Content routing
US6594260B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 3, 1999 |
| Grant date | Jul 15, 2003 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 3, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L67/1014
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Before sending a connection setup packet, a client sends a heads up packet (HUP) toward the server from which the client is requesting data. The HUP contains information about the data that the client is requesting. Recipient servers along the path between the client and the requested server decode the HUP. If the recipient servers know of a more convenient source for the requested data, the setup and heads up packets are modified to point to the more convenient source and are forwarded in the source's direction. HUPs are designed to be ignored by recipient servers not designed to decode them. In this way, HUPS can operate over existing networks. HUPs are designed to be small, to facilitate quick decoding and ensure the HUP is not fragmented. A HUP includes an indication of the setup packet about whose connection it has data. If a server receives the HUP but not the associated setup packet, the server will drop the HUP. If HUPs are used, a client or its proxy must be prepared to accept an acknowledgement of the connection from a server it did not request. Otherwise, HUPs are unnecessary and problematic.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.