Introduction

  • Link-State Routing is a dynamic routing algorithm that provides each node with a complete view of the network topology.
  • It uses link-state packets (LSPs) to share information about directly connected neighbors and link costs.
  • Each node independently computes the shortest path to all destinations using the Dijkstra algorithm.
  • Each node broadcasts Link-State Packets containing:
    • Its own identity.
    • The cost of links to directly connected neighbors.
  • The link-state broadcast algorithm ensures that all nodes receive identical LSPs, leading to a consistent view of the network.

Shortest Path Calculation

  • Each node runs the Link-State (LS) algorithm to compute the shortest path from itself to all other nodes.

  • The key update step in the algorithm is:

    D(v) = min{D(v), D(w) + c(w,v)}

    where:

    • D(v): Cost of the least-cost path from the source to destination v at this iteration.
    • D(w): Cost of the least-cost path from the source to node w.
    • c(w,v): Cost of the link between w and v.

Forwarding Table Construction

  • After running the algorithm, each node determines:
    • The predecessor node along the least-cost path to each destination.
    • Using this information, a forwarding table is created, mapping each destination to its next-hop node.

Example (from Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach - Chapter 5)

Reference Books

  1. Kurose, J. F., & Ross, K. W. Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach. Pearson.
  2. Tanenbaum, A. S., & Wetherall, D. J. Computer Networks. Pearson.