Multiplex communications – Communication over free space – Combining or distributing information via time channels
Reexamination Certificate
2000-05-25
2003-06-03
Maung, Nay (Department: 2681)
Multiplex communications
Communication over free space
Combining or distributing information via time channels
C370S389000, C370S392000, C709S238000, C455S445000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06574214
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to an improved Internet Protocol (IP) based mobile communications system having static agents (such as a Home Agent and a Foreign Agent) and mobility agents (such as Mobile Foreign Agents and Mobile Nodes), as well as an improved method for operating said system.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Present-day Internet communications represent the synthesis of technical developments begun in the 1960s—the development of a system to support communications between different United States military computer networks, and the subsequent development of a system to support the communication between research computer networks at United States universities. These technological developments would subsequently revolutionize the world of computing.
The Internet, like so many other high tech developments, grew from research originally performed by the United States Department of Defense. In the 1960s, Defense Department officials began to notice that the military was accumulating a large collection of computers—some of which were connected to large open computer networks and others that were connected to smaller closed computer networks. A network is a collection of computers or computer-like devices communicating across a common transmission medium. Computers on the Defense Department's open computer networks, however, could not communicate with the other military computers on the closed systems.
Defense Department officials requested that a system be built to permit communication between these different computer networks. The Defense Department recognized, however, that a single centralized system would be vulnerable to missile attacks or sabotage. Accordingly, the Defense Department mandated that the system to be used for communication between these military computer networks be decentralized and that no critical services be concentrated in a few, vulnerable failure points. In order to achieve these goals, the Defense Department established a decentralized standard protocol for communication between network computers.
A few years later, the National Science Foundation (NSF) wanted to connect network computers at various research institutions across the country. The NSF adopted the Defense Department's protocol for communication, and this combination of research computer networks would eventually evolve into the Internet.
Internet Protocols
The Defense Department's communication protocol governing data transmission between computers on different networks was called the Internet Protocol (IP) standard. The IP standard now supports communications between computers and networks on the Internet. The IP standard identifies the types of services to be provided to users, and specifies the mechanisms needed to support these services. The IP standard also describes the upper and lower system interfaces, defines the services to be provided on these interfaces, and outlines the execution environment for services needed in the system.
A transmission protocol, called the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), was also developed to provide connection-oriented, end-to-end data transmission between packet-switched computer networks. The combination of TCP with IP (TCP/IP) forms a system or suite of protocols for data transfer and communication between computers on the Internet. The TCP/IP standard has become mandatory for use in all packet switching networks that connect or have the potential for utilizing connectivity across network or sub-network boundaries.
The TCP/IP Protocol
In a typical Internet-based communication scenario, data is transmitted from an applications program in a first computer, through the first computer's network hardware, and across the transmission medium to the intended destination on the Internet. After receipt at a destination computer network, the data is transmitted through the destination network to a second computer. The second computer then interprets the communication using the identical protocols on a similar application program. Because of the standard protocols used in Internet communications, the TCP/IP protocol on the second computer should decode the transmitted information into the original data transmitted by the first computer.
The TCP/IP Protocol Layers
One of the rules in TCP/IP communications is that a computer user does not need to get involved with details of data communication. In order to accomplish this goal, the TCP/IP standard imposes a layered communications system structure. All the layers are located on each computer in the network, and each module or layer is a separate component that theoretically functions independent of the other layers.
TCP/IP and its related protocols form a standardized system for defining how data should be processed, transmitted and received on the Internet. TCP/IP defines the network communication process, and more importantly, defines how a unit of data should look and what information the message should contain so that the receiving computer can interpret the message correctly. Because the standardized layer design of TCP/IP, a consistent conversion of base data is ensured regardless of the version or vendor of the TCP/IP conversion software.
When a first computer transmits a data message to a second computer on the Internet—either sending a message or requesting information—the TCP/IP Protocol Layers in the first computer prepare the base data for transmission to a second computer by adding additional information to the base data. New pieces of information are added to the base data as the base data descends through each layer in the protocol. After processing, the base data with various headers will form a fully structured information packet under the TCP/IP protocol. The information packet will include header information that identifies the source of the information packet and its intended destination.
After the base data has been processed by all the layers in the protocol, it is ready for transmission across the Internet to the destination computer. After receipt of the information packet, the second computer operates on the information packet using the same set of TCP/IP protocol layers—only in reverse order. As the transmitted information packet ascends through the protocol layers in the second computer, each protocol level strips away the information added by the first computer to ultimately leave the base data in the applications program of the second computer.
TCP/IP Addressing and Routing
A computer operating on a network is assigned a unique physical address. On a Local Area Network (“LAN”), the physical address of the computer is a number given to computer's network adapter card. Hardware LAN protocols use this physical address to deliver packets of data to computers on the LAN.
On the Internet, the TCP/IP protocol routes data packets using logical addressing. The network software in the Network Layer generates logical addresses. Specifically, a logical address in the TCP/IP network is translated into a corresponding physical address using the ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) and RARP (Reverse Address Resolution Protocol) protocols in the Network Layer.
The TCP/IP's logical address is also called an IP address. The IP address can include: (1) a network ID number identifying a network, (2) a sub-network ID number identifying a sub-network on the network, and, (3) a host ID number identifying a particular computer on the sub-network. The header data in the information packet will include source and destination addresses. The IP addressing scheme imposes a sensible addressing scheme that reflects the internal organization of the network or sub-network.
A computer network is often subdivided into smaller sub-networks. The computer network is divided in this manner to increase data transmission efficiency and reduce overall network traffic. Routers are used to regulate the flow of data into and out of designated sub-networks of the computer network.
A router interprets the logical address information of a data packet, such as an IP add
Akhtar Haseeb
Coffin Russell C.
Khalil Mohamed
Le Liem Q.
Pillai Krish
Maung Nay
Nortel Networks Limited
Persino Raymond
Storm & Hemingway
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