Patent ID: 9001836
Filing Date: 2015-04-07
Classification: H04W

Abstract:
1. A method in a data plane of a network element acting as a local mobility anchor (LMA) in a communications network for the efficient distribution of signaling messages, the data plane configured to receive signaling messages from a set of one or more mobility access gateways (MAGs), each signaling message including a network connection identifier (ID) associated with an end station device, the network element further including a control plane having a plurality of processes executing on a plurality of processing units, the method comprising: receiving a first signaling message from a MAG of the set of MAGs; responsive to receipt of the first signaling message: transmitting the first signaling message to the selected first process; receiving a mapping message from the control plane, wherein the mapping message indicates a mapping of the first network connection ID to a second process, wherein the second process executes on a second processing unit of the control plane; updating the steering table to indicate the mapping of the first network connection ID to the second process; receiving a second signaling message from the MAG, wherein the second signaling message includes the first network connection ID; and responsive to receipt of the second signaling message: