The bypass network is designed to provide fast access and high quality streaming media services anywhere anytime. There are five major components including
Peering Gateway, Content Locator,
Edge Server, Gateway and
Client. The whole bypass network is divided into number of self-managed sub-networks, which are referred as local networks in this document. Each local network contains Edge Servers, gateways, and a Content Locator. The Edge Servers serve as cache storage and streaming servers for the local network. The gateways provide a connection point for the
client computers. Each local network is managed by a Content Locator. The Content Locator handles all
client requests by communicating with the
Peering Gateway and actual web sites, and makes the content available on local Edge Servers. The Content Locator also balances the load on each
Edge Server by monitoring the
workload on them. One embodiment is designed for home users whose home
machine does not move around frequently. A second embodiment is designed for business users who travel around very often where the laptops would self-configure as a
client of the network.