On temporary inconsistency of the link state database with prompt update policies

Link state databases maintained in parallel at each node in networks that require link state information for proper operation try to reflect real-time changes of the network state. Information dissemination, however, by its very nature introduces latency in the update of link state information at different nodes, which may in turn lead to faulty decisions that entail additional delay perceived by user traffic. The paper presents a probabilistic model based on simple assumptions in order to derive an upper bound on the probability that such a link state database inconsistency occurs.