Patent ID: 7623466

Claim:
A system for identifying establishment of a connection between a source host with a source address (Src) and a destination host with a destination address (Dst) in a data network, comprising: a flow identification unit for calculating a flow descriptor unique to said connection based on connection set-up datagrams exchanged between said source host and said destination host; storage means, for storing said flow descriptor based on a relationship between said Src and Dst; an access interface to said storage means for providing a flow present indication if said flow descriptor is found in said storage means; and a controller for controlling operation of said flow identification unit and said access interface and determining that said connection has been established based on said relationship and on said flow present indication, wherein said storage means comprises a first container for storing flow descriptors obtained from connection set-up datagrams with a Src>Dst, and a second container for storing flow descriptors obtained from connection set-up datagrams with a Src<Dst.