A Distributed Algorithm for Multipath Computation

Today’s Internet routing protocols either provide a single path between each source-destination pair, or multiple paths of equal length. Furthermore, the paths provided by RIP and OSPF are not free of loops during times of network transition. Single-path routing algorithms are inherently slow in responding to congestion and temporary traffic bursts; consequently, the delays experienced by packets in these networks are far from optimal. Recently, we developed a framework for designing routing algorithms that offer “near-optimal” delays; a key component in this framework consists of using a fast responsive routing protocol that builds multipaths for each destination in the computer network, such that they are loop-free at all times. This paper studies the performance of MPATH (multipath routing algorithm) by simulation and compares it against the performance of other state-ofthe-art routing algorithms.