Augmented IP Router Session Path Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
The statelessness of the Internet Protocol (IP) network leads to limitations such as inhibited user mobility in mobile networks, session layer load balancing, and routing between private or overlapping networks, which current tunneling protocols attempt to address but introduce additional inefficiencies like increased bandwidth usage and CPU overhead.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a packet flow controller, specifically an augmented IP router (AIPR), that ensures subsequent packets of a session follow the same path as the lead packet, allowing for consistent routing and improved efficiency by maintaining historical information about packets and applying security functions uniformly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If tunneling protocols are used to address IP statelessness, then user mobility and session load balancing are improved, but bandwidth usage and CPU overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the stateful routing function from traditional tunneling protocols and implements it directly in IP routers via the AIPR. The lead packet carries routing information that subsequent packets follow, eliminating the need for tunneling overhead while maintaining session consistency and load balancing capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments packet handling into two categories: lead packets that establish sessions and carry routing information, and subsequent packets that follow the established path. This segmentation allows routers to process packets efficiently while maintaining session state without requiring full tunneling protocols.
2Adaptability or versatility
If IP routers forward packets one-by-one based on destination address, then routing flexibility is improved, but session consistency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by having the lead packet establish the complete session path and carry routing information before subsequent packets are forwarded. Routers use this pre-established information to maintain session consistency without requiring complex state tracking, achieving both flexibility and stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The lead packet acts as an intermediary that carries session identification and routing information. Subsequent packets reference this information to maintain session consistency, while routers use the carried routing data to maintain flexibility in path selection without sacrificing session stability.
Data Source
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AI summary
An intermediate node obtains a lead packet of a plurality of packets in a session having a unique session identifier, modifies the lead packet to identify at least the intermediate node, and then forwards the lead packet toward the destination node though an intermediate node electronic output interface to the IP network. The intermediate node also receives, through an intermediate node electronic input interface in communication with the IP network, a backward message from a next node having a next node identifier. The backward message includes the next node identifier and the session identifier. The intermediate node forms an association between the next node identifier and the session identifier, stores the association in memory to maintain state information for the session, and obtains (e.g., receives) additional packets of the session. Substantially all of the additional packets in the session are forwarded toward the next node using the stored association.