Patent ID: 7660255

Claim:
A method for routing a datagram in an IP network, said method comprising the steps of: a computer receiving a datagram with a destination network address; a computer identifying a next hop router en route to or associated with said destination network address; and a computer determining whether or not transmission of said datagram on a link to said next hop router would result in a bandwidth usage exceeding a bandwidth threshold associated with said next hop router, and if not, updating the bandwidth usage associated with said next hop router, and transmitting said datagram to said next hop router, if so, selecting among other possible next hop routers en route to or associated with said destination address, another next hop router for which transmission of said datagram on a link to said other next hop router would not result in a bandwidth usage exceeding a bandwidth threshold associated with said other next hop router, updating the bandwidth usage associated with said other next hop router, and transmitting said datagram to said other next hop router; and a computer basing a routing decision on the bandwidth usage of the link to said next hop router, wherein the bandwidth usage is a dynamic parameter which is updated in a forwarding information database (FIB) in real-time, and wherein the step of determining, comprises the step of adding a bandwidth usage associated with said next hop router immediately before transmission of said datagram on said link to said next hop router to a bandwidth usage required for transmission of said datagram on said link to said next hop router, and comparing a result of said adding step to the bandwidth threshold associated with said next hop router.