Patent ID: 7239608

Claim:
In a distributed router comprising a plurality of routing nodes interconnected by a switch fabric, an input-output processor for use in one of said plurality of routing nodes comprising: an input interface controller capable of receiving incoming data packets from N input links; an output interface controller capable of transmitting outgoing data packets to said switch fabric via a first uplink and a second uplink, wherein each of said N input links is assigned to one of said first and second uplinks so that incoming data packets from said each input link are transmitted to said switch fabric by said assigned one of said first and second uplinks; and a load balancing controller capable of determining a first uplink traffic level on said first uplink and a second uplink traffic level on said second uplink, determining a difference between said first and second uplink traffic levels, comparing said difference to a predetermined threshold, and, in response to a determination that said difference exceeds said predetermined threshold, reassigning at least one of said N input links from the one of said first and second uplinks having a greater uplink traffic level to the one of said first and second uplinks having a lesser uplink traffic level.