Patent ID: 7957377

Claim:
In a computer network having a plurality of routers that communicate link state information to each other, a method of reducing link state request traffic across the network, the method comprising: receiving at a router a first database description packet from a first neighboring router communicating with the router, the first database description packet describing link state advertisements available from the first neighboring router; examining the packet to determine what, if any, link state advertisements to request from the first neighboring router; requesting link state advertisements from the first neighboring router; receiving at the router a second database description packet from a second neighboring router communicating with the router, the second database description packet describing link state advertisements available from the second neighboring router; and determining if the second neighboring router has additional link state advertisements available that are not available from the first neighboring router and, if the second is neighboring router does have additional link state advertisements available that are not available from the first neighboring router, then requesting by the router only the additional link state advertisements from the second neighboring router, and suppressing generating requests at the router for link state advertisements from the second neighboring router that have already been requested by the router from the first neighboring router but that have not yet been received from the first neighboring router.