Patent ID: 8085794

Claim:
A method for determining and using routing information for a plurality of components performing routing in a network comprising: determining which destinations are directly connected to each of said plurality of components, wherein each of said plurality of components is associated with one of a plurality of routing tables, each of said plurality of routing tables storing routing information in accordance with destinations in said network; storing, in accordance with said determining, cost information in said plurality of routing tables for each destination directly connected to one of said plurality of components; initializing the plurality of routing tables, the initializing including: performing, for each of said plurality of components: determining a set of neighboring components; and for each neighboring component, adopting routing information for a destination from the routing table of said each neighboring component in accordance with an adoption rule; and determining whether routing information in said plurality of routing tables has been modified, wherein said performing is repeated until said plurality of routing tables has not been modified as a result of said performing, wherein routing information in each of said plurality of routing tables generated as a result of repeating said performing until said plurality of routing tables has not been modified is a set of preconfigured routing information used as static routing information to initialize said each routing table prior to operation of said plurality of components to perform static routing of received transmissions, wherein static routing information included in a first of said plurality of routing tables associated with a first of said plurality of components includes for each destination at least two sets of said preconfigured routing information for route selection using an alias field included in an incoming packet, each of said at least two sets determined using an adoption rule specifying one or more criteria in accordance with a different optimization goal, wherein each of the at least two sets of the preconfigured routing information is not modified except by repeating the initializing of the plurality of routing tables; and routing, by said plurality of components using said plurality of routing tables, a transmission in said network, said network being a statically routed network including said plurality of components.