# US 2018/0324083 A1 · Dynamic configuration of routing paths in a data network > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2018/0324083 A1 - Document ID: US20180324083A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 15/775,971 - Filed: 2015-11-30 - Published: 2018-11-08 - Earliest claimed: 2015-11-30 - Assignees: Telecom Italia S.p.A. - Applicants: TELECOM ITALIA S.p.A. - Inventors: Giovanni CAIRE; Carlo CINATO; Danilo GOTTA - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20180324083A1 ## CPC - H04L 45/124: {using a combination of metrics} - H04L 45/64: using an overlay routing layer - H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M) ## Abstract A method for selecting routing paths of data packets in a data network including plural communication links and routing apparatuses. The method includes: calculating and assigning to the communication links respective communication links' costs; calculating, for at least two different routing paths, respective routing path overall costs, which depend on the communication links' costs assigned to communication links making up such routing path; selecting, among the at least two different routing paths, the routing path having the lower routing path overall cost; causing a new data packet to be routed in the data network over the selected routing path, and collecting measures indicative of at least one performance parameter indicating a performance of previous transmissions of data packets from origin end points of the data network to destination end points of the data network, and using the collected measures for calculating the communication links' costs. ## Claims ### Claim at position 1 1-18. (canceled) ### Claim 19 A method for selecting routing paths of data packets in a data network comprising a plurality of communication links and routing apparatuses, the method comprising: calculating and assigning to the communication links respective communication links' costs; calculating, for at least two different routing paths in the data network, each routing path including at least one communication link, respective routing path overall costs, wherein the overall cost of a routing path depends on the conimunicati links' costs assigned to the communication links making up such routing path; selecting, among the at least two different routing paths, the routing path having the lower routing path overall cost; causing a new data packet to be routed in the data network over the selected routing path; collecting measures indicative of at least one performance parameter indicating a performance of previous transmissions of data packets from origin end points of the data network to destination end points, of the data network, and using the collected measures for calculating the communication links' costs. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The method of claim 19, wherein the at least one performance parameter includes at least one of the following performance parameters: end-to-end transfer time; round-trip delay time; end-to-end jitter; variation in the round-trip delay time; end-to-end data packet loss ratio; round-trip data packet loss ratio. ### Claim 21 (depends on 19) The method of claim 19, wherein the calculating and assigning to thecommunication links respective communication link costs comprises: comparing the measures indicative of at least one performance parameter with at least one respective performance parameter threshold value; in case, for a previous transmission of data packets, the at least one performance parameter threshold value is trespassed, flagging the previous transmission of data packets: counting numbers of flagged previous transmission of data packets routed through same communication links; assigning to the communication links respective communication link costs based on the respective counts of the numbers of flagged previous transmission of data packets routed through same communication links. ### Claim 22 (depends on 21) The method of claim 21, wherein the calculating and assigning to the communication links respective communication link costs comprises: comparing the numbers of flagged previous transmission of data packets routed through same communication links with at least one link inhibition threshold number; in case, for a communication link, the at least one link inhibition threshold number is trespassed, assigning to such communication link a predefined maximum communication link cost. ### Claim 23 (depends on 21) The method of claim 21, wherein the comparing the measures indicative of at least one performance parameter with at least one respective performance parameter threshold value comprises: comparing the measures indicative of at least one performance parameter with at least a warning performance parameter threshold value and a criticality performance parameter threshold value; in case, for a previous transmission of data packets, the warning performance parameter threshold value is trespassed but the criticality performance parameter threshold value is not trespassed, flagging the previous transmission of data packets with a first flag; in case, for a previous transmission of data packets, the criticality performance parameter threshold value is trespassed, flagging the previous transmission of data packets with a second flag; counting the numbers of flagged previous transmissions of data packets flagged with the first flag routed through same communication links; counting the numbers of flagged previous transmissions of data packets flagged with the second flag routed through same communication links; assigning to the communication links respective communication links' costs based on the respective counts of the numbers of flagged previous transmission of data packets flagged with the first flag and flagged with the second flag and routed through same communication links. ### Claim 24 (depends on 23) The method of claim 23, wherein the assigning to the communication links respective communication links' costs based on the respective counts of the numbers of flagged previous transmission of data packets flagged with the first flag and flagged with the second flag and routed through same communication links comprises: calculating first ratios between the numbers of flagged previous transmissions of data packets flagged with the first flag routed through same communication links and overall numbers of previous transmissions of data packets routed through the same communication links, calculating second ratios between the numbers of flagged previous transmissions of data packets flagged with the second flag routed through same communication links and the overall numbers of previous transmissions of data packets routed through the same communication links; assigning to the communication links respective communication link costs based on the first ratios and the second ratios. ### Claim 25 (depends on 24) The method of claim 24, wherein the comparing the numbers of flagged previous transmission of data packets routed through same communication links with at least one threshold number comprises comparing the second ratios with the at least one threshold number, and in case, for a communication link, the at least one link inhibition threshold number is trespassed, assigning to such communication link the predefined maximum communication link cost. ### Claim 26 (depends on 19) The method of claim 19, wherein the using the collected measures for calculating the communication links' costs comprises: obtaining topological data regarding the data network and the resources thereof used for the routing of the previous transmissions of data packets from the origin end points of the data network to the destination end points of the data network. ### Claim 27 (depends on 19) The method of claim 19, wherein the collecting measures indicative of at least one performance parameter comprises collecting measures indicative of at least two different performance parameters each indicating a performance of previous transmissions of data packets, and wherein the calculating and assigning to the communication links respective communication links' costs comprises, for each communication link, summing at least two link cost contributions, each link cost contribution being based on the collected measures of a respective one of the at least two different performance parameters, each link cost contribution being weighted by a respective weight. ### Claim 28 A system for selecting routing paths of data packets in a data network comprising a plurality of conununication links and routing apparatuses, wherein the routing paths each include at least one communication link, the system comprising: a measure collector operable to collect measures indicative of at least one performance parameter indicating a performance of previous transmissions of data packets from origin end points of the data network to destination end points of the data network; a links' costs calculator operable to use the collected measures for calculating the communication links' costs and for assigning the calculated links costs' to the communication links; a network controller operable to: use the calculated links' costs for calculating, for at least two different routing paths in the data network, respective routing path overall costs, wherein the overall cost of a routing path depends on the communication links' costs assigned to the communication links making up such routing path, select, among the at least two different routing paths, the routing path having the lower routing path overall cost, and cause a new data packet to be routed in the data network over the selected routing path. ### Claim 29 (depends on 28) The system of claim 28, wherein the measure collector is operable to collect the measures of the at least one performance parameter including at least one of the following performance parameters: end-to-end transfer time; round-trip delay time; end-to-end jitter; variation in the round-trip delay time; end-to-end data packet loss ratio; round-trip data packet loss ratio. ### Claim 30 (depends on 28) The method of claim 28, wherein the links' costs calculator is operable to calculate and assign to the communication links respective communication link costs by: comparing the measures indicative of at least one performance parameter with at least one respective performance parameter threshold value: in case, for a previous transmission of data packets, the at least one performance parameter threshold value is trespassed, flagging the previous transmission of data packets; counting numbers of flagged previous transmission of data packets routed through same communication links; assigning to the communication links respective communication link costs based on the respective counts of the numbers of flagged previous transmission of data packets routed through same communication links. ### Claim 31 (depends on 30) The system of claim 30, wherein the links' costs calculator is operable to calculate and assign to the communication links respective communication link costs by: comparing the numbers of flagged previous transmission of data packets routed through same communication links with at least one link inhibition threshold number; in case, for a communication link, the at least one link inhibition threshold number is trespassed, assigning to such communication link a predefined maximum communication link cost. ### Claim 32 (depends on 30) The system of claim 30, wherein, for the comparing the measures indicative of at least one performance parameter with at least one respective performance parameter threshold value, the links' costs calculator is operable to: compare the measures indicative of at least one performance parameter with at least a warning performance parameter threshold value and a criticality performance parameter threshold value; in case, for a previous transmission of data packets, the warning performance parameter threshold value is trespassed but the, criticality performance parameter threshold value is not trespassed, flag the previous transmission of data packets with a first flag; in case, for a previous transmission of data packets, the criticality performance parameter threshold value is trespassed, flag the previous transmission of data packets with a second flag; count the numbers of flagged previous transmissions of data packets flagged with the first flag routed through same communication links; count the numbers of flagged previous transmissions of data packets flagged with the second flag routed through same communication links; assign to the communication links respective communication links' costs based on the respective counts of the numbers of flagged previous transmission of data packets flagged with the first flag and flagged with the second flag and routed through same communication links. ### Claim 33 (depends on 32) The system of claim 32, wherein, for the assigning to the communication links respective communication links’ costs based on the respective counts of the numbers of flagged previous transmission of data packets flagged with the first flag and flagged with the second flag and routed through same communication links, the links' costs calculator is operable to: calculate first ratios between the numbers of flagged previous transmissions of data packets flagged with the first flag routed through same communication links and overall numbers of previous transmissions of data packets routed through the same communication links; calculate second ratios between the numbers of flagged previous transmissions of data packets flagged with the second flag routed through same communication links and the overall numbers of previous transmissions of data packets routed through the same communication links; assign to the communication links respective communication link costs based on the first ratios and the second ratios. ### Claim 34 (depends on 23) The system of claim 23, wherein, for the comparing the numbers of flagged previous transmission of data packets routed through same communication links with at least one threshold number, the links' costs calculator is operable to compare the second ratios with the at least one threshold number, and in case, for a communication link, the at least one link inhibition threshold number is trespassed, assign to such communication link the predefined maximum communication link cost. ### Claim 35 (depends on 28) The system of claim 28, wherein the links costs calculator is operable to use the collected measures for calculating the communication links' costs by: obtaining topological data regarding the data network and the resources thereof used for the routing of the previous transmissions of data packets from the origin end points of the data network to the destination end points of the data network. ### Claim 36 (depends on 28) The system of claim 28, wherein the measure collector is operable to collect measures indicative of at least two different performance parameters each indicating a performance of previous transmissions of data packets, and wherein the links' costs calculator is operable to calculate and assign to the communication links respective communication links' costs by summing, for each communication link, at least two link cost contributions, each link cost contribution being based on the collected measures of a respective one of the at least two different performance parameters, each link cost contribution being weighted by a respective weight.