Patent ID: 8861482

Claim:
A method for providing application service for a subscriber unit (SU), employing a first protocol, in a communication network employing a second protocol, the method comprising: at a gateway, coupled to the communication network, providing an interface between the SU and a key management facility (KMF) unit, wherein the KMF unit is operating external to the communication network: receiving a first protocol over the air rekeying (OTAR) message from the SU, wherein the first protocol OTAR message includes at least an application layer key management message (KMM), a first protocol header of the SU, and a first protocol address of the SU; determining that the first protocol employed by the SU is different from the second protocol associated with the communication network based on the received first protocol OTAR message; creating a second protocol preamble based on the first protocol header and configuration information of the SU; creating a second protocol OTAR message by removing the application layer KMM from the received first protocol OTAR message and inserting the removed application layer KMM into the second protocol OTAR message, wherein the second protocol OTAR message includes the received first protocol address of the SU; encapsulating the second protocol OTAR message with the created second protocol preamble; and sending the encapsulated second protocol OTAR message to the KMF unit operating at the second protocol.