Dynamic multi-hop ingress to egress L2TP tunnel mapping

A program storage device readable by a machine, embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform a method to dynamically map ingress to egress tunnels on a communication network, the method comprising:

• receiving a tunneled communication from a subscriber using a first communication network, said first communication network connected to at least one communication network by at least one egress tunnel communicatively coupled to a remote domain;
• determining egress tunnel selection criteria for said tunneled communication, said egress tunnel selection criteria indicating a basis for selecting one of said at least one egress tunnel, said determining based at least in part on a tunnel database comprising selection criteria for at least one egress tunnel connecting said first communication network to said at least one communication network;
• selecting one of said at least one egress tunnel based on said egress tunnel selection criteria;
• and
• forwarding said tunneled communication on the selected egress tunnel.

An apparatus for dynamic ingress to egress tunnel mapping on a communication network, the apparatus comprising:

• means for receiving a tunneled communication from a subscriber using a first communication network, said first communication network connected to at least one communication network by at least one egress tunnel communicatively coupled to a remote domain;
• means for determining egress tunnel selection criteria for said tunneled communication, said egress tunnel selection criteria indicating a basis for selecting one of said at least one egress tunnel, said means for determining based at least in part on a tunnel database comprising selection criteria for at least one egress tunnel connecting said first communication network to said at least one communication network;
• means for selecting one of said at least one egress tunnel based on said egress tunnel selection criteria;
• and
• means for forwarding said tunneled communication on the selected egress tunnel.

An apparatus for dynamic ingress to egress tunnel mapping on a communication network, the apparatus comprising:

• a receiving interface to receive a tunneled communication from a subscriber using a first communication network, said first communication network connected to at least one communication network by at least one egress tunnel communicatively coupled to a remote domain;
• an egress tunnel selection criteria determiner to determine egress tunnel selection criteria for said tunneled communication, said egress tunnel selection criteria indicating a basis for selecting one of said at least one egress tunnel, said egress tunnel selection criteria determiner adapted to determine said egress tunnel selection criteria based at least in part on a tunnel database comprising selection criteria for at least one egress tunnel connecting said first communication network to said at least one communication network;
• an egress tunnel selector to select one of said at least one egress tunnel based on said egress tunnel selection criteria;
• and
• a session forwarder to forward said tunneled communication on the selected egress tunnel.

A method for dynamic ingress to egress tunnel mapping on a communication network, the method comprising:

• receiving a tunneled communication comprising a Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) session from a subscriber using a first communication network, said first communication network connected to at least one communication network by at least one L2TP egress tunnel communicatively coupled to a remote domain;
• determining egress tunnel selection criteria for said tunneled communication, said egress tunnel selection criteria indicating a basis for selecting one of said at least one L2TP egress tunnel;
• selecting one of said at least one L2TP egress tunnel based on said egress tunnel selection criteria, said selecting further comprising:
• examining Type of Service (ToS) bits associated with said PPP session;
• determining available bandwidth for at least one L2TP egress tunnel to said remote domain;
• and
• selecting one of said one or more available L2TP egress tunnel based on said ToS bits and said available bandwidth;
• and
• forwarding said tunneled communication on the selected L2TP egress tunnel.

A method for dynamic ingress to egress tunnel mapping on a communication network, the method comprising:

• receiving a tunneled communication comprising a Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) session from a subscriber using a first communication network, said first communication network connected to at least one communication network by at least one L2TP egress tunnel communicatively coupled to a remote domain;
• determining egress tunnel selection criteria for said tunneled communication, said egress tunnel selection criteria indicating a basis for selecting one of said at least one L2TP egress tunnel;
• selecting one of said at least one L2TP egress tunnel based on said egress tunnel selection criteria, said selecting further comprising:
• examining a Virtual Path Identifier (VPI)/Virtual Channel Identifier (VCI) pair associated with said PPP session;
• determining a class of service based on said VPI/VCI pair;
• determining available bandwidth for at least one egress tunnel to said remote domain;
• and
• selecting one of said one or more available egress tunnel based on said class of service and said available bandwidth;
• and
• forwarding said tunneled communication on the selected L2TP egress tunnel.

A method for dynamic ingress to egress tunnel mapping on a communication network, the method comprising:

• receiving a tunneled communication comprising a Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) session from a subscriber using a first communication network, said first communication network connected to at least one communication network by at least one L2TP egress tunnel communicatively coupled to a remote domain;
• determining egress tunnel selection criteria for said tunneled communication, said egress tunnel selection criteria indicating a basis for selecting one of said at least one L2TP egress tunnel;
• selecting one of said at least one L2TP egress tunnel based on said egress tunnel selection criteria, said selecting further comprising selecting one of said one or more available L2TP egress tunnel to said remote domain having the smallest number of tunneled sessions such that tunneled sessions are distributed evenly among egress tunnels to said remote domain;
• and
• forwarding said tunneled communication on the selected L2TP egress tunnel.

A program storage device readable by a machine, embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform a method to dynamically map ingress to egress tunnels on a communication network, the method comprising:

• receiving a tunneled communication comprising a Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) session from a subscriber using a first communication network, said first communication network connected to at least one communication network by at least one L2TP egress tunnel communicatively coupled to a remote domain;
• determining egress tunnel selection criteria for said tunneled communication, said egress tunnel selection criteria indicating a basis for selecting one of said at least one L2TP egress tunnel;
• selecting one of said at least one L2TP egress tunnel based on said egress tunnel selection criteria, said selecting further comprising:
• examining Type of Service (ToS) bits associated with said PPP session;
• determining available bandwidth for at least one L2TP egress tunnel to said remote domain;
• and
• selecting one of said one or more available L2TP egress tunnel based on said ToS bits and said available bandwidth;
• and
• forwarding said tunneled communication on the selected L2TP egress tunnel.

A program storage device readable by a machine, embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform a method to dynamically map ingress to egress tunnels on a communication network, the method comprising:

• receiving a tunneled communication comprising a Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) session from a subscriber using a first communication network, said first communication network connected to at least one communication network by at least one L2TP egress tunnel communicatively coupled to a remote domain;
• determining egress tunnel selection criteria for said tunneled communication, said egress tunnel selection criteria indicating a basis for selecting one of said at least one L2TP egress tunnel;
• selecting one of said at least one L2TP egress tunnel based on said egress tunnel selection criteria, said selecting further comprising:
• examining a Virtual Path Identifier (VPI)/Virtual Channel Identifier (VCI) pair associated with said PPP session;
• determining a class of service based on said VPI/VCI pair;
• determining available bandwidth for at least one egress tunnel to said remote domain;
• and
• selecting one of said one or more available egress tunnel based on said class of service and said available bandwidth;
• and
• forwarding said tunneled communication on the selected L2TP egress tunnel.

A program storage device readable by a machine, embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform a method to dynamically map ingress to egress tunnels on a communication network, the method comprising:

• receiving a tunneled communication comprising a Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) session from a subscriber using a first communication network, said first communication network connected to at least one communication network by at least one L2TP egress tunnel communicatively coupled to a remote domain;
• determining egress tunnel selection criteria for said tunneled communication, said egress tunnel selection criteria indicating a basis for selecting one of said at least one L2TP egress tunnel;
• selecting one of said at least one L2TP egress tunnel based on said egress tunnel selection criteria, said selecting further comprising selecting one of said one or more available L2TP egress tunnel to said remote domain having the smallest number of tunneled sessions such that tunneled sessions are distributed evenly among egress tunnels to said remote domain;
• and
• forwarding said tunneled communication on the selected L2TP egress tunnel.

An apparatus for dynamic ingress to egress tunnel mapping on a communication network, the apparatus comprising:

• means for receiving a tunneled communication comprising a Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) session from a subscriber using a first communication network, said first communication network connected to at least one communication network by at least one L2TP egress tunnel communicatively coupled to a remote domain;
• means for determining egress tunnel selection criteria for said tunneled communication, said egress tunnel selection criteria indicating a basis for selecting one of said at least one L2TP egress tunnel;
• means for selecting one of said at least one L2TP egress tunnel based on said egress tunnel selection criteria, said means for selecting further comprising:
• means for examining Type of Service (ToS) bits associated with said PPP session;
• means for determining available bandwidth for at least one L2TP egress tunnel to said remote domain;
• and
• means for selecting one of said one or more available L2TP egress tunnel based on said ToS bits and said available bandwidth;
• and
• means for forwarding said tunneled communication on the selected L2TP egress tunnel.

An apparatus for dynamic ingress to egress tunnel mapping on a communication network, the apparatus comprising:

• means for receiving a tunneled communication comprising a Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) session from a subscriber using a first communication network, said first communication network connected to at least one communication network by at least one L2TP egress tunnel communicatively coupled to a remote domain;
• means for determining egress tunnel selection criteria for said tunneled communication, said egress tunnel selection criteria indicating a basis for selecting one of said at least one L2TP egress tunnel;
• means for selecting one of said at least one L2TP egress tunnel based on said egress tunnel selection criteria, said means for selecting further comprising:
• means for examining a Virtual Path Identifier (VPI)/Virtual Channel Identifier (VCI) pair associated with said PPP session;
• means for determining a class of service based on said VPI/VCI pair;
• means for determining available bandwidth for at least one egress tunnel to said remote domain;
• and
• means for selecting one of said one or more available egress tunnel based on said class of service and said available bandwidth;
• and
• means for forwarding said tunneled communication on the selected L2TP egress tunnel.

An apparatus for dynamic ingress to egress tunnel mapping on a communication network, the apparatus comprising:

• means for receiving a tunneled communication comprising a Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) session from a subscriber using a first communication network, said first communication network connected to at least one communication network by at least one L2TP egress tunnel communicatively coupled to a remote domain;
• means for determining egress tunnel selection criteria for said tunneled communication, said egress tunnel selection criteria indicating a basis for selecting one of said at least one L2TP egress tunnel;
• means for selecting one of said at least one L2TP egress tunnel based on said egress tunnel selection criteria, said selecting further comprising selecting one of said one or more available L2TP egress tunnel to said remote domain having the smallest number of tunneled sessions such that tunneled sessions are distributed evenly among egress tunnels to said remote domain;
• and
• means for forwarding said tunneled communication on the selected L2TP egress tunnel.

An apparatus for dynamic ingress to egress tunnel mapping on a communication network, the apparatus comprising:

• a receiving interface to receive a tunneled communication comprising a Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) session from a subscriber using a first communication network, said first communication network connected to at least one communication network by at least one L2TP egress tunnel communicatively coupled to a remote domain;
• an egress tunnel selection criteria determiner to determine egress tunnel selection criteria for said tunneled communication, said egress tunnel selection criteria indicating a basis for selecting one of said at least one L2TP egress tunnel;
• an egress tunnel selector to select one of said at least one L2TP egress tunnel based on said egress tunnel selection criteria, said egress tunnel selector further configured to select one of said one or more available L2TP egress tunnel based upon ToS bits associated with said PPP session and upon available bandwidth for at least one L2TP egress tunnel to said remote domain;
• and
• a session forwarder to forward said tunneled communication on the selected L2TP egress tunnel.

An apparatus for dynamic ingress to egress tunnel mapping on a communication network, the apparatus comprising:

• a receiving interface to receive a tunneled communication comprising a Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) session from a subscriber using a first communication network, said first communication network connected to at least one communication network by at least one L2TP egress tunnel communicatively coupled to a remote domain;
• an egress tunnel selection criteria determiner to determine egress tunnel selection criteria for said tunneled communication, said egress tunnel selection criteria indicating a basis for selecting one of said at least one L2TP egress tunnel;
• an egress tunnel selector to select one of said at least one L2TP egress tunnel based on said egress tunnel selection criteria, said egress tunnel selector further configured to select one of said one or more available L2TP egress tunnel based on a Virtual Path Identifier (VPI)/Virtual Channel Identifier (VCI) pair and upon the available bandwidth for at least one L2TP egress tunnel to said remote domain;
• and
• a session forwarder to forward said tunneled communication on the selected L2TP egress tunnel.

An apparatus for dynamic ingress to egress tunnel mapping on a communication network, the apparatus comprising:

• a receiving interface to receive a tunneled communication comprising a Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) session from a subscriber using a first communication network, said first communication network connected to at least one communication network by at least one L2TP egress tunnel communicatively coupled to a remote domain;
• an egress tunnel selection criteria determiner to determine egress tunnel selection criteria for said tunneled communication, said egress tunnel selection criteria indicating a basis for selecting one of said at least one L2TP egress tunnel;
• an egress tunnel selector to select one of said at least one L2TP egress tunnel based on said egress tunnel selection criteria, said egress tunnel selector further configured to select one of said one or more available L2TP egress tunnel to said remote domain having the smallest number of tunneled sessions such that tunneled sessions are distributed evenly among L2TP egress tunnels to said remote domain;
• and
• a session forwarder to forward said tunneled communication on the selected L2TP egress tunnel.