Dynamic loop detection and suppression

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10715436-B2
Application number	US-201414289359-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 28, 2014
Priority date	May 28, 2014
Publication date	Jul 14, 2020
Grant date	Jul 14, 2020

Abstract

Systems and methods are described for effectively managing and maintaining a communication network by monitoring communications to detect a loop condition, and effectively route the communication to one or more destinations known to reduce or eliminate the occurrence of a looping condition. In one embodiment one or more computing devices may be configured to detect or assign an identifier to an incoming network communication, retrieve routing information from a routing database identifying one or more destinations to route the communication. The one or more computing devices may be further configured to compare the routing information with the identifier to determine an appropriate destination to route the communication.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
receiving, from a first computing device and via a network, a communication addressed to a first destination;
determining, by a second computing device, that a number of instances the communication was routed through a node on the network satisfies a threshold; and
after the determining that the number of instances satisfies the threshold:
modifying, by the second computing device, a header of the communication to include a data field comprising a looping identifier indicating that the communication was sent by a looping customer; and
routing, to the first destination and based on the looping identifier, the communication to suppress an occurrence of a loop condition.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the data field comprises an organization header field.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the organization header field further comprises data indicating that the looping customer is providing peering services for the communication.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
retrieving data indicating an originator of the communication; and
querying, based on the data indicating the originator of the communication, a database identifying computing devices associated with one or more looping customers.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
retrieving data indicating an originator of the communication; and
querying, based on the data indicating the originator of the communication, a database identifying a plurality of looping customers.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein modifying the header of the communication to include the data field further comprises:
adding an organization header field that identifies a routing device associated with the loop condition.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein a source of the loop condition is different from an originator of the communication.

8. An apparatus comprising:
one or more processors; and
memory storing computer executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to:
receive, from a first computing device and via a network, a communication addressed to a first destination;
determine that a number of instances the communication was routed through a node on the network satisfies a threshold; and
after determining that the number of instances satisfies the threshold:
modify a header of the communication to include a data field comprising a looping identifier indicating that the communication was sent by a looping customer; and
route, to the first destination and based on the looping identifier, the communication to suppress an occurrence of a loop condition.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the computer executable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the apparatus to:
determine that the first computing device is associated with the looping customer.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the computer executable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the apparatus to determine that the first computing device is associated with the looping customer by:
retrieving data indicating an originator of the communication; and
querying, based on the data indicating the originator of the communication, a database to determine computing devices associated with one or more looping customers.

11. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the computer executable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the apparatus to determine that the first computing device is associated with the looping customer by:
retrieving data indicating an originator of the communication; and
querying, based on the data indicating the originator of the communication, a database to determine a plurality of looping customers.

12. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the computer executable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the apparatus to:
query a database to determine one or more proxy servers that have sent the communication.

13. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the computer executable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the apparatus to:
send, based at least in part on the looping identifier, a database query to obtain data indicating one or more looping customers.

14. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the computer executable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the apparatus to:
query a database to receive trunking data associated with the communication.

15. One or more non-transitory computer readable storage media storing computer executable instructions that, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to:
receive, from a first computing device and via a network, a communication addressed to a first destination;
determine that a number of instances the communication was routed through a node on the network satisfies a threshold; and
after determining that the number of instances satisfies the threshold:
modify a header of the communication to include a data field comprising a looping identifier indicating that the communication was sent by a looping customer; and
route, to the first destination and based on the looping identifier, the communication to suppress an occurrence of a loop condition.

16. The one or more non-transitory computer readable storage media of claim 15 , wherein the computer executable instructions, when executed, further cause the apparatus to:
determine that the first computing device is associated with the looping customer.

17. The one or more non-transitory computer readable storage media of claim 16 , wherein the computer executable instructions, when executed, further cause the apparatus to determine that the first computing device is associated with the looping customer by:
retrieving data indicating an originator of the communication; and
querying, based on the data indicating the originator of the communication, a database to determine whether the communication was sent by one or more looping customers.

18. The one or more non-transitory computer readable storage media of claim 15 , wherein the computer executable instructions, when executed, further cause the apparatus to:
query a database to retrieve routing information for the first computing device.

19. The one or more non-transitory computer readable storage media of claim 15 , wherein the computer executable instructions, when executed, further cause the apparatus to modify the header of the communication to include the data field by:
adding an organization header field that identifies a routing device associated with the loop condition.

20. The one or more non-transitory computer readable storage media of claim 15 , wherein the data field further comprises data indicating the loop customer that is providing peering services for the communication.

Assignees

• Comcast Cable Comm Llc

Inventors

• Li Chia-Chang
• Barache Mohamed
• Lambardia Robert

Classifications

• H04L45/745 Primary

  Address table lookup; Address filtering · CPC title

• H04L45/18

  Loop-free operations · CPC title