METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR A SELF-ORGANIZED LAYER-2 ENTERPRISE NETWORK ARCHITECTURE

• US 20130083691A1
• Filed: 10/04/2011
• Published: 04/04/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/04/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Juniper Networks Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Juniper Networks Incorporated
• Inventors: MURPHY, James, SHETH, Nischal, CHOUDHURY, Abhijit, MALLYA, Raghavendra, POGDE, Pranay, NANDA, Phalguni, BODDU, Jayabharat, SINDHU, Pradeep
• Granted Patent: US 9,667,485 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/254
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0806 for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0809 Plug-and-play configuration
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0853 by actively collecting configuration information or by backing up configuration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0886 Fully automatic configuration
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0893 Assignment of logical groups to network elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/162 at the data link layer
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/069 using certificates or pre-shared keys
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks

Abstract

In some embodiments, an apparatus includes a network node operatively coupled within a network. The network node is configured to send a first authentication message upon boot up, and receive, in response to the first authentication message, a second authentication message configured to be used to authenticate the network node. The network node is configured to send a first discovery message, and receive, based on the first discovery message, a second discovery message configured to be used by the network node to identify an address of the network node and an address of a core network node within the network. The network node is configured to set up a control-plane tunnel to the core network node based on the address of the network node and the address for the core network node and receive configuration information from the core network node through the control-plane tunnel.

Claims

1. An apparatus, comprising;

a network node configured to be operatively within a network including a plurality of network nodes and a core network node, the network node configured to send a first authentication message within the network upon boot up, the network node configured to receive a second authentication message in response to the first authentication message, the network node configured to be authenticated based on the second authentication message,

the network node configured to send a first discovery message after being authenticated, the network node configured to receive a second discovery message based on the first discovery message, the network node configured to identify an address of the network node and an address of the core network node based on the second discovery message,

the network node configured to set up a control-plane tunnel to the core network node based on the address of the network node and the address for the core network node and receive configuration information from the core network node through the control-plane tunnel.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the network node is configured to send the first authentication message and the first discovery message without intervention from a network administrator, the network node is configured to receive the configuration information without intervention from a network administrator.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the network node is an access network node operatively coupled to an aggregation network node from the plurality of network nodes, the network node configured to send the first authentication message to and receive the second authentication message from the aggregation network node, the network node is configured to receive the configuration information from the core network node through the aggregation network node via the control-plane tunnel.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the network node is an access point operatively coupled to an access network node from the plurality of network nodes, the network node configured to send the first authentication message to and receive the second authentication message from the access network node, the network node is configured to receive the configuration information from the core network node through the access network node and an aggregation network node from the plurality of network nodes via the control-plane tunnel.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein:

the network node is configured to send a first plurality of topology messages to a set of network nodes from the plurality of network nodes, the network node configured to receive a second plurality of topology messages from the set of network nodes,

the network node configured to define a network topology based on the second plurality of topology messages,

the network node is configured to automatically configure itself with respect to a virtual local area network (VLAN) or a user policy based on a user that connects to the network node.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein:

the network node is configured to send a first plurality of topology messages to a set of network nodes from the plurality of network nodes, the network node configured to receive a second plurality of topology messages from the set of network nodes,

the network node configured to define a network topology based on the second plurality of topology messages,

the network node is configured to automatically configure itself based on the configuration information and the network topology.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the plurality of network nodes includes a plurality of wireless nodes and a plurality of wired nodes.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the network node is configured to send a first plurality of routing messages to a set of network nodes from the plurality of network nodes, the network node is configured to receive a second plurality of routing messages from the set of network nodes, the network node is configured to receive data-plane packets from the core network node through a data-plane tunnel based on the second plurality of routing messages.

9. An apparatus, comprising:

a core network node configured to be operatively coupled to a plurality of network nodes, the core network node configured to receive a first authentication message from an aggregation network node from the plurality of network nodes in response to a booting sequence at the aggregation network node, the core network node configured to send a second authentication message to the aggregation network node such that the aggregation network node is authenticated in response to the second authentication message,

the core network node configured to set up a control-plane tunnel with a network node from the plurality of network nodes through the aggregation network node based on an address of the core network node and an address of the network node, the core network node configured to send configuration information to the network node through the control-plane tunnel.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the core network node is configured to send, after sending the configuration information to the network node, data-plane packets to the network node through the aggregation network node via a data-plane tunnel.

11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the network node is an access network node connected to the aggregation network node, the core network node is configured to send the configuration information to the access network node through the aggregation network node via the control-plane tunnel.

12. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the network node is an access point connected to an access network node that is connected to the aggregation network node, the core network node is configured to send the configuration information to the access point through the aggregation network node and the access network node via the control-plane tunnel.

13. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein:

the control-plane tunnel is a first control-plane tunnel, the plurality of network nodes includes an access network node and an access point,

the core network node configured to send the configuration information to the access network node through the first control-plane tunnel via the aggregation network node,

the core network node configured to send configuration information to the access point through a second control-plane tunnel via the aggregation network node and the access network node.

14. An apparatus, comprising:

a network node configured to be operatively coupled to a plurality of network nodes and a core network node,

the network node configured to receive configuration information from the core network node through a control-plane tunnel after being authenticated and auto-discovered,

the network node configured to send a first plurality of topology messages to a set of network nodes from the plurality of network nodes, the network node configured to receive a second plurality of topology messages from the set of network nodes,

the network node configured to define a network topology based on the second plurality of topology messages.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the network node is configured to authenticate, auto-discover and receive the configuration information without intervention from a network administrator.

16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the network node is configured to authenticate and auto-discover in response to a boot up sequence of the network node.

17. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein:

the network node is configured to automatically configure itself based on the configuration information and the network topology,

the network node is configured to automatically configure itself with respect to a virtual local area network (VLAN) or a user policy based on a user that connects to the network node.

18. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the network node is configured to receive configuration information from the core network node through a control-plane tunnel based on an address for the network node and an address of the core network node.

19. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the network node is configured to send a first plurality of routing messages to a set of network nodes from the plurality of network nodes, the network node is configured to receive a second plurality of routing messages from the set of network nodes, the network node is configured to receive data-plane packets from the core network node through a data-plane tunnel based on the second plurality of routing messages.

20. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the plurality of network nodes includes a plurality of wireless nodes and a plurality of wired nodes.