Patent ID: 7466694

Claim:
A node for routing of calls in a network comprising: an interface coupled to the network; at least one processor operable to route a packet-based call to a telephony destination in accordance with a protocol that includes a set of attributes that describe packet-network routing characteristics of one or more Internet Protocol (IP)-IP gateway devices in the network, the attributes being used by the at least one processor to specify a call route through an IP-IP gateway device for the packet-based call, the set of attributes including: a first attribute that identifies a total administratively provisioned bandwidth capacity available on a given call route to accommodate application traffic; a second attribute that identifies a current bandwidth that is available on the given call route to accommodate the application traffic at a given point in time; a third attribute that provides information about a number of packets lost on calls that have been connected through the given call route; a fourth attribute that provides information about a latency of packets traversing the given call route; and a fifth attribute that provides information about a total time it takes for a packet to traverse the network from a calling device to the telephony destination, and back again.