Patent ID: 7558214

Claim:
A method for an intermediate network node to efficiently process and disseminate link-state packets (LSP), the method comprising: receiving a LSP at the intermediate network node; in response to receipt of the received LSP, determining whether a number of LSPs that have been flooded before shortest path first (SPF) calculations are performed exceeds a predetermined threshold value; if the number of LSPs that have been flooded before shortest path first (SPF) calculations are performed exceeds the predetermined threshold value, performing SPF calculations before flooding the received LSP from the intermediate node to at least another network node; and if the number of LSPs that have been flooded before shortest path first (SPF) calculations are performed is less than the predetermined threshold value, flooding the received LSP from the intermediate node to at least another network node, and performing, after flooding the received LSP, shortest path first (SPF) calculations based on the contents of the received LSP.