Patent ID: 6820133
Filing Date: 2004-11-16
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
A method for communicating an Internet message between a source and a destination over the Internet, comprising:selecting a node of a first type, wherein each node of a first type comprises software to receive Internet messages using a first communication protocol and software to transmit Internet messages using a second communication protocol wherein the second communication protocol is not supported by the source or the destination; selecting a node of a second type, wherein each node of a second type comprises software to receive Internet messages using the second communication protocol and software to transmit Internet messages using a third communication protocol; communicating an Internet message from the source to the selected node of a first type using the first communication protocol; communicating the Internet message from the selected node of a first type to the selected node of a second type using the second communication protocol; and communicating the Internet message from the selected node of a second type to the destination using the third communication protocol, wherein the second communication protocol is designed to be a high performance protocol, and wherein the step of selecting a node of a first type includes optimizing one or more criteria including a measure of network closeness between the source and the node of a first type, and wherein the step of selecting a node of a second type includes optimizing one or more criteria including a measure of network closeness between the node of a second type and the destination.