Patent ID: 8385332
Filing Date: 2013-02-26
Classification: H04L,H04W

Abstract:
1. A method comprising: receiving, with a gateway device of a cellular network, a request from a mobile device to connect to the gateway device to access a packet-based network, the mobile device in wireless communication with a base station associated with the gateway device; selecting a mode with the gateway device for routing packets destined for the mobile device, wherein selecting the mode comprises selecting one of an optimal routing mode and a triangular routing mode, wherein the optimal routing mode allows unicast traffic destined for the mobile device to bypass a current anchor device for the mobile device and be routed directly to the gateway device, and wherein the triangular routing mode allows unicast traffic for the mobile device to be routed to the anchor device that tunnels the traffic to the gateway device; and in accordance with the selected mode, the gateway device advertising a mobile subscriber (MS) virtual private network (VPN) route advertisement to one or more other network devices in the cellular network using an routing protocol, wherein the MS VPN route advertisement encodes reachability information associated with the mobile device connected to the gateway device, wherein advertising the MS VPN route advertisement comprises, upon selecting the optimal routing mode with the gateway device, advertising the MS VPN route advertisement with the gateway device to other network devices in the cellular network that are members of a mobile VPN associated with the gateway device, wherein the MS VPN route advertisement encodes one or more of a full network address associated with the mobile device, a next hop of the mobile device wherein the next hop comprises the gateway device, a route distinguisher, and a multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) mobile VPN label for reaching the gateway to which the mobile subscriber is connected.