Abstract: A weighting process may be used to select between alternate neighbors in a RAPID calculation to enable policy and/or traffic engineering considerations to affect the selection of an alternate path through the network. The information used to weight the neighbors may static administratively assigned weighting information or dynamic weighting information such as local statistical traffic condition information. The process may take into account the amount of traffic being handled by the current primary next hop for the destination, the available capacity of the available alternate neighbors, the ability of the alternate neighbors to handle the additional traffic, and other considerations. Weighting may occur after a set of available loop free alternate neighbors has been determined. Alternatively, weighting may occur before the RAPID calculation has been performed to cause the neighbors to be ordered prior to RAPID processing. This may enable RAPID calculation to stop without considering all available neighbors.

Abstract: A networking system comprising a virtual group controller in an information centric network configured to enable mobility and security for a plurality of users groups of the information centric network, a plurality of user groups coupled to the virtual group controller and associated with the users, a plurality of agents that are each associated with one of the user groups, and a database for trusted service profile coupled to the virtual group controller, wherein the virtual group controller is configured to interact with the agents to enable mobility for the user groups using a server-less domain-based naming scheme.

Abstract: A method and apparatus in provided which enables fast layer 2 reconfiguration in a network that includes Routing Bridges. Each Routing Bridge stores, for each forwarding target, identifiers of a primary next Rbridge and an alternate next Rbridge. The forwarding target may be a network end node, or an Egress Rbridge associated with the network end node. In response to a trigger condition, layer 2 communications are selectively switched from a path that includes the primary next Rbridge device to a path that includes the alternate next Rbridge device.

Abstract: A method and apparatus in provided which enables fast layer 2 reconfiguration in a network that includes Routing Bridges. Each Routing Bridge stores, for each forwarding target, identifiers of a primary next Rbridge and an alternate next Rbridge. The forwarding target may be a network end node, or an Egress Rbridge associated with the network end node. In response to a trigger condition, layer 2 communications are selectively switched from a path that includes the primary next Rbridge device to a path that includes the alternate next Rbridge device.

Abstract: A weighting process may be used to select between alternate neighbors in a RAPID calculation to enable policy and/or traffic engineering considerations to affect the selection of an alternate path through the network. The information used to weight the neighbors may static administratively assigned weighting information or dynamic weighting information such as local statistical traffic condition information. The process may take into account the amount of traffic being handled by the current primary next hop for the destination, the available capacity of the available alternate neighbors, the ability of the alternate neighbors to handle the additional traffic, and other considerations. Weighting may occur after a set of available loop free alternate neighbors has been determined. Alternatively, weighting may occur before the RAPID calculation has been performed to cause the neighbors to be ordered prior to RAPID processing. This may enable RAPID calculation to stop without considering all available neighbors.

Abstract: A weighting process may be used to select between alternate neighbors in a RAPID calculation to enable policy and/or traffic engineering considerations to affect the selection of an alternate path through the network. The information used to weight the neighbors may static administratively assigned weighting information or dynamic weighting information such as local statistical traffic condition information. The process may take into account the amount of traffic being handled by the current primary next hop for the destination, the available capacity of the available alternate neighbors, the ability of the alternate neighbors to handle the additional traffic, and other considerations. Weighting may occur after a set of available loop free alternate neighbors has been determined. Alternatively, weighting may occur before the RAPID calculation has been performed to cause the neighbors to be ordered prior to RAPID processing. This may enable RAPID calculation to stop without considering all available neighbors.

Abstract: A networking system comprising a virtual group controller in an information centric network configured to enable mobility and security for a plurality of users groups of the information centric network, a plurality of user groups coupled to the virtual group controller and associated with the users, a plurality of agents that are each associated with one of the user groups, and a database for trusted service profile coupled to the virtual group controller, wherein the virtual group controller is configured to interact with the agents to enable mobility for the user groups using a server-less domain-based naming scheme.

Abstract: CE devices of the present invention are enabled to make more judicious routing decisions in CE-based VPNs. In determining a next-hop in a path from a source CE to a destination subnet, CE-to-CE costs are associated with each next-hop CE in a plurality of next-hop CEs. Each CE-to-CE cost is a cost of a path from the source CE to the associated next-hop CE. CE-to-subnet costs are associated with each of the next-hop CEs. Each CE-to-subnet cost is a cost of a path from the associated next-hop CE to the destination subnet. Total-costs are associated with each of the next-hop CEs. Each total-cost is a sum of a CE-to-CE cost associated with a next-hop CE and a CE-to-subnet cost associated with the same next-hop CE. The next-hop in the path is set to be a next-hop CE associated with an associated total-cost.

Abstract: Routing information may be provided to VPN sites on demand to allow smaller VPN sites with smaller routing tables to communicate directly with other VPN sites. This allows the meshed VPN architecture to scale to a size larger than where each VPN site is required to store routing information for all other VPN sites. A route server is instantiated on the network, optionally in connection with a Group Controller Key Server, to manage distribution of routes on the network and to provide routes to VPN sites on demand. As routes are learned by the VPN sites they are advertised to the route server, which selectively advertises the routes to other VPN sites depending on the per-site preferences. When a VPN site needs routing information to communicate with another VPN site, the network element will check its routing table for the route, and if the route is not available, will obtain the route on-demand from the route server.

Abstract: A S-VPN gateway provides a signaling gateway to integrate SIP signaling and UNI/NNI signaling, and manage the mapping between SIP sessions and VPN connections. The mapping relationship reflects the access of user applications to the specific VPN tunnels, multiplexing of media service sessions to VPN tunnels, VPN service creation, service duration, VPN QoS, VPN service life cycle management, and VPN service charge based on a per-service-usage. The S-VPN gateway also provides VPN access policy/security management (i.e., inter-domain AAA process), VPN membership auto-discovery, service auto-discovery, network resource auto-discovery, address resolution service for both SIP and VPN naming space, VPN service mobility, and SLA management. The S-VPN gateway enables network VPN tunnels to be created in advanced and accessed on-demand, for example by enterprise VPN applications such as GRID applications, through a SIP interface.

Abstract: A routing tree that spans a graph representing a network is constructed by iteratively expanding the tree to include a node of the graph that is not in the tree, the node being chosen because an allowable path extends from a root of the tree to the node that is optimal in comparison with the other paths to the other nodes not in the tree. If the path to the node cannot be extended to a node in the serial restriction group, the node is re-included in the tree using a secondary path to the node that can be extended to a node in the serial restriction group, if the secondary path is most optimal among the paths to nodes outside of the tree.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for associating metric information with an abstracted link of an abstracted network map that includes certain network elements (NEs) of a data transport network involves computing routes through the data transport network between the NEs of the abstracted network map. The routes may be computed using the shortest widest path algorithm. The routes from an NE are exchanged with the other NEs of the abstracted network map, so that an edge NE receives the resource availability information of all optimal routes between pairs of NEs in the abstracted network map. The edge NE then transforms the resource availability of a corresponding optimal route into metric information of an abstracted link. The metric information is sent to a client associated with the abstracted network map to permit the client to make routing decisions.

Abstract: A weighting process may be used to select between alternate neighbors in a RAPID calculation to enable policy and/or traffic engineering considerations to affect the selection of an alternate path through the network. The information used to weight the neighbors may static administratively assigned weighting information or dynamic weighting information such as local statistical traffic condition information. The process may take into account the amount of traffic being handled by the current primary next hop for the destination, the available capacity of the available alternate neighbors, the ability of the alternate neighbors to handle the additional traffic, and other considerations. Weighting may occur after a set of available loop free alternate neighbors has been determined. Alternatively, weighting may occur before the RAPID calculation has been performed to cause the neighbors to be ordered prior to RAPID processing. This may enable RAPID calculation to stop without considering all available neighbors.

Abstract: CE devices of the present invention are enabled to make more judicious routing decisions in CE-based VPNs. In determining a next-hop in a path from a source CE to a destination subnet, CE-to-CE costs are associated with each next-hop CE in a plurality of next-hop CEs. Each CE-to-CE cost is a cost of a path from the source CE to the associated next-hop CE. CE-to-subnet costs are associated with each of the next-hop CEs. Each CE-to-subnet cost is a cost of a path from the associated next-hop CE to the destination subnet. Total-costs are associated with each of the next-hop CEs. Each total-cost is a sum of a CE-to-CE cost associated with a next-hop CE and a CE-to-subnet cost associated with the same next-hop CE. The next-hop in the path is set to be a next-hop CE associated with an associated total-cost.

Abstract: A routing tree that spans a graph representing a network is constructed by iteratively expanding the tree to include a node of the graph that is not in the tree, the node being chosen because an allowable path extends from a root of the tree to the node that is optimal in comparison with the other paths to the other nodes not in the tree. If the path to the node cannot be extended to a node in the serial restriction group, the node is re-included in the tree using a secondary path to the node that can be extended to a node in the serial restriction group, if the secondary path is most optimal among the paths to nodes outside of the tree.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for associating metric information with an abstracted link of an abstracted network map that includes certain network elements (NEs) of a data transport network involves computing routes through the data transport network between the NEs of the abstracted network map. The routes may be computed using the shortest widest path algorithm. The routes from an NE are exchanged with the other NEs of the abstracted network map, so that an edge NE receives the resource availability information of all optimal routes between pairs of NEs in the abstracted network map. The edge NE then transforms the resource availability of a corresponding optimal route into metric information of an abstracted link. The metric information is sent to a client associated with the abstracted network map to permit the client to make routing decisions.

Abstract: A S-VPN gateway provides a signaling gateway to integrate SIP signaling and UNI/NNI signaling, and manage the mapping between SIP sessions and VPN connections. The mapping relationship reflects the access of user applications to the specific VPN tunnels, multiplexing of media service sessions to VPN tunnels, VPN service creation, service duration, VPN QoS, VPN service life cycle management, and VPN service charge based on a per-service-usage. The S-VPN gateway also provides VPN access policy/security management (i.e., inter-domain AAA process), VPN membership auto-discovery, service auto-discovery, network resource auto-discovery, address resolution service for both SIP and VPN naming space, VPN service mobility, and SLA management. The S-VPN gateway enables network VPN tunnels to be created in advanced and accessed on-demand, for example by enterprise VPN applications such as GRID applications, through a SIP interface.