Dynamic update of virtual network topology

• US 10,484,265 B2
• Filed: 04/27/2017
• Issued: 11/19/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 04/27/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Wu, Tsong-Ho, Li, Wen-Jui, Lai, Wai
• Primary Examiner(s): Clawson, Stephen J
• Application Number:
  US15/499,452
• Publication Number:
  US 20180316594A1
• Time in Patent Office: 936 Days
• Field of Search: 370392
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/122 of virtualised topologies, e.g. software-defined networks [SDN] or network function virtualisation [NFV]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/02 Topology update or discovery
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/036 Updating the topology between route computation elements, e.g. between OpenFlow controllers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/64 using an overlay routing layer

Abstract

An IP network topology update system may update IP network topology in near real-time and on-demand with minimum overheads. It identifies likely impact area (e.g., layer 2 or layer 3), objects (e.g., link or node such a device), and timing (e.g., what topology objects located where or when the topology update process should be performed) in the IP Layer 3 network and its underlying SDN Layer 2 network under virtualized networking infrastructure as candidates of impacts for topology update.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled with the processor, the memory comprising executable instructions stored thereon that when executed by the processor cause the processor to effectuate operations comprising;

obtaining an alert, the alert comprising information affecting a virtual topology;

determining that the alert is a parent event during a time duration, the time duration computed based on a pairing of a time of an onset alarm and a time of a clear alarm associated with a same alarm identifier from a same device;

based on the determining that the alert is a parent event, determining an object associated with the parent event;

obtaining other parent events that are associated with the object;

based on the other parent events that are associated with the object, determining an impact area that the parent event affects; and

based on the determined impact area, performing a topology update for the impact area.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, the operations further comprising:

providing instructions to display the topology update on a display of a device.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the impact area comprises a layer 2 area or a layer 3 area.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the object comprises a virtual network device.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the object comprises a physical network device.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the object comprises a physical link.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the object comprises a virtual link.

8. A method comprising:

obtaining, by a server, an alert, the alert comprising information affecting a virtual topology;

determining, by the server, that the alert is a parent event during a time duration, the time duration computed based on a pairing of a time of an onset alarm and a time of a clear alarm associated with a same alarm identifier from a same device;

based on the determining that the alert is a parent event, determining, by the server, an object associated with the parent event;

obtaining, by the server, other events that are associated with the object;

based on the other events that are associated with the object, determining, by the server, an impact area that the parent event affects; and

based on the determined impact area, performing a topology update for the impact area.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

displaying the topology update on a display of a device.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the impact area comprises a layer 2 area or a layer 3 area.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the object comprises a virtual network device.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the object comprises a physical network device.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein the object comprises a physical link.

14. The method of claim 8, wherein the object comprises a virtual link.

15. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing computer executable instructions that when executed by a computing device cause said computing device to effectuate operations comprising:

obtaining an alert, the alert comprising information affecting a virtual topology;

determining that the alert is a parent event during a time duration, the time duration computed based on a pairing of a time of an onset alarm and a time of a clear alarm associated with a same alarm identifier from a same device;

based on the determining that the alert is a parent event, determining an object associated with the parent event;

obtaining other events that are associated with the object;

based on the other events that are associated with the object, determining an impact area that the parent event affects; and

based on the determined impact area, performing a topology update for the impact area.

16. The computer readable storage medium of claim 15, the operations further comprising:

displaying the topology update on a display of a device, wherein the topology update comprises a layer 2 topology or a layer 3 topology.

17. The computer readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the impact area comprises a layer 2 area or a layer 3 area.

18. The computer readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the object comprises a virtual network device.