Equal-cost multi-path routing

About: Equal-cost multi-path routing is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 10472 publications have been published within this topic receiving 249362 citations.

An efficient multipath forwarding method

Abstract: We motivate and formally define dynamic multipath routing and present the problem of packet forwarding in the multipath routing context. We demonstrate that for multipath sets that are suffix matched, forwarding can be efficiently implemented with (1) a per packet overhead of a small, fixed-length path identifier, and (2) router space overhead linear in K, the number of alternate paths between a source and a destination. We derive multipath forwarding schemes for suffix matched path sets computed by both de-centralized (link-state) and distributed (distance-vector) routing algorithms. We also prove that (1) distributed multipath routing algorithms compute suffix matched multipath sets, and (2) for the criterion of ranked k-shortest paths, decentralized routing algorithms also yield suffix matched multipath sets.

Opportunistic Routing for Smart Grid With Power Line Communication Access Networks

Abstract: Power line communications (PLCs) have recently absorbed interest in the smart grid since they offer communication capability in an easy and simple deployment. The main role of PLC access network (PLC-AN), which is constructed with medium and low voltage distribution networks, is to exchange control signals between substations and end users or to provide the Internet access to homes. Since a transmission signal of narrowband PLC penetrates electronic devices, a use of opportunistic routing (OR) can be a viable option in PLC-AN design. In this paper, we investigate the feasibility of OR use in PLC-AN and propose a customized OR for it, named PLC-OR, which uses static geographical information. For doing this, we formulate a bit-meter per second maximization problem and solves it in a distributed manner. Through simulations, we confirm that our proposed PLC-OR successfully reduces packet transmission time compared to the traditional sequential routing while achieving the same level of reliability in packet delivery.

Routing system to interconnect local area networks

Abstract: A transmission system transmits data among interconnected local area networks using a bridge coupled between local area networks which senses whether the data originating node transmitted the data using transparent routing or source routing. The bridges provide interconnection at the MAC-layer and based upon information contained in the MAC-layer header, automatically perform either transparent routing or source routing, depending upon the type of routing used by the data originating node. In addition, the bridge provides source routing over multiple wide area channels to those nodes which use source routing.

Internet Routing and Related Topology Issues

Abstract: In most domains of the Internet network, the traffic demands are routed on a single-path defined as the shortest one according to a set of administrative weights. Most of the time, the values set by the administrator (or the default ones) are such that there are many paths of the same length between the extremities of some demands. However, if the shortest paths are not unique, it might become difficult for an Internet domain administrator to predict and control the traffic flows in the network. Moreover, the sequence order of packets can be changed when many paths are used leading to some end-to-end delays. It is hence an important issue to ensure that each shortest path is unique according to a given set of administrative weights. We show that it is possible to determine a set of small integer weights (smaller than 6 times the radius of the network) such that all links are used and every demand is routed on a unique shortest path. Above and beyond this uniqueness requirement, network administrators wishing to exploit the available resources would like to control the whole routing pattern. The problem they face consists of determining a set of weights enforcing a given routing policy. We formulate this problem using linear programs, and we show how integer weights can be computed by heuristics with guaranteed worst-case performances. Some conditions on the given routing, necessary for the existence of a solution, are derived. Both necessary and sufficient conditions are also provided, together with some other useful properties, in the case of particular graphs such as cycles and cacti.

Network resilience through multi-topology routing

Abstract: In this paper we propose the use of multi-topology (MT) routing for network resilience against link and node failures. We describe the multi-topologies by an n-dimensional vector of different link costs for all links in the network. It is the base for the calculation of n shortest path trees from any node to all other destinations, i.e. for n virtual routing topologies. We define the link costs in such a way that the routing topologies complement each other in the sense that at least one valid route remains in a single link or node failure scenario for each pair of nodes in at least one routing topology. In such a failure case, packets are rather deviated over the intact routing topology than discarded. The recovery speed of the presented mechanism is very fast and can be compared to fast rerouting mechanisms in MPLS, which reduce packet drops to a minimum. In contrast to MPLS, MT routing is still a pure IP-based solution that retains the scalability and the robustness of IP routing.