Patent ID: 7472200
Filing Date: 2008-12-30
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A method in a multi-homed endpoint having multiple interfaces with respective Internet Protocol (IP) source addresses, the method including: first identifying source-destination address pairs available between the IP source addresses of the multi-homed endpoint and IP destination addresses available for reaching a multi-homed peer via an IP network; initiating, for each source-destination address pair, a metric for identifying successful data transfer between the corresponding IP source address of the multi-homed endpoint and the corresponding IP destination address of the multi-homed peer; and second identifying one of the source-destination address pairs having the corresponding metric indicating a highest successful data transfer relative to the other source-destination pairs; and selecting the interface having the IP source address associated with the identified one source-destination address pair, for transport of a message to the multi-homed peer; wherein the initiating step includes, for each source-destination address pair: incrementing a corresponding assigned counter in response to a determined absence of an acknowledgement within a prescribed time interval of sending a data frame via the corresponding source-destination address pair; and decrementing the corresponding assigned counter, until reaching a zero value, for each acknowledgement detected within the corresponding prescribed time interval.