Method and protocol for managing broadband IP services in a layer two broadcast network
First Claim
1. A system for managing broadband IP services in a layer two broadcast network comprising:
- at least one intermediate system receiving traffic from outside and forwarding the traffic to at least one end system and also forwarding the response traffic from the at least one end system to the outside, wherein the at least one intermediate system forwards a service request packet to an available one of the at least one end system that the intermediate system learned about from service advertisements by the at least one end system;
the one of the at least one end system advertising and providing service information on the layer two network, wherein if the one of the at least one end system determines to instruct another one of the at least one intermediate system to forward certain traffic from a certain source to another one of the at least one end system, the one of the at least one end system can advertise flow information to the another one of the at least one intermediate system, and wherein the service information is advertised by each of the at least one end system on the layer two network, the at least one intermediate system always forwards the packet based on the flow that is advertised by the one of the at least one end system, and each of the at least one end system can be added on the fly to share the load and gracefully shut down on the fly without interrupting other systems on the network and affecting service of the other systems; and
at least one control system handling the registration from all the systems on this layer two network, responding to a request of any new system that looks for a server list for a particular service on this network, running as an Assigned Numbers Authority server for this layer two network, and running as a management agent that manages all the systems registered to the at least one control system.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and system for managing broadband IP servers in a layer two broadcast network includes an intermediate system, an end system, and a control system. The service information is advertised by each end system (server) on the layer two network. The same service is provided by multiple end systems. The intermediate system forwards a service request packet to one of the available end systems, and the intermediate system learns the service advertisements from the end system. If the available end system decides to instruct an intermediate system to forward certain traffic from a certain source to the end system, the end system can advertise the flow information to intermediate systems. This flow could be an established TCP connection or any packets that are specified by pattern matching rules. The intermediate system always forwards the packet based on the flow that is advertised by the end system.
49 Citations
15 Claims
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1. A system for managing broadband IP services in a layer two broadcast network comprising:
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at least one intermediate system receiving traffic from outside and forwarding the traffic to at least one end system and also forwarding the response traffic from the at least one end system to the outside, wherein the at least one intermediate system forwards a service request packet to an available one of the at least one end system that the intermediate system learned about from service advertisements by the at least one end system; the one of the at least one end system advertising and providing service information on the layer two network, wherein if the one of the at least one end system determines to instruct another one of the at least one intermediate system to forward certain traffic from a certain source to another one of the at least one end system, the one of the at least one end system can advertise flow information to the another one of the at least one intermediate system, and wherein the service information is advertised by each of the at least one end system on the layer two network, the at least one intermediate system always forwards the packet based on the flow that is advertised by the one of the at least one end system, and each of the at least one end system can be added on the fly to share the load and gracefully shut down on the fly without interrupting other systems on the network and affecting service of the other systems; and at least one control system handling the registration from all the systems on this layer two network, responding to a request of any new system that looks for a server list for a particular service on this network, running as an Assigned Numbers Authority server for this layer two network, and running as a management agent that manages all the systems registered to the at least one control system. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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2. A system for managing broadband IP services in a layer two broadcast network comprising:
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at least one intermediate system listening to service information advertised by at least one end system and relayed by at least one control system, storing the at least one end system and the at least one control system into a server table of the at least one intermediate system, storing the advertisement in a flow table in addition to the server table, forwarding new requested traffic to one of the at least one end system looked up from this server table, forwarding a packet based on the flow that is advertised by the at least one end system, and receiving traffic from outside and forwarding the traffic to at least one end system and also forwarding the response traffic from the at least one end system to the outside, wherein the at least one intermediate system forwards a service request packet to an available one of the at least one end system that the intermediate system learned about from service advertisements by the at least one end system, and if the at least one end system determines to instruct the at least one intermediate system to forward certain traffic from a certain source to the at least one end system, the at least one system can advertise the flow information to the at least one intermediate system; the one of the at least one end system advertising and providing service information, which contains operations of registration of services by the at least one end system, service congestion status and a server list for a particular service, on the layer two network, wherein if the one of the at least one end system determines to instruct another one of the at least one intermediate system to forward certain traffic from the certain source to another one of the at least one end system, the one of the at least one end system can advertise flow information to the another one of the at least one intermediate system, and wherein the service information is advertised by each of the at least one end system on the layer two network, the at least one intermediate system always forwards the packet based on the flow that is advertised by the one of the at least one end system, and each of the at least one end system can be added on the fly to share the load and gracefully shut down on the fly without interrupting other systems on the network and affecting service of the other systems; and the at least one control system handling the registration from all the systems on this layer two network, responding to a request of any new system that looks for the server list for a particular service on this network, running as an Assigned Numbers Authority server for this layer two network, and running as a management agent that manages all the systems registered to the at least one control system.
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13. A method for managing broadband IP services in a layer two broadcast network including at least one end system, at least one intermediate system, and at least one control system, comprising the steps of:
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advertising service information by the at least one end system; relaying the service information by the at least one control system; listening to the service information by the at least one intermediate system; storing the at least one end system and the at least one control system into a server table of the at least one intermediate system by the at least one intermediate system; storing the advertisement in a flow table in addition to the server table by the at least one intermediate system; forwarding the newly requested traffic to one of the at least one end system looked up from this server table by the at least one intermediate system; forwarding a packet based on a flow that is advertised by the at least one end system to the at least one intermediate system; and receiving traffic from outside and forwarding the traffic received from outside to the at least one end system and also forwarding response traffic from the at least one end system to the outside by the at least one intermediate system. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15)
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Specification