Patent ID: 7697438
Filing Date: 2010-04-13
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A method of routing a packet between nodes of a network comprising the steps of: determining a base routing transmission time between each of a plurality of nodes and a destination node, the base routing transmission times being for routes within a restricted access network; using a computer-based source node to identify, as candidate nodes, nodes having base routing transmission times that are shorter than a routing transmission time of the source node; collecting external routing transmission times for routes through a shared access external network, the shared access external network being connected to the restricted access network; using the computer-based source node to, for each candidate node, sum its base routing transmission time with a corresponding external routing transmission time to identify a particular network node that provides an expected near minimum transmission time for transmission of the packet from the source node to the destination node; determining that a packet queue for a network link at the source node exceeds a threshold; and routing the packet to the destination node via the shared access external network and the particular network node if the threshold is exceeded.