University of Memphis Professor Lan Wang has received a patent for developing an algorithm that will increase router speed without upgrading the router.
The algorithm compresses a router’s forwarding information base (FIB), allowing it to occupy less storage space while making updating speeds more efficient. The invention will allow for 50 percent compression at a speed 50 percent faster than current options. With a software update, current and new routers can be upgraded. It will lower costs for internet service providers, who are forced to continuously replace routers, Wang said.
“The internet relies on routers to forward its traffic,” Wang said. “As the internet grows, routers need to maintain more forwarding information. The fast growth of routers’ Forwarding Information Base is a major concern for Internet service providers (ISP) as it is costly for them to upgrade routers. Our solution, FIB aggregation, reduces the FIB size considerably by merging multiple FIB entries into one, thus extending the lifetime of routers and potentially leading to huge savings for ISP’s.”
The patent is shared among four inventors: Beichuan Zhang of the University of Arizona; Xin Zhao, previously a graduate student under Zhang, now employed at Google; and Yaoqing Liu, a U of M graduate who studied under Wang, now employed at Clarkson University.
