Bypassing external packet data networks in mobile-to-mobile communication
View Patent ↗A first gateway receives, from a source user equipment, an uplink packet addressed to a target user equipment and identifies a pairing between the source user equipment and the target user equipment. The first gateway routes the received uplink packet to the target user equipment on a communication path that bypasses an Internet. A first mobility management entity (MME) receives, from a source user equipment, a first request to pair the source user equipment with a target user equipment and transmits a second request to a gateway to pair the source user equipment with the target user equipment. The first MME transmits messages to the source user equipment and the target user equipment including an identifier of the pairing received from the gateway in response to the second request.
1. A method comprising:
receiving, at a first gateway of a core network from a source user equipment, an uplink packet addressed to a target user equipment;
receiving, at the first gateway from a mobility management entity (MME), a request to pair the source user equipment and the target user equipment to form a pairing between the source user equipment and the target user equipment;
storing information indicating the pairing at the first gateway in response to receiving the request; and
routing, at the first gateway, the received uplink packet to the target user equipment on a communication path that bypasses an external packet data network that is connected to the first gateway, wherein receiving the request to pair the source user equipment and the target user equipment comprises receiving an uplink packet including globally unique identifiers of the source user equipment and the target user equipment, and wherein storing the information indicating the pairing comprises storing the globally unique identifiers and a corresponding pairing identifier.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the pairing comprises identifying the pairing based on a pairing identifier included in the uplink packet.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein routing the uplink packet to the target user equipment comprises accessing the globally unique identifiers based on the pairing identifier included in the uplink packet and routing the uplink packet to the target user equipment based on the globally unique identifier of the target user equipment.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein routing the uplink packet to the target user equipment comprises routing the uplink packet to the target user equipment via a second gateway in response to determining that the target user equipment is served by the second gateway.
5. A method, comprising:
receiving, at a first mobility management entity (MME) from a source user equipment, a first request to pair the source user equipment with a target user equipment;
transmitting from the MME to a gateway, a second request to pair the source user equipment with the target user equipment; and
transmitting, from the MME to the source user equipment and the target user equipment, messages including an identifier of the pairing received from the gateway in response to the second request, wherein receiving the first request comprises receiving a first request including a globally unique identifier of the target user equipment.
6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
paging the target user equipment in response to determining that the target user equipment is idle based on the globally unique identifier.
7. The method of claim 5 , wherein paging the target user equipment comprises transmitting a paging message including a request to pair the target user equipment with the source user equipment.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein transmitting the paging message comprises transmitting the paging message via a second MME in response to determining that the target user equipment is served by the second MME.
9. The method of claim 5 further comprising:
selecting the gateway from a set of gateways associated with the source user equipment.
10. A first gateway to an external packet data comprising:
a transceiver to receive, from a source user equipment, an uplink packet addressed to a target user equipment, wherein the transceiver is configured to receive, from a mobility management entity (MME), a request to pair the source user equipment and the target user equipment to form a pairing between the source user equipment and the target user equipment;
a memory to store information indicating the pairing at the first gateway in response to receiving the request; and
a processor to route the received uplink packet to the target user equipment on a communication path that bypasses the external packet data network, wherein the transceiver is to receive an uplink packet including globally unique identifiers of the source user equipment and the target user equipment, and wherein the memory is store the globally unique identifiers and a corresponding pairing identifier.
11. The first gateway of claim 10 , wherein the processor is to identify the pairing based on a pairing identifier included in the uplink packet.
12. The first gateway of claim 11 , wherein the processor is to access the globally unique identifiers from the memory based on the pairing identifier included in the uplink packet and route the uplink packet to the target user equipment based on the globally unique identifier of the target user equipment.
13. The first gateway of claim 10 , wherein the processor is to route the uplink packet to the target user equipment via a second gateway in response to determining that the target user equipment is served by the second gateway.
14. A first mobility management entity (MME), comprising:
a transceiver to receive, from a source user equipment, a first request to pair the source user equipment with a target user equipment, transmit a second request to a gateway to pair the source user equipment with the target user equipment, and transmit messages to the source user equipment and the target user equipment including an identifier of the pairing received from the gateway in response to the second request, wherein the transceiver is to receive a first request including a globally unique identifier of the target user equipment.
15. The first MME of claim 14 , wherein the transceiver is to page the target user equipment in response to determining that the target user equipment is idle based on the globally unique identifier.
16. The first MME of claim 14 , wherein the transceiver is to transmit a paging message including a request to pair the target user equipment with the source user equipment.
17. The first MME of claim 16 , wherein the transceiver is to transmit the pairing message via a second MME in response to determining that the target user equipment is served by the second MME.
18. The first MME of claim 14 further comprising:
a processor to select the gateway from a set of gateways associated with the source user equipment.