1. A method for routing data through a network comprised of dissimilar linked sub-networks by allowing an originating node to locally compute a path through said network, comprising steps of: providing a network controller associated with said originating node; providing at said network controller a plurality of agents, each of said agents representing a particular one of said sub-networks in said network; computing a path through a subset of said plurality of sub-networks to a sub-network containing a destination address; and querying said agents representing said plurality of sub-networks in said subset for setup information necessary for each of said plurality of sub-networks in said path to pass said data through said sub-network, wherein said step of computing a path to said sub-network containing said destination address comprises steps of: consulting a network topology database comprising map data for link connections between said sub- networks; determining routing criteria for said data; querying said plurality of agents, for which a path to said sub-network containing said destination address exists, regarding said criteria data; and selecting a path most closely meeting said criteria data.