Patent US6771623B2 successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US6771623B2
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Method for ensuring reliable mobile IP service
Assignee: Unwired Planet LLC
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Filing: 2000-12-01
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Granted: 2004-08-03
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Expires: 2020-12-01
Abstract
Abstract The present invention relates to data communications in packet switched networks and more specifically to the mobility of terminals in networks implementing the Mobile Internet Protocol (MIP). In the method according to the present invention each Home Agent will store locally the load information from other Home Agents and will exchange load information with the other Home Agents. The Mobile Node first attempts to register with its primary Home Agent. This registration is not completed due to e.g. failure of the primary Home Agent or where the network chooses to register with another Home Agent which has a lower load than the primary Home Agent. The Mobile Node then attempts to register with a second, alternate, Home Agent. If the alternate Home Agent accepts the request then the Mobile Node is able to access MIP services through the alternate Home Agent. The present invention provides a method to balance the load using dynamic load balancing and a method to recover from Home Agent failure using software Home Agent redundancy.
Inventors
- 👤 Bobby That Dao Ton
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-07 10:11
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04W; H04W8/00; H04W8/02; H04W8/08; H04W8/12; H04L; H04L67/00; H04L67/01; H04L67/10; H04L67/1001; H04L67/1004; H04L67/1008; H04L67/1034; H04L67/1038; H04W60/00; H04W60/001; H04L67/10015; H04W24/00; H04W24/04; H04W8/04; H04W80/00; H04W80/04
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 29
Claim 1
Independent Claim
134 words
A method for providing Mobile Internet Protocol (“MIP”) mobility service for a Mobile Node (“MN”) in a packet switched network comprising a plurality of Home Agents (“HA”) and at least one Foreign Agent (“FA”), the MN, the FA, and each HA having an IP address, the method being characterized by: each HA storing load information from other HAs in the network; each HA exchanging load information with other HAs in the network; the MN sending a registration request to the FA; the FA forwarding the second registration request to a first Home Agent HA1; incompletion of the registration; the MN sending a second registration request to the FA; the FA forwarding the second registration request to a second Home Agent HA2; HA2 accepting the second request; and HA2 establishing a connection with the MN.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
134 words
A method for providing Mobile Internet Protocol (“MIP”) mobility service for a Mobile Node (“MN”) in a packet switched network comprising a plurality of Home Agents (“HA”) and at least one Foreign Agent (“FA”), the MN, the FA, and each HA having an IP address, the method being characterized by: each HA storing load information from other HAs in the network; each HA exchanging load information with other HAs in the network; the MN sending a registration request to the FA; the FA forwarding the second registration request to a first Home Agent HA1; incompletion of the registration; the MN sending a second registration request to the FA; the FA forwarding the second registration request to a second Home Agent HA2; HA2 accepting the second request; and HA2 establishing a connection with the MN.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method of claim 1 further characterized wherein wherein the exchange of load information is performed using Load Information messages and Load Information Acknowledgement messages.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method of claim 1 further characterized wherein the registration request is sent in response an advertisement from a Foreign Agent.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method of claim 3 further characterized wherein the advertisement is sent in response to an Advertisement Solicitation from the MN.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
27 words
The method of claim 1 further characterized wherein the load information comprises either the number of mobility bindings or the CPU usage on a HA, or both.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
29 words
The method of claim 1 further characterized wherein the second Home Agent HA2 is chosen for registration based on the load balance between all the HAs in the network.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
152 words
The method of claim 6 further characterized wherein HA1 looking in its locally stored HA load information to find a HA which has a load less than its own; if it finds one that is less busy then returning a MIP registration reply (“RRP”) with the address of HA2 and an error code; the MN sending a new registration request to the FA, addressed to HA2; the FA forwarding the new request to HA2; HA2 processing the new request by authenticating and validating the MN and either accepting or rejecting the new request; in the case of HA2 accepting the request, adding a new mobility binding and establishing a tunnel between the FA and HA2; HA2 replying to FA with error code 0 ; FA forwarding the reply to MN; and the MN receiving the reply with error code 0 indicating it is registered with HA2 and can use an MIP service.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
24 words
The method of claim 7 further characterized wherein the RRP has a new Mobile IP Address Update Extension for transmitting the address of HA2.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method of claim 7 further characterized wherein the error code transmitted in the RRP is error code 130 indicating insufficient resources.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
24 words
The method of claim 7 further characterized wherein the error code transmitted in the RRP is error code 136 indicating an unknown HA address.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
34 words
The method of claim 7 further characterized wherein HA1 also sending a HA Profile Update message to HA2 when the MN profile is not stored in a common Authentication, Authorization and Accounting no de.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
139 words
The method of claim 6 further characterized wherein HA1 looking in its locally stored HA load information to find a HA which has a load less than its own; in the case of finding an HA, HA2 that is less busy, then forwarding the request to HA2 HA2 accepting the request and notifying HA1 that it will process the request; HA2 processing the request and accepting or rejecting the request; in the case of HA2 accepting the request, adding a new mobility binding, establishing a tunnel between the FA and HA2, and sending a MIP registration reply (RRP) including its own IP address; FA forwarding the reply to the MN; and MN receiving the reply with error code 0 and the IP address for HA2 indicating that it is now registered with HA2 and can use a MIP service.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
33 words
The method of claim 12 further characterized wherein HA1 also sending a HA Profile Update message to HA2 when the MN profile is not stored in a common Authentication, Authorization and Accounting node.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
24 words
The method of claim 12 further characterized wherein the RRP has a new Mobile IP Address Update Extension for transmitting the address of HA2.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
24 words
The method of claim 1 further characterized wherein the second Home Agent HA2 is chosen for registration based on failure to register with HA1.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
164 words
The method of claim 15 further characterized wherein HA1 processing the request by authenticating and validating the MN and will accept or reject the request; in the case of HA1 accepting the request, adding a new mobility binding, establishing a tunnel between the FA and HA1 and sending a reply with code 0 , including the IP address of HA2; the FA forwarding the reply to the MN; HA1 failing; the MN attempting to re-register with HA1; the FA returning a reply to the MN with an error code indicative of failure to register with HA1; the MN sending a request to HA2; the FA forwarding the request to HA2; HA2 processing the request and either accepting or rejecting the request; in the case HA2 of accepting the request then adding a new mobility binding, establishing a tunnel between the FA and HA2 and sending a reply; the FA forwarding the reply from HA2 to the MN; and the MN consequently using MIP services.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
30 words
The method of claim 16 further characterized wherein the reply with code 0 includes a Mobile IP Alternate HA extension containing alternate HA IP addresses, including the address of HA2.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
33 words
The method of claim 16 further characterized wherein HA1 also sending a HA Profile Update message to HA2 when the MN profile is not stored in a common Authentication, Authorization and Accounting node.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
55 words
The method of claim 16 further characterized wherein the error code indicating a failure to register with HA1 includes at least one of the following: error code 80 indicating the home network is not reachable, error code 81 indicating the HA host is not reachable, and error code 88 indicating the HA is not reachable.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
215 words
The method of claim 15 further characterized wherein HA1 processing the request by authenticating and validating the MN and either accepting or rejecting the request; in the case of HA1 accepting the request, adding a new mobility binding, establishing a tunnel between the FA and HA1 and sending a reply with code 0 ; the FA forwarding the reply to the MN; HA1 sending a Home Agent Mobility Binding Update message to HA2 to indicate that MN is registered with HA1; HA2 sending an acknowledgement to HA1, acknowledging receipt of the Update; HA1 failing; after a specified time, HA2 failing to receive an HA Load Information message from HA1; in response to said failure, HA2 sending a registration reply with code 136 (Unknown HA address) to all MNs registered with HA1, the registration reply including the IP address for HA2; the FA forwarding the reply to the MN; MN sending a request to HA2; the FA forwarding the request to HA2; HA2 processing the request and either accepting or rejecting the request; in the case of HA2 accepting the request, adding a new mobility binding, establishing a tunnel between the FA and HA2 and sending a reply; the FA forwarding the reply from HA2 to the MN; and the MN consequently using the MIP service.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
33 words
The method of claim 20 further characterized wherein HA1 also sending a HA Profile Update message to HA2 when the MN profile is not stored in a common Authentication, Authorization and Accounting node.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method of claim 20 further characterized wherein HA1 has a dedicated secondary HA which automatically notifies the MN when its primary HA, HA1, fails.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
14 words
The method of claim 22 further characterized wherein HA2 is the dedicated secondary HA.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
45 words
The method of claim 22 further characterized wherein HA1 periodically sending load information to the dedicated secondary HA; and if the dedicated secondary HA fails to receive load information from HA1 after a preconfigured time interval, the dedicated secondary HA becomes the MN's primary HA.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
140 words
A packet switched network for implementing a Mobile Internet Protocol (“MIP”) mobility service having a Mobile Node (“MN”), a plurality of Home Agents (“HA”) and at least one Foreign Agent (“FA”), the MN, the FA, and each HA having an IP address, the network comprising: information storing means for storing load information in each HA from other HAs in the network; information exchanging means in each HA for exchanging load information with other HAs in the network; requesting means in the MN for sending registration requests to the FA; forwarding means in the FA for forwarding registration requests to Home Agents HAs; determining means for determining the completion of the registration based on one of the requests; accepting means in each HA for accepting one of the requests; connection means in each HA for establishing a connection with the MN.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
140 words
A packet switched network for implementing a Mobile Internet Protocol (“MIP”) mobility service having a Mobile Node (“MN”), a plurality of Home Agents (“HA”) and at least one Foreign Agent (“FA”), the MN, the FA, and each HA having an IP address, the network comprising: information storing means for storing load information in each HA from other HAs in the network; information exchanging means in each HA for exchanging load information with other HAs in the network; requesting means in the MN for sending registration requests to the FA; forwarding means in the FA for forwarding registration requests to Home Agents HAs; determining means for determining the completion of the registration based on one of the requests; accepting means in each HA for accepting one of the requests; connection means in each HA for establishing a connection with the MN.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
33 words
A computer program product directly loadable into the internal memory of a digital computer, comprising software code portions for performing the steps of claim 1 when said product is run on a computer.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
29 words
A computer program product stored on a computer usable medium, comprising readable program means for causing a computer to control the execution of the steps of claim 1 .
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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) | 2007-08-03 | 2008-02-02 | 2008-08-03 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2011-08-03 | 2012-02-02 | 2012-08-03 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2015-08-03 | 2016-02-02 | 2016-08-03 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |