Methods and apparatus for secure routing of data packets

摘要

Methods and arrangements for supporting a forwarding process in routers when routing data packets through a packet-switched network, by employing hierarchical parameters in which the hops of a predetermined transmission path between a sender and a receiver are encoded. A name server generates and distributes router-associated keys to routers in the network which keys are used for computing the hierarchical parameters.

主权项

1. A method in a name server of supporting a forwarding operation in routers of a packet-switched network, the method comprising:
receiving a request from a sending end-node related to getting data packets across to a receiving end-node in a communication session; determining a transmission path with a series of hops from the sending end-node to the receiving end-node; computing a semi-dynamic parameter for each hop in the path based on a predefined router-associated key; and providing at least the computed semi-dynamic parameters to the sending end-node in response to the request, thereby enabling the sending end-node to compute a dynamic parameter for each hop in the path based on the semi-dynamic parameters and packet-specific information related to a data packet, and to send the data packet with the computed dynamic parameters, and the packet-specific information over the packet-switched network through said transmission path.