Patent ID: 7249276

Claim:
A signal route selector apparatus for routing a signal along one of a plurality of alternative routes between a source and a destination, the route selector comprising: a) means for determining whether transmissions between the source and the destination succeed or fail; b) means for maintaining a record of successes and failures for the routes; c) means for selecting a route for a transmission according to the record of successes and failures for the routes; d) means, in operation, for awarding probability values of successful transmission to the routes according to the record of the successes and failures for the routes, and for selecting the route according to awarded probability values; e) wherein the awarding means, in operation, awards the probability values ranging between a first limit value for repeated successes and a second limit value for repeated failures; and f) wherein the second limit is such that a route which is awarded the second limit value is selected from time to time according to the awarded probability values even in case of long-standing failure of that route.