Patent ID: 7950052

Claim:
A security gateway for deployment in a packet network in communication with a mobile station and a network controller interface, the security gateway comprising: a security gateway-network controller interface adapted to be coupled with a network controller external to the gateway; and a hardware processing unit adapted to execute an instruction set tangibly embodied on a computer-readable medium, wherein the processing unit implements at least one application interface on the security gateway-network controller interface, wherein upon initialization of the security gateway-network controller interface the hardware processing unit (i) generates a range-set message that specifies a range of private Internet-protocol addresses available to the security gateway and assignable by the security gateway to the mobile station in order to establish a secure connection with the mobile station and (ii) transmits the range-set message to the network controller to initiate a communication session between the security gateway and the network controller, wherein the security gateway assigns at least one of the private Internet protocol addresses from the range of private Internet-protocol addresses to the mobile station to establish the secure connection with the mobile station.