A class of routing update protocols that use a distributed shortest path algorithm (
SPF) in which each participating
router send its neighbors a list of networks it can reach and the distance to each network. Distance-vector protocols are based on the work of
R.E. Bellman,
L.R. Ford, and
D.R. Fulkerson, and so are occasionally referred to as
Bellman-Ford or
Ford-Fulkerson algorithms (more commonly the former).
Distance is defined in terms of a metric and direction in terms of the next-hop router. These protocols are prone to routing loops.
They include: