Network gateway for time-critical and mission-critical networks

Abstract

A network gateway and method for processing frames in communication network are provided. The network gateway includes a decision unit configured to determine an association of incoming frames with at least one network service; a processing unit configured to process each frame determined to be associated with the at least one network service; a queue configured buffering frames determined to be associated with the at least one network service; and a traffic shaper configured to perform bandwidth management on frames stored in the queue.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A network gateway, comprising:
 a decision unit configured to determine an association of incoming frames with at least one network service;   a processing unit configured to process each incoming frame determined to be associated with the at least one network service;   a queue configured to buffer frames determined to be associated with the at least one network service; and   a traffic shaper configured to perform bandwidth management on frames stored in the queue.   
     
     
         2 . The network gateway of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one network service comprises at least one of: retransmission of the frames, redirection of frames to one or more destinations, dropping of frames, address resolution, protocol conversion, bandwidth management, prioritization of frames, signalling, alarming, and data encryption. 
     
     
         3 . The network gateway of  claim 2 , wherein the protocol conversion service enables converting at least Internet protocol (IP) frames to non-IP frames and converting non-IP frames to IP frames. 
     
     
         4 . The network gateway of  claim 3 , wherein the non-IP is a protocol including at least one of: MIL-STD-1553, RS 485, RS 422, RS 235, and Hotlink; and wherein the digital video format includes at least H.264, and MPEG-4. 
     
     
         5 . The network gateway of  claim 1 , wherein the network gateway is further configured to transparently inspect frames flow in the network. 
     
     
         6 . The network gateway of  claim 1 , wherein the association between incoming frames and at least one network service is based on at least one network event. 
     
     
         7 . The network gateway of  claim 6 , wherein the at least one network event comprises at least one of: a predefined data pattern, a predefined frame sequence, a virtual channel, and any combination of network addresses. 
     
     
         8 . The network gateway of  claim 7 , wherein the virtual channel carries traffic that always originates from the same source IP address and port number, and that is directed to the same destination IP address and port number. 
     
     
         9 . The network gateway of  claim 6 , wherein the decision unit is further configured to provide frames not being associated with a service directly to the queue. 
     
     
         10 . The network gateway of  claim 6 , wherein the decision unit includes a service table for mapping the at least one network event associated with an incoming frame to the at least one service. 
     
     
         11 . A method for inspecting frames in a communication network, comprising:
 transparently intercepting frames flowing in the communication network;   determining if at least one network service can be associated with each intercepted frame;   processing each intercepted frame according to the at least one service being associated with the frame; and   relaying the processed frame back to the communication network.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 performing bandwidth management operations on the processed frame or on a frame that was not processed, wherein the bandwidth management operations include at least one of: buffering frames, and rate shaping of frames.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the determination of the least one network service associated with the intercepted frame is based on at least one network event. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the at least one network service comprises at least one of: retransmission of the frames, redirection of frames to one or more destinations, dropping of frames, address resolution, protocol conversion, bandwidth management, prioritization of frame, signalling, alarming, and data encryption. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the protocol conversion service enables converting at least Internet protocol (IP) frames to non-IP frames and converting non-IP frames to IP frames. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the at least one network event comprises at least one of: a predefined data pattern, a predefined frame sequence, a virtual channel, and any combination of network addresses. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the communication network is a time-critical and a mission-critical network. 
     
     
         19 . A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon computer executable code which, when executed, causes a processor to perform the method of  claim 11 .