Patent ID: 7724776

Claim:
A method of handling, in an ingress node of an IP network, datagram fragments in a stream of packets, the method comprising the steps of: receiving a packet incoming at the ingress node; determining at the ingress node whether the packet is a fragment based on information in the packet's header; if the packet is a fragment, determining at the ingress node whether a session context for the fragment exists based on information in the packet's header; if the session context does not exist, determining at the ingress node whether the packet is an initial fragment of a datagram; if the packet is an initial fragment, creating at the ingress node a session context for the packet and other fragments based on information in the packet, and handling the packet according to the session context; if the packet is not an initial fragment, delaying at the ingress node the packet at least until the session context has been created; and if the session context exists, handling at the ingress node the packet according to the session context; wherein a delayed packet is handled at the ingress node according to the session context after the session context has been created.