Path switching procedure for device-to-device communication

A communication device to maintain session continuity, for applications executing in the communication device, in switching from a direct mode communication path to an infrastructure communication path, the communication device including:

• a non-transitory computer readable medium containing program instructions;
• and
• one or more processors, to execute the program instructions to:
• determine a public-facing address corresponding to the infrastructure path of the communication device;
• transmit, over the direct mode communication path and to a second communication device, the public-facing address;
• receive, over the infrastructure path, an encapsulated packet from the second communication device;
• decapsulate the received encapsulated packet to obtain a packet that includes addressing information corresponding to the direct mode communication path;
• and
• provide the decapsulated packet to an application layer of the communication device.

User equipment (UE) comprising:

• a memory to store instructions;
• and
• at least one processor to execute the instructions stored by the memory to:
• connect with a second UE, using a communication session formed over an infrastructure path;
• and
• switch communication paths, with the second UE, from the infrastructure path to a direct wireless communication path to the second UE, the switching being performed transparently to an application layer process that is executing at the UE and that is communicating with the second UE, wherein the at least one processor, when switching communication paths is to further execute the instructions stored by the memory to:
• replace, for a packet that is to be transmitted over the direct wireless communication path to the second UE, a source address field of the packet with a public-facing address of the UE in the infrastructure path;
• encapsulate the packet with source and destination address fields corresponding to the UE and the second UE, respectively, through the direct wireless communication path;
• and
• transmit the encapsulated packet over the direct wireless communication path.

A method for maintaining session continuity, for applications executing in a communication device, in switching from an infrastructure mode communication path to a direct mode communication path, the method comprising:

• determining, by the communication device, a public-facing address corresponding to the infrastructure path of the communication device;
• replacing, by the communication device and for a packet that is to be transmitted over the direct mode communication path to a second communication device, a source address field of the packet with the determined public-facing address;
• encapsulating, by the communication device, the packet with source and destination address fields corresponding to the communication device and the second communication device, respectively, through the direct mode communication path;
• and
• transmitting the encapsulated packet to the direct mode communication path.