| CPC H04L 45/02 (2013.01) [H04L 45/16 (2013.01); H04L 45/48 (2013.01)] | 15 Claims |

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8. A network device connected to a network comprising:
a processor; and
a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions for:
receiving an advertisement message associated with each of a plurality of neighbor devices within the network;
determining a color identification (ID) of each of the plurality of neighbor devices based on the advertisement message, wherein each different color ID is associated with a different network topology in the network;
determining a target color ID; and
when there are multiple neighbor devices that share a same color ID associated with the target color ID, selecting a first neighbor device from the multiple neighbor devices as a RPF device based on a device identifier (ID) associated with each of the multiple neighbor devices, or based on a shortest route to a source from the network device, or based on a set restriction;
when there are not multiple neighbor devices that share the same color ID, selecting a first neighbor device of the plurality of neighbor devices as the RPF device based on the color IDs of the plurality of neighbor devices and the determined target color ID, wherein the first neighbor device is associated with the target color ID.
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