Network architecture

• US 20070005808A1
• Filed: 03/05/2004
• Published: 01/04/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 03/07/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: TRIA Network Systems, LLC
• Original Assignee: TRIA Network Systems, LLC
• Inventors: Day, John
• Granted Patent: US 8,103,797 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/248
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/10 Protecting distributed programs or content, e.g. vending or licensing of copyrighted material protection in video systems or pay television H04N7/16 ; Digital rights management [DRM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/00 Arrangements for maintenance, administration or management of data switching networks, e.g. of packet switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0896 Bandwidth or capacity management, i.e. automatically increasing or decreasing capacities flow or congestion control using dynamic resource allocation, e.g. in-call renegotiation, H04L47/76
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/145 involving simulating, designing, planning or modelling of a network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/147 for predicting network behaviour
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5025 by proactively reacting to service quality change, e.g. by reconfiguration after service quality degradation or upgrade
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/00 Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks routing or path finding in wireless networks H04W40/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/10 Flow control; Congestion control
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/12 Avoiding congestion; Recovering from congestion
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/193 at the transport layer, e.g. TCP related
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/21 using leaky-bucket
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/2416 Real-time traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/90 Buffering arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/10 of different types
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/5061 Pools of addresses
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/5084 Providing for device mobility network addressing or numbering for mobility support in wireless networks H04W8/26; mobile IP H04W80/04
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/765 intermediate
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/565 : Conversion or adaptation of application format or content adding application control or application functional data H04L67/561
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/06 : Notations for structuring of protocol data, e.g. abstract syntax notation one [ASN.1]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/08 : Protocols for interworking; Protocol conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/24 : Negotiation of communication capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/32 : Architecture of open systems interconnection [OSI] 7-layer type protocol stacks, e.g. the interfaces between the data link level and the physical level
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/325 : in the network layer [OSI layer 3], e.g. X.25 H04L69/16 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 : in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/0054 : Service creation techniques
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/0095 : Specification, development or application of network management software, e.g. software re-use
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/248 : Connectivity information update
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/087 : for preserving data network PoA address despite hand-offs
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/26 : Network addressing or numbering for mobility support
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/04 : Network layer protocols, e.g. mobile IP [Internet Protocol]
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 999/99 : dummy group

Abstract

Disclosed are methods and systems for improved information transfer across networks, including network protocols with invariant structure, topological addressing, and recursive network structures.

Claims

1. In a network of entities operable in accordance with a network protocol, a method of operation comprising:

creating and terminating synchronized shared state between communicating entities to coordinate their behavior;

establishing between the communicating entities, responsive to the shared state, a data transfer relationship using the shared state; and

generating a set of messages operable to be exchanged between the communicating entities to coordinate their behavior and control the transfer of data,

wherein;

(a) the messages are expressed in terms of an abstract syntax language and are translated into bit patterns for exchange between communicating entities according to one or more concrete syntax definitions;

(b) each function of the protocol is separated into a mechanism and at least one policy;

(c) the policy comprises policy components, the policy components comprising at least a sending policy and a receiving policy; and

(d) instances of policy components are determined for each function of the protocol upon initiation of shared state.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein instances of policy components are negotiated for each function.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein instances of policy components are determined by ad hoc means.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the method may be applied to data transfer protocols and to application protocols.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the data transfer protocols can include (a) relaying and multiplexing protocols, and (b) error and flow control protocols.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein:

separating mechanism and policy and using an abstract syntax creates a single relaying and multiplexing protocol and a single error and flow control protocol, and

the single relaying and multiplexing protocol and single error and flow control protocol, either alone or in a combination of layered organization, are operable to provide the services of any data transfer service.

7. The method of claims 6 further comprising applying the foregoing steps to application protocols to separate functions of applications into mechanism and policy.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the functions separated are application specific functions in a data transfer portion of a protocol.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the data transfer relationship is a reliable, flow-controlled data transfer relationship.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the data transfer relationship is characterized by any of (1) minimal shared state sufficient to exchange data or (2) shared state without flow control or reliability.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein separating mechanism and policy exposes functions of two types, wherein a first type comprises functions whose coordinating state information must be associated with a Transfer or Data PDU, and a second type comprises functions whose coordinating state information need not be associated with a Transfer or Data PDU.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein separating mechanism and policy results in an implementation of a protocol machine comprising substantially independent first and second portions, wherein the first portion contains substantially no policy, and the second portion contains substantially all policy.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the first portion is substantially a hardware portion, and the second portion is substantially a software portion.

14. The method of claim 1 operable to support either of two configurations, a first utilizing a connectionless relaying protocol and an end-to-end error and flow control protocol, and a second utilizing a relaying protocol of tightly bound functions and an error and flow control protocol of loosely bound functions.

15. The method of claim 1 operable to support a configuration utilizing a connectionless relaying protocol and an end-to-end error and flow control protocol.

16. The method of claim 1 operable to support a configuration utilizing a relaying protocol of tightly bound functions and an error and flow control protocol of loosely bound functions.

17. A method of assigning addresses to entities in a network, the method comprising:

defining an address space comprising a set of strings having a topological structure;

defining a set of entities in the network, each entity to be identified by an associated, respective address assigned thereto;

defining a mapping function, the mapping function being defined with a range of the address space and a domain of the entities, and having the properties of a topology; and

assigning respective addresses to the entities based on the mapping function, such that the addresses assigned to the entities are topologically dependent.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein the defining of a mapping function further comprises defining a mapping function with the properties of a topology between address spaces in adjoining layers or subnets, such that the upper layer forms a covering of a collection of lower subnets or layers.

19. The method of claim 17 wherein an associated property of a topology is one to one and onto with an inverse.

20. The method of claim 17 wherein:

the mapping function may be based on a topology having a distance function d(a, b), where d is the distance function, and a and b are assigned addresses having the following properties;

d(a, b)≧

0 for all values of a and b;

d(a, b)=0 if and only if a=b;

d(a, b)=d(b, a); and

d(a, c)≦

d(a, b)+d(b, c).

21. The method of claim 20 further wherein an orientation may be associated with the address space.

22. The method of claim 17 wherein the network includes outgoing communications links operable to carry messages, and assigned addresses comprise destination addresses, and further comprising:

constructing a table of addresses to be assigned, such that all messages to destination addresses near each other can be routed on the same outgoing links.

23. The method of claim 22 further comprising storing routes associated with messages and destinations, and wherein the number of routes that need be stored is reduced to only those of the local sub-network and optimizations.

24. The method of claims 23 further comprising:

determining routes based on knowledge of topologically-dependent addresses.

25. The method of any of claims 24 further comprising applying the foregoing steps across multiple layers in a network, so as to provide multi-homing and mobility without need for mechanisms specifically adapted for multi-homing or mobility.

26. A method for transferring data between entities in a network, the method comprising:

configuring data transfer protocols that separate mechanism and policy and enable control of the transfer of data;

configuring applications that manage the transfer of data and also separate mechanism and policy,

the configuring including the provision of one or more of;

(a) a layer management set comprising one or more of;

(1) providing management communication between the applications and a system management application;

(2) managing security policies and keys,

(3) managing the enrollment of applications, and

(4) assigning addresses to entities becoming a member of a defined layer;

(b) a resource allocation set comprising one or more of;

(1) computing routes,

(2) monitoring the QoS of routes emanating from the corresponding subsystem, and

(3) managing flows emanating from or passing through this subsystem;

(c) security management mechanisms; and

(d) for each flow with a given QoS to a remote destination, aggregating flows as required to provide selected classes of QoS and for user applications.

27. The method of claim 26 further comprising aggregating flows as required to provide any of transmission control, error control, flow control, and/or multiplexing and addressing.

28. The method of claim 26 wherein the data transfer protocols comprise (a) relaying and multiplexing, and (b) error and flow control.

29. The method of claims 28 further comprising multiple instances of the foregoing steps, and wherein both the data transfer protocols and the applications in each instance:

(a) employ separation of mechanism and policy and

(b) encode their control coordination in messages encoded with an abstract syntax translated to a concrete syntax.

30. The method of claim 29 wherein:

each instance can operate in accordance with a set of policies and parameters over a given range of bandwidth, and

flows managed thereby operate over given ranges of QoS parameters,

whereby the method can be applied recursively with different policies and parameters over an entire range of bandwidth and QoS.

31. The method of claim 30 wherein cooperating instances of identical rank form a layer of a specific scope operable to manage flows of a given bandwidth range, specific QoS or scope of management.

32. The method of claim 31 wherein:

instances at a higher rank generally manage lower bandwidth ranges and narrower QoS, and generally have greater scope, and

instances at lower ranks generally have higher bandwidth ranges and manage flows with broader QoS and less scope.

33. The method of claim 32 wherein within a range of QoS handled by a given layer, specific flows between senders and receivers further subdivide the range of QoS.

34. The method of claim 32 further comprising defining specialized higher rank layers to have restricted scope, and wherein a specialized higher rank layer is a VPN.

35. The method of claim 32 further comprising:

defining an address space comprising a set of strings having a topological structure;

defining a set of entities in the network, each entity to be identified by an associated, respective address assigned thereto;

defining a mapping function, the mapping function being defined with a range of the address space and a domain of the entities, and having the properties of a topology; and

assigning respective addresses to the entities based on the mapping function, such that the addresses assigned to the entities are topologically dependent.

36. The method of claim 35 wherein the mapping function is based on a topology having a distance function d(a, b), where d is the distance function, and a and b are assigned addresses having the following properties:

d(a, b)≧

0 for all values of a and b;

d(a, b)=0 if and only if a=b;

d(a, b)=d(b, a); and

d(a, c)≦

d(a, b)+d(b, c).

37. The method of claim 36 further wherein an orientation may be associated with the address space.

38. The method of claim 35 wherein the data transfer and topological addressing functions are collectively operable to support mobility and multi-homing, without need for mechanisms specifically adapted for mobility or multi-homing.

39. The method of claim 26 further comprising:

defining an address space comprising a set of strings having a topological structure;

defining a set of entities in the network, each entity to be identified by an associated, respective address assigned thereto;

defining a mapping function, the mapping function being defined with a range of the address space and a domain of the entities, and having the properties of a topology; and

assigning respective addresses to the entities based on the mapping function, such that the addresses assigned to the entities are topologically dependent, wherein;

(a) messages operable to be exchanged between communicating entities in the network are expressed in terms of an abstract syntax language and are translated into bit patterns for exchange between communicating entities according to one or more syntax definitions;

(b) each function of a communications protocol is separated into a mechanism and at least one policy;

(c) the policy comprises policy components, the policy components comprising at least a sending policy and a receiving policy; and

(d) instances of policy components are determined for each function of the protocol upon initiation of shared state, and further comprising;

recursively executing the configuring to create subnetworks wherein, as the number of entities in the network increases, the number of addressable elements to be managed within a subnetwork remains substantially constant.

40. In a network of entities operable in accordance with a network protocol, a system comprising:

means for creating and terminating synchronized shared state between communicating entities to coordinate their behavior;

means for establishing between the communicating entities, responsive to the shared state, a data transfer relationship using the shared state; and

means for generating a set of messages operable to be exchanged between the communicating entities to coordinate their behavior and control the transfer of data,

wherein;

(a) the messages are expressed in terms of an abstract syntax language and are translated into bit patterns for exchange between communicating entities according to one or more concrete syntax definitions;

(b) each function of the protocol is separated into a mechanism and at least one policy;

(c) the policy comprises policy components, the policy components comprising at least a sending policy and a receiving policy; and

(d) instances of policy components are determined for each function of the protocol upon initiation of shared state.

41. A system for assigning addresses to entities in a network, the system comprising:

means for defining an address space comprising a set of strings having a topological structure;

means for defining a set of entities in the network, each entity to be identified by an associated, respective address assigned thereto;

means for defining a mapping function, the mapping function being defined with a range of the address space and a domain of the entities, and having the properties of a topology; and

means for assigning respective addresses to the entities based on the mapping function, such that the addresses assigned to the entities are topologically dependent.

42. A system for transferring data between entities in a network, the system comprising:

means for configuring data transfer protocols that separate mechanism and policy and enable control of the transfer of data;

means for configuring applications that manage the transfer of data and also separate mechanism and policy,

the means for configuring including means for providing one or more of;

(a) a layer management set comprising one or more of;

(1) providing management communication between the applications and a system management application;

(2) managing security policies and keys,

(3) managing the enrollment of applications, and

(4) assigning addresses to entities becoming a member of a defined layer;

(b) a resource allocation set comprising one or more of;

(1) computing routes,

(2) monitoring the QoS of routes emanating from the corresponding subsystem, and

(3) managing flows emanating from or passing through this subsystem;

(c) security management mechanisms; and

(d) for each flow with a given QoS to a remote destination, aggregating flows as required to provide selected classes of QoS and for user applications.