Patent ID: 8208371

Claim:
A method for use in a network comprising a plurality of link-coupled nodes at a non-terminal node located on a label switched path of a plurality of label switched paths in the network, the method comprising: selecting an optimized backup path for rerouting traffic around a failure located immediately downstream of the non-terminal node, wherein the failure is one of a plurality of possible failures on the plurality of label switched paths, the optimized backup path comprising a subset of the plurality of link-coupled nodes of the network; and for each predetermined link of a plurality of predetermined links along the optimized backup path selected, reserving a backup bandwidth, wherein each predetermined link is comprised in a respective plurality of backup paths, wherein the backup bandwidth is sufficient to reroute the traffic around a first single failure on one of the plurality of label switched paths, wherein the backup bandwidth is determined by a value of a plurality of values, wherein each value of the plurality of values corresponds to a bandwidth associated with a particular failure of the plurality of possible failures; sending a signal, comprising information regarding at least one of a link and a node immediately downstream of the non-terminal node on the label switched path, along the optimized backup path for each respective node on the optimized backup path to reserve the backup bandwidth on links of the optimized backup path sufficient to reroute traffic around the first single failure of the plurality of possible failures; transmitting a deletion signal along the optimized backup path, wherein the deletion signal deletes the optimized backup path from memory for each respective node and updates the value of the backup bandwidth; and responsive to a message requesting deletion of the backup path, decreasing a bandwidth associated with the optimized backup path to a previously stored value of a bandwidth associated with a link on the optimized backup path.