Patent ID: 7961625

Claim:
A delivery network for assisting delivery of content objects over an Internet, the delivery network comprising: a network outlet, wherein: the network outlet is coupled to a plurality of full-route networks comprising at least a first full-route network and a second full-route network, wherein no terminal networks are located between the network outlet and the first full-route network or between the network outlet and the second full-route network, each of the plurality of full-route networks is capable of delivering content objects to a plurality of terminal networks, the plurality of terminal networks comprise a terminal network, and the plurality of terminal networks are coupled to a plurality of end user computers; an interface that receives content objects for delivery to the plurality of end user computers; and a routing function that routes content objects in at least two modes, wherein: a first mode routes content objects based upon a first route path from the network outlet to the terminal network, the first route path is chosen based upon delivery efficiency, a second mode routes a portion of the content objects using a second route path from the network outlet to the terminal network, both the first route path and the second route path are used simultaneously in the second mode without regard to load balancing between the first and second route paths, switching from the first mode to the second mode is triggered when at least of a portion a first route path reaches a predetermined level of use, wherein the predetermined level of use is below saturation, the first route path comprises the first full-route network and the second route path comprises the second full-route network, and the first and second full-route networks are different, and the second route path is less efficient than the first route path.