Patent ID: 6870851

Claim:
A method for selecting a route for a data packet from a source to a destination, the source being associated with a first autonomous system and the destination being associated with a second autonomous system, a first geographic are corresponding to the first autonomous system and a second geographic area corresponding to the second autonomous system, the method comprising the steps of: (a) associating the address for the destination with the second geographic area to allow selection of the route for the data packet based on the second geographic area, the associating step (a) further including the steps of (a1) associating the first autonomous system with the first geographic area; (a2) associating the second autonomous system with the second geographic area to allow for route selection using the second autonomous system and the second geographic area; and (b) selecting the route based on the second geographic area; wherein the destination has an address that does not indicate the second geographic area; and wherein the address associating step (a) and the route selecting based on the second geographic area step (b) are performed prior to the data packet arriving at the second autonomous system.