Method and apparatus for configuring a communication network using a distance metric

A method for configuring a communication network, the method comprising:

• obtaining information indicative of current status of nodes of the communication network, links between said nodes of the communication network, or a combination thereof;
• processing the information to determine a network configuration, the network configuration implementable in the communication network by adjusting one or more of said nodes, one or more of said links between said nodes, or a combination thereof, wherein said processing comprises evaluating a plurality of candidate network configurations based on a distance metric indicative of lengths of shortest paths which interconnect nodes of the communication network via said links, the distance metric representative of the network configuration as a whole;
• and
• providing instructions directing one or more underlying resources to implement the network configuration,
• wherein the evaluating the plurality of candidate network configurations is based on the distance metric using a tree search,
• wherein the tree search is performed on a tree having a root node, a plurality of branch nodes and a plurality of leaf nodes, each branch node and leaf node representing one of the plurality of candidate network configurations, and adjacent pairs of the branch nodes and leaf nodes representing candidate network configurations which differ by an incremental amount;
• and
• wherein the determined network configuration is a selected one of the plurality of candidate network configurations having a sufficiently low value for said distance metric.

A device comprising:

• a network interface;
• a processor;
• and
• a non-transient computer readable memory having stored instructions which when executed by the processor configure the device to:
• obtain information indicative of current status of nodes of the communication network, links between said nodes of the communication network, or a combination thereof;
• process the information to determine a network configuration, the network configuration implementable in the communication network by adjusting one or more of said nodes, one or more of said links between said nodes, or a combination thereof, wherein said processing comprises evaluating a plurality of candidate network configurations, including the network configuration, based on a distance metric indicative of lengths of shortest paths which interconnect said nodes of the communication network via said links, the distance metric representative of the network configuration as a whole;
• and
• provide instructions directing one or more underlying resources to implement the network configuration,
• wherein said evaluating the plurality of candidate network configurations comprises determining a value of the distance metric for each respective one of the plurality of candidate network configurations, and wherein the determining the network configuration comprises selecting the network configuration from among the plurality of candidate network configurations based at least in part on a comparison between the determined values of the distance metric.

A device comprising:

• a network interface;
• a processor;
• and
• a non-transient computer readable memory having stored instructions which when executed by the processor configure the device to:
• obtain information indicative of current status of nodes of the communication network, links between said nodes of the communication network, or a combination thereof;
• process the information to determine a network configuration, the network configuration implementable in the communication network by adjusting one or more of said nodes, one or more of said links between said nodes, or a combination thereof, wherein said processing comprises evaluating a plurality of candidate network configurations based on a distance metric indicative of lengths of shortest paths which interconnect said nodes of the communication network via said links, the distance metric representative of the network configuration as a whole;
• and
• provide instructions directing one or more underlying resources to implement the network configuration,
• wherein said evaluating the plurality of candidate network configurations is based on the distance metric using a tree search,
• wherein the tree search is performed on a tree having a root node, a plurality of branch nodes and a plurality of leaf nodes, each branch node and leaf node representing one of the plurality of candidate network configurations, and adjacent pairs of the branch nodes and leaf nodes representing candidate network configurations which differ by an incremental amount;
• and
• wherein the determined network configuration is a selected one of the plurality of candidate network configurations having a sufficiently low value for said distance metric.