Systems and methods for broadband network optimization

• US 7,305,464 B2
• Filed: 08/29/2003
• Issued: 12/04/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 09/03/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Todd J. Anderson
• Original Assignee: End II End Communications, Inc.
• Inventors: Anderson, Todd J., Phillipi, Mark P., Ross, Bradley S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Cardone; Jason
• Assistant Examiner(s): Gillis; Brian J
• Application Number:
  US10/651,436
• Publication Number:
  US 20040044761A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,558 Days
• Field of Search: 709/223, 709/226, 709/232
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/083 for increasing network speed
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0829 Packet loss
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/087 Jitter
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0882 Utilisation of link capacity
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0888 Throughput
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/10 Active monitoring, e.g. heartbeat, ping or trace-route
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/50 Testing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/14 Session management for real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/1066
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/63 Routing a service request depending on the request content or context
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

Disclosed are systems and methods for maximizing transmission throughput or capacity in a heterogeneous communications network. The systems and methods may include any one, or combinations, of: a route tracing module for identifying an optimization endpoint or destination; a testing module for sending representative test data to the endpoint/destination and measuring the data throughput/capacity for a given set of transmission variable values; and an optimization module for analyzing the set of transmission variable values and the associated data throughput/capacity, and determining an optimized set of transmission variables/values. Thus, the optimization module changes the transmission variable values of an associated network device operating within the heterogeneous communications network to achieve maximum data throughput/capacity.

Claims

1. A system on a computer for optimizing communications between a first network device and a second network device connected through a plurality of nodes associated with a communications network, comprising:

a route determination module having a route tracing algorithm, wherein the route tracing algorithm is operable to determine a last common node from the first network device traversed by at least two data packets sent from the first network device, wherein the route determination module further comprises at least two route tracing test destinations located within the communications network, wherein the route determination module is operable to send a route tracing test data packet from the first network device to the at least two route tracing test destinations and trace a respective route taken by each respective route tracing test data packet, wherein the last common node is a node furthest from the first network device that is common between each route; and

a throughput testing module for transmitting data traffic between the first network device and the last common node, the throughput testing module having a throughput algorithm operable, based on transmitted data traffic, for determining a set of transmission variable values for the first network device associated with a maximum transmission capacity between the first network device and the last common node, wherein the throughput testing module further comprises at least two sets of test transmission variable values, wherein the throughput testing module is further operable to transmit a throughput testing test data packet to the last common node and measure a corresponding transmission capacity when the first network device is configured with each of the at least two sets of test transmission variable values, wherein the throughput algorithm is further operable to analyze each of the at least two sets of test transmission variable values and the corresponding-transmission capacity and determine the set of transmission variable values associated with the maximum transmission capacity.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein a data packet route from the first network device to the second network device is variable after the last common node.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of a data packet route between the last common node and the second network device comprises a variable combination of at least a portion of the plurality of nodes.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the last common node comprises the second network device.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein at least two of the at least two route tracing test destinations are located in substantially different geographic regions of the communications network.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least two sets of test transmission variable values comprise physical transmission variables.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the physical transmission variables comprise at least one of public communications transmission variables and private communications transmission variables.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein the physical transmission variables comprise at least one of Frame Size and Frame Delay.

9. The system of claim 6, wherein the physical transmission variables are associated with bandwidth or transit time.

10. The system of claim 1, further comprising a logical variable derivation module having a derivation algorithm operable for deriving a set of logical transmission variables values from a set of physical transmission variable values, wherein the at least two sets of test transmission variable values comprise the set of physical transmission variable values and the set of logical transmission variable values.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least two sets of test transmission variable values comprise logical transmission variables.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the logical transmission variables comprise at least one of public communication logical transmission variables and private communication logical transmission variables.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the logical transmission variables comprise at least one of a variable that controls Disabling or enabling a path maximum transmission unit discovery algorithm, Maximum memory size used to reassemble IP fragments, Minimum threshold memory size for fragmentation reassembly, Time in seconds to keep an IP fragment in memory, Buffer space for IP peer address storage, Minimum time-to-live of packets transmitted, Maximum time-to-live of packets transmitted, Number times a packet is retransmitted in a currently established connection before giving up, Number of retries attempted before killing an existing connection, Maximal number of sockets not attached to any user file handle, Window scaling, Creating specific time stamps for IP packets, Use of an alternate algorithm for handling retransmission instead of explicit congestion notification (ECN), Enabling acks to account for all previous un-acknowledged packets, Reception of duplicate sack/acks without triggering retransmission, Explicit Congestion Notification to determine if congestion exists along a path, a Threshold defining the number of packets that can be received out of order before considering them as lost or calling for retransmission, Send buffer memory size, Receive buffer memory size, Number of pages allowed for queuing by all sockets, Reserve memory size of window for application buffer, Memory space between application buffer and window size, an Algorithm that set values to deliver low latency over higher throughput, and Maximum Transmission Unit data frame size.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least two sets of test transmission variable values comprise private communications transmission variables.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least two sets of test transmission variable values comprise public communications transmission variables.

16. The system of claim 1, further comprising a predetermined set of test data usable by the throughput testing module to determine the at least two sets of test transmission variable values, wherein the predetermined set of test data is associated with a type of communications to be optimized.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the predetermined set of test data comprises at least one of private communications-type data and public communications-type data.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the predetermined set of test data comprises at least one of client/server-type data and Internet-type data.

19. The system of claim 1, wherein the throughput testing module is further operable to determine interdependencies between respective transmission variables associated with the at least two sets of test transmission variable values.

20. The system of claim 1, wherein the throughput testing module is operable to simultaneously analyze more than one respective transmission variable associated with the at least two sets of test transmission variable values.

21. The system of claim 1, wherein the last common node is a furthest node in a sequence of nodes extending from the first network device, wherein the sequence of nodes ending at the last common node is shared by each route taken by each respective route tracing data packet.

22. The system of claim 1, wherein the set of transmission variable values comprises one of the at least two sets of test transmission variable values.

23. The system of claim 1, wherein the throughput algorithm is further operable, for each of the at least two sets of test transmission variable values, to transmit the throughput testing test data packet from the first network device to the last common node a predetermined number of times thereby resulting in a plurality of test data transmission capacities for each of the at least two sets of test transmission variable values, wherein the test data transmission capacity corresponding to a respective one of the at least two sets of test transmission variable values is based on the corresponding plurality of test data transmission capacities.

24. A method of optimizing data transmissions from a first network device through a communications network to a second network device comprising:

identifying a last common node along a route to the second network device within the communications network that is furthest from the first network device, wherein identifying further comprises;

sending test data to at least two test sites located within the communications network;

tracing the route taken by the test data to each of the at least two test sites; and

comparing the traced routes to determine the last common node; and

configuring the first network device with a set of transmission variable values associated with a maximum transmission capacity based on transmitted test data traffic between the first network device and the last common node, wherein configuring further comprises;

generating a plurality of sets of test transmission variable values;

configuring the first network device with each of the plurality of sets of test transmission variable values;

transmitting at least one test data packet to the last common node while the first network device is configured with each respective one of the plurality of sets of test transmission variable values; and

measuring a transmission capacity to the last common node of each transmission to determine the set of test transmission variable values associated with the maximum transmission capacity.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the plurality of sets of test transmission variables values comprises at least one of physical transmission variable values and logical transmission variable values.

26. The method of claim 25, further comprising deriving at least a portion of the logical transmission variable values from the physical transmission variable values.

27. The method of claim 25, further comprising determining at least a portion of the logical transmission variable values independently from the physical transmission variable values.

28. The method of claim 24, wherein the plurality of sets of test transmission variable values comprises at least one of public communication transmission variable values and private communication transmission variable values.

29. The method of claim 24, further comprising determining the plurality of sets of test transmission variable values using a multivariable algorithm.

30. The method of claim 24, wherein the at least two test sites are located in substantially different geographic regions of the communications network.

31. The method of claim 24, wherein transmitting further comprises:

transmitting at least one predetermined set of test data to the last common node while the first network device is configured with each of the plurality of sets of transmission variable values.

32. The method of claim 24, wherein the last common node comprises the second network device.

33. The method of claim 24, wherein identifying the last common node further comprises identifying a furthest node in a sequence of nodes extending from the first network device, wherein the sequence of nodes ending at the last common node is shared by each route taken by the respective test data.

34. A system on a computer for optimizing communications between a first network device and a second network device, comprising:

a first testing module operable to transmit a first set of test data traffic from a selected one of the first network device and the second network device, the first testing module having a first throughput algorithm operable to determine a first set of transmission variable values for the selected one of the first network device and the second network device, where the first set of transmission variable values are associated with a first maximum transmission capacity based on the transmitted first set of test data traffic from the selected one of the first network device and the second network device to a first respective last common node from among a first plurality of routes, through a network, traversed by a first set of at least two test data packets sent from the selected one of the first network device and the second network device;

wherein the first testing module further comprises a first route determination module comprising a first set of at least two route tracing test destinations located within the network, wherein the first route determination module is operable to send route tracing test data packets from the selected one of the first network device and the second network device to the first set of at least two route tracing test destinations and trace a first set of respective routes taken by the respective route tracing test data packets, wherein the first respective last common node is a node furthest from the selected one of the first network device and the second network device that is common between each of the first set of routes; and

wherein the first testing module further comprises at least two first sets of test transmission variable values, wherein the first set of test data traffic comprises a respective first throughput testing data packet corresponding to each of the at least two first sets of test transmission variable values, wherein the first testing module is further operable to transmit each respective first throughput testing test data packet to the first respective last common node and measure a corresponding transmission capacity when the selected one of the first network device and the second network device is configured with each of the at least two first sets of test transmission variable values, wherein the first throughput algorithm is further operable to analyze each of the at least two first sets of test transmission variable values and the corresponding transmission capacity and determine the first set of transmission variable values associated with the first maximum transmission capacity.

35. The system of claim 34, further comprising a second testing module operable to transmit a second set of test data traffic from the non-selected one of the first network device and the second network device, the second testing module having a second throughput algorithm operable to determine a second set of transmission variable values for the non-selected one of the first network device and the second network device, where the second set of transmission variable values are associated with a second maximum transmission capacity based on the transmitted second set of test data traffic from the non-selected one of the first network device and the second network device and a second respective last common node from among a second plurality of routes, through the network, traversed by a second set of at least two test data packets sent from the non-selected one of the first network device and the second network device;

wherein the second testing module further comprises a second route determination module comprising-a second set of at least two route tracing test destinations located within the network, wherein the second route determination module is operable to send route tracing test data packets from the selected one of the first network device and the second network device to the second set of at least two route tracing test destinations and trace a second set of respective routes taken by the respective route tracing test data packets, wherein the second respective last common node is a node furthest from the selected one of the first network device and the second network device that is common between each of the second set of routes; and

wherein the second testing module further comprises at least two second sets of test transmission variable values, wherein the second set of test data traffic comprises a respective second throughput data packet corresponding to each of the at least two second sets of test transmission variable values, wherein the second testing module is further operable to transmit each respective second throughput testing test data packet to the second respective last common node and measure a corresponding transmission capacity when the selected one of the first network device and the second network device is configured with each of the at least two second sets of test transmission variable values, wherein the second throughput algorithm is further operable to analyze each of the at least two second sets of test transmission variable values and the corresponding transmission capacity and determine the second set of transmission variable values associated with the second maximum transmission capacity.

36. The system of claim 35, wherein each of the at least two first sets of test transmission variable values and the at least two second sets of test transmission variable values comprises at least one of physical transmission variable values and logical transmission variable values, and wherein a first one of the logical transmission variable values is derived from one of the physical transmission variable values, and wherein a second one of the logical transmission variable values is independently determined.

37. The system of claim 35, wherein each of the first set of data traffic and the second set of data traffic comprises private communications-type data traffic.

38. The system of claim 35, wherein each of the first set of data traffic and the second set of data traffic comprises client/server-type data traffic.

39. The system of claim 35, wherein each of the at least two first sets of test transmission variable values and the at least two second sets of test transmission variable values comprises at least one of physical transmission variable values and logical transmission variable values.

40. A method of optimizing data transmissions between a first network device and a second network device, comprising:

sending, for a selected on of the first network device and the second network device, first test data to a first set of at least two test sites located within a communications network;

tracing a route taken by the first test data to each of the first set of at least two test sites;

comparing the traced routes taken by the first test data to determine a first respective last common node;

identifying a first optimized set of transmission variable values, for the selected one of the first network device and the second network device, associated with a first maximum transmission capacity based on a first set of transmitted data traffic from the selected one of the first network device and the second network device to the first respective last common node, wherein identifying the first optimized set of transmission variable values further comprises;

generating a plurality of sets of first test transmission variable values;

configuring the selected one of the first network device and the second network device with each of the plurality of sets of first test transmission variable values;

transmitting at least of first test data packet to the first respective last common node while the selected one of the first network device and the second network device is configured with each respective one of the plurality of sets of first test transmission variable values; and

measuring a throughput to the first respective last common node of each transmission to determine the respective set of first test transmission variable values associated with the first maximum transmission capacity; and

configuring the selected one of the first network device and the second network device with the first optimized set of transmission variable values.

41. The method of claim 40, further comprising:

sending, for the non-selected one of the first network device and the second network device, second test data to a second set of at least two test sites located within the communications network;

tracing the route taken by the second test data to each of the second set of at least two test sites;

comparing the traced routes taken by the second test data to determine a second respective last common node;

identifying a second optimized set of transmission variable values, for the non-selected one of the first network device and the second network device, associated with a second maximum transmission capacity based on a second set of transmitted data traffic from the non-selected one of the first network device and the second network device to the second respective last common node, wherein identifying the second optimized set of transmission variable values further comprises;

generating a plurality of sets of second test transmission variable values;

configuring the non-selected one of the first network device and the second network device with each of the plurality of sets of second test transmission variable values;

transmitting at least one second test data packet to the second respective last common node while the non-selected one of the first network device and the second network device is configured with each respective one of the plurality of sets of second test transmission variable values; and

measuring a throughput to the second respective last common node of each transmission to determine the respective set of second test transmission variable values associated with the second maximum transmission capacity; and

configuring the non-selected one of the first network device and the second network device with the second optimized set of transmission variable values.

42. The method of claim 41, for at least one of the first network device and the second network device, further comprising:

generating a plurality of sets of physical transmission variable values;

measuring a throughput associated with each of the plurality of sets of physical transmission variable values; and

selecting the set of physical transmission variable values associated with a maximum throughput for inclusion in a corresponding one of the first optimized set of transmission variable values and the second optimized set of transmission variable values.

43. The method of claim 42, for at least one of the first network device and the second network device, further comprising:

deriving at least a portion of a set of logical transmission variable values from the selected set of physical transmission variable values;

generating a plurality of sets of logical transmission variable values, wherein the plurality of sets of logical transmission variable values includes the set of logical transmission variable values comprising the derived portion;

measuring a throughput associated with each of the plurality of sets of logical transmission variable values; and

selecting the set of logical transmission variable values associated with a maximum throughput for inclusion in a corresponding one of the first optimized set of transmission variable values and the second optimized set of transmission variable values.

44. A system on a computer for maximizing transmission capacity between a first network device and a second network device connected through a plurality of nodes of a communications network, comprising:

an identification module having an optimization endpoint associated with the communications network, wherein the optimization endpoint is located between the first network device and the second network device, wherein the optimization endpoint corresponds to a last common node along transmission routes into the communications network traversed by at least two data packets sent from the first network device, wherein the identification module further comprises at least two route tracing test destinations located within the communications network, wherein the identification module is operable to send a route tracing test data packet from the first network device to the at least two route. tracing test destinations and trace a respective route taken by each respective route tracing test data packet;

wherein the last common node is the furthest node from the first network device that is common between each route;

a testing module having a data testing application operable to send representative test data from the first network device to the optimization endpoint and to measure a test data transmission capacity for each configuration of a plurality of sets of test transmission variable values on the first network device; and

an optimization module having an optimization algorithm operable to analyze each of the plurality of sets of test transmission variable values and each corresponding test data transmission capacity and to determine an optimized set of transmission variable values for the first network device corresponding to the one of the plurality of sets of test transmission variable values having a maximum one of the respective test data transmission capacities.

45. The system of claim 44, wherein the optimization endpoint comprises the last common node.

46. The system of claim 44, wherein the optimized set of transmission variable values are associated with transmission variables optimized for a public communications type of data, and wherein the optimized set of transmission variable values are further optimized for a variable type comprising at least one of a physical transmission variable and a logical transmission variable.

47. The system of claim 46, wherein the optimization algorithm is further operable to iteratively adjust at least two values of the respective one of the plurality of sets of test transmission variable values to determine an optimized set of physical transmission variable values, and wherein the optimization algorithm is further operable to derive at least a portion of an optimized set of logical transmission variable values from the optimized set of physical transmission variable values.

48. The system of clam 44, wherein a connection between the first network device and the second network device comprises a point-to-point virtual private network.

49. The system of claim 48, wherein the optimized set of transmission variable values are associated with transmission variables optimized for a private communications type of data, and wherein the optimized set of transmission variable values are further optimized for a variable type comprising at least one of a physical transmission variable and a logical transmission variable.

50. The system of claim 49, wherein the optimization algorithm is further operable to iteratively adjust at least two values of the respective one of the plurality of sets of test transmission variable values to determine an optimized set of physical transmission variable values, and wherein the optimization algorithm is further operable to derive at least a portion of an optimized set of logical transmission variable values from the optimized set of physical transmission variable values.

51. A method of maximizing transmission capacity between a first network device and a second network device connected through a plurality of nodes of a communications network, comprising:

identifying an optimization endpoint associated with the communications network, wherein the optimization endpoint is located between the first network device and the second network device, wherein the optimization endpoint corresponds to a last common node along transmission routes into the communications network traversed by at least two data packets sent from the first network device, wherein identifying further comprises;

sending a route tracing test data packet from the first network device to at least two route tracing test destinations within the communications network; and

tracing a respective route taken by each respective route tracing test data packet, wherein the last common node is a node furthest from the first network device that is common between each route;

sending representative test data from the first network device to the optimization endpoint and measuring a test data transmission capacity for each configuration of a plurality of sets of test transmission variable values on the first network device; and

analyzing each of the plurality of sets of test transmission variable values and each corresponding test data transmission capacity and determining an optimized set of transmission variable values for the first network device corresponding to the one of the plurality of sets of test transmission variable values having a maximum one of the respective test data transmission capacities.

52. The method of claim 51, wherein the optimization endpoint comprises the last common node.

53. The method of claim 52, wherein determining the optimized set of transmission variable values further comprises optimizing transmission variables associated with a public communications type of data, and further optimizing for a variable type comprising at least one of a physical transmission variable and a logical transmission variable.

54. The method of claim 53, wherein determining the optimized set of transmission variable values further comprises iteratively adjusting at least two values of respective one of the plurality of sets of test transmission variable values to determine an optimized set of physical transmission variable values, and deriving at least a portion of an optimized set of logical transmission variable values from the optimized set of physical transmission variable values.

55. The method of claim 51, further comprising connecting the first network device and the second network device in a point-to-point virtual private network.

56. The method of claim 55, wherein determining the optimized set of transmission variable values further comprises optimizing for a private communications type of data, and further optimizing for a variable type comprising at least one of a physical transmission variable and a logical transmission variable.

57. The method of claim 56, wherein determining the optimized set of transmission variable values further comprises iteratively adjusting at least two values of the respective one of the plurality of sets of test transmission variable values to determine an optimized set of physical transmission variable values, and deriving at least a portion of an optimized set of logical transmission variable values from the optimized set of physical transmission variable values.

58. The method of claim 51, wherein sending representative test data further comprises, for each of the plurality of sets of test transmission variable values, transmitting the representative test data a predetermined number of times thereby resulting in a plurality of test data transmission capacities for each of the plurality of sets of test transmission variable values, wherein the test data transmission capacity corresponding to a respective one of the plurality of sets of test transmission variable values is based on the corresponding plurality of test data transmission capacities.

59. An apparatus in a computer for maximizing transmission capacity between a first network device and a second network device connected through a plurality of nodes of a communications network, comprising:

means for identifying an optimization endpoint associated with the communications network, wherein the optimization endpoint is located between the first network device and the second network device, wherein the optimization endpoint corresponds to a last common node along transmission routes into the communications network traversed by at least two data packets sent from the first network device, wherein the means for identifying further comprises;

means for sending a route tracing test data packet from the first network device to at least two route tracing test destinations within the communications network; and

means for tracing a respective route taken by each respective route tracing test data packet, wherein the last common node is the furthest node from the first network device that is common between each route;

means for sending representative test data from the first network device to the optimization endpoint and measuring a test data transmission capacity for each configuration of a plurality of sets of test transmission variable values on the first network device; and

means for analyzing each of the plurality of sets of test transmission variable values and each corresponding test data transmission capacity and means for determining an optimized set of transmission variable values for the first network device corresponding to the one of the plurality of sets of test transmission variable values having a maximum one of the respective test data transmission capacities.

60. A memory comprising instructions stored thereon, comprising:

a first set of instructions for identifying an optimization endpoint associated with a communications network, wherein the optimization endpoint is located between a first network device and the a second network device, wherein the optimization endpoint corresponds to a last common node along transmission routes into the communications network traversed by at least two data packets sent from the first network device, wherein identifying further comprises;

sending a route tracing test data packet from the first network device to at least two route tracing test destinations within the communications network; and

tracing a respective route taken by each respective route tracing test data packet, wherein the last common node is a node furthest from the first network device that is common between each route;

a second set of instructions for sending representative test data from the first network device to the optimization endpoint and measuring a test data transmission capacity for each configuration of a plurality of sets of test transmission variable values on the first network device; and

a third set of instructions for analyzing each of the plurality of sets of test transmission variable values and each corresponding test data transmission capacity and determining an optimized set of transmission variable values for the first network device corresponding to the one of the plurality of sets of test transmission variable values having a maximum one of the respective test data transmission capacities.

61. An apparatus in a computer for optimizing network communications, comprising:

a route discovery module operable to identify a last common node shared by at least two routes respectively traversed by at least two route tracing test data packets sent from a first network device into a communication network having a plurality of nodes, wherein at least two of the at least two route tracing test data packets are respectively sent to different ones of at least two route tracing test destinations within the communication network, wherein each of the at least two routes respectively comprises a sequence of some of the plurality of nodes, wherein the last common node comprises a last persistent hop furthest from the first network device shared by the at least two routes; and

a throughput optimization module operable to configure the first network device with an optimized set of transmission variable values based on a plurality of sets of test transmission variable values, wherein each of the plurality of sets of test transmission variable values corresponds to one of a plurality of test throughput values of respective throughput testing test data packets sent from the first network device to an optimization endpoint when the first network device is configured with the respective set of test transmission variable values, wherein the optimization endpoint is based on the last common node, wherein the optimized set of transmission variable values is based on a highest one of the plurality of test throughput values.

62. A method for optimizing network communications, comprising:

identifying a last common node shared by at least two routes respectively traversed by at least two route tracing test data packets sent from a first network device into a communication network having a plurality of nodes, wherein at least two of the at least two route tracing test data packets are respectively sent to different ones of at least two route tracing test destinations within the communication network, wherein each of the at least two routes respectively comprises a sequence of some of the plurality of nodes, wherein the last common node comprises a last persistent hop furthest from the first network device shared by the at least two routes; and

configuring the first network device with an optimized set of transmission variable values based on a plurality of sets of test transmission variable values, wherein each of the plurality of sets of test transmission variable values corresponds to one of a plurality of test throughput values of respective throughput testing test data packets sent from the first network device to an optimization endpoint when the first network device is configured with the respective set of test transmission variable values, wherein the optimization endpoint is based on the last common node, wherein the optimized set of transmission variable values is based on a highest one of the plurality of test throughput values.

63. A memory comprising instructions stored thereon, comprising:

a first set of instructions for identifying a last common node shared by at least two routes respectively traversed by at least two route tracing test data packets sent from a first network device into a communication network having a plurality of nodes, wherein at least two of the at least two route tracing test data packets are respectively sent to different ones of at least two route tracing test destinations within the communication network, wherein each of the at least two routes respectively comprises a sequence of some of the plurality of nodes wherein the last common node comprises a last persistent hop furthest from the first network device shared by the at least two routes; and

a second set of instructions for configuring the first network device with an optimized set of transmission variable values based on a plurality of sets of test transmission variable values, wherein each of the plurality of sets of test transmission variable values corresponds to one of a plurality of test throughput values of respective throughput testing test data packets sent from the first network device to an optimization endpoint when the first network device is configured with the respective set of test transmission variable values, wherein the optimization endpoint is based on the last common node, wherein the optimized set of transmission variable values is based on a highest one of the plurality of test throughput values.

64. An apparatus in a computer for optimizing network communications, comprising:

means for identifying a last common node shared by at least two routes respectively traversed by at least two route tracing test data packets sent from a first network device into a communication network having a plurality of nodes, wherein at least two of the at least two route tracing test data packets are respectively sent to different ones of at least two route tracing test destinations within the communication network, wherein each of the at least two routes respectively comprises a sequence of some of the plurality of nodes, wherein the last common node comprises a last persistent hop furthest from the first network device shared by the at least two routes; and

means for configuring the first network device with an optimized set of transmission variable values based on a plurality of sets of test transmission variable values, wherein each of the plurality of sets of test transmission variable values corresponds to one of a plurality of test throughput values of respective throughput testing test data packets sent from the first network device to an optimization endpoint when the first network device is configured with the respective set of test transmission variable values, wherein the optimization endpoint is based on the last common node, wherein the optimized set of transmission variable values is based on a highest one of the plurality of test throughput values.