Intelligent load balancing for shortest path bridging

This article provides an overview of a method to enhance the load spreading algorithms used by IEEE 802.1aq Shortest Path Bridging. The technique has a number of interesting properties with respect to distributing load on the basis of a measure of anticipated link utilization. What this provides is balanced network utilization and the ability to apply subtle modifications to the distribution of the traffic matrix previously unachievable with shortest path forwarding alone. This is achieved within the framework of the existing Ethernet technology base.