Patents Assigned to Level 3 Communications, LLC
  • Patent number: 11929918
    Abstract: Aspects of the present disclosure involve systems, methods, computer program products, and the like, for utilizing a CIC value field in signaling information of a communication to provide an identification of the ingress network to an egress or receiving network of a long distance telecommunications network. The system and method provides for the provisioning of a signaling CIC for an ingress trunkgroup or network to a telecommunications network for downstream signaling purposes by overriding a received CIC value with a provisioned CIC value specific to the ingress network. This provisioned CIC value identifies the ingress network to the long distance network to the egress network for use by the egress network.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2024
    Assignee: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventor: David A. Tschirhart
  • Publication number: 20240080373
    Abstract: A computer-implemented method, operable with a content delivery network (CDN) uses late binding of caching policies; by a caching node in the CDN, in response to a request for content, determining if the content is cached locally. When it is determined that said content is cached locally, then: determining a current cache policy associated with the content; and then determining, based on said current cache policy associated with the content, whether it is acceptable to serve the content that is cached locally; based on said determining, when it is not acceptable to serve the content that is cached locally, obtaining a new version of the content and then serving the new version of the content, otherwise when it is acceptable to serve the content that is cached locally, serving the content that is cached locally.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 12, 2023
    Publication date: March 7, 2024
    Applicant: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventors: Christopher Newton, William Crowder
  • Patent number: 11924067
    Abstract: Aspects of the present disclosure involve systems and methods for a service activation system in a telecommunications network that utilizes one or more generic container files for building the configuration file to instantiate the service on the network. A request for service from a network may be received from an order entry system that includes specific information about the requested service. A collection of generic configuration files may be selected based on the information included in the service order and arranged to build a configuration file to be executed on the network. The service activation system may also include a component or group of components to verify a received service order and alter the service order with default information or data where applicable. The configuration file may also be executed on the network through one or more drivers communicating with the affected devices to configure the one or more network devices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 16, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2024
    Assignee: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventors: James C. Dwyer, Michael L. Nyhus
  • Publication number: 20240073101
    Abstract: This disclosure describes systems, methods, and devices related to automating and testing communication network topologies.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 24, 2023
    Publication date: February 29, 2024
    Applicant: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventors: Bryan DREYER, Jason NAULT, William ROEMHILD, Brent SMITH
  • Patent number: 11909445
    Abstract: Implementations described and claimed herein provide systems and methods for an optical domain controller for managing and maintaining a record of network component configuration and interconnections. The optical domain controller detects changes in a configuration of optical network elements in response to a requested service from the network, coordinates additional changes in configurations to optical network elements that may be affected by the detected change, communicates with the optical network elements to incorporate the changes to the configurations of the network element, and stores the configurations and states of the network elements. The use of the optical domain controller may thus replace or supplement a database storing network configuration information by automatically managing changes to the network as new services are instantiated directly on the optical network elements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 18, 2022
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2024
    Assignee: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventors: William Feight, Tara Joseph-Labrie, James M. Adkins, III, Clyde David Cooper, III
  • Patent number: 11909844
    Abstract: Aspects of present disclosure include devices within a transmission path of streamed content forwarding received data packets of the stream to the next device or “hop” in the path prior to buffering the data packet at the device. In this method, typical buffering of the data stream may therefore occur at the destination device for presentation at a consuming device, while the devices along the transmission path may transmit a received packet before buffering. Further, devices along the path may also buffer the content stream after forwarding to fill subsequent requests for dropped data packets of the content stream. Also, in response to receiving the request for the content stream, a device may first transmit a portion of the contents of the gateway buffer to the requesting device to fill a respective buffer at the receiving device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2023
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2024
    Assignee: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventors: Timothy Brown, Veronica Kravchenko
  • Patent number: 11909915
    Abstract: Novel tools and techniques are provided for implementing 911 or enhanced 911 (“E911”) address update. In various embodiments, in response to a trigger event, a computing system may determine whether E911 address data associated with a customer that is stored in an E911 database requires updating. If so, the computing system may update the E911 database with address data associated with the customer that has been validated or verified (if available). Where no validated or verified address associated with the customer is available, the computing system may send a message to the customer to provide updated 911 or E911 address data; may receive, from a user device associated with the customer via an API over a network(s) operated by the service provider, updated 911 or E911 address data from the customer; and may update the E911 database with the received updated 911 or E911 address data from the customer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 2022
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2024
    Assignee: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventors: Bridget McAndrew, Anne Kempen, Sudhir Dadi, Corey Curtis, Michael Robles, Kevin Michelsen
  • Patent number: 11909715
    Abstract: A DNS resolution request for a hostname of a CDN is received. An edge server of the CDN may be identified, which may be associated with a subnet. The subnet is used to generate a response IP address, where the remaining bits of the response IP address may be used to store requestor information (e.g., a requestor IP address). When a client computing device uses the response IP address to access the edge server, requestor information is extracted and associated with client computing device information (e.g., an IP address and/or location, etc.) in an association record. Association records may be used to determine predicted characteristics for devices served by a requestor. When the authoritative DNS server resolves a request from the requestor, such predicted characteristics may be used rather than relying solely on information about a requestor. Thus, an edge server proximate to the predicted location may be returned instead.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2023
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2024
    Assignee: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventor: Kevin Johns
  • Publication number: 20240056416
    Abstract: Improved methods for retrieval of content from CDNs is provided that includes a rendezvous controller that receives information of an identification of content being requested and an estimated location of a content requesting device. Based on this information, the rendezvous system identifies a server within a CDN from which the requested content may be retrieved. The selected server may be based on a repeatable hash function such that the likelihood that the content being requested is cached at the selected server. Steering requests to a server of the CDN which may have the content cached may reduce the number of servers within the CDN with the same cached content, particularly for the highest requested content. The rendezvous system may then return a corresponding domain name associated with the selected server and that can be subsequently submitted to a DNS for resolution to the IP address of the identified server.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 26, 2023
    Publication date: February 15, 2024
    Applicant: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventor: Kevin C. Johns
  • Patent number: 11902241
    Abstract: Examples of the present disclosure relate to hostname pre-localization. In examples, a service uses a content distribution network (CDN) to provide at least a part of the computing functionality associated with the service. A pre-localized hostname may be used to direct the client computing device to a specific edge server of the CDN that is associated with the computing functionality. In examples, a service receives an initiation request from a client computing device for the computing functionality provided by the CDN. The service generates a pre-localization request comprising pre-localization information and provides the pre-localization request to the CDN. Accordingly, the CDN generates a pre-localized hostname associated with an edge server based on the pre-localization information. The pre-localized hostname is provided to the service, which is then provided to the client computing device, thereby directing the client computing device to the specific edge server of the CDN.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2024
    Assignee: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventor: Kevin Johns
  • Publication number: 20240046278
    Abstract: Examples of the present disclosure relate to the optical identification of telecommunications equipment. In examples, a user interacts with an application to capture image data relating to a device according to instructions presented to the user. The application may further generate metadata, such as user responses to one or more questions. The image data and/or metadata are evaluated using a machine learning model to generate an equipment classification for devices pictured therein. The data may also be used to generate an equipment configuration for the device, as well as an operational state (e.g., based on one or more indicators present on the device, log data, etc.). Accordingly, such information may be used to update a pre-existing inventory record for the device, or generate a new inventory record. In other examples, such information is used to generate one or more predicted issues and associated actions to troubleshoot the device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 20, 2023
    Publication date: February 8, 2024
    Applicant: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventors: Jeffrey K. Storey, Clyde David Cooper, Carlos Santiago, Ron Lewis, Steven M. Casey, Stephen Opferman
  • Publication number: 20240048472
    Abstract: Aspects of the present disclosure involve systems for providing multiple egress routes from a telecommunications network for a client of the network. In general, the system provides for a client of the network to receive intended packets of information through multiple connections to the network such that load balancing and failover services for traffic to the customer are provided. The process and system allow for telecommunications network to utilize a common next-hop value of announced border gateway protocol (BGP) routes to advertise multiple routes to reach a destination customer network or address. By utilizing a common next-hop value in the announced BGP information, the devices of the network may load balance communication packets to the destination customer or address among the multiple egress locations from the network, as well as providing fast failover to alternate routes when a failure at the network or customer occurs.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 24, 2023
    Publication date: February 8, 2024
    Applicant: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventors: Francis Ferguson, Eric Osborne, Clyde David Cooper, III, Brent W. Smith
  • Publication number: 20240048588
    Abstract: Systems and methods for dynamically mitigating a DDOS attack. In an aspect, the technology relates to a computer-implemented method for dynamically mitigating a distributed-denial-of-service (DDOS) attack. The computer-implemented method may include detecting a DDOS attack directing malicious traffic to a target, identifying one or more source locations of the malicious traffic, and in response to detecting the DDOS attack, activating one or more scrub clusters in the identified one or more source locations of the malicious traffic. The method may further include directing traffic intended for the target to the to the activated one or more scrub clusters, detecting an end of the DDOS attack, and in response to detecting the end of the DDOS attack, deactivating the one or more scrub clusters to release hardware resources.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 20, 2023
    Publication date: February 8, 2024
    Applicant: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventor: Michael Feldpusch
  • Patent number: 11895515
    Abstract: Implementations described and claimed herein provide systems and methods for identification of connection areas in a telecommunications network. In one implementation, a customer set is obtained for a communications node in the telecommunications network. The customer set includes an existing connection type and a collection of network sites including the connection type is generated from the customer set. An overlay of customer sites without the connection type may be applied to the collection of network sites to generate an intersection of non-connected customer sites within the collection of network sites including the connection type. The intersection provides an indication of underserviced sites connection to the telecommunication network for potential network growth.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2022
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2024
    Assignee: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventors: William Gray, James Sayre, Stephen Limburg
  • Publication number: 20240040287
    Abstract: Implementations described and claimed herein provide systems and methods for a configurable optical peering fabric to dynamically create a connection between participant sites without any physical site limitations or necessity of specialized client and network provider equipment being located within such a facility. Client sites to a network may connect to a configurable switching element to be interconnected to other client sites in response to a request to connect the first client site with a second site, also connected to network, via the switching element. A request may trigger verification of the requested and, upon validation, transmission of an instruction to the switching element to enable the cross connect within the switching element. The first site and the second site may thus be interconnected via the switching element in response to the request, without the need to co-locate equipment or to manually install a jumper between client equipment.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 12, 2023
    Publication date: February 1, 2024
    Applicant: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventors: Laurel Clark, Clyde David Cooper, III, Andrew Dugan
  • Publication number: 20240036970
    Abstract: Aspects of the present disclosure involve systems and methods for improving the performance of a telecommunications network by monitoring the performance of one or more storage drives. Operational data is received from a plurality of storage drives of a storage server of a telecommunications network. A plurality of operational coefficients for each of the plurality of storage drives is derived based on the operational data, and a cluster plot is created from the plurality of operational coefficients for each of the plurality of storage drives. A distance is calculated between a subset of operational coefficients of the plurality of operational coefficients of the cluster plot, and a remedial action is initiated on a storage drive of the plurality of storage drives when a calculated distance of an operational coefficient associated with the storage drive exceeds a distance value from a cluster of the cluster plot.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 12, 2023
    Publication date: February 1, 2024
    Applicant: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventors: William Hopkins, Lawrence W. Gowin
  • Publication number: 20240040009
    Abstract: Aspects of the present disclosure involve a CDN utilizing a Direct Server Return (DSR) request command to create a tunnel from one content server to another content server of the CDN. Through the DSR tunnel, a request for content may be served from a content server that is more advantageous for the CDN for any number of reasons, such as from a content server that is logically closer to the content server. In determining when a DSR tunnel is created to provide the content, the CDN may access a database storing various information concerning the CDN, such as the location of egress gateways of the CDN in relation to one or more content servers, connecting network location information, the capabilities of one or more content servers, and/or load information of available content servers.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 29, 2023
    Publication date: February 1, 2024
    Applicant: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventors: Joelle T. Maslak, Joseph C. Lawrence
  • Publication number: 20240031453
    Abstract: Improved methods for retrieval of content from CDNs is provided that includes a rendezvous controller that receives information of an identification of content being requested and an estimated location of a content requesting device. Based on this information, the rendezvous system identifies a server within a CDN from which the requested content may be retrieved. The selected server may be based on a repeatable hash function such that the likelihood that the content being requested is cached at the selected server. Steering requests to a server of the CDN which may have the content cached may reduce the number of servers within the CDN with the same cached content, particularly for the highest requested content. The rendezvous system may then return a corresponding domain name associated with the selected server and that can be subsequently submitted to a DNS for resolution to the IP address of the identified server.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 29, 2023
    Publication date: January 25, 2024
    Applicant: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventor: Kevin C. Johns
  • Publication number: 20240031491
    Abstract: Novel tools and techniques are provided for implementing application programming interface (“API”)-based concurrent call path (“CCP”) provisioning. In various embodiments, in response to receiving a CCP provisioning request, a computing system may determine whether such a request would affect a set of trunk groups assigned to a customer based at least in part on network utilization data. If not, the computing system may cause the nodes in the network to increase or decrease, in near-real-time, the number of CCPs in at least one trunk group assigned to the customer based on the CCP provisioning request. If so, the computing system may cause the nodes in the network to increase or decrease, in near-real-time, the number of trunk groups assigned to the customer and may cause the nodes in the network to increase or decrease, in near-real-time, the number of CCPs in the updated number of trunk groups.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 29, 2023
    Publication date: January 25, 2024
    Applicant: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventors: Bridget McAndrew, Anne Kempen, Sudhir Dadi, Kevin Michelsen, Chris Baker
  • Publication number: 20240031369
    Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for generating a network ingress filter based on both a customer's route object and recent traffic data for the customer. In examples, even though a customer of a provider network may have many routing prefixes in its route object, the customer may genuinely generate traffic from only a very small percentage of such prefixes. Accordingly, a combination of a system to generate all the prefixes based on a route object, along with the results of collected traffic data, may be used to generate a much smaller ingress filter. In examples, this filter may comprise an intersection of the prefixes generated by the customer's route object and the prefixes that have been actively generating traffic on the inbound interface of the router (or other provider edge system). This results in a smaller ingress filter that can be reliably configured on the provider edge system.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 4, 2023
    Publication date: January 25, 2024
    Applicant: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventor: Stewart Bamford