METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ROUTE SYNCHRONIZATION USING TIME SYNCHRONIZATION

1 . A method for synchronizing protocol events in a distributed communication network, the network including a plurality of nodes, the method comprising:

maintaining a time source for each node in the network, each time source including a clock signal synchronized with each other node time source in the network;

sending an announcement of a protocol event to at least one node, the announcement including a predetermined time for implementing the protocol event; and

acting upon the protocol event after expiration of the predetermined time.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the time source is one of an atomic clock and a precision clock.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein maintaining a time source for each node in the network comprises:

periodically receiving a reference time signal from a remote time source; and

updating the clock signal to correlate with the reference time signal.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the reference time signal is received through one of Layer 1 and Layer 2 clock distribution.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the protocol event is one of a route change, a route addition, and a route deletion.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the protocol event is one of a resource availability change, a resource addition, and a resource deletion.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the protocol event is one of a link metric, a link availability change, a link addition, and a link deletion.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the protocol event is one of a service membership change, a service membership addition, and a service membership deletion.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the network operates using at least one of a Border Gateway Protocol (“BGP”), an Open Shortest Path First (“OSPF”) protocol, and an Intermediate System to Intermediate System (“IS-IS”) protocol.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the predetermined time is included in one of a BGP protocol message, an OSPF protocol message and an IS-IS protocol message.

11 . A distributed communication network comprising:

a plurality of nodes, each node including a time source maintaining a clock signal synchronized with each other node time source in the network, each node operable to:

receive an announcement of a protocol event, the announcement including a predetermined time for implementing the protocol event; and

act upon the protocol event after expiration of the predetermined time.

12 . The distributed communication network of claim 11 , further comprising:

a configuration manager communicatively coupled to each node of the plurality of nodes, the configuration manager operable to:

append the predetermined time to a topology configuration message, thereby creating the announcement of the topology configuration event; and

send the announcement of the topology configuration event to at least some of the nodes.

13 . The distributed communication network of claim 11 , wherein the time source is one of an atomic clock and a precision clock.

14 . The distributed communication network of claim 11 , wherein the time source for each resource in the network is maintained by:

periodically receiving a reference time signal from a remote source; and

updating the clock signal to correlate with the reference time signal.

15 . The distributed communication network of claim 11 , wherein the protocol event is a temporary alternative route, the alternative route effective for a given duration.

16 . The distributed communication network of claim 11 , wherein the network operates using one of a Border Gateway Protocol (“BGP”), an Open Shortest Path First (“OSPF”) protocol, and an Intermediate System to Intermediate System (“IS-IS”) protocol.

17 . The distributed communication network of claim 16 , wherein the predetermined time is included one of a BGP protocol message, an OSPF protocol message and an IS-IS protocol message.

18 . An apparatus for routing data packets in a distributed communication network, the apparatus comprising:

a time source, the time source maintaining a clock signal synchronized with each other time source in the network;

a communication interface, the communication interface operable to receive an announcement of a protocol event, the announcement including a predetermined time for implementing the protocol event; and

a processor, the processor communicatively coupled to the time source and the communication interface, the processor operable to act upon the protocol event at the predetermined time.

19 . The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the time source is one of an atomic clock and a precision clock.

20 . The apparatus of claim 18 , further comprising:

a Global Positioning System (“GPS”) receiver, the GPS receiver operable to periodically receive a reference time signal from a remote source; and

wherein the processor is further operable to update the clock signal to correlate with the reference time signal.