US 9,426,055 B2Granted

Network routing

AssigneeMedia Network Services AS

InventorsTarik Cicic, Haakon Bryhni, Jan Marius Evang, Richard Aas

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Abstract

A relay system has a router and multiple relay servers with specific network addresses on a first network. The router and servers are mutually connected by a second network. The router receives a relay-service request from a source on the first network, addressed to an address distinct from the relay servers' specific addresses. It forwards the request to the relay servers. Each relay server instructs the source to issue a relay-service request to its specific address. The server that receives the request provides the service. Two routers may be connected to different respective sub-networks of the first network and be connected to each other by the second network. The routers announce a common destination network address on the first network. The first network is configured such that only one of the routers receives a data packet addressed to the common address, which it forwards onto the second network.

Claims16

Dependent claims

A system for providing a relay service, comprising:

a router on the Internet;
and
a plurality of relay servers, each relay server of the plurality of relay servers having a specific IP address, and the router and the plurality of relay servers being mutually connected by a local area network,
wherein the router is configured to:
receive, from a source on the Internet, a first relay service request addressed to an IP address that is distinct from the specific IP addresses of the plurality of relay servers;
and
forward the first relay service request to two or more relay servers of the plurality of relay servers,
wherein each relay server of the two or more relay servers is configured to:
receive the first relay service request from the router;
and
issue a respective response addressed to the source on the Internet comprising an instruction to the source on the Internet to issue a further relay service request addressed to the specific IP address of the relay server, so as to provide load-balancing, between the two or more relay servers by causing the source on the Internet to issue a second relay service request addressed to the specific IP address of a relay server of the two or more relay servers whose response, among the respective responses, is received first by the source on the Internet;
and
wherein the relay server whose response is received first by the source on the Internet is further configured to receive said second relay service request and to respond by providing a requested relay service.

10 more elements

A method of providing a relay service using a router on the Internet and a plurality of relay servers, each relay server of the plurality of relay servers having a specific IP address, and the router and the plurality of relay servers being mutually connected by a local area network, the method comprising:

the router receiving, from a source on the Internet;
a first relay service request addressed to an IP address that is distinct from the specific IP addresses of the plurality of relay servers;
the router forwarding the first relay service request to two or more relay servers of the plurality of relay servers;
each relay server of the two or more relay servers receiving the first relay service request from the router;
each relay server of the two or more relay servers issuing a respective response addressed to the source on the Internet comprising an instruction to the source on the Internet to issue a further relay service request addressed to the specific IP address of the respective relay server, so as to provide load-balancing between the two or more relay servers by causing the source on the Internet to issue a second relay service request addressed to the specific IP address of a relay server of the two or more relay servers whose response, among the respective responses, is received first by the source on the Internet;
and
the relay server whose response is received first by the source on the Internet receiving said second relay service request and responding by providing a requested relay service.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 13/881,372Filed 1 Nov 2011
Priority: GB 1018392.91 Nov 2010
Published: US 2013/0246654 A119 Sep 2013
Granted: 23 Aug 2016
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification5 codes

H04L 45/04
Topology update or discovery: interdomain routing, e.g. hierarchical routing
H04L 45/122
Shortest path evaluation: by minimising distances, e.g. by selecting a route with minimum of number of hops
H04L 45/14
Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks: routing performance; Theoretical aspects
H04L 45/80
Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks: ingress point selection by the source endpoint, e.g. selection of ISP or POP