Patent ID: 8750121

Claim:
A method implemented in a network resource arbiter for load spreading in a network having a set of nodes and links connecting the set of nodes to form a network topology, the method comprising the steps of: receiving, at the network resource arbiter from an edge network element, a request to allocate network resources for a flow between a given source node and a given destination node, wherein the request includes a resource requirement for the flow, and wherein the request contains a flow classification information indicating the flow being a large flow; selecting a path from the currently available equal cost paths between the given source node and the given destination node that has sufficient available resources to satisfy the resource requirement of the flow; determining a path identifier value that represents the path selected to be used to route the flow between the given source node and the given destination node via nodes along the path between the given source node and the given destination node, wherein the path identifier value is added; and communicating, to the edge network element, the path identifier value that represents the path selected, wherein the path identifier value is to be inserted by the edge network element into subsequent frames belonging to the flow to be used in subsequent forwarding decisions to be made by the nodes along the path selected based on the path identifier value.