Methods and apparatus for advertising a route for transmitting data packets

An apparatus for transmitting data packets in a network, the apparatus comprising a processor and a non-transitory memory in communication with said processor for storing instructions adapted to be executed by said processor to perform the steps of:

• obtaining in a first network element a metric indicative of a cost for routing a packet from the first network element to a second network element,
• sending from the first network element a route advertising message, the message advertising a first route towards the second network element through said first network element and including information of the obtained metric;
• and
• comparing the obtained metric with a metric received by the first network element in a route advertisement message advertising a second route towards the second network element, wherein the step of sending the route advertising message takes place if the obtained metric indicates a lower cost than the received metric;
• wherein the obtained metric and the received metric comprise a first and a second information element, each element comprising, respectively, information relative to a magnitude of a cost for routing a packet to the second network element, and a unit type in which the cost is measured, wherein the processor performs the step of comparing by comparing magnitudes of equal unit types.