ISP Traffic Management via Address Replacement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) face high operating costs due to bandwidth-intensive Peer to Peer (P2P) traffic, and existing solutions that attempt to mitigate these costs often expose ISPs to liability risks by requiring them to handle or cache P2P communication content.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for managing communications that includes an external link identifier and an address replacement module, using a pool of addresses with content-insensitive criteria to determine replacements, allowing content exchange without exposing the ISP to the content of the communications and avoiding data storage or caching.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If ISPs implement traffic management solutions to reduce operating costs associated with P2P traffic, then cost reduction is achieved, but the ISP becomes exposed to the content of P2P communications which may impose copyright infringement liabilities
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary component (traffic management apparatus) that sits between the ISP and P2P traffic. This intermediary can identify and manage P2P communications through protocol analysis and pattern recognition without requiring the ISP to directly access or cache the actual content being transmitted, thus reducing operating expenses while avoiding copyright infringement liabilities
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the content-identification function from the content itself by using protocol signatures, header analysis, and traffic pattern recognition. This allows the ISP to identify P2P traffic for management purposes without extracting or storing the actual protected content, thereby achieving cost reduction through targeted traffic management while avoiding exposure to copyrighted material
2Loss of energy
If ISPs block P2P traffic to reduce operating costs, then cost reduction is achieved, but the quality of service level decreases which is not feasible due to popularity and demand of P2P services
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements partial action by selectively managing only P2P traffic while allowing other traffic types to flow normally. Through protocol identification and targeted intervention, the ISP can apply cost-reduction measures to specific traffic patterns without broadly blocking all traffic, thus reducing operating expenses while maintaining acceptable service quality for both P2P and non-P2P communications
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces dynamic traffic management capabilities that can adapt to varying P2P traffic conditions. The system can adjust management intensity, apply different policies to different P2P protocols, and modify intervention levels based on network conditions and service quality requirements, enabling cost reduction while preserving necessary service quality through flexible, real-time adjustments
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention provides a method and an apparatus for managing communications arriving from or to a node connected to a specified portion of a network. Some embodiments relate to an apparatus for managing communications arriving from or to a node connected to a specified portion of a network, including an external link identifier, a pool of addresses and an address replacement module. The external link identifier is configured to identify a message which is configured to enable requested content to be exchanged between the node and at least one other node which is external to the specified portion of the network. The pool of addresses is adapted to implement content insensitive criteria for determining which addresses to include in the pool. The address replacement module is adapted to implement a content insensitive replacement policy for determining whether an address included in the identified message should be replaced.