Patent Document ID: 7484010
Application ID: 10729124
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. In a processing device programmed to determine homing paths for a plurality of virtual private local area network services in an Ethernet network comprising a plurality of PE nodes, a method comprising: computing a plurality of sets of different homing configurations; wherein each homing configuration in each set of different homing configurations is computed by a respective iteration of steps; wherein each iteration corresponds to a respective virtual private local area network service in the plurality of virtual private local area network services and for a respective selected layer two provider edge node in the Ethernet network; and wherein each iteration comprises the steps of: selecting an ingress PE node and an egress PE node; determining bandwidth into the ingress PE node; determining bandwidth out of the egress PE node; specifying a first path for communication from the ingress PE node to the egress PE node and a second path for communication from the egress PE node to the ingress PE node, wherein each path of the first and second paths comprises at least one P node; computing a cost function for each set of different homing configurations in the plurality of sets of different homing configurations; and selecting a set of homing configurations from the plurality of sets of different homing configurations in response to a respective computed cost function.