Patent ID: 6151635
Filing Date: 2000-11-21
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
A router comprising:router processing circuitry for routing data transferred between local area networks;a routing table, accessed by the processing circuitry, the routing table includinga plurality of routing table entries, each routing table entry including an address for a next hop router, and a reference to a cost value for a route represented by the table entry;a virtual connection map table accessed by the routing processing circuitry, the virtual connection map table having a plurality of virtual connection map table entries, each virtual connection map table entry having a phone number for a next hop router, wherein for each virtual connection, a routing table entry includes a reference to a virtual connection map table entry;a plurality of virtual connection circuits;a virtual connection map queue onto which the router places data packets to be transferred through the virtual connection circuits; and,circuit allocation routines, coupled to the plurality of virtual connection circuits and to the virtual connection map queue, for selecting a virtual connection circuit from the plurality of virtual connection circuits over which to transfer data packets from the virtual connection map queue.