Path selection algorithms for real-time communication

Real-time messages, which have user defined end-to-end delay requirements, can be delivered using a real-time communication method. This paper proposes two path selection algorithms for real time communication and conducts a simulation study to evaluate these two algorithms. On the basis of this simulation study, it can be seen that, for effective real-time communication, it is important to consider the number of hops utilized by each path and the link utilization of all effected links. In particular, the number of hops required for each path was found to be the most important factor. The proposed path selection algorithms are found to perform as well or better than previously proposed algorithms while using fewer network resources.