Combining routers to increase concurrency and redundancy in external network access
First Claim
1. A method for combining routers to provide flexible increased concurrency for external access by a local area computer network, the method comprising the steps of:
- identifying at least two routers for the local area network, each identified router having its own IP address and its own physical address;
receiving a SYN request in the form of a SYN packet;
selecting one of the identified routers by determining that consequent use of the selected router will tend to increase concurrent operation of identified routers by sending subsequent access requests and their corresponding responses through the selected router and thereby helping provide improved external access to the computer network through identified routers; and
responding to the SYN request with a modified SYN packet that specifies the physical address of the selected router, the selected router not necessarily having the IP address specified in the unmodified original SYN request.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods, configured storage media, and systems are provided for increasing bandwidth between a local area network (“LAN”) and other networks by using multiple routers on the given LAN. Data packets are multiplexed between the routers using a novel variation on the standard SYN packet synchronization protocol, and other components. On receiving data destined for an external network, a controller or gateway computer will direct the data to the appropriate router. In addition to providing higher speed connections, the invention provides better fault tolerance in the form of redundant connections from the originating LAN to a wide area network such as the Internet.
158 Citations
23 Claims
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1. A method for combining routers to provide flexible increased concurrency for external access by a local area computer network, the method comprising the steps of:
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identifying at least two routers for the local area network, each identified router having its own IP address and its own physical address;
receiving a SYN request in the form of a SYN packet;
selecting one of the identified routers by determining that consequent use of the selected router will tend to increase concurrent operation of identified routers by sending subsequent access requests and their corresponding responses through the selected router and thereby helping provide improved external access to the computer network through identified routers; and
responding to the SYN request with a modified SYN packet that specifies the physical address of the selected router, the selected router not necessarily having the IP address specified in the unmodified original SYN request. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A controller for combining routers to provide increased concurrency in external access to a computer network, the controller comprising:
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a router identifier for identifying at least two routers for a LAN, each identified router having its own IP address and its own physical address;
a router selector for selecting between identified routers, the router selector making its selection in a manner which increases concurrent operation of identified routers and thereby helps provide improved external access to the computer network through identified routers; and
a SYN modifier which provides modifed SYN requests that contain the IP address of an identified router, each response specifying the physical address of an identified router which was selected by the router selector. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A computer storage medium having a configuration that represents data and instructions which will cause performance of method steps for combining routers to provide increased concurrency for external access by a computer network, the method comprising the steps of:
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identifying at least two routers, each identified router having its own address;
receiving a SYN request containing an IP address;
selecting one of the identified routers; and
modifying the SYN request so that it specifies the physical address of the selected router, the physical address in the modified SYN request identifying a different machine than the machine identified by the IP address in the original request. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23)
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Specification