Patent ID: 6999459

Claim:
A method of recovering from failures on a network having a plurality of nodes coupled by links over which data packets can be transferred between the nodes, each of the plurality of nodes storing information that associates links out of the node with destination nodes to which the data packets can be transferred such that the node can forward the data packets out of the node over a link to a next successive node toward an associated destination node, said method comprising: for at least one of the nodes, generating and storing an alternate output route out of the node such that, in the event that the data packets to be transferred toward a destination node cannot be forwarded to the next successive node over the link associated with the destination node, the at least one of the nodes can forward the data packets over the alternate output route toward the destination node; after generating and storing the alternate output route, if the data packets to be transferred toward a destination node cannot be forwarded to the next successive node over the link associated with the destination node, forwarding the data packets over the alternate output route toward the destination node, by embedding the data packets in virtual packets addressed for the alternate route; and after forwarding the data packets over the alternate output route toward the destination node, providing to other nodes on the network information that data cannot be transferred between the at least one of the nodes and the next successive node; wherein the information that the data packets cannot be transferred between the at least one of the nodes and the next successive node includes a time at which nodes receiving the information should perform a recovery operation such that the recovery operations at the plurality of nodes on the network are synchronized.