Method and apparatus for providing flow based load balancing

• US 20080114892A1
• Filed: 12/29/2006
• Published: 05/15/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/09/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Pennec, Jean-Francois Le, Duwiquet, Richard, Bruno, Aurelien, Grisi, Nicolas
• Granted Patent: US 8,601,126 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/234
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/125 based on throughput or bandwidth
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/38 Flow based routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/10 Flow control; Congestion control
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/125 by balancing the load, e.g. traffic engineering
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/2441 relying on flow classification, e.g. using integrated services [IntServ]

Abstract

A method and apparatus for flow based load balancing are disclosed. For example, the present method receives at least one packet from a flow. If the flow has not being previously classified, then the flow is classified based on the characteristics of the flow. Once classified, the present method matches the flow to at least one matched path from a plurality of available paths in accordance with the characteristics of the flow and characteristics of the at least one matched path. Once matched, the present method forwards the packet from the flow to the at least one matched path for processing.

Claims

1. A method for processing a flow of packets, comprising:

receiving at least one packet from said flow;

classifying said flow based on characteristics of said flow;

matching said flow to at least one matched resource from a plurality of available resources in accordance with said characteristics of said flow and characteristics of said at least one matched resource; and

forwarding said at least one packet from said flow to said at least one matched resource for processing.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said at least one matched resource comprises at least one of:

a path, a computer, a server, a network, a storage system, a firewall, a router, a switch, a network service or a network device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said characteristics of said flow comprises at least one of:

a throughput parameter, a class of service parameter, a jitter parameter, a latency parameter, a bandwidth parameter, or a packet loss parameter.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said characteristics of said matched resource comprises at least one of:

a throughput parameter, a class of service parameter, a jitter parameter, a latency parameter, a bandwidth parameter, or a packet loss parameter.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said at least one matched resource comprises at least one path, and wherein said matching comprises computing a difference between said characteristics of said flow and characteristics of each of a plurality of available paths, where said at least one path is selected based on a lowest difference.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein said difference between said characteristics of said flow and characteristics of each of a plurality of available paths only accounts for path criteria that are lower than flow criteria.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein said classifying of said flow is performed periodically.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

updating said characteristics of said at least one matched resource periodically.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

updating said characteristics of said at least one matched resource in response to a network update.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

matching said flow dynamically to another matched resource if said characteristics of said flow and characteristics of said another matched resource is a better match when compared to characteristics of said at least one matched resource.

11. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon a plurality of instructions, the plurality of instructions including instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the steps of a method for processing a flow of packets, comprising:

receiving at least one packet from said flow;

classifying said flow based on characteristics of said flow;

matching said flow to at least one matched resource from a plurality of available resources in accordance with said characteristics of said flow and characteristics of said at least one matched resource; and

forwarding said at least one packet from said flow to said at least one matched resource for processing.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein said at least one matched resource comprises at least one of:

a path, a computer, a server, a network, a storage system, a firewall, a router, a switch, a network service or a network device.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein said characteristics of said flow comprises at least one of:

a throughput parameter, a class of service parameter, a jitter parameter, a latency parameter, a bandwidth parameter, or a packet loss parameter.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein said characteristics of said matched resource comprises at least one of:

a throughput parameter, a class of service parameter, a jitter parameter, a latency parameter, a bandwidth parameter, or a packet loss parameter.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein said at least one matched resource comprises at least one path, and wherein said matching comprises computing a difference between said characteristics of said flow and characteristics of each of a plurality of available paths, where said at least one path is selected based on a lowest difference.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein said difference between said characteristics of said flow and characteristics of each of a plurality of available paths only accounts for path criteria that are lower than flow criteria.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein said classifying of said flow is performed periodically.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, further comprising:

updating said characteristics of said at least one matched resource periodically.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, further comprising:

matching said flow dynamically to another matched resource if said characteristics of said flow and characteristics of said another matched resource is a better match when compared to characteristics of said at least one matched resource.

20. An apparatus for processing a flow of packets, comprising:

means for receiving at least one packet from said flow;

means for classifying said flow based on characteristics of said flow;

means for matching said flow to at least one matched resource from a plurality of available resources in accordance with said characteristics of said flow and characteristics of said at least one matched resource; and

means for forwarding said at least one packet from said flow to said at least one matched resource for processing.