ROUTING STRATEGIES FOR FAST NETWORKS

Modern fast packet switching networks are being forced to rethink the routing schemes that are used in more traditional networks. The reexam ination is necessitated because in these fast networks switches on the message's route can afford to make only minimal and simple operations . For example, examining a table of a size proportional to the network size is out of the question. In this paper we examine routing strateg ies for such network based on flooding and predefined routes. Our conc ern is to get both efficient routing and an even (balanced) use of net work resources. We present efficient algorithms for assigning weights to edges in a controlled flooding scheme but show that the flooding sc heme is not likely to yield a balanced use of the resources. We then p resent efficient algorithms for choosing routes along: 1) bfs trees an d 2) shortest paths. We show that in both cases a balanced use of netw ork resources can be guaranteed.