Patent ID: 7787450

Claim:
A communication unit to transmit and receive information within a communications network and to control transference of said information to reduce network overhead traffic comprising: a transmitter to transmit outgoing information to at least one other communication unit within said network; a receiver to receive incoming information from at least one other communication unit within said network; a storage unit to store routing information; and a processor to control said transmission and reception of said outgoing and incoming information, wherein said processor includes: a traffic control module to facilitate transmission of a network message based on occurrence of a first type of network condition indicating a change in at least one of routing and topology within said communications network and to selectively facilitate transmission of said network message in response to occurrence of a second type of network condition, wherein said network message includes an update message to synchronize said routing information within storage units of said communication units of said communications network, wherein transmission of said network message to synchronize said routing information is performed upon occurrence of said first type of network condition, wherein transmission of said network message to synchronize said routing information in response to occurrence of said second type of network condition is performed upon the earlier of expiration of a maximum allowable time interval for transmission of said network message and a rate of occurrence of said second type of network condition attaining a desired level, and wherein said traffic control module includes: a rate compare module to compare a quantity of occurrences of said second type of network condition within a predetermined time interval to a rate threshold value to determine attainment of said desired level by said rate of occurrence.