Patents Assigned to Level 3 Communications, LLC
  • Publication number: 20230275806
    Abstract: Examples of the present disclosure describe systems and methods relating to adaptive virtual services. In an example, a user specifies a device configuration for a platform device. As a result, a service provider installs selected virtual-network functions and defines network connections as specified by the device configuration. Management software may also be installed, thereby enabling the service provider to communicate with and remotely manage the platform device. The installed virtual-network functions are activated on the platform device once it is delivered to the user. In some instances, the user changes the device configuration. For example, the user may install new virtual-network functions, reconfigure or remove existing virtual-network functions, or change defined network connections. As a result, the service provider reconfigures the platform device accordingly. Thus, the user need not purchase new specialized hardware in order to change the available functions of the computer network.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 8, 2023
    Publication date: August 31, 2023
    Applicant: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventors: Adam Saenger, Matthew Holway, Len Brannen, Gene Clark, Anil Simlot, Zubin Ingah, Johan J. Shane, Michael Gibson, Cory Sawyer, Rich Cerami, Kurt Deshazer
  • Publication number: 20230275871
    Abstract: Novel tools and techniques are provided for implementing dynamic border gateway protocol (“BGP”) host route generation based on domain name system (“DNS”) resolution. In various embodiments, a computing system may receive, from a user device via a first network, a request to establish a communications link with an external device via a second network that is separate from the first network, based on a first uniform resource identifier (“URI”) indicative of a network location of the external device. The computing system may query a DNS resolver for an Internet Protocol (“IP”) address corresponding to a valid current IP address, based on the first URI, and may advertise the IP address and/or a route based on the IP address. A communications link may be established between the user device and the external device based on the IP address and/or the route.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 31, 2023
    Publication date: August 31, 2023
    Applicant: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventor: Darrell Smith
  • Patent number: 11743296
    Abstract: A secure network device management system and method include monitoring and validating commands to network devices before such commands are executed. The security system accumulates inputs from a network device intended for display on a terminal and provided by the network device in response to inputs from the terminal and received by the network device. When a control input to execute the command is received from the terminal, the security system reproduces the command from the accumulated inputs and compares the reproduced command to a command list to determine whether the command is authorized. If so, the security system provides the control input to the network device such that the network device executes the command. Otherwise, the security system may delete the command and transmit an alert to the terminal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 8, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2023
    Assignee: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventors: Thomas D. Hutchinson, Scott Galvin
  • Patent number: 11743955
    Abstract: Novel tools and techniques are provided for implementing wireless functionality, and, more particularly, to methods, systems, and apparatuses for implementing faceplate-based wireless device functionality and wireless extension functionality. In various embodiments, one or more antennas, a power adapter, and at least one processor may be attached to an inner surface of a faceplate configured to be attached to a wall. The one or more antennas may be electrically coupled to the power adapter and communicatively coupled to the at least one processor. Alternatively, a wireless functionality device might include one or more antennas, a power adapter, and at least one processor. The wireless functionality device may be attached to an inner surface of a faceplate configured to be attached to a wall. The one or more antennas of the wireless functionality device may be electrically coupled to the power adapter and communicatively coupled to the at least one processor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2023
    Assignee: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventors: Luree Melvin, Gregory Wallace
  • Patent number: 11743146
    Abstract: Systems and methods of disconnecting a network service provided over a network service path include using a computing device that obtains a service identifier assigned to network service and identifies a port of a network device included in a network service path associated with the service. The computing device transmits a request to the network device for port configuration data of the network device and based on the received port configuration data, determines whether the port is assigned to the network service. If so, the computing devices executes a remediation operation which includes transmitting a reconfiguration command to the network device that is adapted to cause the network device to update the port configuration data to free the port.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 28, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2023
    Assignee: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventors: Brian V. H. Nguyen, Shellie Wickham
  • Patent number: 11743120
    Abstract: Examples described herein relate to systems and methods for tiered updating of configuration data. Updated configuration data is transmitted to different tiers of nodes. The nodes of a first tier are commanded to use the updated configuration data. After waiting to see if any nodes of the first tier communicate a fault after using the updated configuration data, for each of the additional tiers in the CDN it is sequentially repeated to: transmit a command to the nodes of that additional tier to use the updated configuration data; and after waiting to see if any nodes of any tier communicate a fault after using the updated configuration data, transmitting a command to the nodes of another additional tier to use the updated configuration data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2023
    Assignee: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventors: Laurence Lipstone, Daniel Jensen, William Power
  • Patent number: 11743167
    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: Grant
    Filed: October 28, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2023
    Assignee: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventors: Francis Ferguson, Eric Osborne, Clyde David Cooper, III, Brent W. Smith
  • Publication number: 20230269198
    Abstract: Novel tools and techniques are provided for implementing intent-based orchestration using network parsimony trees. In various embodiments, in response to receiving a request for network services that comprises desired characteristics and performance parameters for the requested network services without information regarding specific hardware, hardware type, location, or network, a computing system might generate a request-based parsimony tree based on the desired characteristics and performance parameters. The computing system might access, from a datastore, a plurality of network-based parsimony trees that are each generated based on measured network metrics, might compare the request-based parsimony tree with each of one or more network-based parsimony trees to determine a fitness score for each network-based parsimony tree, and might identify a best-fit network-based parsimony tree based on the fitness scores.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 21, 2023
    Publication date: August 24, 2023
    Applicant: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventors: Kevin M. McBride, Brett E. Dwyer, James E. Sutherland, Jamie Lin, Brent Smith, Glenn B. Balanoff, Frank Moss, Bryan Dreyer
  • Patent number: 11736575
    Abstract: Apparatuses and methods are disclosed for managing network connections. A computing device accesses a request to provision a network connection associated with a first device. The request includes a plurality of connection parameters defining desired specifications for a network connection from the first device to a second device. The connection parameters are validated against information from a database and other predetermined rules. A network connection path is generated to connect the first device with the second device. The network connection path is generated by selecting network elements for the network connection that satisfy the connection parameters. Configuration information for the network elements of the network connection path is aggregated for a configuration system. The configuration information is used to provision the network connection.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2023
    Assignee: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventors: Jin-Gen Wang, Michael Nyhus, Craig Tystad, James M. Adkins, III
  • Patent number: 11736344
    Abstract: Examples described herein relate to systems and methods for containing a faulty stimulus. A computer-implemented method may include listing in a suspect list every received stimulus including the faulty stimulus, and implicitly testing the stimuli by respectively acting upon those stimuli by a software application. Responsive to successfully acting upon each of the stimuli besides the faulty stimulus, each non-faulty stimulus is deleted from the suspect list and, responsive to such deletion, made available to a downstream node. Responsive to acting upon the faulty stimulus, the software application crashes which leaves the faulty stimulus listed in the suspect list. The software application then restarts and deems the faulty stimulus as being faulty based upon the faulty stimulus still being listed in the suspect list after the restart.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2023
    Assignee: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventor: William Crowder
  • Patent number: 11736403
    Abstract: An improved autonegotiation approach includes determining that a negotiated rate between a first network device and a second network device exceeds data transfer capacity over a network path downstream of the second network device. In response, a configuration message is generated and transmitted to the first network device. When received by the first network device, the configuration message causes the first network device to limit data transfer between the first network device and the second network device to no more than the downstream data transfer capacity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2023
    Assignee: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventors: Steven E. Drake, Charles R. Lyman
  • Publication number: 20230261943
    Abstract: A method for identifying VLANs associated with a network includes gathering actual network element configuration data from a plurality of network elements in the network, wherein the actual network element configuration data identifies one or more VLANs that at least some of the plurality of network elements are actually allocated to; correlating the actual network element configuration data with administrative VLAN data; and determining one or more VLANs that are not commonly identified in both the actual network element configuration data and the administrative VLAN data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 21, 2023
    Publication date: August 17, 2023
    Applicant: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventors: James Ryan, Marcus Hadavi, Michael Renner, Peter Faber, Raoul Alcala, John Kane, Hans Zeschin
  • Publication number: 20230261949
    Abstract: An optical network including a plurality of gateway nodes interconnected with a plurality of intermediate nodes with segments of fiber. The network includes a plurality of devices, such as reconfigurable optical add drop multiplexers, optimally placed at various nodes throughout the network. The device placement is optimized with an integer linear programming analysis considering span definition such that any given span involves some number of segments not exceeding a number of segments that would require wavelength regeneration, cost of placement of a device at a given node, cost of wavelength regeneration, and various parameters and constraints.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 21, 2023
    Publication date: August 17, 2023
    Applicant: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventors: Benjamin K. Peterson, Laurel Clark
  • Patent number: 11729026
    Abstract: A system and method for providing on-demand edge compute. The system may include an orchestrator that provides a UI and that controls an abstraction layer for implementing a workflow for providing on-demand edge compute. The abstraction layer may include a server configuration orchestration (SCO) system (e.g., a Metal-as-a-Service (MaaS) system) and API that may provide an interface between the orchestrator and the SCO. The API may enable the orchestrator to communicate with the SCO for receiving requests that enable the SCO to integrate with existing compute resources to perform various compute provisioning tasks (e.g., to build and provision a server instance). The various tasks, when executed, may provide on-demand edge compute service to users. The SCO API may further enable the ECS orchestrator to receive information from the SCO (e.g., compute resource information, status messages).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 21, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2023
    Assignee: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventors: Austin Ritchie, Scott Hemmann, Wen Wang, Brett Dwyer
  • Patent number: 11729249
    Abstract: A content delivery method, and related apparatus, that involves the operations of receiving a request for a content resource including at least one embedded resource with a tag. Upon identification of the tag, using at least one delivery parameter to generate a modified embedded resource. Embedding the modified embedded resource in a content resource, such as an HTML document. Delivering, such as in response to request from a browser, the content resource with the modified embedded resource.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2023
    Assignee: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventors: Christopher Newton, William R. Power
  • Patent number: 11726934
    Abstract: A method for registering a handler in a configured sequence of handlers includes: receiving, by a processor and memory implementing a sequencer infrastructure, a configuration script defining a sequence including one or more handler identifiers and corresponding one or more handler arguments; invoking a handler initialization entry point for a handler corresponding to a handler identifier, the invoking the handler initialization entry point including: selecting, based on the corresponding one or more handler arguments, a handler type from among two or more of: a configured instance of the handler; a configured alternate handler different from the handler; an alternate sequence of handlers; an expression; and a no-op handler; and initializing a configured handler based on the handler type selected and the corresponding one or more handler arguments; and adding the configured handler to a configured sequence of handlers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2023
    Assignee: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventor: William Crowder
  • Publication number: 20230254213
    Abstract: Systems and methods for managing configuration changes to a network are provided. In examples, the configuration rules are received and stored in a staging directory. If the configuration rules are validated, the rules are moved to a running directory. Thereafter a request to make a change to a configuration parameter is received. The request may comprise a configuration change object, and the configuration change object may be stored in the staging directory. The configuration change object may be evaluated against the rule (and other rules of the network), and it may be moved to the running directory only after satisfying all applicable rules. In some examples, applying the rule(s) may include determining whether the configuration change exceeds a network limit on changes of a particular type with a preset time period.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 6, 2023
    Publication date: August 10, 2023
    Applicant: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventors: William Power, Praveen Mohandas, Laurence Lipstone, Paul Carpenter
  • Publication number: 20230254406
    Abstract: The present application describes providing an attestation level to a received communication. The attestation level may be used to communicate a level of security to a network or a called party that receives the communication. The attestation level associated with the communication may indicate to a destination network and/or recipient that the phone number associated with the communication is secure and/or the telephone number has not been spoofed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 14, 2023
    Publication date: August 10, 2023
    Applicant: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventors: Richard D. Moore, Joseph Roy, Joseph Scivicque, Matthew C. Hess, George Wendell McFalls
  • Publication number: 20230254366
    Abstract: Examples described herein relate to apparatuses and methods for managing communications within a supercluster or across superclusters, including a first supercluster having a plurality of first machines and a publish-subscribe (Pub-Sub) channel to which each of the plurality of first machines is subscribed. A second supercluster has a plurality of second machines and a bridge between the first supercluster and the second supercluster. A first machine is configured to receive, via the bridge, an availability status and resource allocation information of each second machine and publish, on the Pub-Sub channel of the first supercluster, the availability status and the resource allocation information.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 21, 2023
    Publication date: August 10, 2023
    Applicant: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventor: Christopher Newton
  • Publication number: 20230246913
    Abstract: Systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable storage media which have instructions stored for execution on a processor, for automating the commissioning of a transport network element within a network. A system configured according to this disclosure can be an Automated Commissioning Tool which can initiate communications with a network element on the network. The Automated Commissioning Tool can then retrieve updated firmware corresponding to the network element and configure the network element to have the updated firmware. Finally, the Automated Commissioning Tool can determine, from a network plan, a first port on the network element which is to be connected via a cross-connect to a second port on the network element and establish the cross-connect on the network element. At this point the network element may be commissioned to operate as a transport network element within the network.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 7, 2023
    Publication date: August 3, 2023
    Applicant: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventors: Bernie C. Lehman, Erik W. McLeod