Patent ID: 8045579

Claim:
A method for managing communication connections in a communication system, comprising: a first communication terminal of a first communication network generating a first connection request directed to a first external communication terminal that is in an external communication network that is external to the first communication network of the first communication terminal, the first connection request having a source network identifier for the first communication terminal that is valid inside the first communication network; translating the source network identifier of the first connection request by a first network address translating node to identify a network identifier for the first network address translating node; transmitting a second connection request directed to the first external communication terminal, the second connection request having the translated source network identifier that was translated by the first network address translating node; receiving a confirmation message from the first external communication terminal by the first network address translating node, the confirmation message comprising a network identifier for the first external communication terminal that is valid inside the external communication network; providing the source network identifier of the first connection request and the network identifier of the first external communication terminal to a connection table for inclusion in a connection entry in the connection table; and establishing a connection between the first communication terminal and the first external communication terminal such that payload is exchangeable between the first communication terminal and the first external communication terminal.