Patent · US Expired

Method and apparatus for providing mini packet switching in IP based cellular access networks

US6366961B1 · kind B1 · utility

84Cited by
7References
26Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMar 3, 1999
Grant dateApr 2, 2002
Priority date
Expiry dateMar 3, 2019

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04W40/02
  • WIPO fieldDigital communication
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A method and apparatus for providing mini packet switching in IP networks, e.g., IP based cellular access networks and IP telephony (IPTEL) gateway networks. The method and apparatus provide a signaling scheme that establishes a connection between the source and destination node, wherein channels at each intermediate node are associated for a single end-to-end connection. This enables demultiplexing and multiplexing mini packets at intermediate nodes in a RAN and CN. The method includes receiving a payload at a node, the payload including a plurality of multiplexed mini packets, each mini packet having a header, wherein the header identifies a user and a connection associated therewith, demultiplexing the mini packets, analyzing the header of each mini packet to determine a processing for the mini packet and multiplexing packets having a common next hop in a new RTP payload. The analyzing further includes identifying mini packets destined for a local user, the method further comprising transferring the mini packet to the local user. The method further includes transmitting the new payload to the common next hop. A local channel identification table is updated to provide the necessa…

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.