A new responsive distributed shortest-path rounting algorithm

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Distributed shortest-path routing algorithms based on the Ford-Fulkerson method are simple to implement but they suffer from the cost-dependent looping problem: when link costs increase, routing table loops may form and convergence to correct paths may be too slow, depending on link costs. This problem can be eliminated if constraints are imposed on the order in which routing tables are updated at different nodes but the resulting internode protocols tend to be relatively complex. Furthermore, update constraints may restrict a node's ability to obtain alternate paths quickly in an environment where topology changes are frequent. In this paper, a new distributed shortest-path routing scheme based on the Ford-Fulkerson method is presented. Under the new scheme, each node uses partial topology information to eliminate the cost-dependent looping problem. No update constraints are imposed and no assumptions are made regarding link costs. In the worst case, the new scheme responds to link cost changes in O(D) update steps, where D is the diameter of the network after the occurrence of the changes.