System and method for routing internet traffic over internet links
First Claim
1. An apparatus comprising:
- an internet router configured to route internet traffic from an internet service provider to backbone providers according to routing instructions, the internet router including;
switching circuitry to connect input ports to output ports of the router;
traffic measuring circuitry to measure traffic levels on the input ports;
destination determining circuitry to identify destinations served by the backbone providers; and
congestion monitoring circuitry to monitor traffic conditions on the backbone providers; and
a route optimizer coupled to the internet router and including a processor configured to;
obtain fixed bandwidth from fixed bandwidth backbone providers;
generate a fixed bandwidth routing instruction to route the internet traffic from the internet service provider to a selected fixed bandwidth backbone provider;
determine if a traffic level of the internet traffic is near a total fixed bandwidth;
if the traffic level is not near the total fixed bandwidth, evaluate bandwidth user instructions to determine if the internet service provider is to sell any unused bandwidth; and
when the internet service provider is to sell excess bandwidth, update a list of backbone providers to indicate that bandwidth from the internet service provider is available for sale, wherein the route optimizer is further configured to perform the obtain, the generate, the determine, the evaluate, and the update operations to handle;
residential traffic having a residential traffic profile with excess bandwidth available for sale for use by non-residential traffic during a first time period when the residential traffic profile is not at a peak level thereof but not during a second time period, which does not overlap the first time period, when the residential traffic is at the peak level; and
the non-residential traffic which has a non-residential traffic profile with excess bandwidth available for sale for use by the residential traffic during the second time period when the non-residential traffic profile is not at a peak level thereof but not during the first time period when the non-residential traffic profile is at the peak level thereof.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus and method for Internet Protocol (IP) transit is described. Embodiments include a platform for routing IP traffic in real time from at least one network user to a plurality of internet links. Embodiments further include assigning different ranks to different internet links based on network monitoring. In one embodiment, a system for routing internet traffic includes an internet route optimizer to generate routing instructions for incoming data packets using financial costs of routing data packets on the internet links, the traffic condition information corresponding to the internet links, and the types of data of the incoming data packets. In another embodiment, a method to generate a routing instruction to route an internet data packet uses financial costs of routing data packets on the internet links serving the end destination, traffic condition information of the internet links serving the end destination, and the type of data of the incoming data packet.
51 Citations
15 Claims
-
1. An apparatus comprising:
-
an internet router configured to route internet traffic from an internet service provider to backbone providers according to routing instructions, the internet router including; switching circuitry to connect input ports to output ports of the router; traffic measuring circuitry to measure traffic levels on the input ports; destination determining circuitry to identify destinations served by the backbone providers; and congestion monitoring circuitry to monitor traffic conditions on the backbone providers; and a route optimizer coupled to the internet router and including a processor configured to; obtain fixed bandwidth from fixed bandwidth backbone providers; generate a fixed bandwidth routing instruction to route the internet traffic from the internet service provider to a selected fixed bandwidth backbone provider; determine if a traffic level of the internet traffic is near a total fixed bandwidth; if the traffic level is not near the total fixed bandwidth, evaluate bandwidth user instructions to determine if the internet service provider is to sell any unused bandwidth; and when the internet service provider is to sell excess bandwidth, update a list of backbone providers to indicate that bandwidth from the internet service provider is available for sale, wherein the route optimizer is further configured to perform the obtain, the generate, the determine, the evaluate, and the update operations to handle; residential traffic having a residential traffic profile with excess bandwidth available for sale for use by non-residential traffic during a first time period when the residential traffic profile is not at a peak level thereof but not during a second time period, which does not overlap the first time period, when the residential traffic is at the peak level; and the non-residential traffic which has a non-residential traffic profile with excess bandwidth available for sale for use by the residential traffic during the second time period when the non-residential traffic profile is not at a peak level thereof but not during the first time period when the non-residential traffic profile is at the peak level thereof. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
-
-
10. A method comprising:
-
at a route optimizer coupled to an internet router configured to route internet traffic from an internet service provider to selected respective backbone providers in accordance with routing instructions, the internet router including switching circuitry to connect input ports to output ports of the router, traffic measuring circuitry to measure traffic levels on the input ports, destination determining circuitry to identify destinations served by the backbone providers, and congestion monitoring circuitry to monitor traffic conditions on the backbone providers; obtaining fixed bandwidth from fixed bandwidth backbone providers; generating a fixed bandwidth routing instruction to route the internet traffic from the internet service provider to a selected fixed bandwidth backbone provider; determining if a traffic level of the internet traffic is near a total fixed bandwidth; if the traffic level is not near the total fixed bandwidth, evaluating bandwidth user instructions to determine if the internet service provider is to sell any unused bandwidth; when the internet service provider is to sell excess bandwidth, updating a list of backbone providers to indicate that bandwidth from the internet service provider is available for sale; and performing the obtaining, the generating, the determining, the evaluating, and the updating to handle; residential traffic having a residential traffic profile with excess bandwidth available for sale for use by non-residential traffic during a first time period when the residential traffic profile is not at a peak level thereof but not during a second time period, which does not overlap the first time period, when the residential traffic is at the peak level; and the non-residential traffic which has a non-residential traffic profile with excess bandwidth available for sale for use by the residential traffic during the second time period when the non-residential traffic profile is not at a peak level thereof but not during the first time period when the non-residential traffic profile is at the peak level thereof. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
-
Specification