Patent ID: 6026073
Filing Date: 2000-02-15
Classification: H04L,H04Q

Abstract:
A method of determining an additional route in a fully or partly meshed communications network of nodes, the method comprising the step of sending a route-finder signature from a node to a neighboring node on a spare link of a span to the neighboring node, and including the prior steps of:ranking the links of the span; anddetermining on the basis of the respective unique network node identities of the node and the neighboring node whether the node is in a first or a second ranking relationship with respect to the neighboring node;said sending step comprising:if the node is in said first relationship, sending the route-finder signature to the neighboring node on the lowest ranking of currently available spare links of said span; orif the node is in said second relationship, sending the route-finder signature to the neighboring node on the highest ranking of currently available spare links of said span.