Content-based routing

• US 20050198351A1
• Filed: 02/20/2004
• Published: 09/08/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 02/20/2004
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Levin, David, Nog, Saurab, Lee, Alfred IV
• Application Number:
  US10/784,146
• Publication Number:
  US 20050198351A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/232
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/306 Route determination based on the nature of the carried application
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/64 using an overlay routing layer
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/63 Routing a service request depending on the request content or context

Abstract

Implementations are described and claimed herein for content-based routing of messages in an overlay network. According to an exemplary implementation, routing nodes receive messages and return routing policies to the sending node based at least in part on content of the message. The routing policies include instructions for redirecting similar messages to other nodes in the overlay network. The sending node determines which policies to apply to the message. The sending node may then iterate through the routing policies, modifying the address in the message according to instructions included in the routing policies so that the message is sent, e.g., directly to the intended destination. Accordingly, the sending node is able to bypass one or more intermediary nodes to reduce latency in the overlay network.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving a message at a routing node in an overlay network; and

generating a routing policy for another node based at least in part on content of the message.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising modifying the address of the message, and generating the routing policy based the modified address.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising passing the message to the application level at the routing node to process the message.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the routing policy is at an application level in the routing node.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising returning the routing policy to a sending node.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising forwarding the message to another node in the overlay network.

7. A method comprising:

identifying at least one routing policy for a message based on content of the message; and

changing an address in the message to bypass at least one node in an overlay network based on the at least one routing policy.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising issuing the message directly to a destination node in the overlay network.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising iteratively applying a plurality of routing policies to the message, each of the plurality of routing policies modifying the address in the message.

10. The method of claim 7, further comprising receiving the at least one routing policy at a sending node in the overlay network.

11. The method of claim 7, further comprising receiving a plurality of routing policies at a sending node from a plurality of routing nodes in the overlay network.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein identifying at least one routing policy is based at least in part on the address of the message.

13. The method of claim 7, further comprising applying a transport policy to the message after changing the address in the message.

14. The method of claim 7, further comprising applying a transport policy to the message only after applying each identified routing policy to the message.

15. A system comprising:

a routing node receiving a message in an overlay network; and

a message processor at the routing node, the message processor generating a routing policy for another node of the message based at least in part on content of the message.

16. The system of claim 15, further comprising a routing table operatively associated with the routing node, the message processor generating the routing policy based on entries in the routing table.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the routing node includes a messaging level and an application level, the routing node generating the routing policy at the application level.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the routing node includes a messaging level and an application level, the routing node returning the routing policy to a sending node at the messaging level.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein the routing node includes a messaging level and an application level, the routing node forwarding the message to another node in the overlay network at the messaging level.

20. A system comprising:

at least one routing policy for a message; and

a messaging module changing an address in the message at the sending node to bypass at least one node in an overlay network based on the at least one routing policy.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the messaging module changes the address for the message so that the message is issued directly to a destination node in the overlay network.

22. The system of claim 20, further comprising a policy manager to identify the at least one routing policy to the messaging module based at least in part on content of the message.

23. The system of claim 20, wherein the at least one routing policy is generated by at least one routing node in the overlay network.

24. The system of claim 20, further comprising a transport policy identifying a transport protocol for the message based on the address in the message.

25. A computer program product encoding a computer program for executing on a computer system a computer process, the computer process comprising:

receiving a message at a routing node in an overlay network; and

generating a routing policy for another node of the message based at least in part on content of the message.

26. The computer program product of claim 25 wherein the computer process further comprises identifying an address to route the message, and generating the routing policy based the address.

27. The computer program product of claim 25 wherein the computer process further comprises passing the message to the application level at the routing node to process the message.

28. The computer program product of claim 25 wherein the computer process further comprises generating the routing policy at an application level in the routing node.

29. The computer program product of claim 25 wherein the computer process further comprises returning the routing policy to a sending node.

30. The computer program product of claim 25 wherein the computer process further comprises forwarding the message to another node in the overlay network.

31. A computer program product encoding a computer program for executing on a computer system a computer process, the computer process comprising:

identifying at least one routing policy for a message based on content of the message; and

changing an address in the message to bypass at least one node in an overlay network based on the at least one routing policy.

32. The computer program product of claim 31 wherein the computer process further comprises issuing the message in the overlay network directly to a destination node.

33. The computer program product of claim 31 wherein the computer process further comprises iteratively applying a plurality of routing policies to the message, each of the plurality of routing policies changing the address in the message.

34. The computer program product of claim 31 wherein the computer process further comprises receiving the at least one routing policy at a sending node in the overlay network.

35. The computer program product of claim 31 wherein the computer process further comprises receiving a plurality of routing policies at a sending node from a plurality of routing nodes in the overlay network.

36. The computer program product of claim 31 wherein the computer process further comprises identifying at least one routing policy based at least in part on the address in the message.

37. The computer program product of claim 31 wherein the computer process further comprises applying a transport policy to the message after changing the address in the message.

38. The computer program product of claim 31 wherein the computer process further comprises applying a transport policy to the message only after applying each identified routing policy to the message.