ISO/IEC TR 29181-3:2013 Switching and routing

Courtesy: ISO/IEC TR 29181-3:2013 Switching and routing

A link-state routing algorithm optimized for mobile ad hoc networks is the optimized Link State Routing Protocol (OLSR). OLSR is proactive; it uses Hello and Topology Control (TC) messages to discover and disseminate link-state information through the mobile ad hoc network. Using Hello messages, each node discovers 2-hop neighbor information and elects a set of multipoint relays (MPRs). MPRs distinguish OLSR from other link-state routing protocols.

Path-vector protocol

Distance vector and link-state routing are both intra-domain routing protocols. They are used inside an autonomous system, but not between autonomous systems. Both of these routing protocols become intractable in large networks and cannot be used in inter-domain routing. Distance vector routing is subject to instability if there are more than a few hops in the domain. Link state routing needs significant resources to calculate routing tables. It also creates heavy traffic due to flooding.

Path-vector routing is used for inter-domain routing. It is similar to distance vector routing. Path-vector routing assumes that one node (there can be many) in each autonomous system acts on behalf of the entire autonomous system. This node is called the speaker node. The speaker node creates a routing table and advertises it to neighboring speaker nodes in neighboring autonomous systems. The idea is the same as distance vector routing except that only speaker nodes in each autonomous system can communicate with each other. The speaker node advertises the path, not the metric, of the nodes in its autonomous system or other autonomous systems.

The path-vector routing algorithm is similar to the distance vector algorithm in the sense that each border router advertises the destinations it can reach to its neighboring router. However, instead of advertising networks in terms of a destination and the distance to that destination, networks are advertised as destination addresses and path descriptions to reach those destinations. The path, expressed in terms of the domains (or confederations) traversed so far, is carried in a special path attribute that records the sequence of routing domains through which the reachability information has passed. A route is defined as a pairing between a destination and the attributes of the path to that destination, thus the name, path-vector routing; The routers receive a vector that contains paths to a set of destinations

Path selection involves applying a routing metric to multiple routes to select (or predict) the best route. Most routing algorithms use only one network path at a time. Multipath routing and specifically equal-cost multi-path routing techniques enable the use of multiple alternative paths.

In computer networking, the metric is computed by a routing algorithm, and can cover information such as bandwidth, network delay, hop count, path cost, load, maximum transmission unit, reliability, and communication cost. The routing table stores only the best possible routes, while link-state or topological databases may store all other information as well.

In case of overlapping or equal routes, algorithms consider the following elements in priority order to decide which routes to install into the routing table:

1. Prefix length: A matching route table entry with a longer subnet mask is always preferred as it specifies the destination more exactly.
2. Metric: When comparing routes learned via the same routing protocol, a lower metric is preferred. Metrics cannot be compared between routes learned from different routing protocols.
3. Administrative distance: When comparing route table entries from different sources such as different routing protocols and static configuration, a lower administrative distance indicates a more reliable source and thus a preferred route.

Because a routing metric is specific to a given routing protocol, multi-protocol routers must use some external heuristic to select between routes learned from different routing protocols. Cisco routers, for example, attribute a value known as the administrative distance to each route, where smaller administrative distances indicate routes learned from a protocol assumed to be more reliable.