Initiating Peer-to-Peer Tunnels

A method comprising:

• receiving, at a network device, a notification for establishing a first tunnel with another network node;
• establishing, by the network device, the first tunnel with the other network node;
• identifying, by the network device, the traffic from a first client to a second client;
• and
• forwarding, by the network device, the identified traffic through the established first tunnel.

A network device comprising:

• a processor;
• a memory;
• a forwarding mechanism coupled to the processor, the forwarding mechanism to forward traffic from a first client to a second client;
• a determining mechanism coupled to the processor, the determining mechanism to determine both that the first client and the second client are in same mobility domain and that the traffic is eligible for being transmitted in a tunnel;
• a notifying mechanism coupled to the processor, the notifying mechanism to notify a first network node and a second access node to establish the tunnel between the first access node and the second network node, wherein the first network node is coupled to the first client, and wherein the second network node is coupled to the second client;
• and
• a transmitting mechanism coupled to the processor, the transmitting mechanism to transmit the traffic from the first client to the second client until the tunnel between the first network node and the second network node is established.

A network device comprising:

• a processor;
• a memory;
• a receiving mechanism coupled to the processor, the receiving mechanism to receive a notification for establishing a first tunnel with another network node;
• an establishing mechanism coupled to the processor, the establishing mechanism to establish the first tunnel with the other network node;
• an identifying mechanism coupled to the processor, the identifying mechanism to identify the traffic from a first client to a second client;
• and
• a forwarding mechanism coupled to the processor, the forwarding mechanism to forward the identified traffic through the established first tunnel.