Method of routing packet

• US 20050267985A1
• Filed: 05/12/2004
• Published: 12/01/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 05/12/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Ji, Minwen, Porter, George M.
• Granted Patent: US 7,697,438 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/238
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/00 Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks routing or path finding in wireless networks H04W40/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/121 by minimising delays
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/38 Flow based routing

Abstract

An embodiment of a method of routing a packet between nodes of a network begins with a step of determining that a route of an external network from a source node to a network node provides an expected near minimum transmission time for transmission of the packet from the source node to a destination node. The method continues with a step of determining that a packet queue for a network link at a source node exceeds a threshold. The method concludes with a step of routing the packet to the destination node via the external network and the network node.

Claims

1. A method of routing a packet between nodes of a network comprising the steps of:

determining that a route of an external network from a source node to a network node provides an expected near minimum transmission time for transmission of the packet from the source node to a destination node;

determining that a packet queue for a network link at a source node exceeds a threshold; and

routing the packet to the destination node via the external network and the network node.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the route of the external network comprises a local tunnel.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the step of routing the packet to the destination node comprises routing the packet via the local tunnel and a base route from the network node to the destination node.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the network and the external network comprise a hybrid network.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the packet comprises a particular packet of a stream of packets.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the step of routing the packet to the destination node via the external network and the network node further comprises routing one or more other packets of the stream of packets via the external network and the network node.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the network comprises a limited access network.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the limited access network comprises an intranet.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein the limited access network comprises a private network.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the expected near minimum transmission time comprises an expectation based upon a delay at the source node.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the expected near minimum transmission time comprises an expectation based upon a loss of the packet at the source node.

12. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of rejecting candidate nodes for the network node that have an expected transmission time along the network which equals or exceeds the expected transmission time along the network from the source node.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of determining that the route on the external network to the network node provides the expected near minimum transmission time determines that the network node comprises the destination node.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of determining that the route on the external network to the network node provides the near minimum transmission time comprises occasionally measuring transmission times from the source node to candidate nodes and picking a particular candidate node that provides the near minimum transmission time.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of routing the packet further comprises routing additional packets to the destination node via the external network and the network node.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of routing the packet to the destination node via the external network and the network node comprises avoiding congestion on the network link.

17. The method of claim 16 further comprising the step of determining that communication traffic along a downstream network link exceeds a bandwidth threshold.

18. The method of claim 17 further comprising the step of avoiding the downstream network link.

19. The method of claim 16 wherein the step of routing the packet to the destination node via the external network and the network node further comprises making use of available bandwidth for the network beyond the congestion.

20. The method of claim 1 wherein the network comprises gateway nodes that couple the network to the external network.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein the gateway nodes include the source node and the network node.

22. The method of claim 20 wherein the external network comprises an Internet.

23. The method of claim 22 wherein the step of routing the packet to the destination node via the external network and the network node uses a secure tunnel from the source node to the network node.

24. The method of claim 23 wherein the secure tunnel utilizes encryption.

25. The method of claim 23 wherein the secure tunnel utilizes authentication.

26. The method of claim 1 wherein the packet comprises at least a portion of a non-critical communication.

27. A method of routing a packet between nodes of a network comprising the steps of:

determining that a downstream network link not connected to a source node exceeds a bandwidth threshold;

determining that a route of an external network from the source node to a network node provides an expected near minimum transmission time for transmission of the packet from the source node to a destination node and avoids the downstream network link;

determining that a packet queue for a network link at a source node exceeds a threshold; and

routing the packet to the destination node via the external network and the network node.

28. A computer readable memory comprising computer code for implementing a method of routing a packet between nodes of a network, the method of routing the packet comprising the steps of:

determining that a route of an external network from a source node to a network node provides an expected near minimum transmission time for transmission of the packet from the source node to a destination node;

determining that a packet queue for a network link at a source node exceeds a threshold; and

routing the packet to the destination node via the external network and the network node.

29. A computer readable memory comprising computer code for implementing a method of routing a packet between nodes of a network, the method of routing the packet comprising the steps of:

determining that a downstream network link not connected to a source node exceeds a bandwidth threshold;

determining that a route of an external network from the source node to a network node provides an expected near minimum transmission time for transmission of the packet from the source node to a destination node and avoids the downstream network link;

determining that a packet queue for a network link at a source node exceeds a threshold; and

routing the packet to the destination node via the external network and the network node.