Patent ID: 8379582

Claim:
A path selection method for use in a communication system, the system comprising at least three communication apparatuses, a particular one of said apparatuses being operable to transmit and/or receive a communication signal along at least two different communication paths, each said path being either a single-link path extending from the particular apparatus to another said apparatus directly over a single communication link therebetween, or being a multi-link path extending from the particular apparatus to said other or another said apparatus indirectly via one or more intermediate said apparatuses over a plurality of consecutive such links link-by-link along the path, and at least one said path being such a multi-link path, the method comprising: for each link along at least the or one of the multi-link paths, obtaining link-suitability information, PoR, indicative of the suitability of the link concerned for transmission and/or reception, wherein the link suitability information, PoR, for each link is defined for a link between apparatuses A and B as: PoR A ⁢ - ⁢ B = α · ⅇ - ∏ k n · η n ∏ λ m · γ m ⁢ ⁢ ( k n > 0 ; η n > 0 ; λ m > 0 ; γ m > 0 ) where η n , n=1, 2, 3 . . . , is a negative factor, k n is the corresponding weight for the n th negative factor, γ m , m=1, 2, 3 . . . , is a positive factor, λ m is the weight for the m th positive factor, and α is the weight for the link from apparatus A to apparatus B; for at least the or said one of the multi-link paths, combining the link-suitability information for each link of the path concerned by multiplying the PoR for each of those links together so as to generate path-suitability information indicative of the suitability of the path concerned for transmission and/or reception; and selecting one of said paths for transmission and/or reception in dependence upon said path-suitability information.