Communication device, communication control method, and communication system

1. A communication device, comprising:

circuitry configured to:

receive, as a first packet, one of:

a second packet transmitted from a terminal device; or

a third packet transmitted to the terminal device,

wherein the first packet includes control information;

determine that the first packet is a machine-type communication (MTC) packet;

acquire the control information from the first packet, wherein the control information includes an application class of the terminal device and a terminal ID of the terminal device;

classify the first packet based on the application class and the terminal ID of the terminal device;

select, a first forwarding destination node for the first packet from a plurality of forwarding destination nodes, based on the classification of the first packet and the first packet that is the MTC packet; and

transmit the first packet to the first forwarding destination node.

2. The communication device according to claim 1 , wherein the circuitry is further configured to:

store forwarding destination data that indicates association between classification of a plurality of fourth packet and the plurality of forwarding destination nodes; and

select the first forwarding destination node for the first packet from the plurality of forwarding destination nodes, based on the forwarding destination data.

3. The communication device according to claim 1 , wherein the control information further includes an application ID that corresponds to the first packet.

4. The communication device according to claim 1 , wherein the circuitry is further configured to:

receive from the terminal device, a first plurality of packets that include the second packet;

classify the first plurality of packets based on the control information; and

select a second forwarding destination node for at least one of the first plurality of packets, such that forwarding destinations for a second plurality of packets that belong to a same classification, are distributed among the plurality of forwarding destination nodes,

wherein the first plurality of packets include the second plurality of packets.

5. The communication device according to claim 1 , wherein the circuitry is further configured to select the first forwarding destination node for the first packet regardless of a routing metric, wherein the routing metric relates to a path to a destination node of the first packet.

6. The communication device according to claim 1 , wherein the circuitry is further configured to:

insert intermediate node designation information into a first destination field of the first packet,

wherein the intermediate node designation information designates an intermediate node, different from the first forwarding destination node, on a path to the first forwarding destination node of the first packet.

7. The communication device according to claim 6 , wherein the circuitry is further configured to transcribe first information, described in the first destination field, to a second destination field based on reception of the first packet.

8. The communication device according to claim 6 , wherein the circuitry is further configured to:

add a flag to the first packet,

wherein the flag indicates change in the first destination field.

9. The communication device according to claim 1 ,

wherein the circuitry is further configured to receive in a communication network, one of the second packet or the third packet as the first packet, and

wherein the communication network is a core network of a cellular communication system.

10. A communication control method, comprising:

in a communication device within a communication network including a plurality of communication nodes:

receiving, as a first packet, one of:

a second packet transmitted from a terminal device; or

a third packet transmitted to the terminal device,

wherein the first packet includes control information;

determining that the first packet is a machine-type communication (MTC) packet;

acquiring the control information from the first packet, wherein the control information includes an application class of the terminal device and a terminal ID of the terminal device;

classifying the first packet based on the application class and the terminal ID of the terminal device;

selecting, a forwarding destination node for the first packet from a plurality of forwarding destination nodes, based on the classification of the first packet and the first packet that is the MTC packet; and

transmitting the first packet to the forwarding destination node.

11. A communication system, comprising:

a plurality of communication nodes; and

a communication device including circuitry, wherein the circuitry is configured to:

receive, as a first packet, one of:

a second packet transmitted from a terminal device; or

a third packet transmitted to the terminal device,

wherein the first packet includes control information;

determine that the first packet is a machine-type communication (MTC) packet;

acquire the control information from the first packet, wherein the control information includes an application class of the terminal device and a terminal ID of the terminal device;

classify the first packet based on the application class and the terminal ID of the terminal device;

select a forwarding destination node for the first packet from the plurality of communication nodes, based on the classification of the first packet and the first packet that is the MTC packet; and

transmit the first packet to the forwarding destination node.

12. A communication device within a communication network that includes a plurality of communication nodes, the communication device comprising:

circuitry configured to:

receive, as a first packet, one of:

a second packet transmitted from a terminal device; or

a third packet transmitted to the terminal device,

wherein the first packet includes control information;

determine that the first packet is a machine-type communication (MTC) packet;

insert control information into the first packet, wherein the control information includes an application class and a terminal ID of the terminal device;

classify the first packet based on the application class and the terminal ID of the terminal device; and

transmit the packet to a communication node of the plurality of communication nodes,

wherein the communication node selects a forwarding destination node for the packet from a plurality of forwarding destination nodes, based on the classification of the packet and the first packet that is the MTC packet.

13. The communication device according to claim 6 , wherein the intermediate node designation information designates a different intermediate node for each terminal class of the first packet.

14. The communication device according to claim 1 ,

wherein the application class corresponds to a quality of service for the first packet, and

wherein the quality of service designates an upper limit of an allowed delay for transmission of the first packet.

15. The communication device according to claim 1 , wherein circuitry is further configured to:

transmit, each of a plurality of data packets that include the first packet, to a different forwarding destination node,

wherein each of the plurality of data packets correspond to a different application class.

16. The communication device according to claim 1 ,

wherein the terminal device inserts the control information into the first packet, and

wherein the control information further includes a terminal class and a terminal group ID of the terminal device.