MXPA97005272A - Communicac network traffic report system - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a system identifies transmission paths between a user and a desired destination site in a network. The system then detects one of the transmission paths. A user may require the level of activity on the roads. In this way, the user can assess the existence of possible congestion in any attempt to access the destination site.

Description

COMMUNICATION NETWORK TRAFFIC REPORT SYSTEM FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides information to a user about network traffic for selected sites on the Internet. In particular, the present invention is directed to provide a service by which Internet users can be valued for potential congestion of several Internet access points to localize the network of interest. Background of the Invention The Internet has become a powerful tool that provides users with tremendous capabilities to register and obtain desired pieces of information. As more and more users have found benefits on the Internet, more and more information points are still being provided, typically in the form of network sites. These sites provide the user with different types of information. Some of these sites are exceptionally REF: 25025 popular and have a high demand for access. As a consequence, these sites are heavily loaded at various times during the day. In addition, a business has been developed to provide access to Internet access. There are many access providers that supply their subscribers with one or more entry points on the Internet. An example of this is shown in Figure 1 where a user 101 is connected to an Internet access provider 102 which in turn provides the user with a path to the Internet 103, as a result the user can communicate with the site. 104. Once the subscriber has entered the Internet and want to be in communication with a given site, the • subscriber must go to that site. All roads typically take place via multiple intermediate points also known as routers. An example of such construction is illustrated in Figure 2. An Internet access provider 202 has two internet access points, 202 A and 202 B. A subscriber for these providers would be interested in communicating with the network site 210. The subscriber You can route to the site within the desired network in any number of days. For example, the subscriber will be routed from the entry point 202 A to the node A (also known as a router) on the Internet. Then the subscriber will be routed to node C, node D and ultimately to the desired network site. Each node has the intelligence to be able to select what it perceives as the most efficient way to transfer the subscriber of that node to its final destination. That intelligence is somewhat limited. Typically, routing decisions are not based on current load conditions since this involves extremely complex calculations. rather, the conditions are based on knowledge of network topology, e.g., disabled routings, lines that enter or leave the source. The subscriber in question could alternatively be routed from the entry path 202 A to the node A then to the node B then to the node C, node F and finally to the node D before being put in contact with the desired network site. Each of these connections between the nodes is referred to as an advance. Some of these connections are very high traffic connections because they act as a main path between the critical nodes. Alternatively, they could be connections which are more closely associated with / or coupled to popular network sites. In this case, therefore the popularity of the associated network site results in increased traffic on that connection. Normally, the user is assigned to an Internet access point according to the location of the users with respect to the access points of the access providers. It is desirable for users to be able to know how congested is the traffic path from their point of entry to the Internet for a network site of interest.

Brief Description of the The present invention provides a method for periodically analyzing congestion along the roads from an access point of the Internet access provider to the desired network sites. The information of the congestion is stored in one or more databases platforms of the service provider of access. A user is automatically supplied with an indicator which highlights the availability of a congestion reporting service. The user can then select a network site of interest and see the congestion along the paths for that network site from the access provider. In addition, the user can take into account the option to designate a particular network site that is of interest to obtain information regarding that location. The present invention takes advantage of a simple command already available on the Internet to trace paths to a particular destination. The present invention repeatedly executes this command with respect to one or more network sites of interest and compiles critical information about the traffic characteristics from a point entered in the Internet to the desired network site. Such features may include a round trip time between an Internet access point and guides along the way to the desired network site. The features can also include an average of the data packets lost along a path during the execution of the command. The traffic characteristics are compiled and analyzed to provide the user with useful information about the congestion along the roads to the network site of interest. The analysis may include particular identification cases in which there is similarity based on congestion in the average round delay and that becomes available from the execution of the traced road. In addition, for these service providers have multiple entry points on the Internet, it is possible that this congestion information can be used to build an optimal selection of the entry point for the subscriber of interest based on the network site to which they aspire to communicate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram in a known network arrangement. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram, showing the elements of figure 1 in great detail. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a network array, incorporating one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 and Fig. 5 are block diagrams for explaining a service process according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION As described in the background section FIG. 2 illustrates a representative known configuration of network connections between an access point of the access provider to Internet and a particular network site. In accordance with the present invention, one or more important destinations were selected from known popular sites. Alternatively, the popularity of a given site can be determined according to the traffic operation that is described below, ie, the access provider could be selected by site (eg, based on such criteria as the number). known of records on a historical basis, for a given site and can then study the traffic for the selected network site). Then based on traffic monitoring, the access provider can determine that some sub-arrays of the network sites are of particular interest. In the alternative, a site may be selected based on this mention in the popular media or in the larger online principle and would be treated as the "cool place of the day". Then the access provider identifies several connection points on the Internet which are available through that provider. Then the provider uses standard tools to detect traffic characteristics between a given point within the Internet and one of those important predetermined destinations. The operation of the tool the traceroute command (path traced) "will be described aba or in more detail, however the execution of this command provides important information -on the progress between the endpoints, round trip transmission time between each one of the plurality of connections for a point of entry into the Internet to the desired network site, and the frequency with which the data packets are lost or abandoned.It would be noted that the selection of a path for a point of entry into The network site is currently a dynamic process that can change over time.The path is determined by intermediate decisions made to the various nodes as the connection is established.For example, at time IT node A specifies a The most appropriate path for the network travel to the network site X and thus establish a link to the node C. At some time after T2 the node A can determine that the The most appropriate path actually requires a connection to the G node preferably than to the node C. As described above, the decision paths are typically made based on information on network topology, e.g., the status of certain lines before they come or go. Those preferential selections to establish connections of nodes or advances are generally stable for five minutes. In this way, the execution of these characteristics for the present invention will be provided with a rapid depletion of the congestion time of the network. It will be a foundation of useful information congestion should be monitored on a periodic basis to capture these changes in routing those occurrences over time. In accordance with the present invention these should be worn out in times of 5 to 6 hours per day. The collection of the transit characteristics of a particular entry point to a desired network site will now be described. The traceroute command is a well-known command for readings on paths of a connection from one point to another on the Internet. The traceroute command currently experiments to transfer a packet through several points on the Internet for a start node to a deitino node. The command will be placed with a definition of a maximum number of advances, i.e., intermediate connections, which are permissible between the two termination stations. Further, the command will determine the size of the data packets to be transferred. In the example described below the traceroute command is run to a popular site on the network, named www.netscape.com. The command is placed in such a way that the number of maximum advances is thirty and the packet size is placed in forty bytes (memory cells). In current execution, the command constructs the paths in a series of repeated operations. First, the system will prescribe a forward transfer and attempt this transfer to a predetermined number of times selected by the group execution of the command. It will detect the transmission time in round trip for the first advance that is selected for each access. Then two advances will be allowed and then the command is run in this way quickly the way will be through the first node accessed through the first advance and a second node. The round trip transmission time will again be detected. This operation of allowing further advancement by brake execution or road control will be continued until the connection is established to the desired network site. The results of an execution of this traceroute command are shown below. $ traceroute www.netscape.com. traceroute to wwwl.netscape.com (198.95.251.30), 30 max hops, 40 byte pac ets 1 ged (135.104.104.1) 3,526 ms 33,635 ms 106,099 ms 2 hubble-rbone (135.104.1.7) 3.404 ms 5.828 ms 5.034 ms 3 stile (135.104.2.7) 189.529 ms 128.351 ms 45.663 ms 4 192.20.225.1 (192.20.225.1) 57,516 ms 59,227 ms 14,097 ms 5 New-Brunswickl .NJ.ALTER.NET (137.39.186.161) 28.3 ms 24.363 ms 20.82 ms 6 137.39.108.3 (137.39.108.3) 22.781 ms 26.802 ms 22.328 ms 7 137.39.100.14 (137.39.100.14) 21.764 ms 29.485 ms 24.06 ms 8 137.39.33.99 (137.39.33.99) 26.63 ms 29.819 ms 27.685 ms 9 137.39.100.29 (137.39.100.29) 34.992 ms 33.063 ms 36.249 ms Sprintnap.mci.net (1 2.157.69.11) 37.336 ms 225.073 ms * 11 -hssi3-0. estOrange .mci. net (204.70.1.209) 70,656 ms 248.1 ms 238.202 ms 12 core 2. SanFrancisco. mci. net (204.270.201) 313.694 ms 212.713 ms 113.834 ms 13 * edge rx2-fddi-l. San Francisco. mc i. net (204.70.158.68) 186.739 ms 14 204.70.158.122 (204.70.158.122) 167.243 ms 236.737 ms 244.549 ms 15 wwwl.netscape.com (198.95.251.30) 102.303 ms 105.281 ms 99.058 ms This command outputs three pieces of information values. First identify each path, e.g., "Hubble-rbone" to the forward 2. Second, it provides a number of round trip time values for a given router from the starting point. Third, it indicates when the data packets are lost. For example, that the first node identified as ged, has an identified road 135.104.104.1 is accessed in three times with varying round trip transit times. The second hubble-rbone node (135.104.1.7) is analyzed. This continues until step 15 the connection is made to wwwl.netscape.com, the final desired destination. During the exam some packages are excluded. This is indicated in each road test by an asterisk (*) instead of a round trip time. In the present example, the round trip time increases dramatically to advances of 10 and above. To advances of 9 the time ranges from 33,063 ms to 36,249 ms. However at advances 10 a round trip time is 225,073 ms and a data packet is lost or excluded. Significantly higher round trip times and the ability to exclude packages continue from advances of 10 to advances of 15. As a result of this analysis, the provider of Internet access understands that in that regard it is congested to advances of 10 in such a way that this performance will not be great in this way. A second example is shown below with respect to the address of the mail server path for the University of Cambrigde in xa UK traceroute ppsw3.cam.ac.uk traceroute to ppsw3.cam.ac.uk (131.111.8.38), 30 max hops, 40 byte packets 1 ged (135.104.104.1) 3.114 ms 2.421 ms 2.275 ms 2 hubble-rbone (135.104.1.7) 3.627 ms 81.969 ms 3.752 ms 3 stile (135.104.2.7) 9.485 ms 3.885 ms 7.703 ms 4 192.20. 255.1 (192.20.255.1) 12,176 ms 8.176 ms 6.123 ms 5 New-Brunswickl .NJ.ALTER.NET (137.39.186.161) 21.963 ms 20.066 ms 48.494 ms 6 137.39.108.3 (137.39.108.3) 75.51 ms 118.478 ms 22.67 ms 7 137.39 .100.14 (137.39.100.14) 62.625 ms 16.756 ms 206.483 ms 8 137.39.33.99 (137.3 .33.99) 130.227 ms 162.452 ms 21.052 ms 9 137.39.100.29 (137.39.100.29) 42.83 ms 33.61 ms 38.147 ms 10 f0-0.enss219. t3.ans.net (192.157.69.13) 34.262 ms 28.245 ms * 11 h2-0.t32-0.New-York.t3.ans.net (140.223.33.129) 75.049 ms36.288 ms 76.362 ms 12 h5-0. t36-l.New-York2.t3.ans.net (140.223.33.10) 131.381 ms 50,834 ms 47,809 ms 13 fO-0.c36-ll.New-York2.t3.ans.net (140.223.36.222) 47.26 ms 59.422 ms 33.59 ms 14 Dante-UKERNA.t3.ans.net (204.151.184.26) 233.183 ms 200.409 ms * 15 smds-gw.ulcc.ja.net (193.63.94.12) 211.977 ms 222.577 ms 216.284 ms 16 smds-gw.cam.ja.net (193.63.203.36) 237.009 ms 337.539 ms * 17 route-cent-l .cam.ac.uk (131.111.1.62) 212.342 ms * 208.946 ms 18 mauve.csi.cam.ac.uk (131.111.8.38) 234.515 ms 266.596 ms * Looking at these results, it is evident that development of the problems of the packages lost from advance 14 onwards. In reality, about three of the packages are excluded from the advance 14 and later and a very inadequate progressive suggestion of execution. This is even some kind of congestion problem. The basic data belonging to each of the entry points of the access provider on the Internet would be gathered on a number of roads. Thus, the access provider may suspend an "agent" away from each of the entry points. These agents are shown as 320 A and 320 B in FIG. 3. Each agent could include a programmed processor and storage capabilities. The program could execute the steps described below in connection with the FIGS. 4 and 5. Each agent could then independently execute the data collection operation and the process described below to make this available to users, assigning entry points for that. Alternatively, the provider could provide a centralized data connection which collects traffic characteristics for each entry point. To ensure that the congestion snapshots of the road occur over time, the agent could periodically cycle through a list of desired destinations in such a way that the command is executed with respect to each destination 5 or 6 times per hour. The above described as information was gathered to gather connections through the Internet. The present invention then compiles this information and derives transit characteristics between the selected termination points. This information of transit characteristics was stored in a database providing access or database. The information can be stored in several ways. Therefore, the unfinished data of round trip transmission times and lost data packets would be recorded in the database. Alternatively, calculations or estimates can be made based on the detected data and the database can record information about the state of the connections for a particular local network, e.g., heavily congested, slightly congested, clean etc. In a possible incorporation, the calculations identify advances where congestion occurs by analyzing the average round trip times and the average numbers of lost packets of data on the advances. The analysis may include examining the data to determine to which advance of average round trip time of the data to determine to which advance of the average round trip time and / or the average number of the lost packages of rapid increase or to cancel them of the same way. In the first example in which a path to netscape.com is plotted, the average round trip time is gently increased from an advance of 1 to an advance of 9. But the advance of 10 makes a dramatic jump up and remains high for subsequent advances. This is an indicator that the advance is congested. The same can be said above with respect to an increase in the frequency of lost data packets. Therefore, these analyzes provide the access provider with an indicator of which a path to the local network is congested and that the connection along the path is equally responsible. Of course, the database can store combinations of these types of information and supply the user with the appropriate calculated information based on unfinished data collected from the execution of the traceroute command. Once the information has been obtained, the supplier will have an address to present information to the end user.

In accordance with the present invention, in an embodiment when the subscriber informs the access provider that the connection to Internt is desired, the provider automatically provides a page whose purpose is to give the subscriber a number of options for available services. One such option could be a suggested traffic report option for some graph. Once the subscriber selects the ideal traffic report, the access provider database can provide several menus to the subscriber, therefore, a user record which includes destination preferences. These destinations could be presented to the user as possible completion points for which traffic information is desirable. Once the user selects the desired final destination, the database accesses the traffic information associated with that destination site. Another option under the traffic reporting service should be to analyze the traffic characteristics of each of the desired network sites and calculate the formulated maximum and low load times with the intention of supplying reports to the subscriber as well as the best time to connect to a given network site. This can be given in conjunction with a Daemon (demon) program, which is known in the skill. According to which a road program along the congestion is tracked during the course of a day to determine heavy and light traffic time. Even a further modification to the service available to the end user, the access provider could optionally provide a representation of a similar road map of the multiple access points to the desired network site with information on each of the road options. In the present Internet configuration, the user has selected small parts so that a call is routed to a given network site. However, statistical information on the path of some of the pluralities of entry points to the desired network site would be used by the Internet access provider to optimize user connections within the Internet. For example, if the path of access points 203 was determined through nodes G, F and D to the desired network site as shown in figure 2, less congested than the forward path A to C and C to D originated from the entry point 202, then the access provider could choose to connect the subscriber within the Internet through the access point 203 preferably as the access point 202 regardless of the geographical position of the subscriber with respect to these two entry points . The present invention can be supported by the software development (logic world and computer language) to compile the traffic characteristics information of the multiple execution of the traceroute command for target sites selected according to the block diagram of Figures 4 and 5. In particular the Software could identify target sites of interest, step 401. Then it has to detect the traffic status between a selected entry point within the Internet and the site of interest, step 402. Then it should of storing the traffic information detected in an access provider database, step 403. The detection operation is performed according to the step placed in figure 5. In particular, the execution -the detection agent "traceroute" of the Selected entry point to the selected network site, step 501. The software analyzes the average round trip time given for each avan In the results obtained from the "traceroute" execution, step 502. Now, the software analyzes the average number of lost packages for each advance given by the results obtained from the execution "traceroute", stage 503. From now on, the software characterizes the level of traffic for the desired network and identifies congestion points previously based on data detection, step 504. Next, the software can develop the appropriate presentation style for the information, for example, the representation of the service button and the menu routine is provided to the subscriber to facilitate the use of the service. All these modifications are originated within the skill of this one in the habi lidad. The present invention uses well-known tools to collect relevant information about the congestion of network sites of interest and the presentation of this information in an efficient and logical style as well as to inform the subscriber of the congestion, they are equally apparent for a site. of given network, that the connection or connections are the equivalent principle of congestion and to inform the subscriber of the best time to try access to a particular network site. In addition, the present invention provides useful path information for the Internet access provider in such a way that it optimally selects an entry point within the Internet for a given subscriber and the network site of interest. In this way compiled and analyzed the information of traffic characteristics should also be the basis for other services to inform the user and the provider of critical information about the welfare of the network in terms of this ability to provide returns for network sites in particular.

Claims (18)

1. A method for informing the user of a communications network of the activity level in the communication network, the method is characterized in that it comprises the steps of: a) selecting a destination site; b) select an entry point within the network; c) trace a way of transmitting the point of entry to the destination site and collect the characteristic transit information contemplating the transmission route; the registration of activity status of the re., based on the characteristics of transit; receive a requirement for a level of activity in the network in relation to the destination site; Report the activity status based on the activity status of the stored network in response to the requirement.

2. The method according to the rei indication 1, characterized in that the transmission path comprises a plurality of connections and at least one intermediate point between the entry point and the destination site.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that the step of collecting the transit characteristic information comprises the step of detecting the event of packet loss along the plurality of connections.

4. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that the step of collecting information of transit characteristics comprises the step of detecting the round trip transmission delay for each of the pluralities of the connections.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that the network includes a plurality of destination sites of interest and comprises the steps of repeating steps a), b), and c) for each of the destination sites of interest.

6. The method according to claim 5, comprises the step of driving a user to expose a requirement towards network activity.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that the step of driving includes supplying a menu of destination sites of interest.

8. The method according to claim 7 comprises the step of constructing the menu of destination sites of interest based on preferential users.

9. The method according to claim 1, characterized ooraue further comprises the steps of: analyzing the information of the traffic characteristics to determine the level of historical activity; store historical activity levels for access for ed users.

10. A method for selecting an entry point within a first network of a second network, characterized Dorsue comprises the steps of a) designating a first entry point within the first network; b) select a detonation location in the first network; c) trace a transmission path from the designated entry point to the destination site and collect the traffic characteristics information looking at the transmission route; d) record the activity data for a road between the designated entry point and the destination site; e) designating a second entry point within the first network and repeating steps c) and d) for a path to the destination site; Y. f) about designating a requirement for access to destination sites, selecting an entry point within the first network based on the activity data.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that the transmission path at an entry point and the destination site comprises a plurality of connections and at least one intermediate point between the entry point and the destination site.

12. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that the step of collecting information characteristic of transit comprises the step of detecting the round trip transmission time for each of the pluralities of the connections.

13. A method of reporting information on the level of congestion associated with a targeted destination of a data communications network, the method characterized in that it comprises the steps of: monitoring the level of traffic in a plurality of connections, connecting a network 1 provider of access to the destination address, transmit the transmission information of the traffic level to the user. register in a storage device of the information access provider He r indicating the level of traffic for at least one of the connections; and in response to the requirements of a user of the access provider network that wishes access to the destination address, transmit the information of the traffic level to the user.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that the new monitoring stage includes the step of: detecting packet incidents lost in a loss of connections.

15. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that the new monitoring stage includes the step of: measuring the round trip transmission delay in at least one of the connections.

16. A traffic reporting system for each of the data of the communication network comprises: a computer which executes a daemon (daemon) process to monitor the level of traffic in a plurality of connections, connected in a network providing access to a destination address of a data communication network; a storage device of the access provider network in which the information associated with the level of traffic in at least one connection is recorded; and the midpoint for transmitting to the user the information associated with the level of traffic in at least one of the connections in response to the user's requirement to access the destination address.

17. The system according to claim 16, characterized in that the computer detects incidents of lost packets in at least one of the connections.

18. The system according to claim 16, characterized in that the computer measures the round trip transmission delays in at least one of the connections. COMMUNICATION NETWORK TRAFFIC REPORT SYSTEM SUMMARY A system identifies transmission paths between a user and a desired destination site in a network. The system then detects one of the transmission paths. A user may require the level of awareness on the roads. In this way, the user can assess the existence of possible congestion in any attempt to access the desired destination site.