Patent ID: 7668082

Claim:
A method comprising: receiving, with a first router, a routing protocol update message from a second router within a network in accordance with a routing protocol, wherein the routing protocol update message is a path vector routing message that requests withdrawal of a first route through the network and specifies the first route as a set of routers that form a path to a destination within the network, and wherein, in addition to the first route, the routing protocol update message also identifies a specific link that failed within the network; after receiving the routing protocol update message, receiving a second routing protocol update message with the first router, wherein the second routing protocol update message is a path vector routing message that specifies a second route as a second set of routers that form a second path through the computer network; with the first router, rejecting the second route specified by the second routing protocol update message when the second set of routers that form the second route would utilize the failed link and the second routing protocol update message was received within a time period after receiving the first routing protocol update message; and with the first router, using the second route specified by the second routing protocol update message for routing packets when the second routing protocol update message was received after expiration of the time period.