Patent · US Active

Method and apparatus for content-aware web switching

US7406540B2 · kind B2 · utility

85Cited by
10References
21Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateApr 19, 2007
Grant dateJul 29, 2008
Priority date
Expiry dateApr 19, 2027

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04L67/2876
  • WIPO fieldDigital communication
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

This invention provides methods and apparatus for web switching without connection termination while providing content routing functionality. Content-aware web switches terminate incoming TCP connections and inspect the HTTP header to recognize the URL (content) being requested from a web server farm. This invention maps application layer information (URLs) to MPLS labels. This allows a standard MPLS switch to provide web switching functionality without terminating TCP connections. In addition to content routing, this method is applied for client session affinity, server load balancing and service differentiation. This invention also relates to using TCP port numbers instead of MPLS labels to achieve web-switching functionality through the use of a TCP router that translates IP address and port numbers.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.