Patent ID: 8817604

Claim:
A method for utilizing spare network capacity on a communications network, comprising: determining, by a processor, a spare capacity of links between elements within the communications network, wherein at least a portion of the spare capacity of the links comprises a capacity of the links provisioned for use during a time of failure within the communications network and wherein determining the spare capacity of the links between the elements within the communications network comprises subtracting a bandwidth usage value of each of the links from a maximum capacity value for each of the links, wherein the bandwidth usage value of each of the links is a peak usage per a time period; upon determining the spare capacity of each of the links, determining, by the processor, a routing cost associated with each of the links, wherein the routing cost associated with each link is for routing over the link utilizing the spare capacity of the link and wherein the routing cost associated with each of the links is inversely proportional to the spare capacity of each of the links; generating, by the processor, a standby routing table comprising the routing cost associated with each of the links; receiving, by the processor, a data packet for routing through the communications network utilizing the spare capacity of the links; and routing, by the processor, during a time of no failure within the communications network, the data packet through the communications network utilizing at least a portion of the spare capacity of at least a portion of the links based on the standby routing table.