Data packet retransmission processing

A method, comprising:

• receiving, via a first controller link at a controller node, information associated with a data packet from a first forwarder node, the first forwarder node being any forwarder node within a plurality of forwarder nodes each monitoring communications along separate communications paths, the first forwarder node forwarding the data packet to a destination node via a first communications path, each forwarder node further communicating with the controller node;
• receiving, via a second controller link at the controller node from a second forwarder node subsequent to receiving the information, an indication of receipt by the second forwarder node of a receipt acknowledgement for the data packet, the second forwarder node being separate from the first forwarder node and the controller node, and the second forwarder node communicating with the destination node via a different communication path than the first communications path,
• where one of the first controller link or the second controller link is independent of the first communication path and the different communications path;
• correlating the indication of the receipt acknowledgement with the data packet;
• and
• based on correlating the indication of the receipt acknowledgment with the data packet, deleting data associated with retransmission processing of the data packet.