Device and method for collapsed forwarding

• US 10,009,274 B2
• Filed: 09/23/2016
• Issued: 06/26/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 09/23/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Jalil, Luay, McDysan, David E., Gohringer, Rudy, Altland, Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): CHO, HONG SOL
• Application Number:
  US15/274,274
• Publication Number:
  US 20180091424A1
• Time in Patent Office: 641 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/16 Threshold monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/30 Routing of multiclass traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/745 Address table lookup; Address filtering
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/7452 Multiple parallel or consecutive lookup operations lookup operation involving Bloom filters H04L45/7459

Abstract

A first routing instance may receive, from a second routing instance, forwarding information identifying a next-hop. The first routing instance may receive, via a component of the first routing instance, network traffic. The first routing instance may determine, based on the network traffic and the forwarding information, an interface to a component of the second routing instance. The first routing instance may provide, to the component of the second routing instance, the network traffic via the interface. The second routing instance may provide the network traffic to the next-hop.

Claims

1. A device, comprising:

a first routing instance; and

a second routing instance,

wherein the first routing instance is implemented at least partially in hardware to;

receive, from the second routing instance, forwarding information identifying a next-hop;

receive, via a component of the first routing instance, network traffic;

determine, based on the network traffic and the forwarding information, an interface to a component of the second routing instance; and

provide, to the component of the second routing instance, the network traffic via the interface,

the second routing instance to provide the network traffic to the next-hop.

2. The device of claim 1, where the next-hop is a first next-hop, and

where the first routing instance is further to:

perform a first lookup, using a routing table, based on the network traffic;

identify a second next-hop based on the first lookup,

the second next-hop identifying the second routing instance;

perform a second lookup based on the second next-hop;

identify a third next-hop based on the second lookup,

the third next-hop identifying the component of the second routing instance;

perform a third lookup based on the third next-hop;

identify a fourth next-hop based on the third lookup,

the fourth next-hop identifying the interface; and

where the first routing instance, when determining the interface to the component of the second routing instance, is to;

determine the interface based on the third lookup.

3. The device of claim 1, where the forwarding information identifies the component of the second routing instance and the interface to the component of the second routing instance.

4. The device of claim 1, where the component of the second routing instance is associated with a routing metric value that satisfies a threshold;

and

where the first routing instance, when receiving, from the second routing instance, the forwarding information identifying the next-hop, is to;

receive the forwarding information based on the component of the second routing instance being associated with the routing metric value that satisfies the threshold,

the forwarding information identifying the component of the second routing instance and the interface.

5. The device of claim 1, where the next-hop is a first next-hop and the forwarding information is first forwarding information;

and

where the first routing instance is to;

receive, from the second routing instance, second forwarding information that identifies a second next-hop,

the second next-hop being associated with a service function chain;

determine, based on the second forwarding information, another interface to the component of the second routing instance; and

provide, to the component of the second routing instance, other network traffic,

the other network traffic being associated with a network service header that includes information associated with the service function chain.

6. The device of claim 1, where the component of the second routing instance is a line card associated with the second routing instance.

7. The device of claim 1, where the component of the first routing instance is at least one of:

a virtual machine,

a container, or

a standalone application capable of running on an operating system.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions, the instructions comprising:

one or more instructions that, when executed by a first routing instance, implemented at least partially in hardware, cause the first routing instance to;

receive, from a second routing instance, forwarding information identifying a first next-hop,

the forwarding information identifying a component, and an interface to the component, of the second routing instance as a second next-hop;

receive network traffic,

the network traffic being associated with the first next-hop;

determine, based on the network traffic and the forwarding information, the interface to the component of the second routing instance; and

provide, to the component of the second routing instance, the network traffic via the interface,

the component of the second routing instance to forward the network traffic to the first next-hop.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, where the one or more instructions, when executed by the first routing instance, further cause the first routing instance to:

determine, based on the network traffic, that the network traffic is to be provided to a tunnel endpoint device;

determine, based on the tunnel endpoint device, a third next-hop;

determine, based on the third next-hop, the first next-hop;

determine, based on the first next-hop, the second next-hop; and

where the one or more instructions, that cause the first routing instance to provide the network traffic, cause the first routing instance to;

provide the network traffic based on determining the second next-hop.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, where the one or more instructions, when executed by the first routing instance, further cause the first routing instance to:

store the forwarding information in a first forwarding table,

the first forwarding table being associated with the first routing instance,

the second routing instance to forward the network traffic based on a second forwarding table that is different than the first forwarding table.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, where the forwarding information identifies an external interface associated with the second routing instance, and where the interface is an internal interface of a device that includes the first routing instance and the second routing instance.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, where the one or more instructions, when executed by the first routing instance, further cause the first routing instance to:

determine, based on the network traffic, a third next-hop,

the third next-hop being associated with a service forwarder device; and

where the one or more instructions, that cause the first routing instance to determine the interface to the component of the second routing instance, cause the first routing instance to;

determine the interface to the component based on the service forwarder device.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, where the one or more instructions, when executed by the first routing instance, further cause the first routing instance to:

determine that the component is associated with a routing metric value that satisfies a threshold; and

where the one or more instructions, that cause the first routing instance to receive the forwarding information, cause the first routing instance to;

receive the forwarding information based on the routing metric value satisfying the threshold.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, where the one or more instructions, when executed by the first routing instance, further cause the first routing instance to:

determine that the network traffic includes a label; and

where the one or more instructions, that cause the first routing instance to provide the network traffic via the interface, cause the first routing instance to;

provide the network traffic via the interface based on the label.

15. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a first routing instance of a device, forwarding information,

the forwarding information being provided by a second routing instance of the device;

receiving, by a component of the first routing instance of the device, network traffic;

determining, by the first routing instance of the device, an interface to a component of the second routing instance; and

providing, by the first routing instance of the device, the network traffic to the component of the second routing instance via the interface,

the second routing instance to forward the network traffic to another device connected to the device.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

determining, by the second routing instance of the device, that the component of the second routing instance is associated with a routing metric value that satisfies a threshold; and

providing, by the second routing instance of the device, the forwarding information based on the component of the second routing instance being associated with the routing metric value that satisfies the threshold.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

determining, by the first routing instance of the device, a first next-hop based on the network traffic,

the first next-hop identifying the other device;

determining, by the first routing instance of the device, a second next-hop based on the first next-hop,

the second next-hop identifying the interface to the component of the second routing instance; and

where providing the network traffic to the component of the second routing instance comprises;

providing the network traffic to the component of the second routing instance based on determining the second next-hop.

18. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

determining that the network traffic includes a label; and

where providing the network traffic via the interface comprises;

providing the network traffic via the interface based on the label.

19. The method of claim 15, where the first routing instance and the second routing instance are at least one of:

a virtual machine,

a container, or

a standalone application capable of running on an operating system.

20. The method of claim 15, where the component of the first routing instance is to receive the network traffic from a customer edge device, and where the component of the second routing instance is to provide the network traffic to a provider edge device.