Information Dynamics Applied to Link-State Routing

Abstract

Information Dynamics is an information-centric framework that provides a sufficient understanding of the characteristics of information used in systems for better system design and implementation. In this paper, we describe how to improve link-state routing based on this framework. Link-state routing protocols such as OSPF (Open Shortest Path First) are currently used in many networks. In link-state routing, routes are determined based on link-delay estimates, which are periodically flooded throughout the network. This flooding of link-delay estimates is done without considering the relevance of these estimates to routing quality, i.e. without taking into account the usefulness of the link-delay information. We have developed a new approach that improves link-state routing by estimating future link delays and flooding these estimates only to the extent that they are relevant. This means that we consider the dynamics of the link-delay information and its usefulness. Simulation studies suggest that our approach can lead to significant reductions in routing traffic with noticeable improvements of routing quality in high-load conditions, demonstrating the effectiveness of the framework. We plan to further investigate the conditions where our information-dynamics approach is better than the standard approach. (Also UMIACS-TR-2001-75)