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Patent 2507330 Summary

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(12) Patent Application: (11) CA 2507330
(54) English Title: GEO-INTELLIGENT TRAFFIC MANAGER
(54) French Title: GESTIONNAIRE DE TRAFIC FOURNISSANT DES INFORMATIONS GEOGRAPHIQUES
Status: Dead
Bibliographic Data
(51) International Patent Classification (IPC):
  • H04L 12/28 (2006.01)
  • H04L 12/56 (2006.01)
(72) Inventors :
  • FRIEDMAN, ROBERT (United States of America)
  • PAREKH, SANJAY (United States of America)
  • LUTCH, BENJAMIN (United States of America)
(73) Owners :
  • DIGITAL ENVOY, INC. (United States of America)
(71) Applicants :
  • DIGITAL ENVOY, INC. (United States of America)
(74) Agent: SMART & BIGGAR
(74) Associate agent:
(45) Issued:
(86) PCT Filing Date: 2002-11-26
(87) Open to Public Inspection: 2004-06-10
Examination requested: 2007-11-08
Availability of licence: N/A
(25) Language of filing: English

Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT): Yes
(86) PCT Filing Number: PCT/US2002/037725
(87) International Publication Number: WO2004/049637
(85) National Entry: 2005-05-26

(30) Application Priority Data: None

Abstracts

English Abstract




A traffic manager (30) determines the geographic locations of end points on
Internet traffic and routes the traffic in the most efficient manner. A set of
analyzers may be disposed to analyze the network, such as the geographic
locations of nodes in the network, latency times and speed between nodes,
available bandwidth, etc. The traffic manager obtains this intelligence on the
network from the analyzers and routes traffic accordingly. The traffic manager
considers not only the most direct route but also considers the speed,
available bandwidth, and reliability of the routing.


French Abstract

L'invention concerne un gestionnaire de trafic (30) qui détermine les emplacements géographiques de points terminaux dans le trafic Internet et aiguille ce trafic avec la plus grande efficacité. Un ensemble de dispositifs d'analyse servent à analyser le réseau, à savoir les emplacements géographiques de noeuds dans le réseau, les temps d'attente et la vitesse de communication entre les noeuds, la largeur de bande disponible, etc. Ce gestionnaire de trafic obtient cette information relative au réseau des dispositifs d'analyse et il aiguille le trafic en conséquence. Pour cela, ledit gestionnaire de trafic tient compte non seulement de l'itinéraire le plus direct, mais aussi de la vitesse, de la largeur de bande disponible et de la fiabilité de l'acheminement.

Claims

Note: Claims are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.



CLAIMS


What is claimed:

1.A method for routing network traffic, comprising:
receiving the network traffic;
determining a destination for the network traffic;
obtaining geographic information on one of a source or the destination
associated
with the network traffic from a map of the network, the map being produced as
a result of:
determining a route through the network which includes one of the destination
or source;
deriving a geographic location of any intermediate hosts contained within the
route through the network;
analyzing the route and the geographic locations of any intermediate hosts;
determining the geographic location of the source or destination; and
storing the geographic location in the map; and
directing the network traffic to a desired destination based on the geographic
location
of the source or destination.

2. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein receiving the network traffic
comprises receiving a domain name service inquiry.



51



3. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein the network traffic comprises a
domain name service inquiry and wherein directing the network traffic
comprises resolving
the domain service inquiry by selecting the desired destination based on the
geographic
location from a plurality of destinations.

4. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein receiving the network traffic
comprises receiving a request at a host server.

5. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein the network traffic comprises a
request, the desired destination comprises a desired server, and wherein
directing the
network traffic comprises directing the request to the desired server based on
the geographic
location.

6. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein directing the network traffic
to the
desired destination comprises selecting a route with a shortest distance to
the desired
destination.

7. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein directing the network traffic
to the
desired destination comprises selecting a route to the desired destination
having the shortest
latency time.

8. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein directing the network traffic
to the



52




desired destination comprises selecting a route having the most available
bandwidth.

9. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein directing the network traffic
to the
desired destination comprises selecting the desired destination based on its
load.

10. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein the geographic location
comprises
the geographic location of the source and directing the network traffic to the
desired
destination comprises selecting the desired destination because it has content
associated with
the geographic location.

11. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein directing the network traffic
to the
desired destination comprises selecting the desired destination based on a
connection speed
associated with the source.

12. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein directing the network traffic
to the
desired destination comprises selecting the desired destination bandwidth
available at the
desired destination.

13. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein directing the network traffic
to the
desired destination comprises selecting the desired destination based on a
connection speed
associated with the source and bandwidth available at the desired destination.


53


14. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein directing the network traffic
comprises selecting a route based on interconnection speeds within the
network.

15. The method as set forth in claim 1, further comprising analyzing the
network.

16. The method as set forth in claim 15, wherein analyzing comprises analyzing
interconnections between nodes in the network.

17. The method as set forth in claim 15, wherein analyzing comprises analyzing
nodes within the network.

18. The method as set forth in claim 15, wherein analyzing comprises modeling
behavior of the network.

19. The method as set forth in claim 18, wherein modeling comprises
approximating the behavior at nodes.

20. The method as set forth in claim 18, wherein modeling comprises
simplifying
the map of the network by combining nodes in traffic routes.

21. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein obtaining the geographic
information comprises generating the map of the network.



54



22. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein obtaining the geographic
information comprises querying a system for the geographic information and
receiving a
response from the system with the geographic information.

23. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein the network comprises the
Internet
and the network traffic comprises packets.

24. A method for routing network traffic, comprising:
receiving the network traffic;
determining a destination for the network traffic;
obtaining intelligence on the network from a map of the network, the map being
produced as a result of:
determining at least one route through the network which includes the
destination;
identifying any intermediate hosts contained within the route between a
source
of the network traffic and the destination;
analyzing interconnections between nodes in the network; and
storing results of the analyzing in the map; and
directing the network traffic to a desired destination based on the
intelligence on the
network stored in the map.

25. The method as set forth in claim 24, wherein the intelligence includes a



55



geographic location of the destination.

26. The method as set forth in claim 24, wherein intelligence includes a
geographic location of the source.

27. The method as set forth in claim 24 wherein intelligence includes a
connection
speed associated with the source.

28 The method as set forth in claim 24 wherein intelligence includes bandwidth
available at the destination.

29 The method as set forth in claim 24 wherein intelligence includes bandwidth
available at the destination and a connection speed associated with the
source.

30 The method as set forth in claim 24 wherein the intelligence includes a
latency
time associated with the destination.

31. The method as set forth in claim 24, wherein the intelligence includes
information on loads at different destinations.



56

Description

Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.




CA 02507330 2005-05-26
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GEO-INTELLIGENT TRAFFIC MANAGER
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to systems and methods for r outing Internet tr
afflc and,
more particularly, to systems and methods for routing Internet traffic based
on such factors as
location, distance, bandwidth, connection speed, and available resources.
BACKGROUND
The Internet consists of a network of intercolmected computer networks. Each
of
these computers has an IP address that is comprised of a series of four number
s separated by
periods or dots and each of these four number s is an 8-bit integer which
collectively
represent the unique address of the computer within the Internet. The Internet
is a packet
switching networlc when eby a data file routed over the Internet to some
destination is broken
down into a number of packets that are separately transmitted to the
destination. Each packet
contains, ihte~~ alia, some portion of the data file and the IP address of the
destination.
The IP address of a destination is useful in routing packets to the correct
destination
but is not very people friendly. A group of four 8-bit numbers by themselves
do not reveal
or suggest anything about the destination and most people would find it
difficult to
remember the IP addresses of a destination. As a result Of thlS ShOrtC0111111g
in just using IP
addresses, domain names were created. Domain names consist of two or more pal-
ts,
frequently words, separated by periods. Since the words, numbers, or other
symbols forming
a domain name often indicate or at least suggest the identity of a
destination, domain names
have become the standard way of entering an address and are more easily
remembered than



CA 02507330 2005-05-26
WO 2004/049637 PCT/US2002/037725
the IP addresses. After a domain name has been entered, a domain name server
(DNS)
resolves the domain name into a specific IP address. Thus, for example, when
someone
surfing the filternet enters into a browses program a particular domain name
for a web site,
the browses first queries the DNS to al-rive at the proper IP address.
While the IP address worl~s well to deliver pacl~ets to the correct address on
the
Internet, IP addresses do not convey any useful infol-mation about the
geographic address of
the destination. Furthermore, the domain names do not even necessarily
indicate any
geographic location although sometimes they may suggest, correctly or
incorrectly, such a
location. This absence of a linl~ between the IP address or domain name and
the geographic
location holds true both nationally and internationally. For instance, a
country top-level
domain format designates .us for the United States, .ulc for the United
Kingdom, etc. Thus,
by referencing these extensions, at least the country Wlth111 Whlch the
C0111p11te1 1S located can
often be determined. These extensions, however, can often be deceiving and may
be
inaccurate. For instance, the .md domain is assigned to the Republic of
Moldova but has
become quite popular with medical doctors in the United States. Consequently,
while the
domain name may suggest some aspect of the computer's geographic location, the
domain
name and the IP address often do not convey any useful geographic information.
In addition to the geographic location, the IP address and domain name also
tell very
little information about the person or company using the computer or computer
networl~.
Consequently, it is therefore possible for visitors to go to a web site, tr
ansfer files, or send
email without revealing their true identity. ThlS allOllyllllty, however, runs
counter to the
desires of many web sites. For example, for advertising purposes, it is
desirable to target
2



CA 02507330 2005-05-26
WO 2004/049637 PCT/US2002/037725
each advertisement to a select market group optimized for the goods or
services associated
with the advertisement. An advertisement for a product or service that matches
or is closely
associated with the interests of a person or gr OLIp Wlll be 111L1ch 1110r a
effective, and thus more
valuable to the advertisers, than an advertisement that is blindly sent out to
every visitor to
the site.
Driven often by the desire to increase advertising r evenues and to increase
sales,
many sites are now profiling their visitors. To profile a visitor, web sites
first monitor their
visitors' traffic historically through the site and detect patterns of
behavior for different
groups of visitors. The web site may come to infer that a certain group of
visitors requesting
a page or sequence of pages has a particular interest. Wlien selecting an
advertisement for
the next page requested by an individual in that gr oup, the web site can
target an
advertisement associated with the inferred interest of the individual or
group. Thus, the
visitor's traffic through the web site is mapped and analyzed based on the
behavior of other
visitors at the web site. Many web sites are therefore interested in learning
as much as
possible about their visitors in order to increase the profitability of their
web site.
The desire to learn more about users of the hztemet is countered by privacy
concerns
of the users. The use of cookies, for instance, is objectionable to many
visitors. W fact, bills
have been introduced into the House of Representatives and also in the Senate
controlling the
use of coolies or digital m tags. By placing cookies on a user's computer,
companies can
track visitors across numerous web sites, then eby suggesting inter ests of
the visitors. While
many companies may find cookies and other profiling techniques beneficial,
profiling
techniques have not won wide-spread apps oval from the public at large.



CA 02507330 2005-05-26
WO 2004/049637 PCT/US2002/037725
A particularly telling example of the competing interests between privacy and
profiling is when Double Click, Inc. of New York, New Yorlc tied the names and
addresses
of individuals to their respective IP addresses. The reactions to Double
Click's actions
included the filing of a complaint with the Federal Trade CO11n111SS1o11 (FTC)
by the
Electronic Privacy Information Center and OLltbLlrSts from many privacy
advocates that the
tracl~ing of browsing habits of visitors is inherently invasive. Thus, even
though the
technology may allow for precise tracking of individuals on the Internet,
companies must
carefully balance the desire to profile visitors with the rights of the
visitor s in remaining
anonymous.
The difficulty in learning more about Internet users is further complicated
when the
Internet users are part of a private network, such as America On-Line (AOL).
AOL and
other private networks act as an intermediary by operating a proxy server
between its
member users and the Internet. The proxy server helps to cr eate a private
community of
members and also insulates and protects the members from some invasive
inquiries that can
occur over the Internet. As part of this protection and msulatlon, many of
these private
networks assign its members a first set of IP addresses for routing only
within the private
network and do not reveal these IP addresses to entities outside of the
private network, such
as over the Internet. To colmnunicate with the members, entities outside of
the private
network do not have direct access to the members but instead must go through
the proxy
servers. As should be apparent to those slcilled in the art, profiling and
otherwise gathering
information on members of private networks can be made even more difficult due
to the
proxy servers.
4



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In addition to learning more about Intel-net users for the purposes of
targeting content
to the user, lmowledge of the user and of the destination can also be helpful
in routing the
user's request. With the Internet, user r equests are br open down into
packets and these
packets are routed from node to node until the packets finally reach the
intended destination.
These packets are then reassembled to fornz the original request. During
transit, the packets
may take different routes and some of the packets may be dropped. The nodes
typically try
to send the packets to the destination by traversing the smallest llLllllber
Of 110deS Or hops.
Each node has some latency time in sending off packets after it receives the
packets, so by
minimizing the number of hops the latency time is minimized. With lmowledge of
where the
destination is located, the nodes can choose a more direct route, even if it
has a greater
number of hops.
U.S. Patent No. 6,130,890 to Leinwand et al., which is incorporated herein by
reference, describes a method and system f01 Optln11z111g the lOLltlllg of
data packets. This
patent explains that many of the international links between countries are
often highly
overloaded and that using these links can result in longer delays, even though
it may have the
fewest number of hops. The method described in this patent involves using
111fOrlllat1011
maintained on each AS, such as through the American Registry for Internet
Numbers
("ARIN"), the Reseaux IP Europeans ("RIPE"), and the Asia-Pacific Network
Information
Center ("APNIC"). By querying the organizations, the system can obtain country
information on each Autonomous System (AS) and map the ASs with their country
designations. The packets can then be routed by selecting a direct link to the
country
associated with the destination.
5



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The systems and methods disclosed in Leinwand et al. provide limited success
in
optimizing the routing of Intel-net traffic. As explained above, the Leinwand
et al. patent
describes country level routing of Internet traffic but does not explain how
routing may be
performed within one country. Since much of the Internet tr affic originating
in the United
States is to a destination in the United States, the method and system
described in the
Leinwand et al. patent would be of only little benefit. Further, the
infonnation associated
with AS numbers does not accurately identify the geographic location of an AS.
The country
information may list the AS in a different COL111t1'y than Where it is really
located and, as
explained in the patent, may list an AS with more than one country. Irz
addition to not
always being accurate, the reliance on the AS information possibly may not be
useful for the
long term. The space reserved for the AS numbers are rapidly being depleted
with the
explosive growth of the Internet. If the AS numbers do become depleted, then
it may not be
possible to determine the geogr aphic location of a later deployed AS with the
methods
described in this patent.
A need therefore exists for improved systems and methods for more efficiently
and
effectively routing Internet traffic.
SUMMARY
The invention addresses the problems above by providing systems and methods
for
routing network traffic based on geographic lOCatr0rl 111fOr111at1o11.
According to one aspect
of the invention, the methods involves receiving network tr affic and
directing the network
traffic based on intelligence on the network. The intelligence includes data
that allows the
G



CA 02507330 2005-05-26
WO 2004/049637 PCT/US2002/037725
traffic manager to efficiently and effectively route the network traffic. The
intelligence
includes, but is not limited to, the geographic location of the destination
for the traffic, the
geographic location for a source of the traffic, bandwidth available at the
source, destination,
or intermediate nodes, connection speeds of links between nodes or connection
speed at the
source, loads at different destinations, and r eliability of networlc
elements. In the pr efel-red
embodiment, a set of analyzers are distributed tluoughout the network and
gather the
intelligence. Alternatively, the intelligence can be gathered dir ectly fr om
the network or
from another system.
A traffic manager according to the preferred e111bOd1111e11t stores the
intelligence in a
map of the network. The map is populated with geographic information on the
source and
the destination by determining a route through the network to de5t111at1o11 Or
SOLiI'Ce. A
method of the invention involves deriving a geographic location of any intel-
mediate hosts
contained within the route between the source and destination, analyzing the
route and the
geographic locations of any intermediate hosts, and then determining the geogr
aphic
locations of the source and destination. After this geographic information is
ascertained, the
geographic information is stored in the map.
The preferred system according to the invention performs a whois to determine
the
organization that owns an IP address or domain name. The address of the owner
provides
some suggestion of the geographic location, but is not detel-lninative. The
system does a
traceroute to obtain the route to the destination and leaps the route geogr
aphically in a
database. A confidence level is assigned to the geographic location based on
lmowledge of
hosts or nodes along the route. The system may also take into account the top-
level domain
7



CA 02507330 2005-05-26
WO 2004/049637 PCT/US2002/037725
and the actual words in the domain name. The traffic manager may be used in
anywhere in
the network, such as part of a DNS service to forward a user's request to a
desired IP address
or as a http redirect to a desired content server at a site.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part of the
specification, illustrate prefers ed embodiments of the present invention and,
together with the
description, disclose the principles of the invention. W the drawings:
Figure 1 is a block diagram of a network having a collection system according
to a
preferred embodiment of the invention;
Figure 2 is a flow chart depicting a preferred method of operation for the
collection
system of Figure l;
Figure 3 is a flow chart depicting a preferred method of obtaining geographic
information through an Internet Service Provider (ISP);
Figure 4 is a block diagram of a network having a collection system and
determination system according to a preferred embodiment of the invention;
Figure 5 is a flow chart depicting a preferred method of operation for the
collection
and determination system;
Figure 6 is a block diagram of a web server using a position targeter
connected to the
collection and determination system;
Figure 7 is a flow chart depicting a preferred method of operation for the web
server
and position targeter of Figure 6;



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WO 2004/049637 PCT/US2002/037725
Figure 8 is a bloclc diagram of a web server using a position targeter having
access to
a local geographic database as well as the collection and detel~lnination
system;
Figure 9 is a flow chart depicting a pr efel-r ed method of open ation for the
web server
and position targeter of Figure 8;
Figure 10 is a block diagram of a network depicting the gathering of
geographical
location information from a user through a proxy server;
Figure 11 is a flow chart depicting a prefel-red method of operation for
gathering
geographic information through the proxy server;
Figure 12(A) is a block diagram of a traffic manager according to a prefel-red
embodiment of the invention and Figure 12(B) is a network diagram of analyzers
and
network tr affic;
Figure 13 is a block diagram of a network including a profile server and a
profile
discovery server according to a preferred embodiment of the invention;
Figures 14(A) and 14(B) are flow charts depicting prefen ed methods of
operation for
the profile server and profile discovery server of Figure 13;
Figure 15 is block diagram of a network having a collection system according
to a
second embodiment of the invention;
Figure 16 is a flow chart depicting a prefel~ed method of operation for the
collection
system of Figure 15;
Figure 17 is a block diagram of a network having a collection system and DNS
server
according to a third elllbOd1111e11t Of the 111Ve11t1011; and
Fig~.ue 18 is a flow chart depicting a method for resolving domain name
inquiries
9



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according to another embodiment of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Reference will now be made in detail to preferred embodiments of the
invention, non-
linuting examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
I. COLLECTING, DETERMINING AND DISTRIBUTING GEOGRAPHIC
LOCATIONS
According to one aspect, the present invention relates to systems and methods
of
collecting, determining, and distributing data that identifies where an W
ternet user is likely to
be geographically located. Because the method of addressing on the W tenet, W
tenet
Protocol (IP) addresses, allows for any range of addresses to be located
anywhere in the
world, determining the actual location of any given machine, or host, is not a
simple taslc.
A. Collecting Geographic Location Data
A system 10 for collecting geographic infornation is shovcm in Figure 1. The
system
10 uses various Internet route tools to aid in discovering the likely
placement of newly
discovered Internet hosts, such as new target host 34. h1 particular the
system 10 preferably
uses programs known as host, nsloo7zup, ping, to°acen-oute, and whois
in determining a
geographic location for the target host 34. It should be understood that the
invention is not
limited to these programs but may use other pr OgTa111S Or SySte1115 that
offer the same or
similar functionality. Thus, the invention may use any SySte111S Or 111ethOdS
to determine the



CA 02507330 2005-05-26
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geographic location or provide further information that will help ascertain
the geographic
location of an IP address.
In particular, nsloo7tup, ping, tracer°oute, and whois provide the best
source of
information. The operation of pihg and tr aceroute is explained in the
Internet Engineering
Taslc Force (IETF) Request For Comments (RFC) 11L1111beTed ~ 1 S 1 WhlCh 111ay
be found at
h ttp://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2151.txt, rasloo7~up (actually DNS lookups) is
explained in the
IETF RFC numbered 2535 which may be found at
http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2535.txt, and
whois is explained in the IETF RFC numbered 954 which may be found at
http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc0954.txt. A brief explanation of each of host,
naslool~up, pihg,
ty°aceroute, and whois is given below. In explaining the operation of
these commands,
source host refers to the machine that the system 10 is run on and target host
refers to the
machine being searched for by the system 10, such as target host 34. A more
detailed
explanation of these commands is available via the RFCs specified or manual
pages on a
UNIX system.
host queries a target domain's DNS servers and collects infon-nation about the
domain
name. For example, with the "-l" option tile conunand "host-l
cligitale~2voy.~zet" will show
the system 10 all host names that have the suffix of digitale~2voy.net.
f~slookup will convert an IP address to a host name or vice versa using the
DNS
lookup system.
ping sends a target host a request to see if the host is on-line and
operational. ping
can also be used to record the route that was taken to query the status of the
target host but
this is often not completely reliable.
11



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t~aceroute is designed to determine the exact r oute that is taken to reach a
target host.
It is possible to use t~~aceroute to determine a partial route to a non-
existent or non-online
target host machine. In this case the route will be traced to a certain point
after which it will
fail to record further progress towards the target host. The report that is
provided to the
system 10 by traces°oute gives the IP address of each host encountered
from the source host
to the target host. ty~ace~°oute can also provide host names for each
host encountered LlSlllg
DNS if it is configured in this fashion.
wl2ois queries servers on the Internet and can obtain registration information
for a
domain name or block of IP addresses.
A preferred method 100 of operation for the system 10 will now be described
with
reference to Figures 1 and 2. At 102, the system 10 r eceives a new address
for which a
geographic location is desired. The system 10 accepts new target hosts that
are currently not
contained in its database 20 or that need to be re-verified. The system 10
requires only one
of the IP address or the host name, although both can be provided. At 103, the
system 10
preferably, although not necessarily, verifies the IP address and host name.
The system 10
uses hsloo7~up to obtain the host name or IP address to verify that both
pieces of information
are correct. Next, at 104, the system 10 determines if the target host 34 is
on-line and
operational and preferably accomplishes this function tlu ough a ping. If the
host 34 is not
on-line, the system 10 can re-queue the IP address for later analysis,
depending upon the
preferences in the configuration of the system 10.
At 106, the system 10 determines owner ship of the domain name. Preferably,
the
system 10 uses a wlzois to deteumine the organization that actually owns the
IP address. The
12



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address of this organization is not necessarily the location of the IP address
but this
information may be useful for smaller organizations whose IP blocks ar a often
geographically in one location. At 107, the system 10 then determines the
route talcen to
reach the target host 34. Preferably, the system 10 uses a
ti°c~cenozcte on the target host 34.
At 108, the system 10 takes the route to the target host 34 and analyzes and
maps it
geographically against a database 20 of stored locations. If any hosts leading
to the target
host, such as intermediate host 32, are not contained in the database 20, the
system 10 makes
a deterniination as to the location of those hosts.
At 109, a determination is then made as to the location of the target host and
a
confidence level, from 0 to 100, is assigmed to the determination based on the
confidence
level of hosts leading to and new hosts fOLllld and the target host 34. All
new hosts and their
respective geographic locations are then added to the database 20 at 110.
If the host name is of the country top-level domain format (.us, .uk, etc.)
then the
system 10 first maps against the country and possibly the state, or province,
and city of
origin. The system 10, however, must still map the filteriet route for the Il'
address in case
the address does not originate from where the domain shows that it appears to
originate. As
discussed in the example above, the .md domain is assigned to the Republic of
Moldova but
is quite popular with medical doctors in the United States. Thus, the system
10 cannot rely
completely upon the country top-level domain formats in determining the
geographic
location.
The method 100 allows the system 10 to determine the county y, state, and city
that the
target host 34 originates from and allow for an assignment of a confidence
level against
13



CA 02507330 2005-05-26
WO 2004/049637 PCT/US2002/037725
entries in the database. The confidence level is assigned in the following
mamzer. W cases
where a dialer has been used to deternline the IP address space assigned by an
hztei-net
Service Provider to a dial-up modem pool, which will be described in mor a
detail below, the
confidence entered is 100. Other confidences are based upon the neighboring
entries. If two
same location entries surround an unlmown entry, the unlmovm entry is given a
confidence
of the average of the lmown same location entries. For instance, a location
determined solely
by wlaois might receive a 35 confidence level.
As an example, a sample search against the host "digitale~avoy.fzet" will now
be
described. First, the system 10 receives the target host "digitalefzvoy.oaet"
at 102 and does a
DNS lool~up on the name at 103. The conunand 3zsloo7~up returns the following
to the
system 10:
> nslookup digitalenvoy.net
Name: digitalenvoy.net
Address: 209.153.199.15
The system 10 at 104 then does a piyag on the machine, which tells the system
10 if the target
host 34 is on-line and operational. The "-c 1" option tells pifng to only send
one paclset. This
option speeds up confirmation considerably. The pifZg returns the following to
the system
10:
> ping -c 1 digitalenvoy.net
PING digitalenvoy.net (209.153.199.15): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 209.153.199.15: icmp_seq=0 ttl=241 time=120.4 ms
--- digitalenvoy.net ping statistics ---
1 packets transmitted, 1 packets received, Oo packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max = 120.4/120.4/120.4 ms
The system 10 next executes a m7~ois at 106 on "digitaleyavov.net". W this
example, the
14



CA 02507330 2005-05-26
WO 2004/049637 PCT/US2002/037725
wlaois informs the system 10 that the registrant is in Georgia.
> whois digitalenvoy.net
Registrant:
Some One (DIGITALENVOY-DOM)
1234 Address Street
ATLANTA, GA 33333
US
Domain Name: DIGITALENVOY.NET
Administrative Contact:
One, Some (SO0000) some@one.net
+1 404 555 5555
Technical Contact, Zone Contact:
myDNS Support (MS311-ORG) support@MYDNS.COM
+1 (20~) 374.2143
Billing Contact:
One, Some (500000) some@one.net
+1 404 555 5555
Record last updated on 14-Apr-99.
Record created on 14-Apr-99.
Database last updated on 22-Apr-99 11:0:22 EDT.
Domain servers in listed order:
NS1.MYDOMAIN.COM 209.153.199.2
NS2.MYDOMAIN.COM 209.153.199.3
NS3.MYDOMAIN.COM 209.153.199.4
NS4.MYDOMAIN.COM 209.153.199.5
The system 10 at 107 executes a toacey~oute on the tar get lost 34. The
traces°oute on
"digitezleyZVOy.yaet" returns the following to the system 10:
> traceroute digitalenvoy.net
traceroute to digitalenvoy.net (209.153.199.15), 30 hops max, 40
byte packets
1 130.207.47.1 (130.207.47.1) 6.269 ms 2.287 ms 4.027 ms
2 gatewayl-rtr.gatech.edu (130.207.244.1) 1.703 ms 1.672 ms
1.928 ms
3 f1-O.atlanta2-cr99.bbnplanet.net (192.221.26.2) 3.296 ms
3.051 ms 2.910 ms
4 f1-O.atlanta2-br2.bbnplanet.net (4Ø2.90) 3.000 ms 3.617 ms
3.632 ms
5 s4-0-O.atlantal-br2.bbnplanet.net (4Ø1.149) 4.076 ms s8-1-



CA 02507330 2005-05-26
WO 2004/049637 PCT/US2002/037725
O.atlantal-br2.bbnplanet.net (4Ø2.157) 4.761 ms 4.740 ms
6 h5-1-O.paloalto-br2.bbnplanet.net (4Ø3.142) 72.385 ms
71.635 ms 69.482 ms
7 p2-O.paloalto-nbr2.bbnplanet.net (4Ø2.197) 82.580 ms
83.476 ms 82.987 ms
8 p4-O.sanjosel-nbrl.bbnplanet. net (4Ø1.2) 79.299 ms 78.139
ms 80.416 ms
9 p1-0-O.sanjosel-br2.bbnplanet.net (4Ø1.82) 78.918 ms
78.406 ms 79.217 ms
10 NSanjose-core0.nap.net (207.112.242.253) 80.031 ms 78.506 ms
122.622 ms
11 NSeattlel-core0.nap.net (207.112.247.138) 115.104 ms 112.868
ms 114.678 ms
12 sea-atm0.starcom-accesspoint.net (207.112.243.254) 112.639 ms
327.223 ms 173.847 ms
13 van-atm10.10.starcom. net (209.153.195.49) 118.899 ms 116.603
ms 114.036 ms
14 hume.worldway.net (209.153.199.15) 118.098 ms * 114.571 ms
After referring to the geographic locations stor ed in the database 20, the
system 10
analyzes these hops in the following way:
130.207.47.1 (130.207.47.1) Host machine
_located
in Atlanta,
GA


gatewayl-rtr.gatech.edu Atlanta, confidence 100
GA -


(130.207.244.1)


fl-O.atlanta2-cr99.bbnplanet.net Atlanta, confidence 100
GA -


(192.221.26.2)


fl-O.atlanta2-br2.bbnplanet.net Atlanta, confidence 95
GA -


(4Ø2.90)


s4-0-O.atlantal-br2.bbnplanet.net Atlanta, confidence 80
GA -


(4Ø1.149)


h5-1-O.paloalto-br2.bbnplanet.net Palo Alto, - confidence 85
CA


(4Ø3.142)


p2-O.paloalto-nbr2.bbnplanet.net Palo Alto, - confidence 90
CA


(4Ø2.197)


p4-O.sanjosel-nbrl.bbnplanet.net San Jose, confidence 85
CA -


(4Ø1.2)


pl-0-O.sanjosel-br2.bbnplanet.net San Jose, confidence 100
CA -


(4Ø1.82)


NSanjose-core0.nap.net San Jose, confidence 90
CA -


(207.112.242.253)


NSeattlel-core0.nap.net Seattle, confidence 95
WA -


(207.112.247.138)


sea-atm0.starcom-accesspoint.net Seattle, confidence 95
WS -


(207.112.243.254)


van-atm10.10.starcom.net Vancouver,
British
Columbia
Canada -


(209.153.195.49) confidence
100


hume.worldway.net (209.153.199.15)Vancouver,
British
Columbia
Canada



The system 10 assigns a confidence level of 99 indicating that the entry is
contained
in the database 20 and has been checl~ed by a person for confirmation. While
confirmations
1G



CA 02507330 2005-05-26
WO 2004/049637 PCT/US2002/037725
may be performed by persons, such as an analyst, according to other aspects of
the invention
the confirmation may be perforned by an Artificial W telligence system or any
other suitable
additional system, module, device, program, entities, etc. The system 10
reserves a
confidence level of 100 for geographic infornation that has been confirmed by
an hzteriet
Service Providers (ISP). The ISP would provide the system 10 with the actual
mapping of
IP addresses against geography. Also, data gathered with the system 10 tluough
dialing ISPs
is given a 100 confidence level because of a definite correction between the
geography and
the IP address. Many of these hosts, such as intermediate host 32, will be
repeatedly
traversed when the system 10 searches for new target hosts, SLich aS target
host 34, and the
confidence level of their geographic location should increase up to a maximum
99 unless
confirmed by an ISP or verified by a system analyst. The confidence level can
increase in a
number of ways, such as by a set amount with each successive confirnation of
the host's 32
geographic location.
The system 10 tales advantage in conunon naming conventions in leading to
reasonable guesses as to the geographic location of the hosts. For example,
any host that
contains "sanjose" in the first part of its host name is probably located in
San Jose, California
or connected to a system that is in San Jose, California. These comparison
rule sets are
implemented in the system 10 as entries in the database 20. The database 20
may have loolc-
up tables listing geographic locations, such as city, county, regional, state,
etc, with
corresponding variations of the names. Thus, the database 20 could have
multiple listings
for the same city, such as SanFrancisco, SanFran, and Sfiancisco all for San
Francisco,
California.
17



CA 02507330 2005-05-26
WO 2004/049637 PCT/US2002/037725
Often a block of IP addresses are assigned and sub-assigned to organizations.
For
example, the IP block that contains the target address 209.153.199.15 can be
queried:
> whois 209.153.199.15@whois.arin. net
[whois.arin.net]
Starcom International Optics Corp. (NETBLK-STARCOM97) STARCOM97
209.153.192.0 -
209.153.255.255
WORLDWAY HOLDINGS INC. (NETBLK-WWAY-NET-01) WWAY-NET-O1
209.153.199.0 -
209.153.199.255
From the results of this query, the system 10 determines that the large block
from
209.153.192.0 to 209.153.255.255 is assigned to Starcom hzteriational Optics
Corp. Within
this block, Starcom has assigned Worldway Holdings hzc. the 209.153.199.0 to
209.153.199.255 bloclc. By further querying this block (NETBLI~-WWAY-NET-O1)
the
collection system 10 gains insight into where the organization exists. W this
case the
organization is in Vancouver, British Columbia, as shown below.
> whois NETBLK-WWAY-NET-O1@whois.arin. net
[whois.arin.net]
WORLDWAY HOLDINGS INC. (NETBLK-WWAY-NET-01)
1336 West 15th Street
North Vancouver, BC V7L 2S8
CA
Netname: WWAY-NET-01
Netblock: 209.153.199.0 - 209.153.199.255
Coordinator:
WORLDWAY DNS (WD171-ORG-ARIN) dns@WORLDWAY.COM
+1 (604) 608.2997
Domain System inverse mapping provided by:
NS1.MYDNS.COM 209.153.199.2
NS2.MYDNS.COM 209.153.199.3
With the combination of the trace and the IP block address information, the
collection
1~



CA 02507330 2005-05-26
WO 2004/049637 PCT/US2002/037725
system 10 can be fairly certain that the host "cligitc~leyavoy.~2et" is
located in Vancouver,
British Columbia. Because the collection system 10 "discovered" this host
using automatic
methods with no human intervention, the system 10 preferably assigns a
confidence level
slightly lower than the confidence level of the host that led to it. Also, the
system 10 will not
assume the geographic location will be the same for the organization and the
sub-block of IP
addresses assigned since the actual IP address may be in another physical
location. The
geographic locations may easily be different since IP blocks are assigned to a
requesting
organization and no indication is required for when a the IP block will be
used.
B. Obtaining Geographic Location Data from ISPs
A method 111 for obtaining geographic locations from an ISP will now be
described
with reference to Figure 3. At 112, the collection system 10 obtains access
numbers for the
ISP. The access numbers in the preferred e111bodllllellt are dial-up numbers
and may be
obtained in any suitable manner, such as by establishing an account with the
ISP. Next, at
113, the collection system 10 connects with the ISP by using one of the access
numbers.
When the collection system 10 eStabllSheS C0111111L1111Cat1011S Wlth the ISP,
the ISP assigns the
collection system 10 an IP address, which is detected by the collection system
10 at 114.
The collection system 10 at 115 then detel-lnines the route to a sample target
host and
preferably determines this route through a tT~ace~°oute. The exact
target host that forms the
basis of the trace~~oute as well as the final destination of the route is not
important so any
suitable host may be used. At 116, the collection system 10 analyzes the route
obtained
through t~acef°oute to determine the location of the host associated
with the ISP. Thus, the
19



CA 02507330 2005-05-26
WO 2004/049637 PCT/US2002/037725
collection system 10 loops in a backward direction to deternzine the
geographic location of
the next hop in the t~°ace~oute. At 117, the collection system 10 stor
es the r esults of the
analysis in the database 20.
With the method 111, the collection system 10 can therefore obtain the
geographic
locations of IP addresses with the assistance of the ISPs. Because the
collection system 10
dials-up and connects with the ISP, the collection system 10 preferably
perfol~ns the method
111 in a such a manner so as to alleviate the load placed on the ISP. For
instance, the
collection system 10 may perform the method 111 during off peak times for the
ISP, such as
during the night. Also, the collection system 10 may control the fiequency at
which it
connects with a particular ISP, such as establishing co1111ect1o11S Wlth the
ISP at 10 minute
intervals.
C. Determining Geographic Location Data
With reference to Figure 4, according to another aspect, the invention relates
to a
geographic determination system 30 that uses the database 20 created by the
collection
system 10. The determination system 10 receives requests for a geographic
location and
based on either the IP address or host name of the host being searched for,
such as target host
34. A geographic information requestor 40 provides the request to, and the
response from,
the determination system 30 in an interactive network session that may occur
tluough the
Internet 7 or through some other network. The collection system 10, database
20, and
determination system 30 can collectively be considered a collection and
determination
system 50.



CA 02507330 2005-05-26
WO 2004/049637 PCT/US2002/037725
A preferred method 120 of operation for the determination system 30 will now
be
described with reference to Figure 5. At 122, the system 30 receives a request
for the
geographic location of an entity and, as discussed above, r eceives one or
both of the IP
address and domain name. At 123, the determination system 30 searches the
database 20 for
the geographic location for the data provided, checking to see if the
information has already
been obtained. When searching for an IP address at 123, the system 30 also
tries to find
either the same exact IP address listed in the database 20 or a range or block
of IP addresses
listed in the database 20 that contains the IP address in question. If the IP
address being
searched for is within a block of addresses, the determination system 30
considers it a match,
the information is retrieved at 125, and the geographic information is
delivered to the
requestor 40 at 126. If the infol-mation is not available in database 20, as
detel-mined at 124,
then at 127 the system 30 informs the requestor 40 that the ll1f01111at1011 1S
110t k110W11. At
128, the system 30 then determines the geographic lOCat1011 Of the LL11k110W11
IP address and
stores the result in the database 20. As an alterlative at 125 to stating that
the geographic
location is unknown, the system 30 could determine the geographic information
and provide
the information to the requestor 40.
The determination system 30 looks for both the IP address in the database 20
and also
for the domain name. Since a single IP address may have multiple domain names,
the
determination system 30 looks for close matches to the domain name in
question. For
instance, when searching for a host name, the system 30 performs pattern
matching against
the entries in the database 20. When a match is f01111d that suggests the same
IP address, the
determination system 30 returns the geographic data for that entry to the
requestor 40.
21



CA 02507330 2005-05-26
WO 2004/049637 PCT/US2002/037725
An ambiguity may arise when the requestor 40 provides both an IP address and a
domain name and these two pieces of data lead to different hosts and different
geographic
locations. If both data pieces do not exactly match geographically, then the
system 30
preferably responds with the information that represents the best confidence.
As another
example, the system 30 may r espond in a manner defined by the r equestor 40.
As some
options, the determination system 30 can report only when the data coincide
and agree with
each other, may provide no information in the event of conflicting r esults,
may pr ovide the
geographic information based only on the IP address, may provide the
geographic
information based only on the host name, or may instead provide a best guess
based on the
extent to which the address and host name match.
A sample format of a request sent by the requestor 40 to the detel~lnination
system 30
is provided below, wherein the search is against the host "digitaleraoo~.
nZet" and the items in
bold are responses from the geographic detel-lnination system 30:
Connecting to server.digitalenvoy.net...
;digitalenvoy.net;
vancouver;british columbia;can;99;
The format of the request and the format of the output from the determination
system 30 can
of course be altered according to the application and are not in any way
limited to the
example provided above.
D. Distributing Geographic Location Data
A system for distributing the geographic location information will now be
described
with reference to Figures 6 and 7. According to a first aspect ShOWl1 111
Figure G, the
22



CA 02507330 2005-05-26
WO 2004/049637 PCT/US2002/037725
geographic information on IP addresses and domain names is collected and
determined by
the system 50. A web site 60 may desire the geographic locations of its
visitors and would
desire this information from the COllectloll alld detel'111111at1o11 SySte111
50. The web site 60
includes a web server 62 for r eceiving requests fr om user s 5 for certain
pages and a position
targeter 64 for at least obtaining the geographic information of the users 5.
A preferred method 130 Of Operat1011 Of the lletWOrl~ 5hOW11 111 Figure 6 will
now be
described with reference to Figure 7. At 132, the web server 62 receives a
request from the
user 5 for a web page. At 133, the web server 62 queries the position targeter
64 that, in
turn, at 134 queries the collection and determination system 50 for the
geographic location of
the user. Preferably, the position targeter 64 sends the query through the
Internet 7 to the
collection and determination system 50. The position targeter 64, however, may
send the
query through other routes, such as through a direct connection to the
collection and
determination system 50 or through another networl~. As discussed above, the
collection and
determination system 50 accepts a target host's IP address, host name, or both
and returns
the geographic location of the host in a format specified by the web site 60.
At 135, the
position targeter obtains the geographic location from the collection and
determination
system 50, at 136 the information that will be delivered to the user 5 is
selected, and is then
delivered to the user 5 at 137. This information is preferably selected by the
position targeter
based on the geographic location of the user 5. Alternatively, the position
targeter 64 may
deliver the geographic information to the web server 62 which then selects the
appropriate
information to be delivered to the user 5. As discussed in more detail below,
the geographic
location may have a bearing on what content is delivered to the user, what
advertising, the
23



CA 02507330 2005-05-26
WO 2004/049637 PCT/US2002/037725
type of content, if any, delivered to the user 5, and/or the extent of
content.
As another option shovm in Figure 8, the web site 60 may be associated with a
local
database 66 storing geographic information on users 5. With reference to
Figure 9, a
preferred method 140 of operation begins at 142 with the web server 62
receiving a request
from the user 5. At 143, the web server 62 queries a position targeter 64' for
the geographic
location information. Unlike the operation 130 of the position targeter 64 in
Figures 6 and 7,
the position targeter 64' next first checks the local database 66 for the
desired geographic
information. If the location information is not in the database 66, then at
145 the position
targeter 64' queries the database 20 associated with the collection and
determination system
50.
After the position targeter 64' obtains the geographic information at 146,
either
locally from database 66 or centrally through database 20, the desired
information is selected
based on the geographic location of the user 5. Again, as discussed above,
this selection
process may be performed by the position targeter 64' or by the web server 62.
In either
event, the selected information is delivered to the user 5 at 148.
For both the position targeter 64 and position targeter 64', the position
targeter may
be configured to output HTML code based on the result of the geographic
location query.
An HTML code based result is particularly useful when the web site 60 delivers
dynamic
web pages based on the user's 5 location. It should be understood, however,
that the output
of the position targeter 64 and position targeter 64' is not limited to HTML
code but
encompasses any type of content or output, such as JPEGs, GIFs, etc.
A sample search against the host "digitale~zvo~.yzet" is shown here (items in
bold are
24



CA 02507330 2005-05-26
WO 2004/049637 PCT/US2002/037725
responses from the position targeter 64 or 64':
> distributionprogram digitalenvoy.net
vancouver;british columbia;can;99;
The format of the output, of course, may differ if differ ent options are
enabled or disabled.
End users 5 may elect a different geographic location as compar ed to where
they have
been identified from by the system 50 when it possibly chooses an incol-rect
geographic
location. If this information is passed backed to the position targeter 64 or
64', the position
targeter 64 or 64' will pass this information to the deterTlination system 30
which will store
this in the database 20 for later analysis. Because thlS 111fOr11at1o11
callllOt be trusted
completely, the collection and determination system 50 must analyze and verify
the
information and possibly elect human intervention.
E. I?etermining Geographic Locations Tllrottgh A Proxy Server
One difficulty in providing geographic information on a target host is when
the target
host is associated with a caching proxy server. A caching proxy will male
requests on
behalf of other network clients and save the results for future requests. This
process reduces
the amount of outgoing bandwidth from a network that is required and thus is a
popular
choice for many Internet access providers. For instance, as shown in Figure
10, a user 5 may
be associated with a proxy server 36.
In some cases, this caching is undesirable since the data inside them becomes
stale.
The web has corrected this problem by having a feaW re by which pages can be
marked
uncacheable. Unfortunately, the requests for these uncacheable pages still
look as if they are



CA 02507330 2005-05-26
WO 2004/049637 PCT/US2002/037725
coming from the proxy server 36 instead of the end-user computers 5. The
geographic
information of the user 5, however, may often be required.
A method 150 of determining the geographic infol-mation of the user 5
associated
with the proxy server 36 will now be described with reference to Figiue 11. In
the preferred
embodiment, the user 5 has direct routable access to the networlc; e.g. a
system using
Network Address Translation will not work since the address is not a part of
the global
Internet. Also, the proxy server 36 should allow access tluough arbitrary
ports whereby a
corporate firewall which blocks direct access on all ports will not worl~.
Finally, the user 5
must have a browser that supports Java Applets or equivalent such
functionality.
With reference to Fig~.tre 1 l, at 152, a user 5 initiates a request to a web
server 60,
such as the web server 60 shown in Figure 6 or Figure 8. At 153, the HTTP
request is
processed by the proxy server 36 and no hit is found in the proxy's cache
because the pages
for this system are marlced uncachable. On behalf of the user 5, the proxy
server 38 connects
to the web server 60 and requests the URL at 153. At 154, the web server 60
either through
the local database 60 or through the database 20 with the collection and
determination
system 50, receives the request, determines it 1S C0111111g fr0111 a proxy
server 36, and then at
155 selects the web page that has been tagged to allow for the determination
of the user's 5
IP address. The web page is preferably tagged with a Java applet that can be
used to
determine the IP address of the end-user 5. The web server 60 embeds a unique
applet
parameter tag for that request and sends the document back to the proxy server
36. The
proxy server 36 then forwards the document to the user 5 at 156.
At 157, the user's 5 browser then executes the Java Applet, passing along the
unique
2G



CA 02507330 2005-05-26
WO 2004/049637 PCT/US2002/037725
parameter tag. Since by default applets have rights to access the host fr om
which they came,
the applet on the user's 5 browser opens a direct correction to the client web
server 60, such
as on, but not limited to, port 5000. The web server 60, such as tluough a
separate server
program, is listening for and accepts the correction on port 5000. At 158, the
Java applet
then sends baclc the unique parameter tag to the web server 60. Since the
connection is
direct, the web server 60 at 159 can determine the correct IP address for the
user 5, so the
web server 60 now can associate the session tag with that IP address on all
future requests
coming from the proxy server 38.
As an alternative, at 155, the web server 155 may still deliver a web page
that has a
Java applet. As with the embodiment discussed above, the web page having the
Java applet
is delivered to the proxy server at 156 and the user 5 connects with the web
server 60 at 157.
The Java applet according to this embodiment of the invention differs from the
Java applet
discussed above in that at 158 the Java applet reloads the user's browser with
what it was
told to load by the web server 60. The Java applet according to this aspect of
the invention is
not associated with a unique parameter tag that alleviates the need to handle
and to sort the
plurality of unique parameter tags. W stead, with this aspect of the
invention, the web server
60 at 159 determines the IP address and geographic location of the user 5 when
the Java
applet connects to the web server 60.
II. TAILORING AN INTERNET SITE BASED ON GEOGRAPHIC
LOCATION OF ITS VISITORS
The web site 60 can tailor the Internet site based upon the geographic
location or
27



CA 02507330 2005-05-26
WO 2004/049637 PCT/US2002/037725
Internet connection speed of an Internet user 5. When the user 5 visits the
filternet site 60,
the Internet site 60 queries a database, such as local database 60 or central
database 20, over
the fizternet which then returns the geogr aphic location and/or Tnternet
connection speed of
the user based upon the user's TP address and other r elevant lllfOrllatloll
der ived fr om the
user's "hit" on the Internet site 60. ThlS lllfOr111at1o11 play be derived
from the route to the
user's 5 machine, the user's 5 host name, the hosts along the route to the
user's machine 5,
via SNMP, and/or via NTP but not limited to these techniques. Based on this
information
the Internet site 60 may tailor the content and/or advertising presented to
the user. This
tailoring may also include, but not be limited to, changing the langilage of
the Internet site to
a user's native tongue based on the user's location, varying the products or
advertising
shown on an Internet site based upon the geographic infor-nation and other
information
received from the database, or preventing access based on the source of the
request (i.e.
"adult" content sites rejecting requests from schools, etc.). This tailoring
can be done by
having several alternative screens or sites for a user and having the web
server 62 or position
targeter 64 or 64~' dynamically select the proper one based upon the user's
geographic
information. The geographic information can also be analyzed to effectively
market the site
to potential Internet site advertisers and external content providers or to
provide media-rich
content to users that have sufficient bandwidth.
The methods of tailoring involve tracing the path back to the Internet user's
machine
5, determining the location of all hosts in the path, making a determination
of the lilcelihood
of the location of the Internet user's machine, deternzining other information
about the hosts,
which may or may not be linked to its geographic location, in the path to and
including the
28



CA 02507330 2005-05-26
WO 2004/049637 PCT/US2002/037725
Internet user's machine by directly querying them for such information (by
using, but not
limited by, SNMP or NTP for example), or alternatively, there is a complete
database that
may be updated that stores information about the IP addresses and host names
which can be
queried by a distant source which would then be sent infonmation about the
user.
The web site 60 dynamically changes W tenet content and/or advertising based
on the
geographic location of the hzterlet user 5 as determined from the above
methods or
processes. The web site 60 presents one of several pre-designed alternative
screens,
presentations, or mirror sites depending on the information sent by the
database as a result of
the user 5 accessing the web site 60.
As discussed above, the selection of the apps opriate information to deliver
to the user
5 based on the geographic location can be performed either by the web server
62 or the
position targeter 64 or 64'. h1 either case, the web site can dynamically
adapt and tailor
Internet content to suit the needs of Internet users 5 based on their
geographic location and/or
connection speed. As another option, the web site 60 can d~mamically adapt and
tailor
Internet advertising for targeting specific W tenet users based on their
geographic location
and/or connection speed. Furthermore, the web site 60 can dynamically adapt
and tailor
Internet content and/or advertising to the native language of W tenet user s 5
which may be
determined by their geographic location. Also, the web site 60 can contr of
access, by
selectively allowing or disallowing access, to the W tenet site 60 or a
particular web page on
the site 60 based on the geographic location, IP Address, host name and/or
connection speed
of the Internet user. As another example, the web site can analyze visits by
Internet users 5
in order to compile a geographic and/or correction speed brealcdown of W tenet
users 5 to
29



CA 02507330 2005-05-26
WO 2004/049637 PCT/US2002/037725
aid in the marl~eting of Internet sites.
A. Credit Card Fraud
In addition to using geographic lOCatloll 111f01'111at1o11 to target
information to the user,
the web site 60 or the collection and detel-mination system 50 can provide a
mechanism for
web sites owners to detect possible cases of online credit card fraud. When a
user 5 enters
information to complete an on-line order, he/she must give a shipping and
billing address.
This information cannot currently be validated against the physical location
of the user 5.
Through the invention, the web site 60 determines the geographic location of
the user 5. If
the user 5 enters a location that he is determined not to be in, there could
be a possible cause
of fraud. This situation would require follow up by the web site owner to
determine if the
order request was legitimate or not.
B. Traffic Management
In addition to using geographic infol-lrlation to detect credit card fraud,
the geographic
information can also be used in managing traffic on the Internet 7. For
example, with
reference to Figure 12(A), a traffic manager 70 has the benefit of obtaining
the geographic
information of its users or visitors 5. The tr affic manager 70 may employ the
local database
60 or, although not shown, may be connected to the collection and detel-
lnination system 50.
After the traffic manager 70 detects the geogr aphic location of the users 5,
the traffic
manager 70 directs a user's 5 request to the most desirable web server, such
as web server A
74 or web server B 72. For instance, if the user 5 is in Atlanta, the traffic
manager 70 may



CA 02507330 2005-05-26
WO 2004/049637 PCT/US2002/037725
direct the user's request to web server A 74 which is based in Atlanta. On the
other hand, if
the user 5 is in San Francisco, then the traffic manager 70 would direct the
user 5 to web
server B 72, which is located in San Francisco. In thlS 111a1111eT, the
traffic manager 70 can
reduce traffic between intel-lnediate hosts and direct the traffic to the
closest web server.
To most efficiently determine the best server to respond to a request fiom a
user on a
network, the traffic manager 70 preferably has an entire map of the network,
such as a map
of the Internet. The map may be stored in database 60, the same database 20 as
the
geographic locations of Internet users or a separate database. The map of the
network ideally
includes as much information as possible on the network so that the traffic
manager 70 can
intelligently route traffic to the most desirable server. The 111fOr111at1011
011 the network
includes, but is not limited to, (1) the routers, switches, hubs, hosts, and
other nodes
(collectively "nodes") within a network, (2) the geographic locations of the
nodes; (3) the
total bandwidth available at each node; (3) the available capacity at each
node; (4) the traffic
patterns between the nodes; (5) the latency times and speeds between nodes;
(6) the health or
status of the links between nodes and the nodes themselves, such as which
nodes have
crashed, which linl~ are undergoing maintenance, etc; and (7) historical and
predicted
performance of the networlc, nodes, and links, such as daily, seasonal, yearly
trends in
performance and predicted performance modeled considering past perfol-lnance,
present data,
and knowledge of future events. It should be understood that this list of
possible information
stored in the database is only exemplary and that the database may include
less than all of the
information as well as other pieces of data.
As can be appreciated, for any large network, a comprehensive database with
this
31



CA 02507330 2005-05-26
WO 2004/049637 PCT/US2002/037725
map of the network could quicldy become unmanageable and discovery of the
optimal
response source would take a sigilificant amount of time and r esources. The
time spent in
determining this ideal route may very easily offset any gain that would be
realized by routing
the traffic to a quicker server. For practical reasons, the traffic manager 70
and the database
should perform some approximation or partial mapping of the network. For
example, a
complete or semi-complete map of the entire network, such as the W tenet, can
be formed of
the most pertinent data which allows the traffic manager 70 to efficiently
deliver responses to
users.
The information on a network can be obtained in any number of ways. One way of
completing a map of the network backbone and infrastructure will now be
described with
reference to Figure 12(B). A set of machines shovcm in the figure as analyzers
are deployed
to analyze interconnections between hosts and to store the gathered
intelligence in one or
more databases. The analyzers may use any tool to obtain intelligence, such as
the network
tool traceroute, and this intelligence includes each host and the direct links
each node has to
other nodes. The analyzers talce the traceroute information to determine the
latency time
between two interconnected nodes and to detemnine the speed of the
intercormection between
two nodes. Since the traceroute information is a byproduct of the analysis to
determine the
geographic location of users, the collection system, detemnination system, or
collection and
determination system may serve as the analyzers. Alternatively, the analyzers
may exist as
separate systems or machines.
In the example shown in Figime 12(B), 100 users each with their oum address ar
a
connected to a single server, machine A, and 100 other users each with their
own address are
32



CA 02507330 2005-05-26
WO 2004/049637 PCT/US2002/037725
connected to a single ser~~er, machine C. hi monitoring the network, the
analyzers detennine
that machine A always forwards all requests to machine B and that machine C
always
forward all requests to machine B. Machine B, in tLlnl, always forwards
requests from
machine A and from machine C to machine D. Machine D then has multiple routes
tlu ough
which it can send user requests. W mapping the network, because a response to
any request
from users corrected to either A or C will be r outed tlu ough machine D, the
analyzer tr eats
all 200 users on machines A or C as having the address of machine D. By
eliminating the
need to analyze the position and intercomlects of machine A, B, and C, the
analyzer reduces
the problem set to an approximation which is more manageable. This analysis
can be
performed for all addresses that will request information that will be
efficiently routed on the
networlc.
In the example mentioned above, machines A and C forwarded all of their r
equests to
machine B and machine B forwarded all of the requests to machine D. As a
result, the
analyzers could effectively and accurately reduce this set of interconnections
to a model in
which the users are all connected to machine D. hz reality, however, machines
A and C may
send some traffic to other machines or to each other and machine B may send
some traffic to
machines other than machine D. Nonetheless, tlu ough probability and
statistics, the
analyzers can determine the most likely paths of travel and make corresponding
approximations or simplifications of the network.
The traffic manager 70 can obtain intelligence on the network in ways other
than
through the analyzers. For example, the components foaming the network or
adnunistrators
of the network may monitor the nodes and overall network and provide
performance data to
33



CA 02507330 2005-05-26
WO 2004/049637 PCT/US2002/037725
the traffic manager. Also, the tr affic manager 70 can obtain thlS
lllfOr111at1o11 from thin d
parties, such as through other systems that are able to gather this
intelligence.
As discussed above, the traffic manager 70 can route traffic on the network
based on
the geographic location of the origination and destination points, SLlch aS
LISeT alld web site,
and also based on the geographic locations of intel-lnediate nodes. At times,
the closest
server or node to a user does not necessarily correspond to the best server to
respond or
handle the user's request. For example, traffic should not be sent to a server
or node that has
crashed, which has no additional available bandwidth, or which has intel-
rupted or slow
intermediate network links. In the case of a server or node crash, the
analyzers continually
monitor all server s to ensure that they are providing optimal perforl-nance.
In the case of
slow or down network links, the analyzers monitor all links that could impact
the decisions
of which server to user. Finally, the analyzer s measure the total available
bandwidth to a
responding server and the comzection speeds of the user s. By knowing the
available
bandwidth a user has due to the mapping of IP address to colmection speed, the
traffic
manager 70 can direct the user to the server that has enough available
bandwidth to properly
accommodate that user. Thus, while the geographic locations of the end points
and
intermediate nodes is considered, the traffic manager 70 does not necessarily
route traffic to
the closest servers if other servers, even if they are farther away, can
provide faster, better, or
more reliable service.
The traffic manager can be positioned anywhere within a network. An one
example,
the traffic manager can be associated with DNS service. When used as a DNS
service, a
content provider interfaces with the DNS service to define in what conditions
and situations
34



CA 02507330 2005-05-26
WO 2004/049637 PCT/US2002/037725
a particular user would be sent to a particular server. These conditions are
based, for
example, on the geographic location of the user, the networlc location of the
user, the
bandwidth and latency between the user and available servers, the user's
available
bandwidth, the server's available bandwidth, and the time of day. The user is
then directed
to the server that best suites his profile based on the criteria set by the
content provider. The
DNS response would be sent with a time to live (TTL) of 0 so that every new
request would
go through a name resolution process so that the user is sent to the
appropriate server at the
time of the request. W this example of the traffic manager being associated
with DSN
service, the web server A 74 and web server B 72 may comprise mirror-imaged
web servers
associated with the same web site.
As another example, the traffic manager 70 may be associated with a server or
node
within the Internet and perform a redirect. lii this example of an HTTP
redirect, the same
criteria would be used in determining where the user would be sent. One
difference is that
the traffic manager 70 acts as the front end for a site, such as a content
provider, and
redirects a user from this machine to the appropriate machine after being
contacted by a user.
As with the DNS example, the traffic manager 70 can perform the redirect based
on
available bandwidth at servers 74 and 72, connection speeds of the servers 74
and 72,
geographic locations, load balancing, etc.
The traf~ c manager 70 performs this analysis to determine the proper server
to have a
individual user access. By doing this series of analyses, the user will be
assured the best
possible performance.



CA 02507330 2005-05-26
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III. PROFILE SERVER AND PROFILE DISCOVERY SERVER
As discussed above, the collection and detel-mination system 50 may store
geographic
information on users 5 and provide thlS lllf0l'111at1011 to web sites 60 or
other requesters 40.
According to another aspect of the invention, based on the requests fiom the
web sites 60
and other requestors 40, infol-mation other than the geographic lOCat1011 Of
tile LISeTS 5 is
tracl~ed. With reference to Figure 13, a profile server 80 is connected to the
web site 60
through the Internet and also to a profile discovery server 90, wh lch may
also be through the
Internet, through another networl~ colmection, or a direct connection. The
profile server 80
comprises a request handler 82, a database server engine 83, and a database
84. As will be
more apparent from the description below, the database 84 includes a geography
database
84A, an authorization database 84B, a networl~ speed database 840, a profile
database 84D,
and an interface database 84E. The profile discovery server 90 includes a
discoverer engine
92, a profiler 93, and a database 94. The database 94 111C1L1deS a 00111111011
geOgr aphlC 11a111eS
database 94A, a global geogr aphic structure database 94B, and a MAC address
ownership
database 940.
A. Profiler
In general, the profile server 80 and profile discovery server 90 gather
information
about specific IP addresses based upon the hiten -let users' interactions with
the various web
sites 60 and other requestors 40. This information includes, but is not
limited to, the types of
web sites 60 visited, pages hit such as sports sites, auction sites, news
sites, e-commerce
sites, geographic information, bandwidth 111f01111at1011, and time spent at
the web site 60. All
36



CA 02507330 2005-05-26
WO 2004/049637 PCT/US2002/037725
of this information is fed from the web site 60 in the network back to the
database 84. This
infornlation is stored in the high performance database 84 by IP address and
creates an
elaborate profile of the IP address based on sites 60 visited and actions
taken within each site
60. This profile is stored as a series of preferences for or against
predetermined categories.
No interaction is necessarily required between the web site 60 and the user's
5 br owser to
maintain the profile. Significantly, this method of profiling does not require
the use of any
coolies that have been found to be highly objectionable by the users. While
cookies are not
preferred, due to difficulties induced by network topology, cookies may be
used to track
certain users 5 after carefully considering the privacy issues of the users 5.
As users 5 access web sites 60 in the network, profiled ll1f01111at1o11 abOLlt
tile IP
address of the user 60 is sent fr om the database 84 to the position targeter
64 or 64' at the
web site 60. As explained above, the position targeter 64 or 64' or the web
server 62 allows
pre-set configurations or pages on the web site 60 to then be dynamically
shown to the user 5
based on the detailed profile of that user 5. In addition preferences of users
5 similar to those
of a cunent user 5 can be used to predict the content that the culzent user 5
may prefer to
view. The information profiled could include, but is not limited to, the
following:
geographic location, connection speed to the Internet, tendency to
like/dislike any of news,
weather, sports, entertainment, sporting goods, clothing goods, etc.
As an example, two users are named Alice and Bob. Alice visits a web site,
www.somerandomsite.com. This site, asks the profile server 80, such as
server.digitalenvoy.net, where Alice is from and what she likes/dislikes. The
database 84
has no record of Alice but does lmow from geography database 84A that she is
from Atlanta,
37



CA 02507330 2005-05-26
WO 2004/049637 PCT/US2002/037725
GA and notifies the web site to that effect. Using Alice's geographic
information, the web
site sends Alice a web page that is tailored for her geographic location, for
instance it
contains the Atlanta weather forecast and the new headlines for Atlanta. Alice
continues to
visit the web site and buys an umbrella fr0111 the site and then termnates her
visit. The web
site lets the profile server 80 and database 84 lmow that Alice bought an
umbrella from the
site. Bob then visits the site www.somerandomsite.com. The site again asps the
profile
server 80, such as a server.digitalenvoy.net, about Bob. The server 80 loops
in the database
84 for information on Bob and finds none. Again though, the server 80 loops in
the
geography database 84A and determines that he is from Atlanta, GA. Also, based
on the
data gathered in part from Alice and stored in profile database 84D, the
profile server 80
infers that people from Atlanta, GA may lilce to buy umbrellas. The site uses
Bob's
geographic infol-mation and the fact that Atlantans have a propensity to buy
umbrellas to
send Bob a web page with Atlanta information, such as the weather and news,
and an offer
to buy an umbrella. Bob buys the umbrella and the site sends thlS
111f01'111at1o11 to the server
80, thereby showing a greater propensity for Atlantan's to buy umbrellas.
In addition, if the profile stored in the profile database 84D in profile
server 80 shows
that an IP Address has previously hit several e-commerce sites and sports
sites in the
network and that the address is located in Califorlia, the web site can be
dynamically
tailored to show sports items for sale that are more often purchased by
Californians, such as
surf boards. This method allows for more customized experiences for users at e-
colnlnerce
and information sites.
This information can also be compiled for web sites in the network or outside
the
38



CA 02507330 2005-05-26
WO 2004/049637 PCT/US2002/037725
networl~. Web sites outside of the networl~ can develop profiles of the users
typically hitting
their web site. Log files of web sites can be examined and IP Addresses can be
compared
against the profiled If Address information stored on the central server. This
will allow web
sites to analyze their traffic and determine the general profile of users
hitting the site.
In order to remove "stale" information, the database server engine 83
occasionally
purges the database 84 in the profile server 80. For example, a user 5 that is
interested in
researching information about a trip will probably not want to continue seeing
promotions
for that trip after the trip has been completed. By purging the database 84,
old preferences
are removed and are updated with current interests and desir es.
B. Content Registry
In addition to the examples provided above, the profile server 80 can provide
a
mechanism for end users 5 to register their need for certain types of
infomnation content to
be allowed or disallowed from being served to their systems. Registr anon is
based on IP
address and registration rights are limited to authorized and register ed
owner s of the IP
addresses. These owners access the profile server 80 tluough the hltemet and
identify
classes of Internet content that they would want to allow or disallow fr0111
being served to
their IP addresses ranges. The classes of W tenet content that a particular IP
address or blocl~
of addresses are allowed or disallowed from receiving is stored by the profile
server 80 in the
authorization database 84B. W ternet content providers, such as web sites 60,
query the
profile server 80, which in turn queries the authorization database 84B, and
identify users 5
that do or do not want to receive their content based on this IP address
registry.
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For example, a school registers their IP ranges and registers with the profile
server 80
to disallow adult content from being sent to their systems. When an access is
made from
machines within the school's IP range to an adult site, the adult site checks
with the pr ofile
server 80 and discovers that content provided by the adult site is disallowed
from being sent
to those IP addresses. Instead of the adult content, the adult site sends a
notice to the User
that the content within the site camiot be served to 111SIher 111ach111e. This
series of events
allows end IP address owners to control the content that will be distributed
and served to
machines within their control.
C. Bandwidth Registry
The profile server 80 pr eferably is also relied upon in determining the
amount of
content to be sent to the user 5. Web sites 60 dynamically determine the
available bandwidth
to a specific user and provide this information to the pr ofile server 80,
which stores this
information in the network speed database 84C. In addition, the web site 60
examines the
rate and speed by which a specific user 5 is able to download packets fr om
the web site 60,
the web site 60 determines the available bandwidth fiom the web site 60 to the
end user 5. If
there is congestion at the web site 60, on the path to the end user 5, or at
the last link to the
user's 5 terminal, the web site 60 limits the available bandwidth for that
user 5. Based on
this information, the web site 60 can dynamically reduce the amount of
information being
sent to the user 60 and consequently increase download times perceived by the
user 5. The
bandwidth information is preferably sent to the profile server 80 and stored
in the network
speed database 84C so that other sites 60 in the network have the benefit of
this bandwidth



CA 02507330 2005-05-26
WO 2004/049637 PCT/US2002/037725
information without having to necessarily measLUe the bandwidth themselves.
In order to remove "stale" bandwidth information, the database server engine
83
occasionally purges the information in the networlc speed database 84C. For
example,
congestion between a web site GO and a user 5 will usually not persist.
D. Interface Registry
Web sites GO also preferably are able to dynamically determine the interface
that a
user 5 has to view the web site G0. This user interface information may be
placed in the
database 84E through a registr ation process, may be lmown from the ISP, or
may be detected
or discovered in other ways. Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) users are shown
a web site 60
with limited or no graphics in order to acconunodate the PDAs limited storage
capabilities.
Web sites 60 query the profile server 80 when accessed by a user 5. The
profile server 80, in
turn, queries the interface database 84E and, if available, retrieves the type
of interface
associated with a particular IP address. The profile server 80 stores in the
database 84E all
users and informs the web site GO of the display interface that the user 5
has. Based on this
information, the web site GO tailors the information that is being sent to the
user 5.
E. Methods Of Operation
A preferred method 160 of oiler ation for the pr ofile server 80 and profile
discovery
server 90 will now be described with reference to Figures 14(A) and 14(B). At
1G2, the
profile server 80 is given an IP address or host name to query. At 1G3, the
profile server 80
determines whether the requestor is authorized to receive the information and,
if not, tells the
41



CA 02507330 2005-05-26
WO 2004/049637 PCT/US2002/037725
requestor at 166 that the infol-mation is unlmown. The inquiry as to whether
the requestor is
authorized at 163 is preferably performed so that only those entities that
have paid for access
to the profile server 80 and profile discovery server 90 obtain the data. If
the requestor is
authorized, then the profile server at 164 determines whether the profile of
the address is
lalown. If the profile for that address is known, the profile server 80 sends
the requested
information to the requestor at 165, otherwise the profile server 80 at 166
informs the
requestor that the information is unknown.
For information that is unknown to the profile server 80, the profile server
80 passes
the information to the profile discovery server 90 at 167. At 168, the profile
discovery
server determines the route to the address, at 169 obtains lmown infol-lnation
about all hosts
in route from the profile sel-ver 80, and then decides at 170 whether any
unknown hosts are
left in the route. If no unknown hosts are left in the route, then at 171 the
profile discovery
server 90 returns an error condition and notifies the operator.
For each host name left in the route, the profile discovery server 90 next at
172
determines whether a host name exists for the L1111CnOW11 host. If so, then at
173 the profile
discovery server attempts to determine the location based Oll conumon host
11a111e naming
conventions and/or global country based naming conventions. At 174, the
profile discovery
server 90 checks whether the host responds to NTP queries and, if so, at 175
attempts to
determine the time zone based on the NTP responses. At 176, the profile
discovery server
90 checks whether the host responds to SNMP queries and, if so, at 177
attempts to
determine the location, machine type, and comzection speed based on public
SNMP
responses. Next, at 178, the profile discovery server 90 checks whether the
host has a MAC
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address and, if so, attempts to determine machine type and colmection speed
based on lmown
MAC address delegations.
At 180, the profile discovery server 90 determines whether any additional
unknown
hosts exist. If so, the profile discovery server 90 r etin-ns to 172 and
checks whether a host
name is available. When no more unknown hosts exist, the profile discovery
server 90 at
181 interpolates information to determine any remaining lllf0l'111at1o11, at
182 flags the
interpolated data for future review, and at 183 saves all discovered and
interpolated data at
the profile server 80.
IV. DETERMINING GEOGRAPHIC LOCATIONS WITHIN A PRIVATE
NETWORK
A networlc according to a second embodiment of the invention will now be
described
with reference to Figure 15. The network includes both an external network 7,
such as the
Internet 7, and an internal network 9. The internal network 9 is constructed
in such a way
that each machine within the networlc is given an internal IP address that is
paired with an
external IP address. All traffic and data transportation within the internal
network 9 is done
via the internal IP address while any traffic that is destined to go to or
come from outside of
the network, such as to or from the Internet 7, uses the external IP address.
In this type of
network 9, at a minimum, the user 5 and the proxy server 36 or other interface
to the Internet
7 must know the internal and external IP pairing in order to allow tr affic to
pass through the
internal network 9. The private network may comprise private networks such as
a
commercial entity's LAN or WAN or may be a semi-private network, such as AOL's
43



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network.
In this network 9, any specific external IP address can be arbitT arily paired
with any
internal IP address so long as the internal network 9 lmows how to transport
traffic to the
internal IP address. As long as the internal network 9 knows the
correspondence between
internal and external IP addresses, any method of mapping internal to external
addresses can
be employed.
Because the external addresses can be arbitrary, this networlc 9 presents
specific
problems in attempting to determine the geographic location of the user 5
based on its
external address. For example, an effect of this network architecture is that
anyone trying to
trace the networlc to the user 5 will see the user's IP address as being one
hop away from the
proxy server 36 and will not see any internlediate routers within the internal
network 9. This
inability to trace within the internal network 9 may defeat the determination
of the
geographic location of the user 5 on that network 9 because all users 5 will
look like they are
located at the location of the proxy server 36.
According to the invention, to determine the geographic location of the user 5
within
this type of network 9, the internal network 9 111L1St be generally stable. W
other words, the
numbering scheme within the internal network 9 lllllst not change dramatically
over time.
Normally, for efficient routing of information within this type of network 9,
inteunal IP
addresses are allocated to exist at a certain point so that the entire
internal network 9 lmows
how to route information to them. If this is not the case, then announcements
are made in an
ongoing fashion throughout the internal network 9 as to the location of the
internal
addresses. These continual "announcements" induce an umzecessary networlc
overhead.
44



CA 02507330 2005-05-26
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According to this embodiment Of the 111Ve11t1o11, the networlc 9 includes an
internal
server 99, which may comprise a machine or set Of 111achllle5, that services
requests from
users 5 in the internal network 9. In general, the intel-nal server 99 accepts
requests for
information and accurately identifies the intel-rlal IP address of the
requesting machine, Sllch
as user 5. By being able to accurately identify the intel-nal IP address of a
requesting
machine, the internal server 99 maps the intel-rlal IP address of the
requesting machine with
the geographic location of that internal IP address in order to identify
accurately the
geographic location of the requesting machine.
A method 200 by which the geographic location of the user 5 within the
internal
networlc 9 will now be described with reference to Figure 16. At 202, the user
5 having an
internal IP address IP~TE~urAL and external IP address 1P~XTI:RNAL reqLleStS
lllfOrlnatloll fr0111 a
server outside the intel-nal network 9. At 203, the proxy server 36 receives
the request and
forwards the request to the web site 60 with the user's extel-nal IP address.
The web site 60
determines that 'the request is from a private intel-nal network at 204. At
205, based on the
IP~xTEIU~rAL of the user 5, the web site 60 detel-lnines that within the
network 9 the internal
server 99 exists for assisting in locating the geogr aphic location of the
user 5 and redirects
the user 5 to the internal server 99. Thus, as a result of this redirect, the
user 5 sends a
request for information to the internal server 99. At 206, the intel-nal
server 99 sees the
request from the user 5 and determines that the request was redirected from
the web site 60.
The internal server 99 can detect the redirect based on the infol-lnation r
equested from the
internal server 99, such as based on the URL of the redirect, through the
referral URL
contained in the header, or in other ways.



CA 02507330 2005-05-26
WO 2004/049637 PCT/US2002/037725
At 207, the internal server 99 determines the geographic location of the user
5. The
internal server 99 can determine the geographic location of the user 5 through
the methods
according to the invention. Once the internal IP address is k110W11, the
internal server 99
performs a lookup in a database having mappings between the internal private
IP address and
the geographic location. The database can be derived tluough user registration
and may be
maintained by the provider of the network or by some other entity. The
internal server 99
can therefore query this database to obtain the geographic location of any
user 5 in the
network 9.
The internal server 99 may obtain geographic location information on the users
5 in
other ways. For example, the internal server 99 can obtain a route to the user
within the
networlc 9, derive geographic locations of intemnediate hosts, and then
analyze the route to
determine the geographic location of a host or user 5. As another example, the
internal
server 99 can obtain the geographic location directly from a database within
the network 9.
A database having each user's geographic location may be maintained by the
proxy server
36, by the internal server 99, or by some other machine within the networlc 9.
The internal
server 99 can therefore query this database in responding to a request for the
geographic
location of a user and/or in building its own database of geographic locations
for users 5. As
yet another example, the internal server 5 may also use method 111 described
with reference
to Figure 3. For example, this database may be filled in through a
relationship with a
provider of the network 9 who provides all of the data. The database may be
derived at least
in part by automatically dialing all of the network provider's dial-in points
of presence
(POP) and determining which private IP addresses are being used at each dial
in POP. The
46



CA 02507330 2005-05-26
WO 2004/049637 PCT/US2002/037725
internal server 99 can therefore determine the geographic location of the user
5 based on its
IP~TExrrAL address and geographic location mapping.
At 208, the internal server 99 redirects the user 5 back to the web site 60
with added
information about the geographic location of the user 5. This geographic
information may be
sent to the web site by encoding the URL, tluough the use of coolies, or
through methods.
As discussed above, the web site 60 can adjust the information delivered to
the user 5 based
on its geographic infornzation. The web site 60 may tailor the content,
advertising, etc.
before presenting such information to the user 5. The method 200 requires no
intervention
from the user 5 with all redirections and analysis being done automatically.
Also, the
method 200 of determining the geographic location of private IP addresses has
no bearing on
how an individual user's IP address is determined.
As explained above with reference to Figvxres 15 and 16, a request from the
user 5
within the private networl~ 9 is sent tlu ough the pr oxy server 3 6 to the
web site 60 which
then determines if the request originated from within the private networl~ 9.
An alterlative
method 220 of redirecting requests to the internal server will now be
described with
reference to Figures 17 and 18. At 221, the user 5 initiates a request and
this request is
passed to the proxy server 36 which first sends an inquiry to a DNS server 8
in order to
obtain the IP address associated with the request. hz general, the DNS server
8 receives
domain name inquiries and resolves these inquiries by returiing the IP
addresses. With the
invention, however, at 223, the DNS server 8 does not perform a strict look-up
for an IP
address associated the inquiry from the user 5 but instead first determines if
the inquiry
originated from within the private networl~ 9. If the inquiry did not
originate within the
47



CA 02507330 2005-05-26
WO 2004/049637 PCT/US2002/037725
private networl~ 9, then at 225 the DNS server 8 resolves the inquiry by r
etuming the IP
address for the external server 50. The user 5 is therefore directed to the
external server 50
which determines the geographic location of the user 5 at 226 and redir ects
the user 5 to the
web server 60 along with the geographic lOCat1011 111f01'111at1o11. At 234,
the web server 60
uses the geographic location information in any one of a myriad of ways, such
as those
described above.
If the DNS server 8 decides that the inquiry did originate within the private
networl~
9, then at 230 the DNS server 8 resolves the inquiry by retLlming the IP
address for the
internal server 99. Consequently, instead of being directed to the external
server by the DNS
server 8, the user 5 is directed to the internal server 99. The internal
server 99 determines
the geographic location of the user 5 at 231 and redirects the user 5 to the
web server 60
along with the geographic location information at 232 so the web server 60 can
use the
information at 234. Thus, with the invention, rather than directing the user 5
fiom the proxy
server 36 to the web server 60 and then to the internal server 99, the method
220 is more
direct and efficient by having the DNS server 8 do the redirecting of the user
5.
The foregoing description of the preferred embodiments of the invention has
been
presented only for the purpose of illustration and description and is not
intended to be
exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise f01'1115 disclosed. Many
modifications and
variations are possible in light of the above teaching.
In illustrating aspects of the invention, the user 5 has been represented by a
personal
computer (PC). As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, users are
able to access
networl~s in numerous ways other than just tluough a PC. For example, the user
may use a
48



CA 02507330 2005-05-26
WO 2004/049637 PCT/US2002/037725
mobile phone, personal data assistant (PDA), lap-top computers, digital TV,
WebTV, and
other TV products. The invention may be used with these types of products and
can
accommodate new products as well as new brands, models, standards or
variations of
existing products.
In addition to using any type of product or device, the user 5 can access the
network
in able suitable manner. The network will, of course vary, with the product
receiving the
information but includes, but is not limited to, AMPS, PCS, GSM, NAMPS, USDC,
CDPD,
IS-95, GSC, Pocsag, FLEX, DCS-1900, PACS, MTRS, e-TACS, NMT, C-450, ERMES,
CD2, DECT, DCS-1800, JTACS, PDC, NTT, NTACS, NEC, PHS, or satellite systems.
For
a lap-top computers, the network may comprise a cellular digital packet data
(CDPD)
network, any other packet digital or analog network, circuit-switched digital
or analog data
networlcs, wireless ATM or frame relay networks, EDGE, CDMAONE, or generalized
packet radio service (GPRS) networlc. For a TV product, the network may
include the
Internet, coaxial cable networks, hybrid fiber coaxial cable systems, fiber
distribution
networks, satellite systems, terrestrial over-the-air broadcasting networks,
wireless networks,
or infrared networks. The same type of networks that deliver information to
mobile
telephones and to lap-top computers as well as to other wireless devices, may
also deliver
information to the PDAs. Similarly, the same types of networks that deliver
information to
TV products may also deliver information to desk-top computers. It should be
understood
that the types of networks mentioned above with respect to the products are
just examples
and that other existing as well as future-developed networks may be employed
and are
encompassed by the invention.
49



CA 02507330 2005-05-26
WO 2004/049637 PCT/US2002/037725
As described above, the invention may be used in routing Internet traffic,
such as with
user's requests for web pages. While the requests issued by users 5 therefore
include
requests sent through the World Wide Web for htlnl pages, the traffic manager
according to
the invention can be used in routing or directing other types of network
traffic. For example,
the requests may involve not only HTML but also XML, WAP, HDML, and other
protocols.
Further, the invention includes requests that are genes ated in response to
some human input
or action and also requests that do not 111VO1Ve ally hLlillall aCtlvlty, such
as those
automatically generated by systems or devices. The traffic that can be routed
with the
invention therefore includes any type of traffic carried by a network or
associated with use of
a network.
The invention has been described with examples showing IPv4 technology in
which
an IP address is represented by four 8-bit integer numbers. The invention is
not limited to
just IPv4 but can also be used with other addressing schemes. For example, the
invention
may be used with IPv6 technology in which an IP address is represented by a
series of six
numbers.
The embodiments were chosen and described in order to explain the principles
of the
invention and their practical application so as to enable others skilled in
the art to utilize the
invention and various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited
to the
particular use contemplated.
50

Representative Drawing
A single figure which represents the drawing illustrating the invention.
Administrative Status

For a clearer understanding of the status of the application/patent presented on this page, the site Disclaimer , as well as the definitions for Patent , Administrative Status , Maintenance Fee  and Payment History  should be consulted.

Administrative Status

Title Date
Forecasted Issue Date Unavailable
(86) PCT Filing Date 2002-11-26
(87) PCT Publication Date 2004-06-10
(85) National Entry 2005-05-26
Examination Requested 2007-11-08
Dead Application 2012-04-25

Abandonment History

Abandonment Date Reason Reinstatement Date
2011-04-26 R30(2) - Failure to Respond
2011-11-28 FAILURE TO PAY APPLICATION MAINTENANCE FEE

Payment History

Fee Type Anniversary Year Due Date Amount Paid Paid Date
Application Fee $400.00 2005-05-26
Maintenance Fee - Application - New Act 2 2004-11-26 $100.00 2005-05-26
Maintenance Fee - Application - New Act 3 2005-11-28 $100.00 2005-11-23
Registration of a document - section 124 $100.00 2006-06-22
Maintenance Fee - Application - New Act 4 2006-11-27 $100.00 2006-09-19
Maintenance Fee - Application - New Act 5 2007-11-26 $200.00 2007-09-21
Request for Examination $800.00 2007-11-08
Maintenance Fee - Application - New Act 6 2008-11-26 $200.00 2008-09-16
Maintenance Fee - Application - New Act 7 2009-11-26 $200.00 2009-09-17
Maintenance Fee - Application - New Act 8 2010-11-26 $200.00 2010-09-17
Owners on Record

Note: Records showing the ownership history in alphabetical order.

Current Owners on Record
DIGITAL ENVOY, INC.
Past Owners on Record
FRIEDMAN, ROBERT
LUTCH, BENJAMIN
PAREKH, SANJAY
Past Owners that do not appear in the "Owners on Record" listing will appear in other documentation within the application.
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Document
Description 
Date
(yyyy-mm-dd) 
Number of pages   Size of Image (KB) 
Claims 2005-05-26 6 169
Abstract 2005-05-26 1 55
Description 2005-05-26 50 2,307
Drawings 2005-05-26 20 283
Representative Drawing 2005-05-26 1 11
Cover Page 2005-08-24 1 38
Correspondence 2005-08-20 1 26
PCT 2005-05-26 2 105
Assignment 2005-05-26 3 116
Fees 2005-11-23 1 36
Assignment 2006-06-22 5 163
Correspondence 2006-06-22 2 88
Assignment 2006-06-22 4 163
Prosecution-Amendment 2007-11-08 1 39
Prosecution-Amendment 2010-10-25 2 74