| CPC H04L 12/4633 (2013.01) [H04L 63/0272 (2013.01); H04L 63/029 (2013.01); H04L 67/143 (2013.01); H04L 2212/00 (2013.01)] | 20 Claims |

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1. A method of sending and receiving Internet Protocol (IP) packets between a first network node and a second network node, comprising: at the first network node:
a. receiving a first IP packet at a local area network (LAN) interface of the first network node;
b. identifying a source address, a destination address, a source port number, and a destination port number of the first IP packet;
c. when the destination address of the first IP packet is reachable through the second network node and the first IP packet is a first of IP packets in a sequence of a session;
i. establishing a corresponding tunnel of the session with the second network node;
ii. encapsulating the first packet into an encapsulating IP packet;
iii. sending the encapsulating IP packet through the corresponding tunnel to the second network node; and
iv. sending a second IP packet to the second network node;
d. when the session ends, removing the corresponding tunnel; wherein the second IP packet is identical to the first IP packet.
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