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
 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.
Step-01:

Each router prepares its routing table using its local knowledge.
Routing table prepared by each router is shown below-

At Router A-

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

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-

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-

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.
 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-

 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-

 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

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

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+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-

 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

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.

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.