Patent ID: 7151775

Claim:
In a data-packet network, a method for routing packets through while ensuring load balancing and in-order delivery for unique packet flow defined by unique source/destination pairs, comprising the steps of: (a) providing a label-switching sub-network having one ingress node and one egress node and at least two nodes internal to the sub-network for routing packets; (b) creating a sufficient number of label-switched paths (LSPs) from the ingress node to the egress node such that each packet flow has a unique LSP; and (c) associating each packet flow with one of the created LSPs; wherein each sub-network node is connected by one or more physical parallel links and the number of LSPs created is equal to the least-common multiple of the number of links between each individual internal sub-network node in the node path, wherein the number of links between the sub-network nodes may differentiate and the sufficient number of LSPs are created based on a requirement to balance the distribution of LSPs over the physical links and each LSP created is utilized by the sub-network to balance the load of packet flow through the network.