System and method for traffic accounting and route customization of network services
First Claim
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1. A system for providing customized network routing comprising:
- an accounting and routing coordinator configured to connect to network elements, including routers, from a plurality of Internet network service providers connected to a network, wherein the accounting and routing coordinator is configured to provide Internet transit network services to a plurality of users, where each user has one or more network elements that connect to network elements of the plurality of Internet network service providers (ISP) through the accounting and routing coordinator, and wherein the accounting and routing coordinator to further include a database and a route customization server, wherein the database to store a plurality of user criteria regarding Internet network service in change requests previously provided by each of the users and to store network service information from the plurality of Internet network service providers;
a traffic accounting server configured to provide billing information to the one of the plurality of users based on the network services to be provided by the selected Internet network service provider'"'"'s routers, the billing information being based on one or more media access control (MAC) addresses being used by the one of the plurality of users, wherein the traffic accounting server to further determine an aggregate network usage of each user based on the MAC address and to calculate billing information for each user based on the aggregate network usage, andwherein the route customization server connected directly to the network elements of the plurality of users, is configured to route Internet packets using Border Gateway Protocol, and to automatically select the Internet network service providers to automatically re-route the network services to, including the Internet packets, from at least one of the plurality of users based on at least one of a change request being provided by one of the plurality of Internet network service providers and based on users'"'"' criteria provided by the plurality of change requests previously provided by the plurality of users stored in the database, wherein the accounting and routing coordinator is configured to establish a communication circuit route between each user and ISP that satisfies the users'"'"' criteria given in the change request.
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Abstract
Traffic accounting and route customization of network services is described. According to one embodiment of the invention, a route customization server selects one or more network service providers to provide network services for one of a plurality of network users. The selection is based on a change request being provided by the one of the plurality of users. In another embodiment of the invention, a traffic accounting server provides billing information to the one of the plurality of users based on one or more media access control (MAC) addresses included in the network traffic of the one of the plurality of users.
108 Citations
16 Claims
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1. A system for providing customized network routing comprising:
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an accounting and routing coordinator configured to connect to network elements, including routers, from a plurality of Internet network service providers connected to a network, wherein the accounting and routing coordinator is configured to provide Internet transit network services to a plurality of users, where each user has one or more network elements that connect to network elements of the plurality of Internet network service providers (ISP) through the accounting and routing coordinator, and wherein the accounting and routing coordinator to further include a database and a route customization server, wherein the database to store a plurality of user criteria regarding Internet network service in change requests previously provided by each of the users and to store network service information from the plurality of Internet network service providers; a traffic accounting server configured to provide billing information to the one of the plurality of users based on the network services to be provided by the selected Internet network service provider'"'"'s routers, the billing information being based on one or more media access control (MAC) addresses being used by the one of the plurality of users, wherein the traffic accounting server to further determine an aggregate network usage of each user based on the MAC address and to calculate billing information for each user based on the aggregate network usage, and wherein the route customization server connected directly to the network elements of the plurality of users, is configured to route Internet packets using Border Gateway Protocol, and to automatically select the Internet network service providers to automatically re-route the network services to, including the Internet packets, from at least one of the plurality of users based on at least one of a change request being provided by one of the plurality of Internet network service providers and based on users'"'"' criteria provided by the plurality of change requests previously provided by the plurality of users stored in the database, wherein the accounting and routing coordinator is configured to establish a communication circuit route between each user and ISP that satisfies the users'"'"' criteria given in the change request. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A machine-accessible medium having instructions, which when executed by the machine, to cause a machine to perform a method for customizing a plurality of routes comprising:
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receiving a plurality of electronic change requests from a plurality of users, the change requests having network service criteria including internet network service capability information; storing the plurality of electronic change requests from a plurality of users;
thenstoring media access control addresses of each network element on the network associated with a specific user as well as media access control addresses of one or more of the network elements from the plurality of Internet network service provider; receiving an electronic change request from one of a plurality of Internet network service providers; selecting one or more Internet network service providers from a plurality of Internet network service providers (ISP) to automatically re-route network traffic, including Internet packets, for at least one of the plurality of users, the selecting is based on the received network service criteria information; automatically re-routing the network traffic of the plurality of users, which have user criteria matching the network service criteria associated with the change request of the one of the plurality of network service providers; routing the Internet packets using Border Gateway Protocol; establishing a communication circuit route between each user and ISP that satisfies the network service criteria given in the change request; providing billing information to the plurality of users based on the network services to be provided by the selected Internet network service providers, wherein the billing information being based on one or more media access control (MAC) addresses being used by the network elements associated with that user; and determining an aggregate network usage of each user based on the MAC address and to calculate billing information for each user based on the aggregate network usage. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
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Specification