Patent ID: 7436838
Filing Date: 2008-10-14
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A method for configuring an intermediate network node to automatically determine whether an inter-domain routing protocol route advertised by an inter-domain routing protocol is important for fast convergence in a computer network, the method comprising: installing the inter-domain routing protocol route along with an associated next-hop address into a routing table of the intermediate network node; signaling a routing information base executing on the node that the next-hop address is an important address; searching the routing table for an intra-domain routing protocol route that corresponds to the next-hop address; marking the intra-domain routing protocol route as an important route for convergence; signaling the importance of the intra-domain routing protocol route to an intra-domain routing protocol executing on the intermediate network node; and in response to a change in the network requiring a routing table update, processing the intra-domain routing protocol route marked as an important route for convergence, by the intra domain routing protocol, before processing other intra-domain routing protocol routes that are not marked as important routes for convergence, wherein the inter-domain routing protocol is an exterior gateway protocol (EGP).