Application programming interface and generalized network address translator for translation of transport-layer sessions
US6779035B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 6, 2000 |
| Grant date | Aug 17, 2004 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 6, 2020 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L63/10
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An application programming interface for translation of transport-layer sessions is presented. The system includes kernel-mode support for application-controlled network address translation and user-mode implementation of the redirect API routines. In this way, an application process may request that a network gateway modify the source and/or destination of a given network session in a manner transparent to the original source host and/or the replacement destination host. The ability to perform arbitrary redirection on network sessions under application control allows the establishment of fast path sessions, server load balancing, etc. With the generalized NAT (gNAT) of the instant invention and its associated API, both the source and the destination addresses of message packets may be changed. The address changes are mapped in the gNAT, and may result in apparent sessions between different clients and servers. Depending on the protocol in use (e.g. TCP or UDP), the address translation may be made dynamically by the gNAT, under the command of the application, and take place at the kernel level. This significantly improves the data flow of the system by short-circuiting previously r…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.