Patent ID: 8285900

Claim:
An apparatus for adaptively determining status in a network, which includes at least a first router and a second router, the apparatus comprising: a particular router located in the network coupled to the first router located in the network and to the second router located in the network, the particular router being configured to provide aggregate status information to the second router that is indirectly coupled to the first router, wherein the second router has a plurality of output channels configured to route data through the network and wherein the data is routed through a selected output channel based at least in part on the aggregate status information, wherein the aggregate status information is determined by obtaining a local status information regarding the particular router located in the network including a local congestion metric and a non-local status information regarding the first router located in the network, wherein the particular router includes an aggregation hardware unit configured to mathematically combine the local congestion metric and the non-local status information to generate the aggregate status information, wherein the aggregation hardware unit is configured to perform an add function and a right-shift function, and wherein a first weight is assigned to the non-local status information and a second weight is assigned to the local status information before combining the local congestion metric and the non-local status information in accordance with the first and second weights.