SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CREATING A TRANSITIVE OPTIMZED FLOW PATH

• US 20110002240A1
• Filed: 06/30/2010
• Published: 01/06/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 07/02/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Exafer, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Exafer, Ltd.
• Inventors: LELCUK, Alon, NOSSENSON, Ronit, HAREL, Amir, ZAKAI, Avinoam
• Granted Patent: US 8,971,335 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/254
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4641 Virtual LANs, VLANs, e.g. virtual private networks [VPN] LAN interconnection over a bridge based backbone H04L12/462; encapsulation techniques H04L12/4633; routing of packets H04L45/00; packet switches H04L49/00; virtual private networks for security H04L63/0272
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/02 Topology update or discovery
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/38 Flow based routing

Abstract

Traffic paths based on common devices available in a network are optimized, controlled, manipulated and created. The new paths used to optimize are not limited to the original OSI layer and/or original networks. Thus, various kinds of users/computers/devices, working in the same or in different abstraction layer networks, are combined into one collective virtual network providing the ability to compute and utilize the best (optimal) traffic path for each flow at each given time. The traffic path can be constructed especially for each flow. All or most devices and layer networks are combined in a collective virtual network when computing and constructing an optimized path for a flow. Thus, there is no need to add additional headers to a flow thereby eliminating the addition of overhead to the flow.

Claims

1. A method for creating a transitive optimized path for a flow, comprising:

maintaining a topology database based on information collected from a plurality of network devices;

identifying a new flow establishment;

identifying a Transmitting Device Set with Promiscuous and Re-writing Capabilities (TDSPRC) that transfers the new flow;

defining two or more coupled promiscuity networks (CPN) for carrying the new flow, by;

identifying two or more networks that the new flow between the two or more networks is transferred via the TDSPRC and wherein at least one of the networks differs from at least one other network in at least one network characteristic;

planning an optimized path for the new flow; and

directing the new flow through the planed optimized path by rewriting at least one original header of a frame of the new flow.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of rewriting at least one original header of a frame further comprises deleting at least one encapsulation header from the original header of the frame of the new flow.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the encapsulation header is the header of PPPoE tunneling.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one original header of a frame of the new flow is an Open System Interconnection layer 2 header.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of rewriting at least one original header of a frame is executed at the TDSPRC.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of directing the new flow further comprises controlling said one or more TDSPRC to transfer the new flow according to the optimized traffic path.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the act of controlling said one or more TDSPRC is accomplished by sending control commands to the TDSPRC.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the TDSPRC is associated with a metro switch.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the metro switch is associated with a frame-processing device.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the frame-processing device is a deep packet inspection device.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of planning an optimized path further comprises the act of planning an optimized path based on latency criteria.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one network characteristic is an (Open System Interconnection) OSI layer.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the new flow establishment is of a Peer-to-Peer session.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

changing the layer 2 destination frame address from an address of a Broadband Remote Access Server to a layer 2 address of the other peer.

15. The method of claim 7, wherein the act of sending control commands to the TDSPRC further comprises sending a rewrite-header command.

16. A system that creates an optimized path for a flow, comprising:

a flow-path-optimizer-and-creator;

a plurality of networks, wherein at least one of the plurality of networks differs from at least one other network in at least one network characteristic; and

one or more Transmitting Device Set with Promiscuous and Re-wriying Capabilities (TDSPRC);

wherein the flow-path-optimizer-and-creator is configured to define one or more coupled promiscuity networks (CPN) from the plurality of networks according to the one or more TDSPRC, plan an optimized path for a flow, and control rewriting at least one of an original header of a frame of the flow in order to create and transfer the flow through the optimized path; and

wherein the one or more TDSPRC is shared by the plurality of the CPN, and transfers the flow according to the rewriting original header of the flow.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein at least one network characteristic is an OSI layer.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein at least one of the TDSPRCs is associated with a frame processor.

19. The system of claim 16, wherein the flow-path-optimizer-and-creator is configured to rewrite at least one of an original header of a frame of the flow by deleting at least one encapsulation header of an original frame of the flow.

20. The system of claim 16, wherein the one or more TDSPRC comprises a metro switch.

21. The system of claim 16, wherein the flow is a peer-to-peer flow.

22. A flow-path-creator-and-optimizer, comprising:

an interface controller;

one or more session managers;

a coupled promiscuity networks (CPN) manager; and

a database;

wherein the interface controller is configured to interface between a plurality of network devices and internal units of the flow path creator and optimizer;

wherein the CPN manager is configured to create and dynamically maintain a database of information on networks and one or more Transmitting Device Set with Promiscuous and Re-writing Capabilities (TDSPRC) topology, performs network registration processes, and updates the database; and

wherein the one or more session manager plans a session optimization plan and accordingly creates a session virtualization process by controlling a selected TDSPRC to rewrite at least one header of an original frame of the flow, generates the session'"'"'s flows forwarding rules and transfers the session forwarding rules to the selected TDSPRC.

23. The flow-path-creator-and-optimizer of claim 22, wherein the interface controller further comprise a translator that translate data received from/to the plurality of network devices before transferring them to/from internal units of the flow-path-creator-and-optimizer.

24. The flow-path-creator-and-optimizer of claim 23, wherein the data comprises forwarding rules transmitted toward the selected TDSPRC.

25. The flow-path-creator-and-optimizer of claim 24, wherein the TDSPRC is associated with a frame processor device.

26. The flow-path-creator-and-optimizer of claim 22, wherein the flow-path-creator-and-optimizer publishes in a DNS its optimization addresses.

27. A method to optimize the delivery of information between a first node on a first network and a second node on the same or different network, the delivery being made through a networked system in which one or more paths between the first node and second node are known and a promiscuous device that receives and retransmits all frames of the first network and the different network, and the method comprising:

identifying alternate paths between the first node and the second node;

create a collective virtual network including the known paths and the alternate paths;

for a particular flow, identify an optimal path in the collective virtual network; and

modifying the data flows to be compatible with the network technology employed by the identified optimal path.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the act of identifying alternate paths further comprises:

receiving a message;

identifying a new network associated with the message; and

including the new network in the collective virtual network.

29. The method of claim 27, wherein prior to the act of identifying alternate paths, the method comprises detecting an event that triggers the identifying act.

30. The method of claim 28, wherein the new network differs from at least one other network in the collective virtual network at least in one network characteristic.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein the at least one network characteristic is the implementation of the OSI layer model in the new network.

32. The method of claim 30, wherein the at least one network characteristic is a layer in a similar OSI model.

33. The method of claim 30, wherein the at least one network characteristic is an implementation of a similar layer in the OSI model of the new network.