Content delivery network referral

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9253255-B1
Application number	US-201414562052-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Dec 5, 2014
Priority date	Jul 12, 2012
Publication date	Feb 2, 2016
Grant date	Feb 2, 2016

Abstract

In general, techniques are described for managing content request referrals by keying content requests to a composite key data structure that maps end-user address prefixes and content identifiers to content delivery network servers of downstream CDNs. In one example, a CDN exchange includes a communication module to receive first network prefixes and first content identifiers from a first secondary content delivery network and to receive second network prefixes and second content identifiers from a second secondary content delivery network. A request router of the CDN exchange redirects the content request to the first secondary content delivery network or to the second secondary content delivery network according to a network address of the end user device and a content identifier for the content request.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
executing, by a network device, a routing protocol process and an application process;
invoking, by the application process, an interface of the routing protocol process to dynamically register a transmit interface of the routing protocol process for sending application data using routing protocol advertisements associated with a code point, wherein the code point identifies a routing information base for a layer 3 routing protocol;
receiving, by the routing protocol process from the application process via the transmit interface, application data for the application process; and
sending, by the routing protocol process to a peer network device, a routing protocol advertisement that conforms to the routing protocol and that includes the application data for the application process, wherein the routing protocol advertisement specifies an application identifier associated with the transmit interface that enables the peer network device to determine a corresponding receive interface of the peer network device for the transmit interface.

2. The method of claim 1 ,
wherein the routing protocol comprises a multiprotocol border gateway protocol (MP-BGP), and
wherein the code point of the routing protocol comprises a combination of an Address Family Identifier and a Supplemental Address Family Identifier that identifies the routing information base of a plurality of routing information bases stored by the network device.

3. The method of claim 1 ,
wherein the routing protocol advertisement comprises a MP-BGP UPDATE message, and
wherein the application identifier comprises an application identifier tag that is associated with the transmit interface and identifies, in the MP-BGP UPDATE message, a Network Layer Reachability Information (NLRI) defined by the application process.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the NLRI defined by the application process comprises an opaque NLRI within a MP-REACH-NLRI of the MP-BGP UPDATE message.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein invoking the interface of the routing protocol process comprises sending, by the application process to the routing protocol process, an identifier for the code point and the application identifier.

6. The method of claim 5 ,
wherein the application process comprises a first application process,
wherein the application identifier comprises a first application identifier,
wherein the transmit interface comprises a first transmit interface, and
wherein the routing protocol advertisement comprises a first routing protocol advertisement, the method further comprising:
invoking, by a second application process executing on the network device, the interface of the routing protocol process to dynamically register a second transmit interface for the code point that identifies the routing information base for the routing protocol;
receiving, by the routing protocol process from the second application process via the second transmit interface, application data for the second application process; and
sending, by the routing protocol process to the peer network device, a second routing protocol advertisement that conforms to the routing protocol and that includes the application data for the second application process, wherein the second routing protocol advertisement specifies a second application identifier associated with the second transmit interface that enables the peer network device to determine a corresponding receive interface of the peer network device for the second transmit interface.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the routing protocol advertisement comprises a first routing protocol advertisement, the method further comprising:
receiving, by the routing protocol process, a second routing protocol advertisement that conforms to the routing protocol and includes received application data; and
sending, by the routing protocol process to the application process in response to determining the second routing protocol advertisement specifies the application identifier, the received application data.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the application data comprises content delivery network (CDN) interconnection application data.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the network device comprises a CDN exchange configured to operate as a trusted intermediary between one or more secondary CDNs and a primary CDN for the secondary CDNs.

10. A network device comprising:
a control unit comprising a hardware-based processor;
a routing protocol process configured for execution by the control unit;
an application process configured for execution by the control unit to invoke an interface of the routing protocol process to dynamically register a transmit interface of the routing protocol process for sending application data using routing protocol advertisements associated with a code point, wherein the code point identifies a routing information base for a layer 3 routing protocol,
wherein the routing protocol process is configured to receive, from the application process via the transmit interface, application data for the application process,
wherein the routing protocol process is configured to send, to a peer network device, a routing protocol advertisement that conforms to the routing protocol and that includes the application data for the application process, wherein the routing protocol advertisement specifies an application identifier associated with the transmit interface that enables the peer network device to determine a corresponding receive interface of the peer network device for the transmit interface.

11. The network device of claim 10 ,
wherein the routing protocol comprises a multiprotocol border gateway protocol (MP-BGP), and
wherein the code point of the routing protocol comprises a combination of an Address Family Identifier and a Supplemental Address Family Identifier that identifies the routing information base of a plurality of routing information bases stored by the network device.

12. The network device of claim 10 ,
wherein the routing protocol advertisement comprises a MP-BGP UPDATE message, and
wherein the application identifier comprises an application identifier tag that is associated with the transmit interface and identifies, in the MP-BGP UPDATE message, a Network Layer Reachability Information (NLRI) defined by the application process.

13. The network device of claim 10 , wherein the NLRI defined by the application process comprises an opaque NLRI within a MP-REACH-NLRI of the MP-BGP UPDATE message.

14. The network device of claim 10 , wherein to invoke the interface of the routing protocol process the application process is further configured to send, by the application process to the routing protocol process, an identifier for the code point and the application identifier.

15. The network device of claim 14 ,
wherein the application process comprises a first application process,
wherein the application identifier comprises a first application identifier,
wherein the transmit interface comprises a first transmit interface, and
wherein the routing protocol advertisement comprises a first routing protocol advertisement, the network device further comprising:
a second application process configured for execution by the control unit to invoke the interface of the routing protocol process to dynamically register a second transmit interface for the code point that identifies the routing information base for the routing protocol,
wherein the routing protocol process is further configured to receive, from the second application process via the second transmit interface, a

Assignees

• Juniper Networks Inc

Inventors

• Bosch Hendrikus G P
• Ferguson Scott
• Medved Jan
• Ward David
• Gredler Hannes

Classifications

• H04L67/1093 Primary

  Some peer nodes performing special functions · CPC title

• H04L65/60 Primary

  Network streaming of media packets · CPC title

• H04L65/612

  for unicast · CPC title

• H04L67/563

  Data redirection of data network streams · CPC title

• H04N21/63

  Control signaling {related to video distribution} between client, server and network components; Network processes for video distribution between server and clients {or between remote clients}, e.g. transmitting basic layer and enhancement layers over different transmission paths, setting up a peer-to-peer communication via Internet between remote STB's; Communication protocols; Addressing (real-time session protocols H04L65/1101; distributed application using peer-to-peer [P2P] networks H04L67/104) · CPC title