US Patent 9521067 System and methods for improved network routing

Known intra-domain routing methods (e.g., OSPF and IS-IS) are link-state routing protocols with hop-by-hop forwarding that sacrifice optimal traffic engineering for ease of implementation and management. Known optimal traffic engineering procedures are either not link-state methods or require source routing—characteristics that make them difficult to implement. Certain embodiments of the present invention include a fully distributed, adaptive, link-state routing protocol with hop-by-hop forwarding configured to achieve optimal traffic engineering. Such embodiments facilitate significant performance improvements relative to known intra-domain routing methods and decrease network infrastructure requirements.