Abstract: Mobile protocol packets, with a header field and a payload field, are communicated from a user mobile equipment to an application-aware serving gateway. The application-aware mobile protocol serving gateway detects header information in the header field and application information in the payload field to manage the mobile protocol packets based on a policy.

Abstract: A method for providing a conditional action following TCAM lookup is disclosed. The method for providing a conditional action following TCAM lookup includes obtaining data; generating a lookup key from the data; performing a TCAM lookup using the key; and in the event the TCAM lookup generates a match, then performing an test to determine if there is exists a condition associated with the action associated with that match, and in the event the there is a condition, evaluating said condition associated with the action of that match entry; and in the event that said condition is satisfied, then performing a conditional action. The data may be from a communications packet header, the condition evaluation may be one of packet length or Time to Live (TTL) value, and the action taken may be one of dropping or forwarding a communications packet. The method for providing a conditional action following TCAM lookup is particularly useful for reducing the quantity of entries in a TCAM of TCAM filters known in the art.

Abstract: Various exemplary embodiments are a method and related system and computer-readable medium including one or more the following: receiving a data packet; analyzing the data packet using deep packet inspection (DPI) to determine an application associated with the data packet; determining an MPLS tunnel corresponding to the application associated with the data packet; and forwarding the data packet through the MPLS tunnel. In various exemplary embodiments, the step of analyzing the data packet including examining information in layers 2 through 7 of the data packet or analyzing the data packet to match an application signature. Furthermore, in various exemplary embodiments, the method and related system and computer-readable medium also includes adding a marking to the data packet to indicate the application associated with the data packet.

Abstract: Virtual connection route selection apparatus and techniques are disclosed. At a communication traffic routing apparatus, metric information associated with multiple different routes for a virtual connection, such as a PseudoWire, toward a destination is collected. The metric information may be collected from one or more remote route computation elements capable of computing routes for virtual connections between the routing apparatus and other routing apparatus over an underlying communication system, or during actual establishment of the virtual connections, for example. An initial or re-optimized route for a virtual connection can then be selected at the routing apparatus based on the collected metric information. In some embodiments, although the virtual connection routes are paths computed by Path Computation Elements (PCEs), actual path selection decisions are distributed to routers.

Abstract: Various exemplary embodiments comprise a method and related device and computer-readable medium including one or more of the following: receiving an uncompressed packet sent from the source node to the destination node during a compression negotiation stage; storing information extracted from the uncompressed packet, the stored information sufficient to uniquely identify flows; receiving a compressed packet sent from the source node to the destination node; associating the compressed packet with an active flow by accessing the stored information and information in the compressed packet; performing deep packet inspection (DPI) to identify an application associated with the active flow; and performing application-specific processing on at least one packet belonging to the active flow. In various exemplary embodiments, the information extracted from the uncompressed packet includes a context identifier used to establish a compression context between a compressor and a decompressor.

Abstract: Various exemplary embodiments relate to a system and related method for transmission of content over a telecommunications network. The system may include a deep packet inspection (DPI) device configured to perform DPI to identify an application associated with the new flow, determine an amount of bandwidth required for the application, and determine a current amount of bandwidth used by the subscriber. The DPI device may then determine a total amount of bandwidth used by the subscriber. When the total amount of bandwidth exceeds an amount of bandwidth guaranteed to the subscriber, the DPI device may perform a traffic management action on packets belonging to the new flow, such that the total amount of bandwidth used by the subscriber does not exceed the amount of bandwidth guaranteed to the subscriber.

Abstract: An Ethernet protection and loadsharing capability is provided. The Ethernet protection and loadsharing capability enables co-existence of both protection and loadsharing for an Ethernet tunnel, having a plurality of associated Ethernet paths, between first and second Ethernet switches. The first Ethernet switch receives configuration information associated with the Ethernet tunnel between the first and second Ethernet switches, and processes the configuration information for causing the first Ethernet switch to associate the Ethernet paths of the Ethernet tunnel with an Ethernet tunnel endpoint object associated with an Ethernet tunnel. The first Ethernet switch, upon receiving traffic intended for the second Ethernet switch, propagates the traffic from the first Ethernet switch toward the second Ethernet switch via at least a subset of the Ethernet paths of the Ethernet tunnel using protection and/or loadsharing.

Abstract: A packet processing system for providing application-aware hot redundancy and a related card and methods are disclosed. The system may include a plurality of active devices, each including a processor configured to perform deep packet inspection to identify an application associated with an active flow, and a redundancy block configured to determine whether the application requires hot redundancy and, if so, to forward a message from which state information may be derived. The system may also include at least one protecting device in communication with each of the active devices and configured to receive the message regarding the active flow from the active device, derive state information from the message, and resume packet forwarding operations for the active flow upon failure of a respective active device of the plurality of active devices.

Abstract: Mobile protocol packets, with a header field and a payload field, are communicated from a user mobile equipment to an application-aware serving gateway. The application-aware mobile protocol serving gateway detects header information in the header field and application information in the payload field to manage the mobile protocol packets based on a policy.

Abstract: Mobile protocol packets, with a header field and a payload field, are communicated from a user mobile equipment to an application-aware serving gateway. The application-aware mobile protocol serving gateway detects header information in the header field and application information in the payload field to manage the mobile protocol packets based on a policy.

Abstract: Virtual connection route selection apparatus and techniques are disclosed. At a communication traffic routing apparatus, metric information associated with multiple different routes for a virtual connection, such as a PseudoWire, toward a destination is collected. The metric information may be collected from one or more remote route computation elements capable of computing routes for virtual connections between the routing apparatus and other routing apparatus over an underlying communication system, or during actual establishment of the virtual connections, for example. An initial or re-optimized route for a virtual connection can then be selected at the routing apparatus based on the collected metric information. In some embodiments, although the virtual connection routes are paths computed by Path Computation Elements (PCEs), actual path selection decisions are distributed to routers.

Abstract: Based on application information received from a Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) device, a Radio Network Controller (RNC) or similar device may select a dormancy timer value to optimize the use of network resources. In particular, the RNC may set an additional dormancy timer based on a default value or a rough determination of the application by examining port numbers. After the DPI device has received a sufficient number of packets to identify the underlying application, the DPI device may then propagate the application information to the RNC. Based on this application information, the RNC may determine the most efficient dormancy timer and modify the value of the default timer based on this determination.

Abstract: Various exemplary embodiments are a method and related device and computer-readable medium including one or more of the following: receiving a packet sent from the source node to the destination node; associating the packet with an active flow by accessing information in the packet; performing deep packet inspection (DPI) to identify an application associated with the active flow; associating application-identifying information with the packet; forwarding the packet including the application-identifying information towards the destination node; and performing application-specific processing at a downstream device on at least one packet belonging to the active flow, the downstream device identifying the application associated with the active flow by extracting the application-identifying information from the packet.

Abstract: An Ethernet protection and loadsharing capability is provided. The Ethernet protection and loadsharing capability enables co-existence of both protection and loadsharing for an Ethernet tunnel, having a plurality of associated Ethernet paths, between first and second Ethernet switches. The first Ethernet switch receives configuration information associated with the Ethernet tunnel between the first and second Ethernet switches, and processes the configuration information for causing the first Ethernet switch to associate the Ethernet paths of the Ethernet tunnel with an Ethernet tunnel endpoint object associated with an Ethernet tunnel. The first Ethernet switch, upon receiving traffic intended for the second Ethernet switch, propagates the traffic from the first Ethernet switch toward the second Ethernet switch via at least a subset of the Ethernet paths of the Ethernet tunnel using protection and/or loadsharing.

Abstract: Various exemplary embodiments disclose an apparatus and method for generating a database that maps metadata to peer-to-peer (P2P) content and, more particularly, to a database that an Internet Service Provider (ISP) can build to correlate metadata with P2P traffic. The database may collect metadata having a key that uniquely corresponds to particular P2P content. An ISP may use the database to identify malware in P2P files and tag P2P traffic that seeks to exchange material in violation of applicable copyright laws.

Abstract: Based on application information received from a DPI device, a downstream device, such as a Radio Network Controller (RNC), optimally implements a dormancy timer policy for short-lived applications, such as email and MMS. In particular, the RNC may initially use a large value for the dormancy timer for these applications. When the RNC receives an indication of the end of the application from the DPI device, the RNC may terminate the connection, thereby immediately freeing up resources. Alternatively, should the DPI device fail to recognize the end of the application, the initial dormancy timer serves as a fail-safe, such that the radio network resources are still released for allocation to another device in the radio network.

Abstract: Various exemplary embodiments are a method and related device and computer-readable medium including one or more of the following: receiving a packet sent from the source node to the destination node; associating the packet with an active flow by accessing information in the packet; performing deep packet inspection (DPI) to identify an application associated with the active flow; determining a classification for the packet based on characteristics of the identified application; associating, with the packet, information identifying the classification; forwarding the packet including the information identifying the classification towards the destination node; and performing processing on the packet at a downstream device by extracting the classification from the packet.

Abstract: In various exemplary embodiments, a Deep Packet Inspection device is integrated into a provider edge router associated with a user agent client or provided externally. The DPI device monitors the exchange of packets between an originating proxy and a user agent client and inspects the packets to identify SIP control messages. By monitoring the messages exchanged between the two devices, the DPI device may determine the type of application, desired QoS, source, destination, and other information related to the connection. Using this information, the router may then access a policy database to determine whether there is a QoS policy for the application and/or user. Based on this determination, the router may initiate network reservation for an anticipated data flow or store the information so the flow of packets can be remarked as the packets arrive. Accordingly, in various exemplary embodiments, the edge router is aware that QoS should be granted.

Abstract: Various exemplary embodiments relate to a method and related network node including one or more of the following: configuring a maintenance domain on a first network node; configuring a maintenance association within the maintenance domain on a first network node; configuring, within the maintenance association, a local maintenance endpoint (MEP) on the first network node; and establishing a plurality of point-to-point connections within the maintenance association, each point-to-point connection established between the local MEP and a respective remote MEP on a respective network node of the plurality of network nodes using an identifier of the respective remote MEP and a Media Access Control (MAC) address of the respective remote MEP, wherein each point-to-point connection enables transmission of unicast CFM messages from the local MEP to the respective remote MEP, and the plurality of point-to-point connections are established within a single maintenance association.

Abstract: Various exemplary embodiments relate to a method and related network element including one or more of the following: receiving, by the network node, a packet belonging to an IP flow; when the IP flow is a flow for which content information is to be sent to the content identification device, performing the steps of: determining, using deep packet inspection, that the packet contains a value for at least one field of interest, determining whether all fields of interest needed by the content identification have been seen by the network node among a plurality of packets belonging to the IP flow, and communicating the value of the at least one field of interest to the content identification device.