US6327252B1
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Automatic link establishment between distributed servers through an NBMA network
Assignee: Nokia Canada Inc
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Filing: 1998-10-05
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Granted: 2001-12-04
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Expires: 2018-10-05
Abstract
Abstract The invention relates to distributed computer or server networks and to methods of automatically establishing communication links between individual servers in the network. By taking advantage of the properties of group addresses (anycast addresses) inherent in certain networking technologies, coupled with innovative discovery and hunt protocols the servers in the network all become members of an overlay spanning tree where the tree is comprised of servers as nodes and communication links as edges. Discovery and hunt protocols are implemented to locate peer servers in the network and communication links are set up as required.
Inventors
- 👤 Roderick P. Silton
- 👤 Sirish Bajpai
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-02 08:39
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04L; H04L45/00; H04L45/28; H04L43/00; H04L43/08; H04L43/0805; H04L43/0811; H04L45/02; H04L45/18; H04L45/48; H04L12/00; H04L12/54; H04L12/56; H04L12/5601; H04L2012/5625; H04L2012/5627
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 19
Claim 1
Independent Claim
124 words
A method of joining a new server to a group of zero or more servers connected via a non-broadcast multi-access (NBMA) communications network comprising the steps of: in a first mode, attempting to establish a connection between the new server and an anycast address associated with the group of servers that the new server desires to join; and if the new server successfully establishes the connection to the anycast address, it registers the anyeast address with the communications network whereby registration informs the network that the new server is joined to the group of servers having the anycast address, and the new server maintains information respecting another server in the group to which it is connected including a natural address of the another server.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
124 words
A method of joining a new server to a group of zero or more servers connected via a non-broadcast multi-access (NBMA) communications network comprising the steps of: in a first mode, attempting to establish a connection between the new server and an anycast address associated with the group of servers that the new server desires to join; and if the new server successfully establishes the connection to the anycast address, it registers the anyeast address with the communications network whereby registration informs the network that the new server is joined to the group of servers having the anycast address, and the new server maintains information respecting another server in the group to which it is connected including a natural address of the another server.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
27 words
The method as defined in claim 1 wherein, if the connection is not successfully established on a first attempt, the new server retries to establish the connection.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method as defined in claim 2 wherein the new server makes up to three retries at one second intervals to establish a connection to the anycast address.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
35 words
The method as defined in claim 1 wherein if the new server fails to establish a connection to the anycast address it declares itself to be a root node and enters into a second mode.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
15 words
The method as defined in claim 4 wherein said anycast address comprises a discovery address.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
15 words
The method as defined in claim 4 wherein said second mode comprises a hunt mode.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
162 words
A method of joining a new server to a group of interconnectable zero or more servers via a non-broadcast multi-access (NBMA) communications network comprising the steps of: attempting to establish a connection between the new server and a discovery anycast address associated with the group of servers that the new server desires to join; if the new server successfully establishes the connection to the discovery anycast address the new server registers its discovery anycast address with the communications network whereby registration informs the network that the new server is joined to the group associated with the anycast address and the new server maintains information respecting another server in the group to which it is connected including a natural address of the another server, and if the new server does not successfully establish a connection to the discovery anycast address, the new server declares itself to be a root node and flags this status internally to reflect that it is a root server.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
162 words
A method of joining a new server to a group of interconnectable zero or more servers via a non-broadcast multi-access (NBMA) communications network comprising the steps of: attempting to establish a connection between the new server and a discovery anycast address associated with the group of servers that the new server desires to join; if the new server successfully establishes the connection to the discovery anycast address the new server registers its discovery anycast address with the communications network whereby registration informs the network that the new server is joined to the group associated with the anycast address and the new server maintains information respecting another server in the group to which it is connected including a natural address of the another server, and if the new server does not successfully establish a connection to the discovery anycast address, the new server declares itself to be a root node and flags this status internally to reflect that it is a root server.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
49 words
The method according to claim 7 wherein if the new server is unable to successfully establish a connection to the discovery anycast address after a preset number of attempts, it enters a hunting mode in which the new server attempts to establish a connection on a hunt anycast address.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
31 words
The method of claim 8 wherein the new server also enters the hunting mode upon detection that a connection between said new server and a group of servers has been lost.
Claim 12
Independent Claim
94 words
A method of joining a new server to a group of servers via a non-broadcast multi-access (NBMA) communications network comprising the steps of: successively registering the new server to an anycast address followed by a period of de-registering and attempting to establish a connection on the anycast address and continuing the registering and de-registering steps until a successful joining of the new server to the group of servers is established and, if no such successful joining is established, attempting to join the new server to the group of servers using a hunt anycast address.
Claim 13
Independent Claim
94 words
A method of joining a new server to a group of servers via a non-broadcast multi-access (NBMA) communications network comprising the steps of: successively registering the new server to an anycast address followed by a period of de-registering and attempting to establish a connection on the anycast address and continuing the registering and de-registering steps until a successful joining of the new server to the group of servers is established and, if no such successful joining is established, attempting to join the new server to the group of servers using a hunt anycast address.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method of claim 10 wherein the anycast address to which the new server is successively registered is a hunt anycast address.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
34 words
The method of claim 10 wherein the new server attempts to join the group of servers after a loss in a connection between the new server and the group of servers has been detected.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
35 words
The method of claim 11 wherein the new server attempts to join the group of servers using the hunt address if the new server is unable to establish a connection utilizing a discovery anycast address.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
46 words
The method of claim 13 wherein, if the new server successfully establishes the connection to the anycast address, it registers the anycast address with the communications network whereby registration informs the network that the new server is joined to the group associated with the anycast address.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
16 words
The method of claim 10 wherein the registering and de-registering steps occur in a semi-random fashion.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
15 words
The method of claim 15 wherein different time intervals are used for registering and de-registering.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2004-12-03 | 2005-06-04 | 2005-12-04 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2008-12-03 | 2009-06-04 | 2009-12-04 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2012-12-03 | 2013-06-04 | 2013-12-04 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |