Distributed Storage of Routing Information in a Link State Protocol Controlled Network

A method of forwarding packets in a packet network having route information stored in a distributed hash table (DHT) distributed across nodes of the network, each node having a respective node identifier, the method comprising:

• at a first node having a packet for transmission on the network, the packet having a destination address:
• performing a hash on the address to determine a route identifier;
• determining nodes to query for route information using the determined route identifier and a membership table, the membership table containing a list of nodes implementing the distributed hash table;
• and
• transmitting a route information request to a second node, the second node being one of the determined nodes;
• at the second node:
• receiving the route information request from the first node;
• determining route information associated with the destination address based on the route information request;
• and
• sending a route information response to the first node, the route information response indicating the determined route information;
• and
• at the first node:
• receiving the route information response;
• determining a route associated with the destination address based on the route information response;
• and
• forwarding the packet having the destination address according to the determined route.