Implicit traffic engineering

• US 10,389,583 B2
• Filed: 07/25/2018
• Issued: 08/20/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 07/06/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CradlePoint Incorporated (Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson)
• Original Assignee: CradlePoint Incorporated (Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson)
• Inventors: Hankins, Scott Andrew, Mastracci, Andrew John
• Primary Examiner(s): Tiv, Backhean
• Application Number:
  US16/045,624
• Publication Number:
  US 20180331902A1
• Time in Patent Office: 391 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1836 with heterogeneous network architecture
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/185 with management of multicast group membership
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1877 Measures taken prior to transmission
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/28 characterised by path configuration, e.g. LAN [Local Area Networks] or WAN [Wide Area Networks] wireless communication networks H04W ; arrangements for dividing the transmission path H04W40/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4679 Arrangements for the registration or de-registration of VLAN attribute values, e.g. VLAN identifiers, port VLAN membership
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0813 characterised by the conditions triggering a change of settings
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0816 the condition being an adaptation, e.g. in response to network events
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0823 characterised by the purposes of a change of settings, e.g. optimising configuration for enhancing reliability for optimising operational conditions of wireless networks H04W24/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0893 Assignment of logical groups to network elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0894 Policy-based network configuration management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0895 Configuration of virtualised networks or elements, e.g. virtualised network function or OpenFlow elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/34 Signalling channels for network management communication

Abstract

Briefly, methods and/or apparatuses for implicit traffic engineering, such as for the Internet, are described.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

managing without human intervention at least one private network;

wherein the at least one private network comprises two or more separate logical broadcast domains in which the at least one private network is able to communicate selected signal packets from one network device in one of the two or more separate logical broadcast domains transmitted to one network device in another of the two or more separate logical broadcast domains via at least one tunnel server such that the at least one private network is able to communicate the selected signal packets from the one network device in one of the two or more separate logical broadcast domains transmitted to the one network device in another of the two or more separate logical domains as if the logical broadcast domains are not logically separate, and while by-passing use of a routing table with respect to the selected signal packets; and

wherein the managing the at least one private network comprises managing signal packet communications between the network devices in the two or more separate logical broadcast domains.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the one network device in the another of the two or more separate logical broadcast domains comprises a stand-alone network device remote with respect to at least the one logical broadcast domain.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the at least one private network comprises a controller, and wherein the controller provisions at least another tunnel server at least for a period of time, wherein the managing the one stand-alone network device comprises managing the paths of signal packet communications to and/or from the stand-alone network device via the tunnel servers.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the paths of signal packet communications to and/or from the one stand-alone network device via the tunnel servers are managed based at least in part on one or more of the following:

cost, capability, efficiency, compatibility, resources, proximity, security, load balancing, fault tolerance, redundancy or any combinations thereof.

5. The method of claim 2, and further comprising multiple additional stand-alone network devices, wherein at least some of the multiple additional stand-alone network devices are included in the at least one private network and wherein remaining networks devices of the multiple additional stand-alone network devices are included in private networks other than the at least one private network;

wherein the at least some of the multiple additional stand-alone network devices are managed along with the one stand-alone network device as part of the at least one private network and wherein the remaining network devices are managed as part of private networks other than the at least one private network.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the managing the multiple additional stand-alone network devices includes managing the paths of signal packet communications to and/or from the multiple additional stand-alone network devices via the at least one tunnel server.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the at least one private network comprises a controller, and wherein the controller provisions at least another tunnel server at least for a period of time, wherein the managing the multiple additional stand-alone network devices includes managing the paths of signal packet communications to and/or from the multiple additional stand-alone network devices via the tunnel servers.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the paths of signal packet communications to and/or from the multiple additional stand-alone network devices via the tunnel servers are managed based at least in part on one or more of the following:

cost, capability, efficiency, compatibility, resources, proximity, security, load balancing, fault tolerance, redundancy or any combinations thereof.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the managing the paths of signal packet communications to and/or from the multiple additional stand-alone network devices via the tunnel servers includes employing more than one tunnel server for signal packet communications between any of the multiple additional stand-alone network devices and the one network device in the another of the two or more separate logical domains based at least in part on one or more of the following:

cost, capability, efficiency, compatibility, resources, proximity, security, load balancing, fault tolerance, redundancy or any combinations thereof.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the employing more than one tunnel server for signal packet communications between the any of the multiple additional stand-alone network devices and the one network device in the another of the two or more separate logical domains includes concurrently employing more than one tunnel server for signal packet communications between the any of the multiple additional stand-alone network devices and the one network device in the another of the two or more separate logical domains based at least in part on one or more of the following:

cost, capability, efficiency, compatibility, resources, proximity, security, load balancing, fault tolerance, redundancy or any combinations thereof.

11. The method of claim 5, wherein each of the stand-alone network devices comprises a separate logical broadcast domain.

12. The method of claim 5, wherein at least one of the private networks other than the at least one private network is managed without human intervention.

13. The method of claim 5, wherein at least one of the private networks other than the at least one private network is managed by a different controller.

14. The method of claim 2, wherein the one stand-alone network device comprises a separate logical broadcast domain, and wherein the managing the at least one private network comprises managing the at least one stand-alone network device and the one network device in the another of the two or more separate logical domains.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the another of the two or more separate logical domains comprises another network device;

and wherein the managing the at least one private network further includes also managing the another network device.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the managing comprises:

provisioning at least one tunnel server to communicate between the two or more separate logical broadcast domains.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the provisioning of the at least one tunnel server occurs based at least in part on one or more signals from a controller.

18. The method of claim 17, and further comprising one or more stand-alone remote network devices, wherein the managing the at least one private network includes managing the one or more stand-alone remote network devices, and wherein the managing the one or more stand-alone remote network devices includes managing signal packet communications to and/or from the one or more stand-alone remote network devices.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the controller provisions at least another tunnel server at least for a period of time, wherein the managing the paths of signal packet communications to and/or from the one or more stand-alone remote network devices comprises the managing the paths of signal packet communications to and/or from the one or more stand-alone remote network devices via the tunnel servers, and wherein the managing the paths of signal packet communications to and/or from the one or more stand-alone remote network devices via the tunnel servers comprises managing the paths of signal packet communications to and/or from the one or more stand-alone remote network devices via the tunnel servers based at least in part on one or more of the following:

cost, capability, efficiency, compatibility, resources, proximity, security, load balancing, fault tolerance, redundancy or any combinations thereof.

20. The method of claim 1, and further comprising multiple additional stand-alone remote network devices, wherein at least some of the multiple additional stand-alone remote network devices are included in the at least one private network and wherein remaining network devices of the multiple additional stand-alone remote network devices are included in private networks other than the at least one private network;

wherein the managing the at least one private network includes managing the at least some of the multiple additional stand-alone remote network devices along with the two or more separate logical broadcast domains as part of the at least one private network.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the managing the multiple additional stand-alone remote network devices includes managing the paths of signal packet communications to and/or from the multiple additional stand-alone remote network devices via the at least one tunnel server along with the two or more separate logical broadcast domains as part of the at least one private network.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the at least one private network comprises a controller, and wherein the controller provisions at least another tunnel server at least for a period of time, wherein the managing the multiple additional stand-alone remote network devices includes managing the paths of signal packet communications to and/or from the multiple additional stand-alone remote network devices via the tunnel servers along with the two or more separate logical broadcast domains as part of the at least one private network.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the managing the paths of signal packet communications via the tunnel servers comprises managing the paths based at least in part on one or more of the following:

cost, capability, efficiency, compatibility, resources, proximity, security, load balancing, fault tolerance, redundancy or any combinations thereof.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the managing the paths of signal packet communications via the tunnel servers includes employing more than one tunnel server for signal packet communications between any of the stand-alone remote network devices and any network devices of the two or more separate logical broadcast domains based at least in part on one or more of the following:

cost, capability, efficiency, compatibility, resources, proximity, security, load balancing, fault tolerance, redundancy or any combinations thereof.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the managing the paths of signal packet communications via the tunnel servers includes concurrently employing more than one tunnel server for signal packet communications between any of the stand-alone remote network devices and any network devices of the two or more separate logical broadcast domains.

26. A system comprising:

one or more servers;

the one or more servers to manage at least one private network without human intervention;

wherein the at least one private network to comprise at least for a period of time a virtual broadcast domain comprising two or more separate logical broadcast domains in which the at least one private network is able to communicate selected signal packets from one network device in one of the two or more separate logical broadcast domains that are to be transmitted to one network device in another of the two or more separate logical broadcast domains via at least one tunnel server such that the at least one private network is able to communicate the selected signal packets from the one network device in the one of the two or more separate logical broadcast domains in a manner to by-pass use of a routing table with respect to the selected signal packets and as if the logical broadcast domains are not logically separate; and

wherein the one or servers are to manage signal packet communications between the network devices in the two or more separate logical broadcast domains.

27. The system of claim 26, and wherein the at least one private network is to further comprise multiple additional stand-alone remote network devices;

wherein at least some of the multiple additional stand-alone remote network devices are to be included in the at least one private network and wherein remaining network devices of the multiple additional stand-alone remote network devices are to be included in private networks other than the at least one private network; and

wherein the one or more servers are further to manage the at least some of the multiple additional stand-alone remote network devices along with the two or more separate logical broadcast domains as part of the at least one private network.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the one or more servers are further to manage the multiple additional stand-alone remote network devices and are further to manage the paths of signal packet communications to and/or from the multiple additional stand-alone remote network devices via the at least one tunnel server along with the two or more separate logical broadcast domains as part of the at least one private network.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein at least one of the one or more servers comprises a controller, wherein the controller is to provision at least another tunnel server at least for a period of time, wherein the controller is further to manage the paths of signal packet communications to and/or from the multiple additional stand-alone remote network devices via the tunnel servers along with the two or more separate logical broadcast domains as part of the at least one private network.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein the controller is further to manage the paths of signal packet communications based at least in part on one or more of the following:

cost, capability, efficiency, compatibility, resources, proximity, security, load balancing, fault tolerance, redundancy or any combinations thereof.

31. The system of claim 26, wherein the one network device of the another of the two or more separate logical broadcast domains is to comprise a stand-alone network device remote with respect to at least the one logical broadcast domain.

32. The system of claim 31, wherein at least one of the one or more servers comprises a controller, wherein the controller is to provision at least another tunnel server at least for a period of time, and wherein the controller is to manage the paths of signal packet communications to and/or from the stand-alone network device via the tunnel servers.

33. The system of claim 32, wherein the controller is to further to manage the paths of signal packet communications to and/or from the one stand-alone network device via the tunnel servers based at least in part on one or more of the following:

cost, capability, efficiency, compatibility, resources, proximity, security, load balancing, fault tolerance, redundancy or any combinations thereof.

34. An article comprising:

a non-transitory storage medium having stored thereon instructions executable by a computing device, wherein the computing device is to comprise a controller to manage at least one private network without human intervention;

wherein the at least one private network to comprise at least for a period of time a virtual broadcast domain comprising two or more separate logical broadcast domains in which the at least one private network is able to communicate selected signal packets from one network device in one of the two or more separate logical broadcast domains to be transmitted to one network device in another of the two or more separate logical broadcast domains via at least one tunnel server such that the at least one private network is able to communicate the selected signal packets from the one network device in one of the two or more separate logical broadcast domains in a manner to by-pass use of a routing table with respect to the selected signal packets and as if the logical broadcast domains are not logically separate; and

wherein the controller is to manage signal packet communications between the network devices in the two or more separate logical broadcast domains.

35. The article of claim 34, and wherein the at least one private network is to further comprise multiple additional stand-alone remote network devices;

wherein at least some of the multiple additional stand-alone remote network devices are to be included in the at least one private network and wherein remaining network devices of the multiple additional stand-alone remote network devices are to be included in private networks other than the at least one private network; and

wherein the controller is further to manage the at least some of the multiple additional stand-alone remote network devices along with the two or more separate logical broadcast domains as part of the at least one private network.

36. The article of claim 35, wherein the controller is further to manage the multiple additional stand-alone remote network devices and is further to manage the paths of signal packet communications to and/or from the multiple additional stand-alone remote network devices via the at least one tunnel server along with the two or more separate logical broadcast domains as part of the at least one private network.

37. The article of claim 36, wherein the controller is to provision at least another tunnel server at least for a period of time, wherein the controller is further to manage the paths of signal packet communications to and/or from the multiple additional stand-alone remote network devices via the tunnel servers along with the two or more separate logical broadcast domains as part of the at least one private network.

38. The article of claim 37, wherein the controller is further to manage the paths of signal packet communications based at least in part on one or more of the following:

cost, capability, efficiency, compatibility, resources, proximity, security, load balancing, fault tolerance, redundancy or any combinations thereof.

39. The article of claim 34, wherein the one network device of the another of the two or more separate logical broadcast domains is to comprise a stand-alone network device remote with respect to at least the one logical broadcast domain.

40. The article of claim 39, wherein at least one of the one or more servers to comprise a controller, wherein the controller is to provision at least another tunnel server at least for a period of time, and wherein the controller is to manage the paths of signal packet communications to and/or from the stand-alone network device via the tunnel servers.

41. The article of claim 34, wherein the controller is to further to manage the paths of signal packet communications to and/or from the one stand-alone network device via the tunnel servers based at least in part on one or more of the following:

cost, capability, efficiency, compatibility, resources, proximity, security, load balancing, fault tolerance, redundancy or any combinations thereof.