A method for finding a path in a network is disclosed. The network includes a plurality of nodes and a plurality of links and each one of the plurality of nodes is coupled to at least one other of the plurality of nodes by at least one of the plurality of links. Such a method generates at least one path cost data set and accessing the path cost data set to provide the requisite path information. The path cost data set represents a path cost between a root node of the nodes and destination node of the nodes. The path begins at the root node and ends at the destination node. The generation and accessing operations are performed in such a manner that a minimum-hop path and a minimum-cost path can be determined from the at least one path cost data set. The minimum-hop path represents a path between the root node and the destination node having a minimum number of hops. The minimum-cost path represents a path between the root node and the destination node having a minimum cost.
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation-in-part of patent application Ser. No. 09/232,397, filed Jan. 15, 1999 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,856,627 and entitled "A METHOD FOR ROUTING INFORMATION OVER A NETWORK," having A. N. Saleh, H. M. Zadikian, Z. Baghdasarian, and V. Parsi as inventors. This application is hereby incorporated by reference, in its entirety and for all purposes.
This application is related to patent application Ser. No. 09/232,395, filed Jan. 15, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,724,757 and entitled "A CONFIGURABLE NETWORK ROUTER," having H. M. Zadikian, A. N. Saleh, J. C. Adler, Z. Baghdasarian, and V. Parsi as inventors; patent application Ser. No. 09/232,396, filed Jan. 15, 1999 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,631,134 and entitled "METHOD OF ALLOCATING BANDWIDTH IN AN OPTICAL NETWORK," having H. M. Zadikian, A. Saleh, J. C. Adler, Z. Baghdasarian, and V. Parsi as inventors; Patent Application No. 60/174,323, filed Jan. 4, 2000, filed herewith, and entitled "A RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PROTOCOL FOR A CONFIGURABLE NETWORK ROUTER" having H. M. Zadikian, A. Saleh, J. C. Adler, Z. Baghdasarian and Vahid Parsi as inventors; patent application Ser. No. 09/477,166, filed Jan. 4, 2000, filed herewith, and entitled "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR A REARRANGEABLY NON-BLOCKING SWITCHING MATRIX," having Ali Najib Saleh, Douglas Duschatko, Lane Byron Quihodeaux as inventors; patent application Ser. No. 09/477,217, filed Jan. 4, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,856,600, filed herewith, and entitled "FAULT ISOLATION IN A SWITCHING MATRIX," having R. A. Russell and M. K. Anthony as inventors; patent application Ser. No. 09/389,302, filed Sep. 2, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,801,496, and entitled "NETWORK ADDRESSING SCHEME FOR REDUCING PROTOCOL OVERHEAD IN AN OPTICAL NETWORK," having A. Saleh and S. E. Plote as inventors; patent application Ser. No. 09/477,498, filed Jan. 4, 2000, filed herewith, and entitled "METHOD OF PROVIDING NETWORK SERVICES," having H. M. Zadikian, S. E. Plote, J. C. Adler, D. P. Autry, and A. Saleh as inventors. These related applications are hereby incorporated by reference, in their entirety and for all purposes.
Disclosed is a flushing method with separated sets for type 5 Link State Advertisement (LSA) in the Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) protocol. All LSAs originated in a network device are separated into S sets with a mapping method in advance. Only one set of LSAs are flushed at first; then another set of LSAs are flushed in order at a flushing interval. The method reduces the instantaneous traffic impact on a network by the LSAs greatly, so the network keeps a low level load. Furthermore, the method guarantees that all LSAs are flushed once every network flush interval, so the OSPF protocol can be implemented normally.
A communications network comprises a plurality of linked nodes between a source and a destination. At each node the state of the network and its links are measured and stored with advertisements from other links. The node also performs a routing algorithm to define the instantaneously best path to the destination for the current network state. The routing algorithm responds to a plurality of metrics, including costs of links, and may use fuzzy logic which derives a fuzzy cost for candidate paths to derive a least fuzzy cost path to be followed. Traffic is shared between a path which is determined to be the best, at the current point in time, and a path which has previously been determined as the best path. The network can be a network which carries mobile cellular traffic.
A novel method and apparatus is presented for providing transparent mobility of an entity within a network, by allowing the entity, which has a communication path set up between it and a peer entity, to move from one location to another, without informing the peer entity of this movement, and without having the communication path broken. The invention is applicable to decentralized networks using IP protocols, and is particularly applicable on networks where the mobility mechanism neither introduces latency nor decreases the available bandwidth of the network. In the invention, neither is latency increased nor is bandwidth utilization increased, as is done in other mobility models. Additionally, the invention utilizes standard protocols that are widely available from a plurality of equipment manufacturers on a variety of platforms. Thus, the invention provides a very cost-effective model for network providers that need to support transparent mobility within their networks.
In a method for creating expressway for overlay routing, an existing peer-to-peer network is organized into a plurality of zones. A neighboring zone to a destination peer is selected. A plurality of residents of the neighboring zone are retrieved. A candidate peer is selected from the plurality of residents based a physical distance value and an estimated distance value.
