METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR USING G.8031 EXTENSIONS TO ENABLE COEXISTENCE OF G.8031-BASED PROTECTION AND LAG-LIKE LOADSHARING FOR ETHERNET PATHS

• US 20120176890A1
• Filed: 01/10/2011
• Published: 07/12/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 01/10/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: RPX Corporation
• Original Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent SA (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Balus, Florin, Dolganow, Andrew, Saha, Kajal, Chung, Georges Chung Kam
• Granted Patent: US 8,681,605 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/218
• 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 45/245 Link aggregation, e.g. trunking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/28 using route fault recovery
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/66 Layer 2 routing, e.g. in Ethernet based MAN's
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/50 in wire-line communication networks, e.g. low power modes or reduced link rate

Abstract

An Ethernet protection and loadsharing capability is provided. The Ethernet protection and loadsharing capability enables co-existence of both protection and loadsharing for an Ethernet tunnel, having a plurality of associated Ethernet paths, between first and second Ethernet switches. The first Ethernet switch receives configuration information associated with the Ethernet tunnel between the first and second Ethernet switches, and processes the configuration information for causing the first Ethernet switch to associate the Ethernet paths of the Ethernet tunnel with an Ethernet tunnel endpoint object associated with an Ethernet tunnel. The first Ethernet switch, upon receiving traffic intended for the second Ethernet switch, propagates the traffic from the first Ethernet switch toward the second Ethernet switch via at least a subset of the Ethernet paths of the Ethernet tunnel using protection and/or loadsharing.

Claims

1. An apparatus, comprising:

a processor configured for;

receiving, at a first Ethernet switch, traffic intended for a second Ethernet switch, wherein the first Ethernet switch is configured to support an Ethernet tunnel endpoint object having a plurality of Ethernet paths associated therewith, wherein each of the Ethernet paths is a path from the first Ethernet switch to the second Ethernet switch; and

propagating the traffic from the first Ethernet switch toward the second Ethernet switch via at least a subset of the Ethernet paths from the first Ethernet switch to the second Ethernet switch.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the Ethernet paths is configured as an active Ethernet path, wherein traffic associated with the Ethernet tunnel is distributed across at least a portion of the Ethernet paths using a load-sharing algorithm.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the load-sharing algorithm is a Link Aggregation Group (LAG) load sharing algorithm.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a subset of the Ethernet paths are backup Ethernet paths and the remaining ones of the Ethernet paths are active Ethernet paths, wherein the backup Ethernet paths are configured to provide protection for the active Ethernet paths.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the subset of Ethernet paths that are backup Ethernet paths includes one or more of the Ethernet paths.

6. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the processor is configured for:

when a failure of one of the active Ethernet paths is detected, switching traffic from the failed one of the active Ethernet paths to one or more backup Ethernet paths.

7. A method, comprising:

receiving, at a first Ethernet switch, traffic intended for a second Ethernet switch, wherein the first Ethernet switch is configured to support an Ethernet tunnel endpoint object having a plurality of Ethernet paths associated therewith, wherein each of the Ethernet paths is a path from the first Ethernet switch to the second Ethernet switch; and

propagating the traffic from the first Ethernet switch toward the second Ethernet switch via at least a subset of the Ethernet paths from the first Ethernet switch to the second Ethernet switch.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein each of the Ethernet paths is configured as an active Ethernet path, wherein traffic associated with the Ethernet tunnel is distributed across at least a portion of the Ethernet paths using a load-sharing algorithm.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the load-sharing algorithm is a Link Aggregation Groups (LAG) load sharing algorithm.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein a subset of the Ethernet paths are backup Ethernet paths and the remaining ones of the Ethernet paths are active Ethernet paths, wherein the backup Ethernet paths are configured to provide protection for the active Ethernet paths.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the subset of Ethernet paths that are backup Ethernet paths includes one or more of the Ethernet paths.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the processor is configured for:

when a failure of one of the active Ethernet paths is detected, switching traffic from the failed one of the active Ethernet paths to one or more backup Ethernet paths.

13. An apparatus, comprising:

a processor configured for;

receiving, at a first Ethernet switch, configuration information associated with an Ethernet tunnel between the first Ethernet switch and a second Ethernet switch; and

processing the configuration information for causing the first Ethernet switch to associate a plurality of Ethernet paths of the Ethernet tunnel with an Ethernet tunnel endpoint object associated with the Ethernet tunnel.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein each of the Ethernet paths is configured as an active Ethernet path, wherein the processor is configured for distributing traffic associated with the Ethernet tunnel across at least a portion of the Ethernet paths using a load-sharing algorithm.

15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein a subset of the Ethernet paths are backup Ethernet paths and the remaining ones of the Ethernet paths are active Ethernet paths, wherein the processor is configured to use the backup Ethernet paths to provide protection for the active Ethernet paths.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the processor is configured for:

when a failure of one of the active Ethernet paths is detected, switching traffic from the failed one of the active Ethernet paths to one or more backup Ethernet paths.

17. A method, comprising:

receiving, at a first Ethernet switch, configuration information associated with an Ethernet tunnel between the first Ethernet switch and a second Ethernet switch; and

processing the configuration information for causing the first Ethernet switch to associate a plurality of Ethernet paths of the Ethernet tunnel with an Ethernet tunnel endpoint object associated with the Ethernet tunnel.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein each of the Ethernet paths is configured as an active Ethernet path, the method further comprising:

distributing traffic associated with the Ethernet tunnel across at least a portion of the Ethernet paths using a load-sharing algorithm.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein a subset of the Ethernet paths are backup Ethernet paths and the remaining ones of the Ethernet paths are active Ethernet paths, the method further comprising:

using the backup Ethernet paths to provide protection for the active Ethernet paths.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein:

when a failure of one of the active Ethernet paths is detected, switching traffic from the failed one of the active Ethernet paths to one or more backup Ethernet paths.