Patent ID: 7099351

Claim:
A method for determining network traffic flowing between a first region and a second region, said method comprising the steps of: identifying two or more routers in the first region by determining a longitude and a latitude of the two or more routers in the first region; identifying two or more routers in the second region by determining a longitude and latitude of the two or more routers in the second region; identifying links that connect the identified two or more routers in the first region to the identified two or more routers in the second region, the step of identifying the links comprising the steps of: retrieving information about topology of the two or more routers in the first and second regions; selecting the two or more routers in the first region whose determined longitude and latitude are in predetermined areas of the first region; selecting the two or more routers in the second region whose determined longitude and latitude are in predetermined areas of the second region; and comparing the latitude and longitude of the selected two or more routers in the first and second regions with the retrieved topology information to identify links that connect the selected two or more routers in the first region to the selected two or more routers in the second region; determining, at a processor remote from the two or more routers in the first and second regions, used bandwidth of the identified links over a period of time; and determining the network traffic flowing between the first and second regions based on the determined used band width.