Patent ID: 9584443
Date: 2017-02-28
CPC Classifications: H04L,H04W

Claim:
1. A method for processing data packets received at a network node, comprising the steps of: step (a): receiving data packets from a network interface of the network node; step (b): selecting a first tunnel according to a selection policy; step (c): selecting at least one second tunnel according to the selection policy; step (d): transmitting original encapsulating packets (OEPs) through the first tunnel, wherein the OEPs encapsulate the data packets, wherein each of the OEPs has an original encapsulating packet global sequence number (OEP-GSN); step (e): determining number of duplicate encapsulating packets (DEP) to be transmitted; selecting at least one second tunnel that has not been used to transmit any OEPs; and determining whether a bandwidth limit of the at least one second tunnel is approaching; step (f) transmitting at least one duplicate encapsulating packet (DEP) through the at least one second tunnel when at least one second tunnel is selected if the bandwidth limit of the at least one second tunnel is not approaching; wherein the at least one DEP encapsulates data packet information based on a plurality of the data packets, wherein each of the at least one DEP has a duplicate encapsulating packet global sequence number (DEP-GSN); wherein each of the at least one DEP comprises a list of OEP-GSNs corresponding to the at least one of the data packets; wherein the OEP-GSN is stored in a field of each of the OEPs and the DEP-GSN is stored in a field of each of the at least one DEP; and wherein the OEP-GSN and DEP-GSN are sequence numbers utilized to re-sequence each OEP or DEP of various sessions into a proper order; wherein at least one tunnel is reserved for transmitting OEPs; wherein when the number of DEPs to be transmitted is higher than number of available tunnels, number of DEPs transmitted is reduced to the number of available tunnels; wherein when the number of DEPs to be transmitted is lower than number of available tunnels, selecting tunnels from the available tunnels based on the selection policy, wherein the number of tunnels selected is equal to the number of DEPs to be transmitted.