Mechanisms for detection of non-supporting NAT traversal boxes in the path

A computer system operable to facilitate translation of address or port information in a received packet, the computer system comprising:

• one or more processors;
• one or more memory, wherein at least one of the processors and memory are configured to perform the following operations:
• (a) receiving a packet having one or more headers and a payload;
• (b) if the received packet indicates that it implements a translation device traversal protocol, determining whether the received packet has traversed a translation device that implements translation of the IP (internet protocol) header but fails to implement the translation device traversal protocol by failing to translate an address of a translation header, wherein the translation header differs from the IP header;
• (c) if it is determined that the received packet has traversed a translation device that fails to implement the translation device traversal protocol, sending an error message back to an originator of the received packet indicating that a translation device in the received packet's path fails to implement the translation device traversal protocol;
• and
• (d) if it is determined that the received packet has not traversed a translation device that fails to implement the translation device traversal protocol, processing the received packet.

A computer-readable medium encoded with computer-executable instructions that are configured for:

• (a) receiving a packet having one or more headers and a payload;
• (b) if the received packet indicates that it implements a translation device traversal protocol, determining whether the received packet has traversed a translation device that implements translation of the IP (internet protocol) header but fails to implement the translation device traversal protocol by failing to translate an address of a translation header, wherein the translation header differs from the IP header:
• based on one or more headers of the packet and not the payload;
• (c) if it is determined that the received packet has traversed a translation device that fails to implement the translation device traversal protocol, sending an error message back to an originator of the received packet indicating that a translation device in the received packet's path fails to implement the translation device traversal protocol;
• and
• (d) if it is determined that the received packet has not traversed a translation device that fails to implement the translation device traversal protocol, processing the received packet.

An apparatus for facilitating translation of address or port information in a received packet, comprising:

• means for (a) receiving a packet having one or more headers and a payload;
• means for (b) if the received packet indicates that it implements a translation device traversal protocol, determining whether the received packet has traversed a translation device that implements translation of the IP (internet protocol) header but fails to implement the translation device traversal protocol by failing to translate an address of a translation header, wherein the translation header differs from the IP header;
• means for (c) if it is determined that the received packet has traversed a translation device that fails to implement the translation device traversal protocol, sending an error message back to an originator of the received packet indicating that a translation device in the received packet's path fails to implement the translation device traversal protocol;
• and
• means for (d) if it is determined that the received packet has not traversed a translation device that fails to implement the translation device traversal protocol, processing the received packet.