Nortel Networks Corporation

James Yuhn

Jerry Louis Mizell

Essam El-Beik

Ian MacLean

Isa Bisher Atallah

Greg Horlacher

Robert Smith

The methods of the present invention enable wireless gateway nodes to support mobile node services, such as content based billing, when a data treatment server is present in the system. Using one of a defined Content Flow Label (CFL), an Application Program Interface (API), and a compression protocol header, the present invention provides content based billing by exchanging content and byte count information with the data treatment server. In one embodiment, a new compression protocol header type is defined. In a second embodiment, a content flow label with a byte count field is inserted in a Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE) header. In an alternate embodiment, the wireless gateway node implements an API to transfer the content flow label and byte count information over a signaling link. In yet another embodiment, the data treatment server performs the content based billing and similar mobile node services.

Method for performing network services

The previously described shortcomings are solved by a system and method herein that allows for the creation of scaleable wireless data packet networks notwithstanding capacity restrictions of routers used within the network. More specifically, a GGSN is formed to receive an address that is assigned to a different GGSN for support. Stated differently, a GGSN supports an address that is assigned to a different GGSN for support by being responsible for creating a PDP context for that address. Accordingly, because subnet addresses will be assigned to specific GGSNs in one embodiment of the described invention, each GGSN is formed to examine a received address, determine what GGSN is responsible for supporting that address and to forward the address to the responsible GGSN along with an initially requested APN and with vendor specific attributes. The GGSN to which the address is being forwarded is sent to the APN so that it will know the destination network with which the context activation is to be established. The vendor specific attributes are sent so that additional functionality such as billing may be properly performed and implemented. Accordingly, the modified GGSN supports the creation of scaleable networks because each GGSN is able to determine whether an address that it received from a remote DHCP server is one that it can support, and if not, what GGSN is able to support it. Thus, the networks may be grown and/or modified in a scaleable manner while minimizing impact to the existing network elements.

PDP context distribution among multiple GGSNs

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Plano, TX, United States of America

James Yuhn