Routing in a communications network using contextual information

• US 9,059,892 B2
• Filed: 04/29/2013
• Issued: 06/16/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/19/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Radius Networks, inc.
• Original Assignee: Radius Networks, inc.
• Inventors: Martin, David P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Najjar, Saleh
• Assistant Examiner(s): Shepperd, Eric W
• Application Number:
  US13/872,432
• Publication Number:
  US 20130238814A1
• Time in Patent Office: 778 Days
• Field of Search: 709/207, 709217-218, 709227-228, 709230-231, 709/236, 709/238, 709/240, 709245-246, 709/250, 340/2.1, 340/2.23, 370465-467, 379219-22101, 708/204
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/54 Interprogram communication
• 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 45/02 Topology update or discovery
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/302 Route determination based on requested QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/306 Route determination based on the nature of the carried application
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/3065 for real time traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/106 across networks, e.g. mapping telephone numbers to data network addresses
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/565 Conversion or adaptation of application format or content adding application control or application functional data H04L67/561
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/61 taking into account QoS or priority requirements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/63 Routing a service request depending on the request content or context

Abstract

A generic address resolution system facilitates communications among multiple network applications with heterogeneous addressing mechanisms, thereby allowing the network applications to interoperate with each other and/or with modules for providing enhanced functionalities. The address resolution system includes a resource mapping module that modularizes the components needed for address resolution and abstracts content from the underlying address types and content used by the network applications. The address resolution system includes a context engine that analyzes the addressing data to be resolved, selects one or more appropriate destination network applications based on contextual rules, and creates the application mapping template for the end-end routing of the communications among the network applications.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for routing a source network application in a communications network, the method comprising:

receiving a transmission from the source network application, the transmission comprising content and metadata, the metadata including a destination address for the transmission;

retrieving a set of contextual rules from a resource repository, the set of contextual rules describing modularized components extracted from received network applications;

identifying one or more candidate destination network applications based on at least one of the metadata of the transmission and the set of contextual rules, each identified candidate destination network application having an initial priority weight, a larger priority weight indicating a higher likelihood of being selected as the destination network application for routing the source network application;

dynamically adjusting the initial priority weights associated with the candidate destination network applications based on at least one of the metadata of the transmission and the set of contextual rules;

selecting at least one destination network application from the candidate destination network applications based at least in part on the adjusted priority weights and a determination of whether the transmission requires a transformation;

creating an application mapping template based on at least one selected destination network application with the largest adjusted priority weight, wherein the application mapping template contains instructions to route the source network application to the selected destination network application;

transforming the transmission from the source network application according to the instructions contained in the application mapping template; and

routing the transformed transmission to the at least one selected destination network application.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more candidate destination network applications are identified based on the destination address of the transmission, and each candidate destination network application has a destination address that is compatible with the destination address of the transmission.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein a priority weight of a candidate destination network application indicates a degree of compatibility between the destination address of the candidate destination network application and the destination address of the transmission.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the priority weight of a candidate destination network application is generated using contextual information about the communications network.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein generating the initial priority weights of the candidate destination network applications comprises assigning a weight to each of the candidate destination network applications according to a predetermined ranking criterion.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein dynamically adjusting the initial priority weight associated with a candidate destination network application comprises setting the initial priority weight to a weight smaller than the initial priority weight based at least in part on the set of contextual rules applied to context information of the communications network.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein dynamically adjusting the initial priority weight associated with a candidate destination network application further comprises setting the initial priority weight to a weight larger than the initial priority weight based at least in part on the set of contextual rules applied to context information of the communications network.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein transforming the transmission from the source network application comprises:

transforming the source network application into a first destination network application; and

transforming the first destination network application into a second destination network application, the first destination network application and the second destination network application being selected based on the instructions contained in the application mapping template.

9. A computer system for routing a source network application in a communications network, the system comprising:

a computer processor configured to execute modules, the modules comprising;

a resource mapping module configured to receive a transmission from the source network application, the transmission comprising content and metadata, the metadata including a destination address for the transmission;

a context engine configured to;

retrieve a set of contextual rules from a resource repository, the set of contextual rules describing modularized components extracted from received network applications;

identify one or more candidate destination network applications based on at least one of the metadata of the transmission and the set of contextual rules, each identified candidate destination network application having an initial priority weight, a larger priority weight indicating a higher likelihood of being selected as the destination network application for routing the source network application;

a content destination selection module configured to;

dynamically adjust the initial priority weights associated with the candidate destination network applications based on at least one of the metadata of the transmission and the set of contextual rules;

select at least one destination network application from the candidate destination network applications based at least in part on the adjusted priority weights and a determination of whether the transmission requires a transformation; and

an application switching engine configured to;

create an application mapping template based on at least one selected destination network application with the largest adjusted priority weight, wherein the application mapping template contains instructions to route the source network application to the selected destination network application;

transform the transmission from the source network application according to the instructions contained in the application mapping template; and

route the transformed transmission to the at least one selected destination network application.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the one or more candidate destination network applications are identified based on the destination address of the transmission, and each candidate destination network application has a destination address that is compatible with the destination address of the transmission.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein a priority weight of a candidate destination network application indicates a degree of compatibility between the destination address of the candidate destination network application and the destination address of the transmission.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the priority weight of a candidate destination network application is generated using contextual information about the communications network.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein generating the initial priority weights of the candidate destination network applications comprises assigning a weight to each of the candidate destination network applications according to a predetermined ranking criterion.

14. The system of claim 9, wherein the content destination selection module is further configured to the initial priority weight to a weight larger than the initial priority weight based at least in part on the set of contextual rules applied to context information of the communications network.

15. The system of claim 9, wherein the application switching engine is further configured to:

transform the source network application into a first destination network application; and

transform the first destination network application into a second destination network application, the first destination network application and the second destination network application being selected based on the instructions contained in the application mapping template.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing executable computer program code for routing a source network application in a communications network, the computer program code comprising instructions for:

receiving a transmission from the source network application, the transmission comprising content and metadata, the metadata including a destination address for the transmission;

retrieving a set of contextual rules from a resource repository, the set of contextual rules describing modularized components extracted from received network applications;

identifying one or more candidate destination network applications based on at least one of the metadata of the transmission and the set of contextual rules, each identified candidate destination network application having an initial priority weight, a larger priority weight indicating a higher likelihood of being selected as the destination network application for routing the source network application;

dynamically adjusting the initial priority weights associated with the candidate destination network applications based on at least one of the metadata of the transmission and the set of contextual rules;

selecting at least one destination network application from the candidate destination network applications based at least in part on the adjusted priority weights and a determination of whether the transmission requires a transformation;

creating an application mapping template based on at least one selected destination network application with the largest adjusted priority weight, wherein the application mapping template contains instructions to route the source network application to the selected destination network application;

transforming the transmission from the source network application according to the instructions contained in the application mapping template; and

routing the transformed transmission to the at least one selected destination network application.

17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the one or more candidate destination network applications are identified based on the destination address of the transmission, and each candidate destination network application has a destination address that is compatible with the destination address of the transmission.

18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein a priority weight of a candidate destination network application indicates a degree of compatibility between the destination address of the candidate destination network application and the destination address of the transmission.

19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the computer program instructions for dynamically adjusting the initial priority weight associated with a candidate destination network application comprise computer program instructions for setting the initial priority weight to a weight smaller than the initial priority weight based at least in part on the set of contextual rules applied to context information of the communications network.

20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the computer program instruction for transforming the transmission from the source network application comprise computer program instructions for:

transforming the source network application into a first destination network application; and

transforming the first destination network application into a second destination network application, the first destination network application and the second destination network application being selected based on the instructions contained in the application mapping template.