Patent ID: 7330436

Claim:
A method of determining or selecting a path for transmitting data in packets between a first point and a second point in an Internet Protocol communication network, which method comprises: predetermining a limited number of paths between the first and second points by repeatedly applying a single first criterion selection method to all of the paths in the network; and determining one or more paths between the first and second points from said limited number of predetermined paths, by comparing said limited number of predetermined paths between the first and second points with each other on the basis of two or more conditional second criteria and classifying the predetermined paths between the first and second points, wherein the predetermining the limited number of paths between the first and second points comprises repeatedly applying the single first criterion selection method using different first criteria and wherein the first criteria are chosen from the group comprising the shortest transmission distance, the second shortest transmission distance, the shortest transmission time, the second shortest transmission time, the lowest transmission cost, the second lowest transmission cost, the greatest bandwidth and the second greatest bandwidth, and wherein a multiple criteria selection algorithm based on the ELECTRE method is used to compare the predetermined paths with each other.