Patent ID: 6925063

Claim:
In an Internet Protocol telephony system having at least two gateway devices integrated with Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6), a voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communications method for optimizing latency delays in data packet transmissions between said gateway devices and over the related “public” Internet comprising the steps of: a. identifying and conducting a trace of available VoIP routes between two user destinations, each associated with a separate gateway device and the related “public” Internet, and measuring the latency associated with all said available VoIP routes, said VoIP route identification and tracing process being conducted through a Latency header within the NEXT header extension of IPv6, which Latency header is a modification of the Source Routing header within the NEXT header extension of IPv6; b. creating a subset of best available VoIP routes, based upon application of latency criteria, and, also using said latency criteria, identifying the best available VoIP route at the time of said trace measurement; c. identifying and selecting an optimum VoIP route based upon consideration of both said best available VoIP route and historical information concerning the best available route between said two user destinations at past times; d. conducting steps a, b and c at periodic intervals; and e. periodically updating historical information concerning best available routes between said two user destinations.