For anyone involved in IP network architecture, design, maintenance or planning Lawrence G. Roberts has written a great article for IEEE Spectrum about a new router that makes its decisions based on network flows rather that the traditional packet based model that virtually all current routers use.
He claims that the new router can process more traffic, improve utilisation, easily manage bandwidth hogging applications like P2P and pull less power.
You can read the article here: IEEE Spectrum: A Radical New Router.