A Multi-path Routing Algorithm Base on A* Algorithm

With the rapid growth of network traffic, applications of the multi-path transmission are becoming more popular. The multi-path routing algorithms are the base to implement multi-path transmission. In this paper, a new Multi-path routing algorithm based on the A* algorithm called MA* algorithm is proposed which combining the path similarity objective with the heuristic method. A new evaluation function construction method is devised for the MA* algorithm, which is proved to be feasible through theoretical analysis. The simulation experiments are carried out to compare the MA* algorithm with other multi-path routing algorithms applying network topology generation tool. The results show that the MA* algorithm can acquire multiple paths with reasonable path cost and path similarity at quite low search times. In addition, the balance of path cost and path similarity can be achieved through reasonable adjustment of the punishing parameter. The MA* algorithm can be applied to wider multi-path transmission environments as a more common multi-path routing algorithm.