Patent ID: 7673032

Claim:
A method for use by a first node on a network in communicating with a second node on the network, said method comprising the steps of: the first node on the network receiving a data packet from the second node on the network, said data packet having arrived at the first node via an inbound path defined by an ordered sequence of routers, and said first and second nodes being different nodes on the network; the first node estimating a number of hops made by the data packet based on information contained within the data packet; the first node transmitting probe packets designed, based on said number of hops, to elicit responses from a group of network devices that primarily includes a first few routers on the inbound path; the first node receiving response packets from said network devices, in response to the probe packet; the first node obtaining a geographic location for the second node based on node identification information in the response packets; and the first node transmitting geographic-specific information over the network to the second node based on the geographic location obtained.