Patent ID: 7222195
Filing Date: 2007-05-22
Classification: G06F,H04L,H04W

Abstract:
1. An apparatus for distributing information in a network environment, comprising: a data gateway to receive a communication flow and to execute a routing decision for the communication flow that directs the communication flow to a selected one of a plurality of servers, the routing decision being based on a selected one or more user-specified parameters and on one or more data segments that reflect feedback that is communicated by one or more of the servers, wherein the feedback reflects one or more conditions associated with one or more of the servers, and wherein the communication flow comprises signaling traffic associated with either a voice call or a data message, the data gateway executing the routing decision by using a digit string or a network address parameter; and an application program interface (API) to define a communications protocol that allows interaction between one or more of the servers and the data gateway, wherein the data gateway further comprises a table to store the feedback that reflects one or more of the conditions associated with one or more of the servers, and wherein the table maintains the digit patterns or the network address, which serve as a basis for the routing decision, the routing decision being further based on one or more timers that reflect a duration of message delivery attempts along with a retry parameter.