EE 281 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Network Layer, Distributed Algorithm, The Algorithm
Document Summary
Routers connect networks together at the network layer and are responsible for moving datagrams (routing) from one link to another. In many cases, a datagram will have to flow through multiple routers and there are multiple possible paths that the datagram can take to reach its destination. The goal of a routing algorithm is to figure out a good path, or route, for a datagram to take to get to its destination. By good, we mean an algorithm that will minimize the cost of the overall route. That cost may be either time (quickest route) or money (if there are financial costs that differ between different routes). A connected graph is one where, given two nodes a and b, there is some path from a to b. Each edge is identified by a pair of nodes. A node y is considered to be aneighbor of node x if the edge (x, y) exists in the graph.
