Patent Document ID: 7844729
Application ID: 09702094
Patent Flag: 1

Claim One:
1. A method for routing network traffic, comprising: a. receiving the network traffic at a router; b. determining a geographic location of the router using an IP address of the router; c. determining a destination for the network traffic received at the router; d. determining a geographic location of the destination using an IP address of the destination; e. determining a first route to the destination, the first route comprising at least a first intermediate routing device; f. deriving a geographic location of the first intermediate routing device using an IP address of the first intermediate routing device, by performing the steps of: extracting geographic naming information for the first intermediate routing device, from a first part of a host name associated with the first intermediate routing device; comparing at least a part of the extracted geographic naming information for the first intermediate routing device to one or more of the plurality of variations of each of a plurality of geographic names stored in a database containing geographic naming information; and determining a geographic location of the first intermediate routing device based at least in part on the comparison; g. analyzing a first interconnection between one or more routing devices in the first route by approximating the behavior at the one or more routing devices in the first route; h. determining a second route to the destination, the second route comprising at least a second intermediate routing device; i. deriving a geographic location of the second intermediate routing device using an IP address of the second intermediate routing device; j. analyzing a second interconnection between one or more routing devices in the second route by approximating the behavior at the one or more routing devices in the second route; k. selecting a route from one of the first route or the second route using the geographic location of the destination, the geographic location of the router, the geographic location of the first intermediate routing device, the geographic location of the second intermediate routing device, the approximated behavior at the one or more routing devices in the first route, and the approximated behavior at the one or more routing devices in the second route; and l. directing the network traffic along the selected route to the destination.