Patent attributes
A system and method for detecting a next-hop dead gateway is disclosed. In one embodiment, a method for detecting the next-hop dead gateway includes sending an Internet Protocol (IP) packet by a host to a next-hop gateway associated with the host, receiving the IP packet by the host from the next-hop gateway upon reviewing a routing table and the destination field in the IP header associated with the IP packet, determining whether the IP packet is received from the next-hop gateway within a first predetermined time interval, if so, declaring the next-hop gateway as alive, and if not, declaring the next-hop gateway as dead. In some embodiments, source and destination fields in IP header associated with the IP packet include IP address associated with the host. The method may further include encapsulating the IP packet with a data link layer protocol associated with the host and the next-hop gateway.
