node communicating with the mobile node to the mobile node without being routed by a home agent associated with the mobile node.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
94 words
The network of claim 15 , further comprising: means for sending an update message from the mobile node to the node associated with the mobile node's regional care-of-address, wherein the update message includes an address associated with a node which the mobile node will be using as its new regional care-of-address; means for receiving packets by the node associated with the mobile node's regional care-of-address; and means for forwarding the received packets to the node associated with the mobile node's current address and to the node associated with the mobile node's new regional care-of-address.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
59 words
The network of claim 25 , wherein the update message is a binding update and wherein the binding update includes an indication that the mobile node is registering with the node associated with the mobile node's new regional care-of-address, that the mobile node requires bi-casting of packets and the length of time for which bi-casting of packets is required.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
69 words
The network of claim 15 , further comprising: means for determining, by the node associated with the mobile node's regional care-of-address, a load on the node associated with the mobile node's current address and a load on the node associated with the at least another one of the mobile node's current addresses, wherein packets are selected for the first group or the second group based on the determined loads.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
13 words
The network of claim 15 , wherein the message is a binding update.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2008-09-19 | 2009-03-21 | 2009-09-20 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2012-09-19 | 2013-03-21 | 2013-09-20 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2016-09-19 | 2017-03-21 | 2017-09-20 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |