Patent ID: 7529239

Claim:
A method for routing packets in a distributed and dynamic manner via one or more packet switched internal telecommunication networks, connected by edge devices to one or more packet switched external networks, the method comprising: receiving a data packet at a source edge device from an external telecommunication network; determining in the source edge device the next-hop address corresponding to the destination address prefix of the received data packet; determining in the source edge device the address and network interface of a target edge device, from among a plurality of target edge devices, in response to the determined next-hop address, wherein the next-hop address corresponds to a device in another external telecommunication network; generating in the source edge device a transmission packet addressed to the target edge device, the transmission packet comprising the received data packet and the determined next-hop address and the determined network interface of the target edge device; transmitting the generated transmission packet from the source edge device to the determined target edge device via one or more internal telecommunication networks at the data link layer level, wherein the target edge device uses the determined next-hop address to forward the received data packet to the next-hop.