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Auteurs principaux: Yang, Shunyu, Wang, Dan, Zhang, Peng
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2026
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Accès en ligne:https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.03638
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author Yang, Shunyu
Wang, Dan
Zhang, Peng
author_facet Yang, Shunyu
Wang, Dan
Zhang, Peng
contents Due to the policy-rich BGP, multiple stable forwarding states might exist for the same network topology and configuration, rendering the network convergence non-deterministic. This paper proves that any network with multiple converged states possesses a specific set of critical links which, when flipped (disconnect then reconnect), shifts the network between different stable states. We establish this result under the Stable Path Problem (SPP) framework, and also examine a real-world corner case where SPP doesn't apply. Building on this theoretical foundation, we propose a tentative theoretical verification method for non-determinism with $O(n)$ complexity, where $n$ is the number of edges in a network. Specifically, we separately flip each link in the network and observe whether new converged states emerge. If no new states are discovered, the network is guaranteed to be free of non-determinism. This approach is proved correct when the set of critical links reduces to a single link -- usually the case in the real-world deployments.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_03638
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Exploring Multiple Converged States of Network Configurations
Yang, Shunyu
Wang, Dan
Zhang, Peng
Networking and Internet Architecture
Due to the policy-rich BGP, multiple stable forwarding states might exist for the same network topology and configuration, rendering the network convergence non-deterministic. This paper proves that any network with multiple converged states possesses a specific set of critical links which, when flipped (disconnect then reconnect), shifts the network between different stable states. We establish this result under the Stable Path Problem (SPP) framework, and also examine a real-world corner case where SPP doesn't apply. Building on this theoretical foundation, we propose a tentative theoretical verification method for non-determinism with $O(n)$ complexity, where $n$ is the number of edges in a network. Specifically, we separately flip each link in the network and observe whether new converged states emerge. If no new states are discovered, the network is guaranteed to be free of non-determinism. This approach is proved correct when the set of critical links reduces to a single link -- usually the case in the real-world deployments.
title Exploring Multiple Converged States of Network Configurations
topic Networking and Internet Architecture
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.03638