Packet forwarding incorporating partial sorting of path costs or utilities
US11329717B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | May 26, 2020 |
| Grant date | May 10, 2022 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 26, 2040 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L45/123
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A method and apparatus for routing packets in a network, such as a satellite mesh network. For each one of multiple destination devices capable of further handling of the packet for routing to a destination (e.g. ground station) a respective cost or utility associated with forwarding the packet to that destination device is determined. For a given value k, an unsorted subset of k of the destination devices for which said costs are lowest or said utilities are highest is determined, without necessarily fully sorting the plurality of destination devices by cost or utility. The data packet is then forwarded to a selected one of this subset of destination devices. Cost may correspond to distance from destination device (e.g. satellite) to the further destination. Sorting networks and selector networks can be used, for example as implemented in hardware, to generate the unsorted subset.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.