Patent ID: 8127348

Claim:
A method for tunneling packets between a first computer device and a second computer device through a packet-switched data transmission network including intermediate computer devices, where at least one of said computer devices may perform a network address translation and/or a protocol conversion and in which data transmission network there exists a security protocol comprising a key management connection that employs a specific packet format for key management packets, the method comprising the steps of: determining, by one of said first or second computer devices, what network address translations or protocol conversions, if any, occur on packets received from said first computer device in a data path between said first computer device and said second computer device; if it is found that network address translations or protocol conversions occur in the data path, said first computer device encapsulating data packets that are not key management packets into said specific packet format for key management packets; transmitting said data packets encapsulated into the specific packet format from said first computer device to said second computer device; discriminating by said second computer device the data packets encapsulated into the specific packet format from actual key management packets; and decapsulating by said second computer device the data packets encapsulated into the specific packet format.