Method for classifying persistent TCP flows

摘要

A method and apparatus for dynamically classifying TCP-based traffic, is presented herein. In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, the method includes defining a first class to classify TCP data streams requiring interactive data transactions, a second class to classify TCP data streams requiring small data transactions, and a third class to classify TCP data streams requiring large data transactions. A rule set containing rules to define transitions between the defined classes, is established and an incoming TCP data stream as pertaining to the first class and detects attributes of the TCP data stream. The TCP data stream may include a single data transaction or may include a plurality of data transactions. Based on the detected attributes and the rules, the method dynamically classifies the TCP data stream into one of the defined classes. The method further includes forcing the classified TCP data stream to transition back to the first class in response to detecting that a data transaction has terminated or commenced.