An enhanced simple-adaptive link state update algorithm for QoS routing

In order to find paths guaranteed by Quality of Service (QoS), the link state database (LSDB), containing QoS constraint information, and residing in routers, needs to be well managed. However, there is a trade-off between the exact reflection of the current link status and the update cost to calculate and maintain this data. In order to perfectly reflect the current link state, each router immediately notifies its neighbors whenever link state information changes. However, this may degrade the performance of the router. On the other hand, if current link state information is not updated routinely, route setup requests may be rejected because of the discrepancy between the current link state information and the previously updated link state information in the LSDB. Therefore, we need link state update (LSU) algorithms making it possible to appropriately update the LSDB. In addition, to facilitate implementation, they also should have low-complexity and must be adaptive under the variation of network conditions. In this paper, we propose an enhanced simple-adaptive (ESA) LSU algorithm, to reduce the generation of LSU messages while maintaining simplicity and adaptivity. The performance of this algorithm is compared with five existing algorithms by rigorous simulations. The comparision shows that the ESU algorithm can adapt to changes in network conditions and its performance is superior to existing LSU algorithms.