Patent ID: 6590867
Filing Date: 2003-07-08
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
A method for routing a connection between an origin and destination in an Internet Protocol (IP) network comprised of a plurality of routers connected by links that carry packets between the routers, comprising the steps of:(a) exchanging status messages within the network to identify a group of available paths each running between the origin and destination, each path including at least one link; (b) selecting among the group of available paths a first path for routing the connection; (c) determining a class of service for the connection; (d) checking the selected path to determine whether each link forming the selected path has an available bandwidth for the class of service of the connection, and if so, routing the data packets representative of the call over said outgoing link; otherwise; (e) selecting another path; and (f) repeating step (d) and repeating step (e) in the event said another path has a link lacking available bandwidth, wherein the step of checking whether the link has an available bandwidth includes the steps of:measuring actual bandwidth on said link: determining link blocking in accordance with the actual bandwidth; establishing reservation thresholds in accordance with the link blocking; determining the load state of the links in a path in accordance with the bandwidth reservation thresholds; and establishing the availability of the path in accordance with the class of service of the connection request, the load state of the links in the path, and a required bandwidth for each virtual network associated with the class of service for the connection.