Communication system and method
View Patent ↗Embodiments of the present invention relate to a communication arrangement for distinguishing between network entities having the same address by translating between the same addresses and surrogate addresses using an intermediary network entity.
1. A method to support communication with a first network entity in a first network and a second network entity in a second network, the first and second network entities having a common address, the method comprising:
receiving at a signaling gateway a message including the common address via a signaling link having an interface identifier;
using the interface identifier of the signaling link to determine whether the message is for the first network or the second network;
processing in the signaling gateway at least one of a message associated with the first network entity by translating between the common address for the first network entity and a first symbolic address unique to the first and second networks for routing the message to one of the first network entity and the second network entity as a destination and a message associated with the second network entity by translating between the common address for the second network entity and a second symbolic address unique to the first and second networks for routing the message to one of the first network entity and the second network entity as the destination; and
sending the message by the signaling gateway to at least one of the first network entity using the first symbolic address and second network entity using the second symbolic address.
2. A method as claimed in claim 1 in which the step of processing a message associated with the first network entity by translating between the common address for the first network entity and a first symbolic address unique to the first and second networks comprises performing multiple substitutions of the common address with the first symbolic address.
3. A method as claimed in claim 2 in which the step of performing multiple substitutions of the common address with the first symbolic address comprises performing substitutions of the common address with different levels of a first protocol for communicating with the first network entity.
4. A method as claimed in claim 1 in which the step of processing a message associated with the second network entity by translating between the common address for the second network entity and a second symbolic address unique to the first and second networks comprises performing multiple substitutions of the common address with the second symbolic address.
5. A method as claimed in claim 4 in which the step of performing multiple substitutions of the common address with the second symbolic address comprises performing substitutions of the common address with different levels of a second protocol for communicating with the second network entity.
6. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the step of receiving the message at the signaling gateway is from a third network entity destined for the first network entity or the second network entity.
7. A method as claimed in claim 6 in which a protocol associated with the third network entity is different from a protocol associated with at least one of the first and second network entities.
8. A method as claimed in claim 1 in which step of processing comprises substituting at least one instance of the common address contained within a payload portion of the message with a respective one of the first symbolic address and the second symbolic address.
9. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the sending step is carried out in an application server process.
10. A computer system for supporting communication with a first network entity in a first network and a second network entity in a second network, the first and second network entities having a common address, the computer system comprising a computer program that, when executed, causes the computer system to:
receive at a signaling gateway a message including the common address via a signaling link having an interface identifier;
use the interface identifier of the signaling link to determine whether the message is for the first network or the second network;
process in the signaling gateway at least one of a message associated with the first network entity by translating between the common address for the first network entity and a first symbolic address unique to the first and second networks for routing the message to one of the first network entity and the second network entity as a destination and a message associated with the second network entity by translating between the common address for the second network entity and a second symbolic address unique to the first and second networks for routing the message to one of the first network entity and the second network entity as the destination; and
send the message by the signaling gateway to at least one of the first network entity using the first symbolic address and second network entity using the second symbolic address.