Patent ID: 7227872

Claim:
A method for performing resource allocation among a plurality of peer routers in a private network, the plurality of peer routers being adapted to provide connectivity between nodes in the private network and nodes in a public network, at least a first portion of the plurality of peer routers being adapted to perform network address translation (NAT) for traffic flowing between the public and private networks, at least a second portion of the plurality of peer routers being adapted to provide failover capability for the at least one of the other peer routers, the method comprising: sending, from a first peer router, a first Elect Master message to at least one other peer router; the first Elect Master message including information relating to characteristics associated with the first peer router; receiving, at the first peer router, a second Elect Master message from a second peer router; the second Elect Master message including information relating to characteristics associated with the second peer router; populating a local Peer Resource Assignment Table with information obtained from received Elect Master messages; and determining an identity of a master peer router using information obtained from the local Peer Resource Assignment Table.