| abstract |
A router is specially configured to implement a bilateral TCP state machine to monitor the status of TCP sessions based on TCP sequence numbers in both forward session packets and return session packets received by the router for a TCP bi-flow session. Among other things, the router may determine the status of a TCP session, for example, based on statistical information such as the number or rate of errors detected (e.g., the number of dropped packets, duplicated packets, out-of-sequence packets, and/or out-of-window packets). Each router is typically configured to collect and store status information and optionally also to use the status information in making intelligent routing decisions, such as, for example, deciding whether or not to forward a particular packet, deciding whether to reconfigure a bi-flow routing session, or updating routing table information used for routing packets. |