US Patent 9692731 Anonymization of traffic patterns over communication networks

A computer-implemented method of obfuscating communication traffic patterns may include detecting, at a first communications device, data communication sessions with a second communications device via the computer server using a network protocol. At the first device, a first traffic pattern is accessed based on the data communication sessions over a first predefined time period. At the first communications device, a second traffic pattern is accessed based on the data communication sessions over a second predefined time period that occurs after the first predefined time period. At the first communications device, based on a randomization process, a dummy data communication pattern is generated for transmission to the second communication devices, whereby the dummy data communication pattern is appended to the second traffic pattern for obfuscating a traffic pattern change between the first and the second traffic pattern at the computer server used to establish the communication sessions.