System and method for identifying multiple paths between network nodes

A method for identifying ports to support data packet traffic between a source device and a destination device in a computer network, the method comprising:

• setting a set SD of destination ports p the destination device is configured to listen to;
• selecting a subset SkD from the set SD for serving the data packet traffic between the source device and the destination device;
• choosing a port p in the set SD for analysis;
• determining whether the chosen port p collides with any of the ports in the subset SkD;
• and
• if there is a collision involving the chosen port p, eliminating the chosen port p from the set SD;
• wherein determining whether the chosen port p collides with any of the ports in the subset SkD includes transmitting a pair of probe packets from the source device to the destination device.

A method of determining port collisions when transmitting traffic between a source device and a destination device in a computer network, the method comprising:

• setting a set SD of destination ports p the destination device is configured to listen to;
• selecting a subset SkD from a set SD for serving the data packet traffic between the source device and the destination device;
• initializing a test subset of ports SY to be equal to SKD;
• choosing a port p′ from the set SY and choosing a port p from the set SD but not in SkD for analysis;
• sending a pair of probe packets from the source device to the destination device via p and p′;
• evaluating arrivals of the pair of the probe packets at the destination device to determine if there is a collision at ports p and p′;
• and
• if there is no collision, then identifying the port p as a selected port for transmitting data packets between the source device and the destination device.

A processing system for transmission of data packets between a source device and a destination device in a computer network, the computer network including a plurality of nodes for routing the data packets between the source and destination devices, the processing system comprising:

• a memory for storing data;
• and
• a processor operatively coupled to the memory for reading the data from and writing the data to the memory, the processor being configured to select a subset SkD from a set SD of ports p the destination device is configured to listen to, the subset SkD being configured to serve the data packet traffic between the source device and the destination device, the processor being further configured to choose a port p in the set SD for analysis, to determine whether the chosen port p collides with any of the ports in the subset SkD, and, if there is a collision involving the chosen port p, to eliminate the chosen port p from the set SD;
• wherein the processor determines whether the chosen port p collides with any of the ports in the subset SkD by transmitting a pair of probe packets to the destination device.