Communications network management

摘要

The present invention provides a segmented network in which each segment comprises one or more routers, one or more communications links to provide connectivity between the router(s) and a segment management module. The segment management module uses operational data to predict the future performance of each element. If the predicted performance will breach a threshold value then a data flow may be re-routed. Re-routing between different segments can lead to network management problems and so the present invention discloses methods by which: segments can expand to acquire a router from another segment; segments can subdivide; and segments can merge together, particularly if a segment comprises too few routers.