Patent ID: 7899005

Claim:
A method, comprising: receiving first domain data that indicates a set of one or more domains of which a first mobile router is a member, wherein each domain is a collection of one or more routers that share uniform routing information at a particular level of detail, the first domain data indicates at least one configured domain for the first mobile router, and a configured domain is a domain assigned to a router when the router is configured for performing routing operations; receiving from a second mobile router over a particular link an inbound control plane packet that lists second domain data that indicates a set of one or more domains of which the second mobile router is a member, wherein the packet is part of an open shortest path first (OSPF) HELLO packet that includes a type length value (TLV) for the one or more domains of which the second mobile router is a member, and wherein the second domain data includes at least one configured domain for the second mobile router; and automatically selecting a particular domain from the first domain data and the second domain data without further communications with the second mobile router, wherein the second mobile router would independently select its particular domain automatically in a similar manner without further communications with the first mobile router, wherein the first mobile router includes multiple learned domains that are organized in a hierarchy such that the domains are ranked higher based on a measured persistence of contact with each of the domains, and wherein a primary router is elected for the first and second mobile routers; assigning the particular link to the particular domain; and sharing routing information for the particular domain between the first mobile router and the second mobile router over the particular link, wherein said step of selecting the particular domain further comprises, if it is determined that the common set includes more than zero domains, then performing the steps of: determining whether the common set includes a configured domain of at least one of the first mobile router and the second mobile router; if it is determined that the common set includes the configured domain, then selecting the particular domain to include the configured domain from the common set, and wherein said step of selecting the particular domain further comprises, if it is determined that the common set includes the configured domain, then performing the steps of: determining whether the common set includes a configured domain of the primary router that is also a configured domain of a secondary router of the first mobile router and the second mobile router, wherein the secondary router is different from the primary router; and if it is determined that the common set includes the configured domain of the primary router that is also a configured domain of the secondary router, then selecting the particular domain to include from the common set the configured domain of the primary router that is also the configured domain of the secondary router.