Patent ID: 7907517

Claim:
A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processing device, cause the processing device to manage the routing of data packets across a plurality of routers in a network when a link is unavailable by: determining the connectivity of a plurality of nodes in the network, wherein the nodes are connected using a plurality of routers having a plurality of links between said routers, wherein data packets can be sent between nodes in the network via a plurality of paths, wherein each path passes through a different combination of routers and links and each router has a routing table which is recalculated at intervals using a routing protocol to provide the most efficient routing paths; informing a selected router that one or more of the links in the network will be unavailable at a specified time in the future; transmitting a message from the selected router containing information about the one or more links that will be unavailable at a specified time in the future; polling of the selected router by routers in the network in order to obtain additional information about the unavailability of the link or links at a specified time in the future; and recalculating the routing table in each router to determine the most efficient routing paths at the time in the future when one or more of the links in the network will be unavailable.