Patent Document ID: 7646730
Application ID: 10926818
Patent Flag: 1

Claim One:
1. A method of determining a model for a communications network by a computing device, comprising: determining by the computing device a cost for a network model having a plurality of nodes and paths through the network; generating by the computing device availability values for all traffic-carrying paths through the network model; if a percentage of paths having an availability value above a predetermined availability threshold is within a predetermined range: modifying by the computing device the network model to produce a current network model to increase availability values of at least some of the paths; determining by the computing device a cost for the current network model; generating by the computing device availability values for all traffic-carrying paths through the current network model, if the cost of the current network model is below a predetermined maximum cost; and repeating said steps of modifying the network model, determining a cost for the current network model, and generating availability values by the computing device for all traffic-carrying paths through the current network model until all paths of the current network model are above the predetermined availability threshold at a cost below the predetermined maximum cost, or until no further improvements can be made to the network model while remaining below the predetermined maximum cost.