System and method for routing internet traffic over internet links

A method of generating a routing instruction to route an incoming data packet of internet traffic to a destination using an internet router having (i) at least one input port to receive the incoming data packet from one or more network users and (ii) a plurality of output ports, wherein each of the plurality of output ports is coupled to an associated internet link, the method comprising:

• receiving information which is representative of financial costs of routing data packets on the internet links;
• determining temporal delay on the internet links;
• generating a routing instruction for the incoming data packet using:
• (1) the information which is representative of the financial costs of routing data packets on the Internet links, (2) the temporal delay the internet links, (3) a type of data of the incoming data packets, and (4) a threshold or range of an amount of time required for the type of data of the incoming data packet to be delivered to the destination;
• and
• outputting the routing instruction.

A method of generating a routing instruction to route an incoming data packet of internet traffic to a destination using an internet router having (i) at least one input port to receive the incoming data packet from one or more network users and (ii) a plurality of output ports, wherein each of the plurality of output ports is coupled to an associated internet link, the method comprising:

• receiving information which is representative of financial costs of routing data packets on the internet links;
• determining temporal delay on the internet links, wherein the temporal delay is representative of an amount of time between when a packet is sent over an associated internet link and when the packet arrives at the destination;
• generating a routing instruction for the incoming data packet which identifies an internet link corresponding to a financially least expensive internet link of the plurality of internet links that provides less than a predetermined temporal delay;
• and
• outputting the routing instruction.

A system for routing internet traffic over a plurality of internet links, the system comprising:

• an internet router having (i) at least one input port to receive a plurality of incoming data packets from one or more network users and (ii) a plurality of output ports coupled to a plurality of internet links, wherein each output port is coupled to an internet link, the internet router including:
• switching circuitry, coupled to the at least one input port and the output ports, to connect the at least one input port to a selected output port in response to control signals;
• and
• switch controller, coupled to the switching circuitry, to generate the control signals using routing instructions;
• and
• an internet route optimizer coupled to the internet router, to generate the routing instructions for incoming data packets, wherein the internet route optimizer is capable of generating a routing instruction for an incoming data packet which identifies an internet link corresponding to a financially least expensive internet link of the plurality of internet links that provides less than a predetermined temporal delay to reach a destination.