Methods, systems, and computer program products for associating a name with a network path

What is this patent about?

’144 is related to the field of network routing and addressing, specifically addressing the limitations of global identifier spaces like standard IPv4 and IPv6. It provides a framework for navigating complex network topologies by moving away from the rigid distinction between names, addresses, and routes. The background context involves the increasing latency and exhaustion of global address spaces, necessitating a more flexible approach to how nodes identify one another and determine the paths between them.

The underlying idea behind ’144 is the use of scope-specific and path-based identifiers that redefine how a node locates a destination based on its own position within the network topology. Instead of relying solely on a global IP address, the invention leverages identifiers that are valid only within specific regions or relative to specific nodes. By treating a protocol address as a sequence of hop or interface identifiers, the system allows for dynamic path discovery and routing that is inherently tied to the network's physical or logical structure.

The claims of ’144 focus on a current node’s ability to process a packet header—formatted according to label switching or IPv6—to identify a region scoped node identifier. This identifier exists within a space that spans a specific region and globally identifies a target node within that region. The claims specifically cover the mechanism where the current node uses this scoped identifier to select a path segment from its routing table, including multi-hop segments, to forward data toward a receiving node that resides within that defined topological region.

In practice, the invention operates by having nodes detect their immediate neighbors and determine hop identifiers, which are then reported to a topology service. This service builds a representation of the network in a metric space, allowing nodes to resolve symbolic names into path-based protocol addresses. When a packet arrives, the node evaluates the header to determine if the identifier is specific to its own region or a remote one, adjusting the address separator or bit-mask to expose the next relevant routing instruction for the subsequent segment of the journey.

This approach differentiates itself from prior art by replacing static global addressing with a nested, hierarchical, or path-relative scheme. Unlike standard CIDR or IPv6 global unicast routing, which treats the address as a fixed destination, ’144 enables source routing and scope-specific translation where the meaning of an address can change as it traverses different network zones. This reduces the reliance on a single global namespace and allows for more efficient routing through multi-hop segments by utilizing the inherent geometry of the network topology.