Reliable isp access cloud state detection method and apparatus

Abstract

A Multi-Homing System is equipped with an Adaptive JSP Access Cloud State Detection apparatus (ACSD) that improves the reliability of digital connections, such as a Computer Premises Network and the Internet, in which such connections are made by connecting through a multiplicity of ISP Access Clouds (links). Reliability is improved by using data elements of Internet Protocol datagrams that are exchanged between the ISP Access Clouds and the CPN without creating additional data traffic. Data Elements from each ISP Access Cloud are used by processing functions of the by the ACSD to test for conditions that indicate that it may be in a DOWN status. when a DOWN status is suspected, other functions in the ACSD initiate transmission of a set of PROBE packets that can determine if the suspect link is actually DOWN or merely giving a response that would be interpreted as DOWN by prior art methods.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An adaptive multi homing system (AMHS) for detecting false uptime conditions with respect to an internet service provider (ISP), comprising:
 one or more processors;   a network interface coupled to the one or more processors; and   a computer-readable medium coupled to the one or more processors, the compute-readable medium comprising instructions stored therein, which when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:   automatically monitoring outbound communications between a customer network and a remote device, wherein monitoring the outbound communications comprises identifying an IP address of the remote device and recording a first timestamp for a first outbound packet transmitted from the customer network to the remote device;   automatically monitoring inbound traffic transmitted to the customer network from the remote device, wherein monitoring the inbound traffic comprises recording a second timestamp for a second inbound packet transmitted from the remote device to the customer network;   computing a round trip time based on the first timestamp for the first outbound packet and the second timestamp for the second inbound packet, wherein the round trip time is associated with the IP address of the remote device;   appending the round trip time to a table, wherein the table is configured for storing round trip times and corresponding IP addresses for one or more network devices that are different from the remote device;   monitoring changes for one or more traffic counters maintained by the AMHS; and   determining if an access path used for transporting packets between the customer network and the remote device is operational based on a statistical inference computed using the round trip time and the one or more traffic counters.