Patent ID: 8040808

Claim:
A method comprising: receiving, with a first intermediate network acceleration device, network traffic from a first network for delivery to a second network; receiving, with the first intermediate network acceleration device, a first communication from a second intermediate network acceleration device indicating intermediate optimization capabilities made available by the second intermediate network acceleration device; receiving, with the first intermediate network acceleration device, a second communication from a third intermediate network acceleration device included in the second network indicating direct optimization capabilities made available by the third intermediate network acceleration device; determining, with the first intermediate network acceleration device, a first set of cost factors for a first path from the first intermediate network acceleration device to the third intermediate network acceleration device, wherein the first set of cost factors include at least one optimization cost factor corresponding to the intermediate optimization capabilities made available to the first intermediate network acceleration device by the second intermediate network acceleration device positioned between the first intermediate network acceleration device and the third intermediate network acceleration device along the first path; determining, with the first intermediate network acceleration device, a second set of cost factors for a second path from the first intermediate network acceleration device to the third intermediate network acceleration device, wherein the second set of cost factors includes at least one direct optimization cost factor corresponding to the direct optimization capabilities made available to the first intermediate network acceleration device by the third intermediate network acceleration device, and wherein the second path comprises a direct path from the first intermediate network acceleration device to the third intermediate network acceleration device that does not include any other intermediate network acceleration devices; selecting, with the first intermediate network acceleration device, either the first path or the second path over which to forward the network traffic based on the first set of cost factors and the second set of cost factors; and forwarding, with the first intermediate network acceleration device, the network traffic via the selected one of the first or second paths.