Method and apparatus for establishing multipath in heterogeneous interface environment

1. A method of establishing a multipath route in a heterogeneous interface environment among a plurality of wireless nodes comprising a source node, one or more relay nodes, and a destination node comprising a plurality of heterogeneous interfaces, the method comprising:

receiving a route request message comprising a destination node address from the source node via at least one relay node of the one or more relay nodes at the destination node; and

establishing a relationship between at least two heterogeneous interfaces of the plurality of heterogeneous interfaces of the destination node in response to determining whether the destination node address exists in an address table of the destination node,

wherein the establishing of the relationship between the at least two heterogeneous interfaces comprises:

transmitting a route reply message indicating a routing path from the source node to the destination node via at least one relay node of the one or more relay nodes,

determining that the destination node address does not match an address of a first heterogeneous interface of the at least two heterogeneous interfaces in response to the first heterogeneous interface receiving the route request message,

determining that the destination node address matches an address of a second heterogeneous interface of the at least two heterogeneous interfaces stored in the address table, and

establishing a virtual path in the destination node between the first heterogeneous interface and the second heterogeneous interface,

wherein the transmitting of the route reply message comprises transmitting the route reply message in response to the determining that the destination node address matches the address of the second heterogeneous interface, and

wherein the destination node is a final node to which data is transmitted from the source node along the routing path indicated by the route reply message.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the route reply message is a gratuitous route reply message.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of heterogeneous interfaces has an Internet Protocol (IP) address that is different from an IP address of every other one of the plurality of heterogeneous interfaces.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transmitting of the route reply message comprises transmitting the route reply message at the destination node.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

storing the address table in the destination node prior to receiving the RREQ message such that the address table comprises network address information associated with the interface receiving the RREQ, and network address information associated with at least one interface of remaining interfaces from all interfaces included in the destination node.

6. An apparatus for establishing a multipath route in a heterogeneous interface environment, the apparatus comprising:

a transceiver configured to receive a route request message comprising a destination node address from a first heterogeneous interface of a plurality of heterogeneous interfaces; and

a controller configured to:

receive the route request message from the transceiver; and

establish a relationship between the first heterogeneous interface and at least a second heterogeneous interface of the plurality of heterogeneous interfaces in response to determining whether the destination node address exists in an address table of the destination node;

wherein the apparatus and the plurality of heterogeneous interfaces are included in a node;

the controller is further configured to:

transmit via the transceiver a route reply message indicating that the node is a destination node and indicating a routing path from a source node to the destination node via at least one relay node in establishing the relationship between the first heterogeneous interface and at least the second heterogeneous interface;

determine that the destination node address does not match an address of the first heterogeneous interface in response to the first heterogeneous interface receiving the route request message;

determine that the destination node address matches an address of the second heterogeneous interface stored in the address table;

transmit the route reply message via the transceiver in response to the controller determining that the destination node address matches the address of the second heterogeneous interface; and

establish a virtual path in the destination node between the first heterogeneous interface and the second heterogeneous interface; and

wherein the destination node is a final node to which data is transmitted from the source node along the routing path indicated by the route reply message.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 , further comprising a storage unit configured to store the address table.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the route reply message is a gratuitous route reply message.

9. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein each of the plurality of heterogeneous interfaces has an Internet Protocol (IP) address that is different from an IP address of every other one of the plurality of heterogeneous interfaces.

10. An apparatus for establishing a multipath route in a heterogeneous interface environment, the apparatus comprising:

a plurality of heterogeneous interfaces;

a transceiver configured to receive a route request message comprising a destination node address from a first heterogeneous interface of the plurality of heterogeneous interfaces; and

a controller configured to:

receive the route request message from the transceiver; and

establish a relationship between the first heterogeneous interface and a second heterogeneous interface of the plurality of heterogeneous interfaces in response to determining whether the destination node address exists in an address table of the destination node;

wherein the apparatus is included in a node;

the controller is further configured to:

transmit via the transceiver a route reply message indicating that the node is a destination node and indicating a routing path from a source node to the destination node via at least one relay node in establishing the relationship between the first heterogeneous interface and at least the second heterogeneous interface;

determine that the destination node address does not match an address of the first heterogeneous interface;

determine that the destination node address matches an address of the second heterogeneous interface;

transmit the route reply message via the transceiver in response to the controller determining that the destination node address matches the address of the second heterogeneous interface; and

establish a virtual path between the first heterogeneous interface and the second heterogeneous interface; and

wherein the destination node is a final node to which data is transmitted from the source node along the routing path indicated by the route reply message.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein at least one of the plurality of heterogeneous interfaces is connected to an ad hoc network.

12. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the route reply message is a gratuitous route reply message.

13. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein each of the plurality of heterogeneous interfaces has an Internet Protocol (IP) address that is different from an IP address of every other one of the plurality of heterogeneous interfaces.

14. A method of establishing a multipath route in a heterogeneous interface environment among a plurality of wireless nodes comprising a source node, one or more relay nodes, and a destination node comprising a plurality of heterogeneous interfaces and an address table, the method comprising:

receiving a route request message comprising a destination node address from the source node via at least one relay node of the one or more relay nodes at the destination node;

determining whether the destination node address matches an address of a first heterogeneous interface of the plurality of heterogeneous interfaces in response to the first heterogeneous interface receiving the route request message;

determining whether the destination node address matches an address of a second heterogeneous interface of the plurality of heterogeneous interfaces stored in the address table in response to the destination node address not matching the address of the first heterogeneous interface; and

transmitting a gratuitous route reply message indicating a routing path from a source node to the destination node via at least one relay node of the one or more relay nodes and establishing a virtual path in the destination wireless node between the first heterogeneous interface and the second heterogeneous interface in response to the destination node address matching the address of the second heterogeneous interface stored in the address table;

wherein the destination node is a final node to which data is transmitted from the source node along the routing path indicated by the route reply message.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising transmitting a non-gratuitous route reply message indicating a routing path from the source node to the destination node via at least one relay node of the one or more relay nodes in response to the destination node address matching the address of the first heterogeneous interface.

16. The method of claim 14 , further comprising forwarding the route request message in response to the destination node address not matching any address stored in the address table.

17. The method of claim 14 , wherein each of the plurality of heterogeneous interfaces has an Internet Protocol (IP) address that is different from an IP address of every other one of the plurality of heterogeneous interfaces.

18. The method of claim 14 , wherein the transmitting of the route reply message comprises transmitting the route reply message at the destination node.

19. A method of processing a route request (RREQ) message transmitted from a source node via a routing path and received by a first interface of a plurality of heterogeneous interfaces of a destination node, the method comprising:

determining whether a destination node address in the RREQ message matches an address associated with a second interface of the plurality of heterogeneous interfaces of the destination node in response to the destination node address not matching an address associated with the first interface of the destination node upon comparing the destination node address with addresses stored in an address table of the destination node;

establishing a virtual path in the destination node between the first interface and the second interface in response to the destination node address matching the address associated with the second interface;

determining that the destination node address does not match the address associated with the first interface of the plurality of heterogeneous interfaces in response to the first interface receiving the RREQ message;

determining that the destination node address matches the address associated with the second interlace of the plurality of heterogeneous interfaces stored in the address table;

establishing a virtual path in the destination node between the first interface and the second interface; and

transmitting from the destination node a route reply (RREP) message via the first interface to the source node via the routing path in response to the destination node address matching the address associated with the second interface;

wherein the destination node is a final node to which data is transmitted from the source node along the routing path indicated by the route reply message.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the RREP message is a gratuitous route reply message.

21. The method of claim 19 , further comprising forwarding the RREQ message in response to the destination node address not existing in the address table of the destination node, the address table comprising addresses respectively associated with the plurality of heterogeneous interfaces.

22. The method of claim 19 , wherein the routing path is a network path in an ad-hoc network.

23. An apparatus comprising a plurality of heterogeneous interfaces and configured to process an RREQ (route request) message transmitted from a source node via a routing path and received by a first interface of the plurality of heterogeneous interfaces, the apparatus comprising:

a controller configured to:

determine whether a destination node address in the RREQ message matches an address associated with a second interface of the plurality of heterogeneous interfaces of the apparatus in response to the destination node address not matching an address associated with the first interface upon comparing the destination node address with addresses stored in an address table of the destination node; and

establish a virtual path in the apparatus between the first interface and the second interface in response to the destination node address matching the address associated with the second interface;

a transceiver configured to transmit an RREP (route reply) message via the first interface to the source node via the routing path in response to the destination node address matching the address associated with the second interface; and

the controller is further configured to:

determine that the destination node address does not match the address associated with the first interface in response to the first interface receiving the route request message;

determine that the destination node address matches the address associated with the second interface stored in the address table;

transmit the RREP message via the transceiver in response to the controller determining that the destination node address matches the address of the second interface; and

establish a virtual path in the destination node between the first interface and the second interface;

wherein the destination node is a final node to which data is transmitted from the source node along the routing path indicated by the route reply message.

24. The apparatus of claim 23 , wherein the RREP message is a gratuitous route reply message.

25. The apparatus of claim 23 , further comprising a storage unit configured to store the address table comprises addresses respectively associated with the plurality of heterogeneous interfaces;

wherein the transceiver is further configured to forward the RREQ message in response to the destination node address not existing in the address table.

26. The apparatus of claim 23 , wherein the routing path is a network path in an ad-hoc network.