4/19/24, 4:01 PM Distance Vector Routing Algorithm | Example | Gate Vidyalay

Distance Vector Routing Algorithm | Example

Computer Networks
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Routing Algorithms-

Routing algorithms are meant for determining the routing of packets in a node.
Routing algorithms are classified as-

1. Static Routing Algorithms

2. Dynamic Routing Algorithms

In this article, we will discuss about distance vector routing.

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Distance Vector Routing Algorithm-

Distance Vector Routing is a dynamic routing algorithm.

It works in the following steps-

Step-01:

Each router prepares its routing table. By their local knowledge. each router knows about-

All the routers present in the network

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Distance to its neighboring routers

Step-02:

Each router exchanges its distance vector with its neighboring routers.
Each router prepares a new routing table using the distance vectors it has obtained from its
neighbors.
This step is repeated for (n-2) times if there are n routers in the network.
After this, routing tables converge / become stable.

Distance Vector Routing Example-

Consider-

There is a network consisting of 4 routers.

The weights are mentioned on the edges.
Weights could be distances or costs or delays.

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Step-01:

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Each router prepares its routing table using its local knowledge.

Routing table prepared by each router is shown below-

At Router A-
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4/19/24, 4:01 PM Distance Vector Routing Algorithm | Example | Gate Vidyalay

Destination Distance Next Hop

A 0 A

B 2 B

C ∞ –

D 1 D

At Router B-

Destination Distance Next Hop

A 2 A

B 0 B

C 3 C

D 7 D

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4/19/24, 4:01 PM Distance Vector Routing Algorithm | Example | Gate Vidyalay

At Router C-

Destination Distance Next Hop

A ∞ –

B 3 B

C 0 C

D 11 D

At Router D-

Destination Distance Next Hop

A 1 A

B 7 B

C 11 C

D 0 D

Step-02:

Each router exchanges its distance vector obtained in Step-01 with its neighbors.
After exchanging the distance vectors, each router prepares a new routing table.

This is shown below-

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At Router A-

Router A receives distance vectors from its neighbors B and D.

Router A prepares a new routing table as-

Cost of reaching destination B from router A = min { 2+0 , 1+7 } = 2 via B.

Cost of reaching destination C from router A = min { 2+3 , 1+11 } = 5 via B.
Cost of reaching destination D from router A = min { 2+7 , 1+0 } = 1 via D.

Explanation For Destination B

Router A can reach the destination router B via its neighbor B or neighbor D.
It chooses the path which gives the minimum cost.
Cost of reaching router B from router A via neighbor B = Cost (A→B) + Cost (B→B)= 2 + 0 = 2
Cost of reaching router B from router A via neighbor D = Cost (A→D) + Cost (D→B) = 1 + 7 = 8
Since the cost is minimum via neighbor B, so router A chooses the path via B.
It creates an entry (2, B) for destination B in its new routing table.
Similarly, we calculate the shortest path distance to each destination router at every router.

Thus, the new routing table at router A is-

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Destination Distance Next Hop

A 0 A

B 2 B

C 5 B

D 1 D

At Router B-

Router B receives distance vectors from its neighbors A, C and D.

Router B prepares a new routing table as-

Cost of reaching destination A from router B = min { 2+0 , 3+∞ , 7+1 } = 2 via A.
Cost of reaching destination C from router B = min { 2+∞ , 3+0 , 7+11 } = 3 via C.

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Cost of reaching destination D from router B = min { 2+1 , 3+11 , 7+0 } = 3 via A.

Thus, the new routing table at router B is-

Destination Distance Next Hop

A 2 A

B 0 B

C 3 C

D 3 A

At Router C-

Router C receives distance vectors from its neighbors B and D.

Router C prepares a new routing table as-

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Cost of reaching destination A from router C = min { 3+2 , 11+1 } = 5 via B.

Cost of reaching destination B from router C = min { 3+0 , 11+7 } = 3 via B.
Cost of reaching destination D from router C = min { 3+7 , 11+0 } = 10 via B.

Thus, the new routing table at router C is-

Destination Distance Next Hop

A 5 B

B 3 B

C 0 C

D 10 B

At Router D-

Router D receives distance vectors from its neighbors A, B and C.

Router D prepares a new routing table as-

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Cost of reaching destination A from router D = min { 1+0 , 7+2 , 11+∞ } = 1 via A.
Cost of reaching destination B from router D = min { 1+2 , 7+0 , 11+3 } = 3 via A.
Cost of reaching destination C from router D = min { 1+∞ , 7+3 , 11+0 } = 10 via B.

Thus, the new routing table at router D is-

Destination Distance Next Hop

A 1 A

B 3 A

C 10 B

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4/19/24, 4:01 PM Distance Vector Routing Algorithm | Example | Gate Vidyalay

D 0 D

Step-03:

Each router exchanges its distance vector obtained in Step-02 with its neighboring routers.
After exchanging the distance vectors, each router prepares a new routing table.

This is shown below-

At Router A-

Router A receives distance vectors from its neighbors B and D.

Router A prepares a new routing table as-

Cost of reaching destination B from router A = min { 2+0 , 1+3 } = 2 via B.

Cost of reaching destination C from router A = min { 2+3 , 1+10 } = 5 via B.
Cost of reaching destination D from router A = min { 2+3 , 1+0 } = 1 via D.

Thus, the new routing table at router A is-

Destination Distance Next Hop

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A 0 A

B 2 B

C 5 B

D 1 D

At Router B-

Router B receives distance vectors from its neighbors A, C and D.

Router B prepares a new routing table as-

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Cost of reaching destination A from router B = min { 2+0 , 3+5 , 3+1 } = 2 via A.
Cost of reaching destination C from router B = min { 2+5 , 3+0 , 3+10 } = 3 via C.
Cost of reaching destination D from router B = min { 2+1 , 3+10 , 3+0 } = 3 via A.

Thus, the new routing table at router B is-

Destination Distance Next Hop

A 2 A

B 0 B

C 3 C

D 3 A

At Router C-

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Router C receives distance vectors from its neighbors B and D.

Router C prepares a new routing table as-

Cost of reaching destination A from router C = min { 3+2 , 10+1 } = 5 via B.

Cost of reaching destination B from router C = min { 3+0 , 10+3 } = 3 via B.
Cost of reaching destination D from router C = min { 3+3 , 10+0 } = 6 via B.

Thus, the new routing table at router C is-

Destination Distance Next Hop

A 5 B

B 3 B

C 0 C

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D 6 B

At Router D-

Router D receives distance vectors from its neighbors A, B and C.

Router D prepares a new routing table as-

Cost of reaching destination A from router D = min { 1+0 , 3+2 , 10+5 } = 1 via A.
Cost of reaching destination B from router D = min { 1+2 , 3+0 , 10+3 } = 3 via A.
Cost of reaching destination C from router D = min { 1+5 , 3+3 , 10+0 } = 6 via A.

Thus, the new routing table at router D is-

Destination Distance Next Hop

A 1 A

B 3 A

C 6 A

D 0 D

These will be the final routing tables at each router.

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Identifying Unused Links-

After routing tables converge (becomes stable),

Some of the links connecting the routers may never be used.

In the above example, we can identify the unused links as-

We have-

The value of next hop in the final routing table of router A suggests that only edges AB and AD are
used.
The value of next hop in the final routing table of router B suggests that only edges BA and BC are
used.
The value of next hop in the final routing table of router C suggests that only edge CB is used.
The value of next hop in the final routing table of router D suggests that only edge DA is used.

Thus, edges BD and CD are never used.

Important Notes-

Note-01:

In Distance Vector Routing,

Only distance vectors are exchanged.

“Next hop”values are not exchanged.
This is because it results in exchanging the large amount of data which consumes more bandwidth.

Note-02:

While preparing a new routing table-

A router takes into consideration only the distance vectors it has obtained from its neighboring
routers.
It does not take into consideration its old routing table.

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Note-03:

The algorithm is called so because-

It involves exchanging of distance vectors between the routers.

Distance vector is nothing but an array of distances.

Note-04:

The algorithm keeps on repeating periodically and never stops.

This is to update the shortest path in case any link goes down or topology changes.

Note-05:

Routing tables are prepared total (n-1) times if there are n routers in the given network.
This is because shortest path between any 2 nodes contains at most n-1 edges if there are n nodes
in the graph.

Note-06:

Distance Vector Routing suffers from count to infinity problem.

Distance Vector Routing uses UDP at transport layer.

Next Article- IP Address | Classes of IP Address

Get more notes and other study material of Computer Networks.

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Summary

Article Name Distance Vector Routing Algorithm | Example

Description Distance Vector Routing Algorithm is a dynamic routing

algorithm in computer networks. Distance Vector Routing
Algorithm Example. Distance Vector Routing Algorithm is
called so because it involves exchanging distance
vectors. Each router prepares a routing table and
exchange with its neighbors.

Author Akshay Singhal

Publisher Name Gate Vidyalay

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