Patent ID: 9699068
Date: 2017-07-04
CPC Classifications: H04L

Claim:
1. A method, implemented by a routing device, for distributing network routing updates within a network environment using timing information, the method comprising: receiving a routing update in association with a routing protocol, wherein the routing update comprises timing information, wherein the routing protocol has been extended to support the timing information, the timing information comprising a timer value and an update reference time; determining an updated timer value by decrementing the timer value obtained from the timing information by a decrement value; calculating a decayed update reference time by adding the updated timer value to the update reference time; applying the routing update to a Routing Information Base (RIB) of the routing device; at the decayed update reference time, putting the routing update into effect by propagating the routing update from the RIB to a Forwarding Information Base (FIB) of the routing device; preparing an outbound routing update based on the received routing update, wherein the outbound routing update comprises updated timing information comprising the updated timer value and the update reference time; and sending the outbound routing update comprising updated timing information to one or more other routing devices.