Age biased distributed collision resolution without clocks

1. A method for distributed collision resolution for resource reservation in a networking system, the networking system including a plurality of entities operable to transmit an intention to reserve a resource, the method comprising:

creating a first request to reserve resources, the first request including a listing of the resources along a first transmission path and a first intention priority value determined as a function of other intention priority values previously broadcast through the networking system;

broadcasting the request to reserve resources through the networking system;

receiving a second request to reserve resources, the second request including a second intention priority value and at least one of the same resources included in the first request, thereby indicating a collision;

resolving the collision based on a comparison of the first intention priority value to the second intention priority value; and

responsive to resolving the collision in favor of the first request, routing data through the distributed networking system using the resources along the first transmission path.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein resolving the collision is decided in a distributed fashion by all entities in the networking system.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein resolving the collision is determined based on an age of the first request and an age of the second request.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein increasing intention priority value is a proxy for one of inverse age and advancing age.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

monitoring all broadcasts from other entities of the networking system to determine other intention priority values; and

storing at least one of a largest intention priority value monitored and a smallest monitored intention priority value.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein each intention priority value is computed as one of strictly larger than the largest intention priority value stored and strictly smaller than the smallest intention priority value stored.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein each intention priority value is computed by performing one of increasing the largest intention priority value stored and decreasing the smallest intention priority value stored.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the first intention priority value is less than the second intention priority value, resolving the collision comprises:

determining that the first request is older than the second request; and

transmitting the data through the networking system along the first transmission path.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the second intention priority value is less than the first intention priority value, resolving the collision comprises:

determining that the second request is older than the first request;

calculating a second transmission path through the networking system, the second transmission path not including the colliding resources; and

transmitting the data through the networking system along the second transmission path.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein the intention priority values are included in a priority field, the priority field being periodically normalized.

11. The method of claim 7 , wherein the first intention priority value is compared to the second intention priority value using modulo arithmetic.

12. A networking system for resolving collisions, the networking system comprising:

a plurality of nodes, each node operable to:

broadcast a first request to reserve resources through the networking system, the request including:

a listing of resources along a first transmission path; and

a first intention priority value determined as a function of other intention priority values previously broadcast through the networking system;

receive a second request to reserve resources, the second request having been broadcast by another node, the second request including a second intention priority value and at least one of the same resources included in the first request, thereby indicating a collision; and

resolve the collision based on a comparison of the first intention priority value to the second intention priority value; and

responsive to resolving the collision in favor of the first request, route data through the distributed networking system using the resources along the first transmission path.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein resolving the collision is decided in a distributed manner by all nodes in the networking system.

14. The system of claim 12 , wherein resolving the collision is determined based on an age of the first request and an age of the second request.

15. The system of claim 12 , wherein each node is further operable to:

monitor broadcasts from other nodes of the networking system to determine other intention priority values; and

store at least one of a largest monitored intention priority value and a smallest monitored intention priority value.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein each intention priority value is computed by performing one of increasing the largest intention priority value stored and decreasing the smallest priority value stored.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the first intention priority value is less than the second intention priority value, each node is operable to resolve the collision by:

determining that the first request is older than the second request; and

transmitting the data through the networking system along the first transmission path.

18. The system of claim 16 , wherein the second intention priority value is less than the first intention priority value, each node is operable to resolve the collision by:

determining that the second request is older than the first request;

calculating a second transmission path through the networking system, the second transmission path not including the colliding resources; and

transmitting the data through the networking system along the second transmission path.

19. An apparatus for resolving collisions in a networking system, the networking system including a plurality of entities operable to transmit an intention to reserve a resource, the apparatus comprising:

a controller operating to:

create a first request to reserve resources, the first request including a listing of the resources along a first transmission path and a first intention priority value determined as a function of other intention priority values previously broadcast through the networking system; and

resolve collisions based on a comparison of the first intention priority value to a received intention priority value; and

a communication interface communicatively coupled to the controller, the communication interface operating to:

broadcast the first request to reserve resources through the networking system; and

receive a second request to reserve resources, the second request including a second intention priority value and at least one of the same resources included in the first request, thereby indicating a collision.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein responsive to determining that the first request is older than the second request, the communication interface is further operable to transmit the data through the networking system along the first transmission path; and

wherein responsive to determining that the second request is older than the first request:

the controller is further operable to calculate a second transmission path through the networking system, the second transmission path not including the colliding resources; and

the communication interface is further operable to transmit the data through the networking system along the second transmission path.