This paper presents a routing protocol for finding multiple node-disjoint paths between two nodes in a computer network. Finding the maximal number of node-disjoint paths is one of the most important themes in ATM networks to increase the level of network reliability. In ATM networks, the virtual path (VP) concept is appropriate to network control for failure restoration (path restoration). In the VP concept, the path restoration is realized rapidly by rerouting failed paths to their backup node-disjoint paths. Some multiple path protocols have been proposed to enhance reliability or throughput. However, such multiple paths are shared with each other in some nodes or channels. Only node-disjoint path protocols enable the most reliable real-time routing in ATM networks. In the proposed protocol, each node in the network has the same procedure, which is driven by local information with respect to the network topology such as an adjacent node on a spanning tree in the network. Therefore, the execution of the protocol can continue after changes of the network topology.
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