Patent ID: 8244909

Claim:
A method comprising: obtaining, at a network node, a key for a packet; forming, at the network node, a first pseudorandom number as a function of a first polynomial generator and the key; forming, at the network node, a second pseudorandom number as a function of a second polynomial generator and the key; combining, at the network node, the first and the second pseudorandom numbers to form a third pseudorandom number, wherein combining the first and the second pseudorandom numbers to form the third pseudorandom number comprises invoking at least one polynomial operation where the first and the second pseudorandom numbers are operands for the at least one polynomial operation; and selecting, at the network node, as a function of the third pseudorandom number, a path to which to forward the packet, wherein: the third pseudorandom number comprises a most significant byte and a least significant byte; and selecting the path as a function of the third pseudorandom number comprises selecting the path based on the most significant byte of the third pseudorandom number.