HIERARCHICAL SHORTEST PATH FIRST NETWORK ROUTING PROTOCOL
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- discovering links at routers of a distributed network, where the routers are logically, hierarchically grouped in areas, where the links include links to peer neighbor routers for which a direct connection exists, and which are in the same area, and links to routers in other areas;
distributing link-state information from each router to peer neighbor routers, where each router updates local link-state information to represent the links of its peer neighbor routers;
distributing link-state information between areas to peer neighbor areas that exist at a same level of hierarchy, where each router in the areas updates local link-state information to represent links of the peer neighbor areas, where each area outside of a router'"'"'s area is represented as a node within the router'"'"'s local link-state information; and
storing link-state information at each router to be used to determine routing paths for data distribution through the distributed network.
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Abstract
A hierarchical shortest path first (HSPF) protocol, routers of a network are grouped in areas, and routing and client subscription information are distributed through all levels of the network hierarchy in the same way. Each level of the hierarchy identifies its connections with its peers that have the same level of hierarchy, and represents areas outside its own as individual nodes. The number of levels of hierarchy is not limited to any particular number, and each level performs the same operations to share routing information and generate routes for data. Distribution of link-state and client subscription information begins at the router level, and continues up the levels of the hierarchy until distributed through the network.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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discovering links at routers of a distributed network, where the routers are logically, hierarchically grouped in areas, where the links include links to peer neighbor routers for which a direct connection exists, and which are in the same area, and links to routers in other areas; distributing link-state information from each router to peer neighbor routers, where each router updates local link-state information to represent the links of its peer neighbor routers; distributing link-state information between areas to peer neighbor areas that exist at a same level of hierarchy, where each router in the areas updates local link-state information to represent links of the peer neighbor areas, where each area outside of a router'"'"'s area is represented as a node within the router'"'"'s local link-state information; and storing link-state information at each router to be used to determine routing paths for data distribution through the distributed network. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A computer readable storage medium having content stored thereon to provide instructions, which when executed, cause a processor to perform operations, including:
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discovering links from a router to all routers directly connected to the router in a network having routers hierarchically grouped in areas, including discovering links to peer neighbor routers for which a direct connection exists, and which are in the same area, and links to routers in different areas; generating local link-state information at the router to indicate the discovered links; distributing the local link-state information from the router to the peer neighbor routers; receiving link-state information for peer neighbor routers and areas; updating the local link-state information to indicate links of the peer neighbors and areas, including representing the areas as individual nodes; and generating routing paths based on the link-state information. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A router in a distributed network, comprising:
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network ports to connect the router to the network, the router to send communications over the ports to the other routers; a memory device to store a link-state database to store link-state information for the router, the link-state information including information indicating links from the router to peer neighbor routers for which a direct connection exists and which are in the same area, and links to routers in other areas, and link-state information for the peer neighbor routers, including information about links external to the area, where other areas are represented as individual nodes; and a hierarchical shortest path first (HSPF) network stack to access the link-state database and calculate routing information based on the link-state information, to send the communications over the ports to other locations in the network, wherein calculating the routing information is performed the same for each hierarchical level of the network based on knowledge of peer nodes for the hierarchical level as indicated in the link-state information. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification