Multi-link transport protocol translation

Abstract

A device may receive a packet at a network device, and may retrieve from a table, by using information in a header of the packet as keys, records that include communication performance statistics associated with transport protocols. In addition, the device may select, based on the records, a transport protocol with an optimum communication performance statistics among the transport protocols and send the packet in accordance with the selected transport protocol from the network device.

1 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A device comprising:
 an interface to:   receive a packet;   access a table that stores communication performance statistics of transport protocols, where one or more of the communication performance statistics stored in the table are based on performance information, received by the device, from one or more other devices that have received data from the device,   where when accessing the table, the interface is to access the table based on at least one of:   a transport protocol associated with the packet,   an application-layer protocol associated with the packet, or   network latency;   compare the communication performance statistics of the transport protocols based on criteria;   select, from the transport protocols and based on the criteria, a transport protocol with an optimum communication performance statistics, of the compared communication performance statistics; and   send the packet, from the device, according to the selected transport protocol.   
     
     
         22 . The device of  claim 21 , comprising at least one of:
 a gateway;   a router;   a proxy server; or   a firewall.   
     
     
         23 . The device of  claim 21 , where the packet includes at least one of:
 an Internet Protocol (IP) header;   a transport protocol header; or   an adaptor header that indicates that the packet is sent according to the selected transport protocol.   
     
     
         24 . The device of  claim 23 , where the adaptor header includes a transport protocol header and a time stamp that indicates when the adaptor header was created. 
     
     
         25 . The device of  claim 21 , where when selecting the transport protocol based on the criteria, the interface is further to:
 select a transport protocol, of the transport protocols, that conveys, with a least latency compared to other ones of the transport protocols, packets from the device to a downstream device.   
     
     
         26 . The device of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 a processor to:   receive, from a network device, information that is to be incorporated into the table, and   provide the information to the interface; and   where the interface is further to:   incorporate the information into the table.   
     
     
         27 . The device of  claim 21 , where the transport protocols includes at least one of:
 a user datagram protocol (UDP);   a transmission control protocol (TCP);   a stream control transmission protocol (SCTP); or   a datagram congestion control protocol (DCCP).   
     
     
         28 . The device of  claim 21 , where the application-layer protocol includes one of:
 a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP);   a simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP);   a telnet protocol;   a file transfer protocol (FTP);   a post office protocol (POP);   a Gopher protocol;   an Internet message access protocol (IMAP);   a network news transfer protocol (NNTP);   a real-time transport protocol (RTP); or   a session initiation protocol (SIP).   
     
     
         29 . The device of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 a routing component to:   exchange routing information with other devices in a network; and   exchange information in the table with other devices in the network.   
     
     
         30 . The device of  claim 21 , where the performance information received from a particular device of the one or more other devices includes at least one of:
 network latency of another packet sent from the device to the particular device, or   length of a payload of another packet sent from the device to the particular device.   
     
     
         31 . A method, comprising:
 receiving, by a device, statistics related to transport protocols;   incorporating, by the device, the received statistics into a table;   receiving, by the device, a packet;   accessing, by the device, the table to retrieve, based on information in a header of the packet, communication performance statistics of transport protocols;   comparing, by the device, the communication performance statistics of the transport protocols based on criteria;   selecting, by the device, a transport protocol with an optimum communication performance statistics based on the criteria;   modifying, by the device, the header of the packet based on the selected transport protocol; and   sending, by the device and in accordance with the selected transport protocol, the packet to a downstream device in a network.   
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 31 , where the received and incorporated statistics are received from the downstream device prior to receiving the packet, and where the received and incorporated statistics further relate to packets sent by the device to the downstream device. 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 31 , where the device includes at least one of:
 a gateway;   a router;   a proxy server; or   a firewall.   
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 31 , where the packet includes at least one of:
 an Internet Protocol (IP) header;   a transport protocol header; or   an adaptor header that indicates that the packet is sent according to the selected transport protocol.   
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 34 , where the adaptor header includes a transport protocol header and a time stamp that indicates when the adaptor header was created. 
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 31 , where selecting the transport protocol based on the criteria includes:
 selecting a transport protocol, of the transport protocols, that conveys, with a least latency compared to other ones of the transport protocols, packets from the device to a downstream device.   
     
     
         37 . A non-transitory computer-readable memory device, having instructions stored thereon, the instructions comprising:
 one or more instructions to receive statistics related to transport protocols;   one or more instructions to incorporate the received statistics into a table;   one or more instructions to receive a packet;
 one or more instructions to retrieve, from the table and based on information in a header of the packet, communication performance statistics of transport protocols; 
   one or more instructions to compare the communication performance statistics of the transport protocols based on criteria;   one or more instructions to select a transport protocol with an optimum communication performance statistics based on the criteria;   one or more instructions to modify the header of the packet based on the selected transport protocol; and   one or more instructions to send, in accordance with the selected transport protocol, the packet to a downstream device in a network.   
     
     
         38 . The computer-readable memory device of  claim 37 , where the one or more instructions to select the transport protocol based on the criteria include:
 one or more instructions to select a transport protocol, of the transport protocols, that conveys, with a least latency compared to other ones of the transport protocols, packets from the device to a downstream device.   
     
     
         39 . The computer-readable memory device of  claim 37 , where the transport protocols includes at least one of:
 a user datagram protocol (UDP);   a transmission control protocol (TCP);   a stream control transmission protocol (SCTP); or   a datagram congestion control protocol (DCCP).   
     
     
         40 . The computer-readable memory device of  claim 37 , further comprising:
 one or more instructions to exchange routing information with other devices in a network; and   one or more instructions to exchange information in the table with other devices in the network.