Network device and method of routing traffic

1. A method for routing traffic by a network device, said method comprises:

when a network device forwards traffic through N equal-cost multi-path routes to a destination, if M of these routes become inactive, then for each inactive route, determining an alternative route for replacing said inactive route from N-M active routes, and modifying the inactive route to the alternative route so as to switch the traffic of the inactive route onto the alternative route,

wherein said N and M are positive integer numbers, with N being greater than or equal to 2 and M being greater than or equal to 1 and smaller than N, and

wherein the N equal-cost multi-path routes are respectively arranged in N table entries corresponding to the destination, and modifying the inactive route to the alternative route comprises modifying the table entry that has been set with the inactive route to the determined alternative route for replacing the inactive route; and

when the network device determines routing update information, deleting the modified table entry corresponding to the destination; and then forwarding traffic to the destination using the equal-cost multi-path routes in the table entries currently corresponding to the destination,

wherein the routing update information is determined from re-calculating the equal-cost multi-path routes to the destination upon detecting that a route is inactive.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the N equal-cost multi-path routes are contained in a virtual next hop (VN) corresponding to the destination, and modifying the inactive route to the alternative route comprises:

modifying the table entry that has been set with the inactive route in the VN to the determined alternative route for replacing the inactive route.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein said method further comprises:

when the network device receives the routing update information sent by the routing protocol module, determining whether there is a VN that includes only the N-M routes that are active among other currently existing VNs;

if no, deleting the modified table entry in the VN corresponding to the destination; and

if yes, deleting the VN originally corresponding to the destination, and making said destination correspond to the other currently existing VNs;

forwarding traffic to said destination through the equal-cost multi-path routes in the VN currently corresponding to said destination, wherein the routing update information is sent by the routing protocol module after re-calculating the equal-cost multi-path routes to the destination upon detecting that a route is inactive.

4. A network device for routing traffic, said network device comprises:

a forwarding unit to forward traffic to a destination through N equal-cost multi-path routes to the destination;

a determining unit to determine, if M of these routes are inactive during traffic forwarding by the forwarding unit, and for each inactive route, determine an alternative route for replacing the inactive route from N-M active routes;

a switching unit to modify each inactive route to the alternative route for replacing the inactive route determined by the determining unit, so that the traffic through the inactive route forwarded by the forwarding unit is switched onto said alternative route,

wherein said N and M are positive integer numbers, with N being greater than or equal to 2 and M being greater than or equal to 1 and smaller than N, and

at least one storage unit to store N table entries corresponding to the destination and a virtual next hop (VN) corresponding to the destination, wherein said N equal-cost multi-path routes are respectively arranged in the N table entries contained in the VN, and

to modify each inactive route to the alternative route, the switching unit is to modify the table entry that has been set with the inactive route to the alternative route.

5. The network device of claim 4 , wherein said network device further comprises a processing unit, wherein the processing unit is to determine, upon receiving the routing update information sent by the routing protocol module, whether there is a VN that includes only the N-M routes that are active among other VNs currently stored in the second storage unit;

if no, delete the modified table entry in the VN corresponding to the destination; and

if yes, delete the VN originally corresponding to the destination, and make said destination correspond to other currently existing VNs; and forward traffic to said destination through the equal-cost multi-path routes in the VN currently corresponding to said destination, wherein the routing update information is sent by the routing protocol module after re-calculating the equal-cost multi-path routes to the destination upon detecting that the route is inactive.

6. A network device comprising:

at least one processor to:

forward traffic to a destination through N active routes to a destination;

determine, if M of the N active routes become inactive, and, for each inactive route, determine an alternative route from the N-M active routes; and

modify each inactive route to the alternative route for replacing the inactive route, so that the traffic for the inactive route is switched onto the alternative route,

wherein the N and M are positive integer numbers, with N being greater than or equal to 2 and M being greater than or equal to 1 and smaller than N; and

at least one storage unit to store N table entries corresponding to the destination, wherein the N routes are arranged in the N table entries, and the at least one processor is to modify the table entry for each inactive route to the determined alternative route,

wherein when the network device determines routing update information, the at least one processor is to delete each modified table entry corresponding to the destination; and forward traffic to the destination using the equal-cost multi-path routes in the table entries currently corresponding to the destination, and

wherein the routing update information is determined from re-calculating the equal-cost multi-path routes to the destination upon detecting that a route is inactive.

7. The network device of claim 6 , wherein said N routes are contained in virtual next hop (VN), and the at least one processor is to determine, upon receiving the routing update information sent by the routing protocol module, whether there is a VN that includes only the N-M routes that are active among other VNs;

if no, delete the modified table entry in the VN corresponding to the destination; and

if yes, delete the VN originally corresponding to the destination, and make the destination correspond to other currently existing VNs; and forward traffic to the destination through the routes in the VN currently corresponding to the destination, wherein the routing update information is sent by the routing protocol module after re-calculating the routes to the destination upon detecting that the route is inactive.