Patent ID: 8630165

Claim:
A method for establishing a reliable communication channel between a decapsulation node among a cluster of decapsulation nodes and an encapsulation node across a communication network, the method, implemented at the decapsulation node, comprising the steps of: establishing a session with the encapsulation node in response a request therefrom, the request indicating whether or not the decapsulation node is to be a primary decapsulation node or a redundant decapsulation node; and if the decapsulation node is to be the primary decapsulation node: selecting an address for the encapsulation node from a group of addresses assigned to the decapsulation node wherein the group of addresses is categorized into a plurality of sub-groups of addresses, each of the sub-groups of addresses being associated with a corresponding one of other decapsulation nodes in the cluster of decapsulation nodes, and the address is selected from one the sub-groups of addresses based on the redundant decapsulation node; transmitting the selected address to the encapsulation node; and transmitting data to and receiving data from the encapsulation node until a failure occurs; if the decapsulation node is to be the redundant decapsulation node: maintaining the session until the failure occurs.