Middlebox Control

Abstract

In order to carry out actions such as setting up a call from an entity in the address realm of one middlebox to an entity in the address realm of another middlebox, then a middlebox control node such as a call server is used. Previously, the middlebox control node has needed to have pre-configured information about all the middleboxes and which address realms they are associated with. The present invention provides one or more middlebox-identity-providing nodes which are separate from the middlebox control node, and which are more directly connected to the end users of the service than the middlebox control node. This provides greater flexibility in network design and removes the need for middlebox information to be pre-configured at the middlebox control node. Instead, this information is sent to the middlebox control node, as part of signaling messages, from middlebox-identity-providing nodes.

1 - 10 . (canceled) 
     
     
         11 . A method of operating a communications network, the communications network comprising a plurality of middleboxes, at least one middlebox-identity-providing node and at least one middlebox control node, each of the middleboxes being connected to a plurality of entities in a respective one of a plurality of address realms of the communications network, the method comprising:
 (i) receiving a control message at the middlebox-identity-providing node in the communications network, said control message comprising information about one of the entities in the communications network;   (ii) using the middlebox-identity-providing node to determine the identity of a first middlebox connected to said one of the entities in its respective one of the plurality of address realms;   (iii) sending said identity to a middlebox control node in the communications network; and   (iv) sending at least one middlebox control message from the middlebox control node to said first middlebox, said middlebox control node being located in a different address realm than that of said one of the entities;   
       wherein the middlebox-identity-providing node is separate from the middlebox control node and is located in a control path from said one of the entities to the middlebox control node. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , comprising controlling said one of the entities responsive to the at least one middlebox control message. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the middlebox-identity-providing node is a gateway in the communications network. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the gateway is a business services channel manager (BSCM). 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the middlebox-identity-providing node is one of the middleboxes. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein said one of the entities is a user terminal in the communications network. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the middlebox-identity-providing node is said user terminal. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein said middlebox control node is a MIDCOM agent. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein each of the middleboxes is configured as at least one of a firewall, a network address translator (NAT), and a quality of service device. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein said step (iii) of sending said identity comprises sending s control message indicating said identity. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein said control message is a session description protocol (SDP) message. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein said identity is added to an SDP message using a pre-specified SDP attribute. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein said control message is a call set-up message and said method further comprises sending middlebox control messages to said first middlebox in order to set-up a call from said one of the entities to another entity connected to a second middlebox in the communications network. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein said call passes through at least two middleboxes and wherein information indicating the identity of each such middlebox is added to said control message. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein said second middlebox is connected to a plurality of entities in a second address realm different from the first address realm of the entities connected to the first middlebox. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 25 , wherein the middlebox control node is within a third address realm different from the first and second address realms. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein the third address realm is a public address realm. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein the first and second address realms are private address realms. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein said middlebox-identity-providing node is arranged to determine the identity of the first middlebox by using pre-specified information. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein said middlebox-identity-providing node is arranged to determine the identity of the first middlebox by automatically analysing the communications network.