BGP convergence time a step towards continuous connectivity

BGP (Border Gateway Protocol) is a routing protocol between different and autonomous domains, this makes it very difficult to be upgraded or enhanced without thinking of its compatibility with its current version. Several trials have been appeared to reduce the convergence time, but none of them has neither illustrated the usability nor studied the compatibility with the standard version. Our objectives in this work are: first, eliminate the disconnectivity problem during convergence time by adding backup information through an optional attribute BNH/RC, second, reduce the convergence time by employing trigger update mechanism, third, ensure the intended stable state by using the TRT timer, forth, prevent routing loops by including the root cause information in the attribute BNH/RC, fifth, limit the failure propagation through the selective withdraw filter, sixth, protect the interoperability between our enhanced protocol and the standard one. Our results show slight reduction in convergence time while ensuring both the continuous connectivity and the backward compatibility with the standard. They also present a notable reduction in the number of the affected ASes (Autonomous Systems).