IP mobility mechanism for a packet radio network
View Patent ↗An arrangement for providing IP mobility for a mobile station (MS) provides a care-of-address (COA) for routing data packets when the MS is away from home. In one embodiment, the arrangement includes support nodes, called gateway GPRS support nodes (GGSN) or serving GPRS gateway support nodes (SGSN), and a foreign agent (FA) having an IP address. In order to save IP addresses and radio resources, the FA is integrated into one of the support nodes (e.g., the SGSN), and the IP address of, or an IP address provided by the FA is also used as the MS COA.
1. A method for providing Internet Protocol mobility service for a mobile station in a packet radio network, the method comprising:
coupling the packet radio network to a data network implementing an Internet Protocol;
integrating, into a support node of the packet radio network, a foreign agent having an Internet Protocol address;
the support node receiving service request information from the mobile station in connection with an attach procedure, said service request information comprising an access point name implemented as a logical name comprising an operator's name and a Mobile IP address, the service request information being used by the support node to select services of a the support node in the packet radio network; and
providing a care-of-address for the mobile station by using the Internet Protocol address of the foreign agent as the mobile station's care-of-address.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the support node comprises a Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN) node.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the access point name is received by the support node and the method further comprises sending the access point name received from the mobile station to the support node to select a particular Internet Service Provider.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving the access point name from the mobile station, in connection with a packet data protocol context activation request.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising storing information concerning whether the mobile station in the packet radio network is allowed to use the Internet Protocol mobility service in a register of the packet radio network.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the register of the packet radio network comprises a Home Location Register.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving information from the mobile station indicating whether the mobile station requests use of the Internet Protocol mobility service.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the receiving information from the mobile station indicating whether the mobile station requests use of the Internet Protocol mobility service is performed in connection with mobile station registration.
9. An arrangement for providing Internet Protocol mobility service for a mobile station, the arrangement comprising:
at least two support nodes, wherein at least one support node is a gateway node, and at least one support node is an access node; and
a foreign agent having an Internet Protocol address being integrated into one of the at least two support nodes;
wherein the Internet Protocol address of the foreign agent is established as a care-of-address of the mobile station;
wherein at least one support node is configured to receive an access point name from the mobile station, the access point name being a logical name comprising an operator's name and a Mobile IP address used to request a particular Internet Service Provider through a particular gateway.
10. The arrangement of claim 9 , wherein the foreign agent is integrated into a Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN) node.
11. A support node for a packet radio network, arranged to provide mobility service for a mobile station, the support node comprising:
processing means; and
an integrated foreign agent having an Internet Protocol (IP) address,
wherein the processing means is configured to support at least the Internet Protocol and to use either the IP address of the foreign agent or another IP address provided by the foreign agent as a care-of-address of the mobile station, and
wherein the processing means is configured as a gateway node configured to receive an access point name from the mobile station, the access point name being a logical name comprising an operator's name and a Mobile IP address used to request a particular Internet Service Provider.
12. The support node of claim 11 , wherein said processing means is configured to receive the access point name from the mobile station in connection with execution of an attach procedure.
13. The support node of claim 11 , wherein said processing means is configured to receive the access point name from the mobile station in connection with a packet data protocol context activation procedure.
14. The support node of claim 11 , wherein said processing means is configured as a Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN).