Address sharing

A method of transmitting a message from an element external to a wireless short-range radio-frequency communication network via a gateway to a terminal device of the short-range communication network, the method comprising

• selecting a first port number for the terminal device;
• generating a correlation between a network address of the terminal device, said first port number and a particular second port number, the network address of the terminal device being a network address that is used inside the short-range communication network, and said second port number being intended to identify a right application in the terminal device, and storing said correlation in advance in a memory available to the gateway;
• receiving a message at the gateway from the element external to the short-range communication network, the message comprising the network address of the gateway as a receiver's address and said first port number as a destination port number;
• replacing the network address of the gateway in the message with the network address of the terminal device and said first port number with the second port number, on the basis of said correlation;
• transmitting the message from the gateway to the terminal device of the short-range communication network via a short-range radio link the message having the network address of the terminal device as a receiver's address and said second port number as a destination port number.

A gateway for transmitting a message from a wireless radio-frequency short-range communication network via the gateway to a network external to the short-range communication network, the gateway comprising:

• a short-range transceiver for receiving a first message at the gateway via a short-range radio link from a terminal device of the short-range communication network, the first message being addressed to an element external to the short-range communication network, and the first message comprising the network address of said terminal device as a transmitter's address and the first port number as a source port number, the network address of the terminal device being a network address used inside the short-range communication network, wherein the gateway further comprises:
• a processing element (CPU) for allocating a second port number to the terminal device;
• a processing element (CPU) for replacing the network address of said terminal device in the first message with the network address of the gateway and for replacing the first port number in the first message with the second port number;
• a processing element (CPU) for generating a correlation between the network address of the terminal device, the first port number and the second port number and storing it in a memory available to the gateway for identification of the terminal device;
• a transceiver for transmitting the first message from the gateway to the element external to the short-range communication network, the first message having the network address of the gateway as a transmitter's address and said second port number as a source port number.

A gateway for transmitting a message from an element external to a wireless short-range radio-frequency communication network via the gateway to a terminal device of the short-range communication network, wherein the gateway comprises:

• a processing element (CPU) for selecting a first port number for the terminal device;
• a processing element (CPU) for generating a correlation between a network address of the terminal device, said first number and a particular second port number and storing it in advance in a memory available to the gateway, the network address of the terminal device being a network address that is used inside the short-range communication network, and the second port number being intended for identifying a right application in the terminal device;
• a transceiver for receiving a message at the gateway from the element external to the short-range communication network, the message comprising the network address of the gateway as a receiver's address and the first port number as a destination port number;
• a processing element (CPU) for replacing the network address of the gateway in the message with the network address of the terminal device and for replacing said first port number in said message with the second port number, on the basis of said correlation;
• a short-range radio-frequency transceiver for transmitting the message from the gateway to the terminal device of the short-range communication network via a short-range radio link, the message having the network address of the terminal device as a receiver's address and said second port number as a destination port number.

Software executable at a gateway for transmitting a message from a wireless radio-frequency short-range communication network via the gateway to a network external to the short-range communication network, the software comprising:

• program code for causing the gateway to receive a first message at the gateway via a short-range radio link from a terminal device of the short-range communication network, the first message being addressed to an element external to the short-range communication network and the first message comprising a network address of said terminal device as a transmitter's address and a first port number as a source port number, the network address of the terminal device being a network address used inside the short-range communication network, wherein the software comprises:
• program code for allocating a second port number to the terminal device;
• program code for replacing the network address of said terminal device in the first message with the network address of the gateway and for replacing the first port number in the first message with the second port number;
• program code for generating a correlation between the network address of the terminal device, the first port number and the second port number and storing it in a memory available to the gateway for identifying the terminal device;
• program code for causing the terminal device to transmit the message from the gateway to the element external to the short-range communication network, the first message having the network address of the gateway as a transmitter's address and said second port number as a source port number.

Software executable at a gateway for transmitting a message from an element external to a wireless short-range radio-frequency communication network via the gateway to a terminal device of the short-range communication network, wherein the software comprises:

• program code for selecting a first port number for the terminal device;
• program code for generating a correlation between the network address of the terminal device, said first port number and a particular second port number and for storing it in advance in a memory available to the gate-way, the network address of the terminal device being a network address used inside the short-range communication network, and said second port number being intended to identify the right application in the terminal device;
• program code for causing the gateway to receive a message at the gateway from the element external to the short-range communication network, the message comprising the network address of the gateway as a receiver's address and said first port number as a destination port number;
• program code for replacing the network address of the gateway in said message with the network address of the terminal device and for replacing said first port number in said message with the second port number, on the basis of said correlation;
• program code for causing the gateway to transmit the message from the gateway to the terminal device in the short-range communication network via a short-range radio link the message having the network address of the terminal device as a receiver's address and said second port number as a destination port number.