Patent Document ID: 20070140148
Application ID: 11305111
Patent Flag: 0

Claim One:
1. A method for estimating a traffic matrix for a communication network: based on given link counts, comprising the steps of: a) establishing a fitness function for the respective network; b) generating a starting source to destination (SD) traffic matrix and calculating a starting value of the fitness function for the starting SD traffic matrix; c) modifying the starting SD matrix to obtain a randomly modified SD traffic matrix and calculating a current value of the fitness function for the randomly modified SD traffic matrix; d) selecting the SD traffic matrix corresponding to the lesser of the starting value and the current value as a temporary SD traffic matrix; e) changing the temporary SD traffic matrix using a simulated annealing algorithm, until the fitness function of the temporary SD traffic matrix satisfies constraints to within a given tolerance; f) selecting the temporary SD traffic matrix estimated in step e) as a potential SD traffic matrix; and g) repeating steps b) to e) in subsequent time steps wherein the potential SD matrix of step f) is the starting SD matrix.