Patent · US Expired

Load balancing for fast reroute backup tunnels

US6778492B2 · kind B2 · utility

77Cited by
10References
14Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJan 17, 2002
Grant dateAug 17, 2004
Priority date
Expiry dateJan 29, 2022

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04L45/50
  • WIPO fieldDigital communication
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

Load balancing among fast reroute backup tunnels in a label switched network is achieved. M backup tunnels may be used to protect N parallel paths. A single backup tunnel may protect multiple parallel paths, saving on utilization of network resources such as router state and signaling information. A single path may be protected by multiple backup tunnels, assuring that bandwidth guarantees are met under failure conditions even when no one backup tunnel with sufficient bandwidth may be found. A packing algorithm is used to associate individual label switched paths (LSPs) with individual backup tunnels. If an LSP cannot be assigned to a backup tunnel, it may be either rejected, or additional bandwidth is allocated to existing backup tunnels, or a new backup tunnel is established.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.