Distributed content distribution network

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12095847-B2
Application number	US-202117485917-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 27, 2021
Priority date	Sep 28, 2020
Publication date	Sep 17, 2024
Grant date	Sep 17, 2024

Abstract

Examples of the present disclosure relate to a distributed CDN comprised of CDN nodes that each have a compute engine and a data store. Compute engines may be used to execute software associated with computing functionality of the distributed CDN and may be reconfigured according to changing conditions to adapt computing functionality to current or expected demand. Nodes may communicate with one another via an overlay network. A node may determine whether it should process a request or generate a route via the overlay network to the remote node, thereby enabling the remote node to process the request. In another example, a node may receive a request for a compute resource that is not currently provided by the node. The compute engine of the node may be reconfigured to provide the compute resource, thereby enabling the node to service the request rather than redirect the request to a different node.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
at least one processor; and
memory, operatively connected to the at least one processor and storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to perform a set of operations, the set of operations comprising:
receiving, from a client device, a request for computing functionality of a content distribution network (CDN);
generating a local performance metric associated with processing the request for computing functionality;
evaluating, based at least in part on a remote performance metric for a remote CDN node, the local performance metric to determine whether to process the request for computing functionality;
when it is determined to process the request for computing functionality:
generating a response to the request to the request for computing functionality; and
providing the response to the client device; and
when it is determined not to process the request for computing functionality:
generating, via an overlay network, a route to the remote CDN node; and
providing, to the remote CDN node, an indication to process, via the generated route, the request for computing functionality.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the remote performance metric is a first remote performance metric;
the remote CDN node is a first remote CDN node; and
the first remote performance metric is stored in a latency table that further comprises a second remote performance metric for a second remote CDN node.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein evaluating the local performance metric further comprises determining that the first remote CDN node has less latency than the second remote CDN node based on comparing the first performance metric to the second performance metric.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the remote performance metric for the remote CDN node is based on at least one of:
a network response latency for the remote CDN node;
a compute engine response latency for the remote CDN node; or
a software response latency for the remote CDN node.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the network response latency for the remote CDN node is determined based at least in part on an Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) control message received from the remote CDN node via the overlay network.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the set of operations further comprises:
receiving, from the remote CDN node via the generated route, a response to the request for computing functionality; and
providing the received response to the client device.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the set of operations further comprises:
receiving another request from the client device associated with the computing functionality; and
providing, to the remote CDN node via the generated route, an indication of the another request.

8. A method for processing a request in a distributed content distribution network (CDN), the method comprising:
receiving, from a client device, a request for computing functionality of a content distribution network (CDN);
generating a local performance metric associated with processing the request for computing functionality;
evaluating, based at least in part on a remote performance metric for a remote CDN node, the local performance metric to determine whether to process the request for computing functionality;
based on determining not to process the request for computing functionality:
generating, via an overlay network, a route to the remote CDN node; and
providing, to the remote CDN node, an indication to process, via the generated route, the request for computing functionality.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein:
the remote performance metric is a first remote performance metric;
the remote CDN node is a first remote CDN node; and
the first remote performance metric is stored in a latency table that further comprises a second remote performance metric for a second remote CDN node.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein evaluating the local performance metric further comprises determining that the first remote CDN node has less latency than the second remote CDN node based on comparing the first performance metric to the second performance metric.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein the remote performance metric for the remote CDN node is based on at least one of:
a network response latency for the remote CDN node;
a compute engine response latency for the remote CDN node; or
a software response latency for the remote CDN node.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the network response latency for the remote CDN node is determined based at least in part on an Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) control message received from the remote CDN node via the overlay network.

13. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
receiving, from the remote CDN node via the generated route, a response to the request for computing functionality; and
providing the received response to the client device.

14. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
receiving another request from the client device associated with the computing functionality; and
providing, to the remote CDN node via the generated route, an indication of the another request.

Assignees

• Centurylink Ip Llc

Inventors

• Casey Steven M
• Opferman Stephen

Classifications

• H04L61/103

  across network layers, e.g. resolution of network layer into physical layer addresses or address resolution protocol [ARP] · CPC title

• H04L45/64

  using an overlay routing layer · CPC title

• H04L43/0852

  Delays · CPC title

• H04L67/63

  Routing a service request depending on the request content or context · CPC title

• H04L67/51

  Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services · CPC title