Packet forwarding
Wai Sum Lai · IEEE Communications Magazine · 1988
A packet network is viewed as consisting of two major interacting layers: a lower layer responsible for the determination of a set of paths that can be used to carry packet flows, and an upper layer responsible for actually sending the flows over these paths, on a per-packet basis. A systematic review is provided of the various techniques that can be used to perform the actual packet-by-packet routing operation at the upper layer, called the packet forwarding function. The function components of a routing system and its characteristics (responsiveness to changes in network state and degree of centralization) are discussed. Five routing techniques are then examined, namely source, directory, destination, global-path, and channel-link-path routing.>