Patent ID: 7715429

Claim:
An interconnect domain for providing substantially complete decoupled mediation of network services between one or more carriers connected to a communications network, said interconnect domain comprising: at least one pair of single interfaces, each interface in the at least one pair configured with substantially the same specification for the removal, from packets transmitted through each interface in the at least one pair, of at least one of network membership information or network distribution protocol label data; one or more collocation facilities, each collocation facility having a network device configured to decouple connectivity of one or more carriers to said communications network, and at least one gateway associated with each said network device; a route propagation system in communication with at least two gateways in one or more collocation facilities, said propagation system comprising routers where routing information is hosted for distribution through said communications network; and a management network in communication with one or more networking elements of said network device and in communication with said route propagation system to facilitate managed operation of said network device and said route propagation system.