An embodiment of the invention is a method of allocating protection path resources
including defining a working path and obtaining a link vector for each of a plurality
of protection paths. The link vector includes a plurality of link vector elements.
A proposed link vector is determined for each of the protection paths. The proposed
link vector includes a plurality of proposed link vector elements and is indicative
of allocating a respective protection path to the working path. A maximum link
vector element is determined and a maximum proposed link vector element is determined.
A link cost is determined based on a difference between the maximum proposed link
vector element and the maximum link vector element. A path cost is determined for
at least two protection paths based on a sum of link costs associated with a respective
protection path. One of the at least two protection paths having the minimum path
cost is selected to provide protection for the working path.
