Control messages for scalable satellite device clustering control in a campus network

• US 10,205,661 B1
• Filed: 10/13/2016
• Issued: 02/12/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 10/13/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Juniper Networks Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Juniper Networks Incorporated
• Inventors: Shukla, Amit, Xu, Xiangwen, Lee, Roselyn K., Kondur, Umesh
• Primary Examiner(s): Levitan, Dmitry H
• Application Number:
  US15/293,094
• Time in Patent Office: 852 Days
• Field of Search: 370310, 370458, 370464, 370465, 709220, 709223, 709238, 709249
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/082 the condition being updates or upgrades of network functionality
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/22 Parsing or analysis of headers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/325 in the network layer [OSI layer 3], e.g. X.25 H04L69/16 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/00 Reducing energy consumption in communication networks

Abstract

An aggregation device may detect a change to a status of a campus network. The campus network may include a set of satellite clusters. Each satellite cluster, of the set of satellite clusters, may include one or more satellite devices. The aggregation device may generate one or more satellite cluster specific control messages (SCSCMs) to update the campus network based on detecting the change to the status of the campus network. The one or more SCSCMs may include at least one of a control-and-status protocol (CSP) message, or a link layer discovery protocol (LLDP) message. The aggregation device may include information relating to the set of satellite clusters in a configurable portion of the one or more SCSCMs. The aggregation device may transmit the one or more SCSCMs with a border satellite device, of the one or more satellite devices, to update the campus network.

Claims

1. An aggregation device, comprising:

a memory; and

one or more processors to;

detect a change to a status of a campus network,

the campus network including a plurality of satellite clusters,

each satellite cluster, of the plurality of satellite clusters, including one or more satellite devices;

generate one or more satellite cluster specific control messages (SCSCMs) to update the campus network based on detecting the change to the status of the campus network,

the one or more SCSCMs including a particular SCSCM to identify a topology of a satellite cluster of the plurality of satellite clusters, and

a configurable portion of the one or more SCSCMs including information relating to the plurality of satellite clusters; and

transmit the one or more SCSCMs to a satellite device, of the one or more satellite devices, to update the campus network.

2. The aggregation device of claim 1, where the one or more processors, when generating the one or more SCSCMs, are to:

generate another particular SCSCM, of the one or more SCSCMs, that identifies a particular satellite cluster, of the plurality of satellite clusters, that includes the satellite device.

3. The aggregation device of claim 1, where the one or more processors, when generating the one or more SCSCMs, are to:

generate another particular SCSCM, of the one or more SCSCMs, that identifies provisioning information for a particular satellite device, of the one or more satellite devices, included in a particular satellite cluster of the plurality of satellite clusters,

the particular satellite cluster including the satellite device, and

the provisioning information identifying an Internet Protocol (IP)-based private control-plane network that the particular satellite device is to access.

4. The aggregation device of claim 1, where the one or more processors, when transmitting the one or more SCSCMs to the satellite device, are to:

provide, to the satellite device and for a particular satellite device of a particular satellite cluster, of the plurality of satellite clusters, that includes the satellite device, a another particular SCSCM that includes at least one of;

a member identifier to identify another satellite device,

a cluster identifier to identify another satellite cluster, or

an Internet Protocol (IP) address space.

5. The aggregation device of claim 1, where the one or more processors are further to:

receive another particular SCSCM from the satellite device identifying a set of attributes of a particular satellite device that is included in a particular satellite cluster, of the plurality of satellite clusters, that includes the satellite device.

6. The aggregation device of claim 1, where the one or more processors are further to:

transmit control information to another aggregation device to permit the other aggregation device to control a portion of the campus network.

7. The aggregation device of claim 1, where the one or more processors are further to:

receive, from the satellite device, another SCSCM identifying a detected satellite device; and

assign a slot identifier and a member identifier to the detected satellite device based on receiving the other SCSCM identifying the detected satellite device,

the member identifier identifying the detected satellite device; and

when the one or more processors, when generating the one or more SCSCMs, are to;

include information identifying the slot identifier and the member identifier in the one or more SCSCMs.

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

one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a satellite device, cause the one or more processors to;

detect a change to a status of a campus network,

the campus network including a plurality of satellite clusters,

each satellite cluster, of the plurality of satellite clusters, including one or more satellite devices,

 

the one or more satellite devices including the satellite device;

generate one or more satellite cluster specific control messages (SCSCMs) to update the campus network based on detecting the change to the status of the campus network,

the one or more SCSCMs including a particular SCSCM to identify a topology of a satellite cluster of the plurality of satellite clusters; and

transmit the one or more SCSCMs to a network device of the campus network.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, where the network device is another satellite device of the one or more satellite devices.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, where the network device is an aggregation device, of a plurality of aggregation devices, of the campus network.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8,

where the one or more instructions, that cause the one or more processors to transmit the one or more SCSCMs, cause the one or more processors to:

transmit the particular SCSCM to another satellite device of the one or more satellite devices; and

where the one or more instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the one or more processors to;

receive topology information, via another SCSCM, based on transmitting the particular SCSCM.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, where the one or more instructions, that cause the one or more processors to detect the change to the status of the campus network, cause the one or more processors to:

detect that another satellite device becomes a member of a particular satellite cluster, of the plurality of satellite clusters, that includes the satellite device; and

where the one or more instructions, that cause the one or more processors to generate the one or more SCSCMs, cause the one or more processors to;

generate an SCSCM, of the one or more SCSCMs, to provide provisioning information, received from an aggregation device of the campus network, to the other satellite device to provision the other satellite device for the campus network.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, where each satellite cluster, of the plurality of satellite clusters, uses a separate instance of IS-IS;

and

where aggregation devices of the campus network do not utilize the separate instances of IS-IS.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, where the one or more instructions, that cause the one or more processors to detect the change to the status of the campus network, cause the one or more processors to:

detect at least one of;

an addition of another satellite device to one of the plurality of satellite clusters,

an addition of another satellite cluster,

an addition of an aggregation device,

a new link in the campus network,

a removal of a network device,

a removal of a link from the campus network,

a change to a routing algorithm used to route campus network traffic,

an addition of a port to a satellite device,

a removal of a port from a satellite device, or

a change to software used by the campus network.

15. A system, comprising:

a set of aggregation devices to provide a control plane for a campus network and to route network traffic,

a satellite device, of a set of satellite devices to provide a set of ports for the set of aggregation devices to route the network traffic,

the set of satellite devices being grouped into a plurality of satellite clusters,

each satellite cluster, of the plurality of satellite clusters, including a processor that implements an intermediate system to intermediate system protocol (IS-IS) instance for topology discovery, and

each satellite cluster, of the plurality of satellite clusters, including a border satellite device to communicate with the set of aggregation devices in the control plane using a set of satellite cluster specific control messages (SCSCMs),

an SCSCM, of the set of SCSCMs, including a particular protocol message with a configurable portion of the particular protocol message used to provide information to manage the routing of the network traffic.

16. The system of claim 15, where the border satellite device is to provide provisioning information, received from a particular aggregation device via the control plane, to a non-border satellite device to add the non-border satellite device to a satellite cluster.

17. The system of claim 15, where the set of SCSCMs includes a link layer discovery protocol (LLDP) message,

a configurable portion of the LLDP message being used to provide provisioning information associated with identifying the control plane to the border satellite device.

18. The system of claim 15, where the set of SCSCMs includes an IS-IS message,

a configurable portion of the IS-IS message being used to provide provisioning information associated with identifying the control plane to a non-border satellite device of a particular satellite cluster.

19. The system of claim 15, where the set of aggregation devices do not receive topology information via the IS-IS instance.

20. The system of claim 15, where an aggregation device, of the set of aggregation devices, is to receive reachability information from the border satellite device regarding a satellite cluster.