The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 20, 2004
Filed:
Jan. 18, 2000
David A. Hillard, Navato, CA (US);
Anix Anbiah, Rohnert Park, CA (US);
Cisco Technology Inc., San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
The invention comprises a method for computing the shortest protectable paths in communication networks, and a method for establishing and defining protected paths. The invention utilizes a new algorithm to exclude from consideration as the “shortest path” between two network elements, a path for which adequate protection cannot be established. Such an unprotectable path will contain one or more unprotectable links. These unprotectable links can be identified and excluded based upon whether or not the link is a member of a loop. Because there are several more computational steps in defining the protected paths, after the shortest path has been found, the initial exclusion of unprotectable path segments from consideration eliminates the potential waste of computational resources leading to a more rapid and efficient routing and provisioning of reliable network paths and circuits.