Abstract: A system and method of routing communication signals is provided. A first technique uses a packet switched device that operates using Internet Protocol, the packet switched device determines one or more commands based on a routing request to establish, maintain, restore or breakdown one or more communication paths and a circuit switched device that provides physical switching between a plurality of ports based on the one or more commands from the packet switched device. A second technique for expediting error condition information is also provided. As various error conditions are recognized, information relating to the error conditions is provided directly to the packet switched device to enable the packet switched device to restore communications with minimal delay.

Abstract: A method for lightpath provisioning in a reconfigurable optical network that comprises the steps of naming each network addressable element in the reconfigurable optical network, determining current resources therein, determining current topology therein, requesting establishment of a lightpath, and allocating the lightpath. A system for lightpath provisioning in a reconfigurable optical network is also provided, which includes naming each network addressable element in the reconfigurable optical network, determining current topology in the reconfigurable optical network, determining current resources in the reconfigurable optical network, requesting establishment of a lightpath, allocating the lightpath and removing the lightpath upon completion.

Abstract: A system and method of routing communication signals is provided. A first technique uses a packet switched device that operates using Internet Protocol, the packet switched device determines one or more commands based on a routing request to establish, maintain, restore or breakdown one or more communication paths and a circuit switched device that provides physical switching between a plurality of ports based on the one or more commands from the packet switched device. A second technique for expediting error condition information is also provided. As various error conditions are recognized, information relating to the error conditions is provided directly to the packet switched device to enable the packet switched device to restore communications with minimal delay.

Abstract: A method for lightpath restoration in a reconfigurable optical network comprises the steps of naming each network addressable element in said reconfigurable optical network, determining current topology in said reconfigurable optical network, determining current resources in said reconfigurable optical network, requesting establishment of a lightpath, requesting reservation of restoration capacity, allocating the lightpath, and reserving the restoration capacity. Also disclosed is a method for lightpath restoration that comprises the steps of reserving restoration capacity, detecting transmission failures in the reconfigurable optical network, handling exceptions as a 10 result of transmission failures, and allocating transmission capacity.

Abstract: A method and system that enables a network and components of the network to be aware of the services existing at the edges of the network and to route connection requests for these services to appropriate servers within the network based on a variety of criteria. By making the network and network components service-aware, routing functions can be implemented in a more scalable and efficient way.

Abstract: A method for lightpath restoration in a reconfigurable optical network comprises the steps of naming each network addressable element in said reconfigurable optical network, determining current topology in said reconfigurable optical network, determining current resources in said reconfigurable optical network, requesting establishment of a lightpath, requesting reservation of restoration capacity, allocating the lightpath, and reserving the restoration capacity. Also disclosed is a method for lightpath restoration that comprises the steps of reserving restoration capacity, detecting transmission failures in the reconfigurable optical network, handling exceptions as a result of transmission failures, and allocating transmission capacity.

Abstract: A method for lightpath provisioning in a reconfigurable optical network that comprises the steps of naming each network addressable element in the reconfigurable optical network, determining current resources therein, determining current topology therein, requesting establishment of a lightpath, and allocating the lightpath. A system for lightpath provisioning in a reconfigurable optical network is also provided, comprising means for naming each network addressable element in the reconfigurable optical network, means for determining current topology in the reconfigurable optical network, means for determining current resources in the reconfigurable optical network, means for requesting establishment of a lightpath, means for allocating the lightpath and means for removing the lightpath upon completion.

Abstract: A system and method of routing communication signals is provided. A first technique uses a packet switched device that operates using Internet Protocol, the packet switched device determines one or more commands based on a routing request to establish, maintain, restore or breakdown one or more communication paths and a circuit switched device that provides physical switching between a plurality of ports based on the one or more commands from the packet switched device. A second technique for expediting error condition information is also provided. As various error conditions are recognized, information relating to the error conditions is provided directly to the packet switched device to enable the packet switched device to restore communications with minimal delay.

Abstract: A method and system that enables a network and components of the network to be aware of the services existing at the edges of the network and to route connection requests for these services to appropriate servers within the network based on a variety of criteria. By making the network and network components service-aware, routing functions can be implemented in a more scalable and efficient way.

Abstract: The present invention permits quality-of-service routing without using any flow pinning or per-flow state mechanisms. In accordance with the present invention, load insensitive routing techniques are utilized for QoS traffic while load sensitive routing techniques are utilized for best effort traffic. In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, conventional static shortest path routing is utilized for flows that require QoS guarantees while known QoS routing techniques are utilized for best effort flows. Unlike the prior art, a single queue per class per link can be utilized at a network node. The present invention has numerous advantages over the prior art including reduced protocol overhead, lower cost, and reduced route instability.

Abstract: A method and system that enables a network and components of the network to be aware of the services existing at the edges of the network and to route connection requests for these services to appropriate servers within the network based on a variety of criteria. By making the network and network components service-aware, routing functions can be implemented in a more scalable and efficient way.

Abstract: A method and system provide for a network using lightweight signaling for establishing connections. The method and system establish a best efforts connection between at least two terminals, on a hop-by-hop basis. Data can flow before and quality of service is established. The system enhances processing time for quality of service requirements and provides flexibility in establishing multicast connections.

Abstract: A method and system facilitate telephony over computer based networks. The parties to a telephone call need not have the same telephone application software capabilities before the call is initiated nor does the network have to provide standard signaling. Instead, in accordance with the method and system one of the parties defines to the other party the encoding/decoding technique to be used in the processing of the call. The definition can be either by supplying a copy of the application to the other party or by providing the other party with an indirect reference to where the application can be obtained.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for communicating information in a network is described. A packet for the information is generated at a first network device. The first network device assigns a flow label to the packet. The flow label indicates that the packet is part of a particular sequence of packets. The first network device also assigns a direction to the packet by, for example, setting a bit in the flow label. The packet is then sent to a second network device through at least one intermediate network device. This process is continued for the entire sequence of packets. The intermediate network device actually routes the packets to the second network device. The intermediate network device receives the packets at an input port. A flow label is identified for each packet. The intermediate network device determines whether a flow table has an entry for the flow label. If there is no present entry for the flow label in the flow table, an entry for the flow label is created.

Abstract: A messaging system in which a core messaging infrastructure stores and manages messaging attributes, but applications external to the core infrastructure define and modify most attributes. Attribute types may be easily defined or modified, the manner in which attribute values are obtained may be easily defined or modified, and the entity types to which attributes are assigned may be easily defined or modified. The messaging system includes a plurality of messaging entities, such as messages, folders, and users, a plurality of attributes associated with the messaging entities, and a plurality of applications. Each application is operable to examine and modify at least some of the messaging entities and attributes. An application selection device is operable to examine at least some of the messaging entities and at least some of the attributes and to select an application to be invoked, from among the plurality of applications, based on values of the examined messaging entities and attributes.

Abstract: A messaging system, and method of operation thereof, which supports combinations of directory and mailing list addressing mechanisms. Intended message recipients are specified as declarative addresses, which may include combinations of directory and mailing list information. The messaging system includes a messaging server and an address resolution module. The messaging server receives a message from a sender system and transmits the message to the recipient system. The address resolution module, which is coupled to the messaging server, receives a declarative address associated with the message, resolves the declarative address into at least one messaging address and transmits the at least one messaging address to the messaging server. In one embodiment, a database system may be coupled to the address resolution module to allow address resolution based on information stored in a database.

Abstract: A communications system is designed to receive programmed instructions from an end-user device, invoke within the system the necessary processes needed to execute these instructions, and to marshal and allocate the needed resources to deliver a communications service requested by the sender of the programmed instructions

Abstract: A system for frame peeking at a node of a data network includes a controller, a forwarding engine and an interface. The interface includes a subscribe/publish interface for allowing the controller to request (or subscribe) to receive a selected portion of a flow (a group of packets), and a facility access interface for allowing the controller to control each frame or packet. By providing only a selected portion of received packets to the controller rather than the entire packet, the controller can operate on the incoming data without significantly degrading the forwarding performance of the system. Frame peeking can also be used in an end-system to minimize packet processing.

Abstract: A system for frame peeking at a node of a data network includes a controller, a forwarding engine and an interface. The interface includes a subscribe/publish interface for allowing the controller to request (or subscribe) to receive a selected portion of a flow (a group of packets), and a facility access interface for allowing the controller to control each frame or packet. By providing only a selected portion of received packets to the controller rather than the entire packet, the controller can operate on the incoming data without significantly degrading the forwarding performance of the system. Frame peeking can also be used in an end-system to minimize packet processing.

Abstract: A messaging system that handles messages of any kind, and a method of operation thereof, in which advanced messaging services can be implemented for multiple users, across multiple mail clients, in a more flexible and less limited fashion than previous messaging systems. The messaging system includes a plurality of messaging entities together having a state. An event supplier detects a change in the state of the messaging entities and generates an event announcement. An event manager receives the event announcement and generates an event notification. An event consumer receives the event notification and examines or manipulates at least one messaging entity.