Patent ID: 7978682

Claim:
A method for optimizing communication of data packets in a data network, comprising: receiving, in a network device, a first message packet over a first network path in a plurality of network paths in the data network; receiving, in the network device, a second message packet over a second network path in the plurality of network paths in the data network; automatically determining, in the network device, a first latency value for the first network path in the data network based on information in the first message packet; automatically determining, in the network device, a second latency value for the second network path in the data network based on information in the second message packet; selecting, in the network device, a first particular network path from between the first and second network paths based on the first particular network path having a lowest latency value of the first latency value and the second latency value; communicating, from the network device, first data packets having a first priority level over the first particular network path in response to selecting the first particular network path; selecting, in the network device, a second particular network path from between the first and second network paths based on the second particular network path having a lowest cost between costs associated with the first and second network paths; and communicating, from the network device, second data packets having a second priority level over the second particular network path in response to selecting the second particular network path, wherein the second priority level is lower than the first priority level.