A polynomial-time algorithm for the establishment of primary and alternate paths in ATM networks

The increasing proportion of data traffic being carried in public networks is necessitating tractable and scalable algorithms in the design of ATM networks. In particular, the design of routing tables for ATM networks operated under the interim inter-switch signalling protocol (IISP) requires a significant amount of manual work in order to design and implement the underlying static routing tables that enable end-to-end connectivity as the network grows. This paper presents a scalable algorithm that generates IISP routing table entries such that no loops are created and so that connectivity is maintained between all origin/destination nodes under single-link failures. The algorithm generates shortest (i.e., lowest-cost) primary and alternate paths for any single-link failure scenario, while also demonstrating that at least one such solution can be found for any network graph devoid of bridges. Note that re-routing for single-link failures is considered adequate when sufficient protection is provided at the lower network layers. The algorithm has been fully implemented in a practical software tool, with execution time being a polynomial function of the network complexity