Cisco Technology, Inc.

Starent Networks Corporation

Other

Rajesh Ramankutty

Sanil Kumar Puthiyandyil

Kuntal Chowdhury

Shaji E Radhakrishnan

Rajesh P Velandy

Matthew Hayden Harper

Arun C Alex

Rajat Ghai

Ashraf M Dahod

Mohan Rangan

John Depietro

Greg Cheever

Vincent Spinelli

Vijay Kathuria

Andrew Gibbs

Stinson Samuel Mathai

Leonard Schwartz

Timothy G Mortsolf

Rajeev Koodli

Pradeep Dakshayani

Satya (Satish) Vasamsetti

Clarence Drumheller

Noel Charath

Systems and methods are provided that allow inter-working between communication networks for the delivery of service to mobile nodes. A gateway is provided that communicates with a femto cell to extend service to an area that otherwise does not receive coverage from a service provider. The femto cell is a small scale base station used to provide coverage over a small area (such as a home or business), and connect to a home or enterprise network. The femto cell provides service for a mobile node and a gateway permits communication over a broadband network. The gateway integrates the mobile nodes connecting via a femto cell into the service provider's network. The gateway also allows provisioning of services and applications, control of service levels, and provides seamless handoffs to marco base stations and other types of access technologies such as Wi-Fi.

Apparatus, systems, and methods for providing interworking gateway

Systems and methods for providing a handoff between technologies are disclosed. An intra-technology handoff occurs where the same integrated chassis handles the session for the different access technologies. In an intra-technology handoff, the same IP address and the session can be maintained through the handoff. The mobile node can undergo a handoff without issuing a registration request in some embodiments. An inter-technology handoff occurs from one integrated chassis to another integrated chassis. The integrated chassis can preserve session and context information in a session manager and in a handoff from one access technology to another the same session manager can be chosen with the session and context information remaining intact even though the access technology has changed. The integrated chassis can provide an access technology handoff where the core network does not notice any change and applications running on or delivered to the mobile node are not effected.

System and method for handoffs between technologies

Systems and methods for call localization are provided. The call localization can be provided in a radio access network by detecting a call flow between mobile node such as user equipment (UE) served by the same radio access network device. For example, a gateway can detect a call localization opportunity and the call can be localized with an evolved nodeB (eNB). The method provides for efficient routing, reporting of billing information, lawful monitoring, and mobility if one or both user equipment leave the common eNB.

Localized forwarding

Systems and methods are provided that allow network resources to be shared across geographical distances. This can be achieved by changing the resources available for establishing and handling call or data session processing in an area. A mobility management device can alone or in combination with a DNS server change the size or the resource pool available in some embodiments. The change in resources can be dynamic according to certain predefined conditions or can be setup beforehand to account for daily demand. This sharing of resources can allow more efficient usage of resources available across a geographic region, rather than needed to over-provision each region to account for peak demands.

Provisioning available network resources

In a system and method for establishing communications in a communications network, a network service provider can assign IP addresses to mobile devices dynamically to conserve IP address resources. A network service provider can also implement network address translation to further conserve IP address resources and to provide improved security. If a requestor seeks to obtain an IP address of a mobile device and the address is a local address, the system determines if the mobile device has a network address translation (NAT) binding that associates the IP address of the mobile device with a public IP address. If the mobile device does not have a NAT binding, the system creates a NAT binding that associates the IP address of the mobile device with a public IP address.

Apparatus, systems, and methods for IP reachability in a communications network

Interworking gateway for mobile nodes

Systems and methods for caching information related to access rights are provided. The access rights may be rules stored in an access control list. The cache may include packet parameters against which packets in a data flow are matched to determine if a match is possible from the cache. If a match is possible, a corresponding rule is applied to the packet. If a match is not found in the cache, the access control list may be searched for a corresponding rule. The rule from the access control list may be populated into the cache when a match is found in the access control list.

System and method for caching access rights

Systems and methods for IP reachability in a communications network

A selection mechanism and a selection process are disclosed that provide the selection of a network device based on defined criteria to allow efficient use of the network and load balancing. In one embodiment, a method is disclosed that includes receiving an initial attachment at a gateway including an identifier of a radio attachment point, obtaining a name for the radio attachment point based on the identifier, accessing a list of names of packet data network gateways (PGWs) that can serve the initial attachment to provide a network connection, comparing the name for the radio attachment point with the list of names of the PGWs to determine at least one PGW that provides a closest match to the name for the radio attachment point, and selecting at least one PGW that provides the closest match to establish the network connection.

Dynamic gateway selection process

Methods and systems are disclosed that provide accounting in an access gateway of a communication network. Logic can be implemented in an access gateway to provide accounting in an access gateway when the data is tunneled or encapsulated by a protocol when passing through the access gateway. The access gateway can perform inspections on the data to determine what portions of the data are user payload data and be included in a count and what portions of the data can be ignored, such as control packets and overhead information on the packet. The logic can also be deployed in next generation networks, such as long-term evolution, to provide accounting at the access gateway in some situations.

Methods and systems for accounting in an access gateway

A system and method for providing services to packet flows in a communication network. The services include enhanced charging, stateful firewalls, traffic performance optimization (TPO) and advanced services such as content differentiated charging, per-subscriber stateful firewalls, and VPNs, for example. A gateway can be used to route each packet flow through the services on a per-subscriber basis by inspecting accounting messages and checking subscriber profiles prior to setting up a new packet flow session. By directing the packet flow through the services requested latency can be reduced as well as the need to have equipment for each session regardless of whether the service is provided to the packet flow. The services can be provided in-line as well.

Providing services to packet flows in a network

Systems and methods are provided that allow voice and data traffic to be shifted from one chassis to other chassis without interrupting service. Geographic Redundancy (GR) is an inter-chassis redundancy, where the chassis may be a home agent, a packet data serving node, or any combination of wireless networking devices. Additionally, each chassis can have one or more partitions that handle subscriber session traffic and a corresponding redundant partition on a different chassis. The redundant chassis partition can take over all or a portion of the functionality of the active chassis partition if the active chassis or any critical peer servers/gateways communicating with the active chassis should fail. This provides users with uninterrupted service in the case of some failures.

Growing community of inventors

Nashua, NH, United States of America

Rajesh Ramankutty