Patent ID: 8045559

Claim:
A network device comprising: a plurality of first terminating units to receive a plurality of datagrams; a destination determining unit including: one or more devices to determine, for the plurality of datagrams, a first identifier identifying a plurality of candidate destination routes, in a network, for each of the plurality of datagrams, one or more devices to determine, for the plurality of datagrams, a second identifier identifying a particular stream with which each of the plurality of datagrams is associated, one or more devices to allocate, based on the first and second identifiers, a first destination route, of the plurality of candidate destination routes, to a first datagram of the plurality of datagrams, one or more devices to determine that the first destination route is in an inhibition state, and one or more devices to allocate, based on the first and second identifiers and the inhibition state, a second destination route, of the plurality of candidate destination routes, to the first datagram without changing at least one of the first or second identifiers; and a plurality of second terminating units to transfer the first datagram from the network device to a node, in the network, associated with the second destination route.