DYNAMIC APPLICATION-AWARE ROUTING TOPOLOGIES

• US 20130219046A1
• Filed: 02/21/2012
• Published: 08/22/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/21/2012
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Wetterwald, Patrick, Vasseur, Jean-Philippe
• Application Number:
  US13/400,884
• Publication Number:
  US 20130219046A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/12 Shortest path evaluation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/14 Routing performance; Theoretical aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/306 Route determination based on the nature of the carried application
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/38 Flow based routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/48 Routing tree calculation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/246 Connectivity information discovery
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 40/18 Network protocols supporting networked applications, e.g. including control of end-device applications over a network

Abstract

In one embodiment, an application flow of traffic may be detected within a computer network, e.g., by a root node, border router, network management server, etc. Thereafter, one or more traffic requirements of the application flow may be determined, and a corresponding routing topology objective function may be established based on the traffic requirements. Accordingly, creation of a specific routing topology based on the objective function may then be initiated for use with the application flow.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

detecting an application flow of traffic within a computer network;

determining one or more traffic requirements of the application flow;

establishing a routing topology objective function based on the traffic requirements; and

initiating creation of a specific routing topology based on the objective function for use with the application flow.

2. The method as in claim 1, wherein detecting comprises:

utilizing a detection mechanism selected from a group consisting of;

detecting an application signature in the traffic;

utilizing network-based application recognition (NBAR); and

utilizing deep packet inspection (DPI).

3. The method as in claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether the application flow merits creation of a specific routing topology as being one of a select subset of application flows that merit creation of a specific routing topology.

4. The method as in claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether the application flow merits creation of a specific routing topology based on whether another specific routing topology has been created that shares adequately similar traffic requirements as those of the application flow.

5. The method as in claim 1, wherein traffic requirements are selected from a group consisting of:

bandwidth;

delay;

jitter;

cost;

energy constraints; and

packet loss.

6. The method as in claim 1, further comprising:

correlating the application flow with a service level agreement (SLA) to determine the traffic requirements.

7. The method as in claim 6, wherein correlating comprises:

requesting, by a root node of the computer network, correlation from a network management server (NMS).

8. The method as in claim 1, further comprising:

receiving updates to the traffic requirements of the application flow; and

revising the objective function based on the updated traffic requirements; and

initiating revision of the specific routing topology based on the revised objective function.

9. The method as in claim 1, further comprising:

creating the specific routing topology in response to the application flow being detected for more than a configured length of time.

10. The method as in claim 1, further comprising:

maintaining the specific routing topology for a configured length of time after no longer detecting the application flow.

11. The method as in claim 1, further comprising:

maintaining the specific routing topology for a configured length of time based on historical analysis indicative of the application flow being intermittent.

12. The method as in claim 1, further comprising:

receiving samples of traffic at a network management server (NMS) from a root node of the computer network through which the traffic traverses, wherein the NMS detects the application flow, determines the traffic requirements, and establishes the objective function; and

returning the objective function to the root node to initiate creation of the specific routing topology.

13. The method as in claim 1, further comprising:

informing one or more end nodes in the computer network of the specific routing topology and a set of rules to apply to application flows to insert corresponding traffic into the specific routing topology.

14. An apparatus, comprising:

one or more network interfaces to communicate with computer network;

a processor coupled to the network interfaces and adapted to execute one or more processes; and

a memory configured to store a process executable by the processor, the process when executed operable to;

detect an application flow of traffic within the computer network;

determine one or more traffic requirements of the application flow;

establish a routing topology objective function based on the traffic requirements; and

initiate creation of a specific routing topology based on the objective function for use with the application flow.

15. The apparatus as in claim 14, wherein the process when executed to detect is further operable to:

utilize a detection mechanism selected from a group consisting of;

detecting an application signature in the traffic;

utilizing network-based application recognition (NBAR); and

utilizing deep packet inspection (DPI).

16. The apparatus as in claim 14, wherein the process when executed is further operable to:

determine whether the application flow merits creation of a specific routing topology as being one of a select subset of application flows that merit creation of a specific routing topology.

17. The apparatus as in claim 14, wherein the process when executed is further operable to:

determine whether the application flow merits creation of a specific routing topology based on whether another specific routing topology has been created that shares adequately similar traffic requirements as those of the application flow.

18. The apparatus as in claim 14, wherein the process when executed is further operable to:

create the specific routing topology in response to the application flow being detected for more than a configured length of time.

19. The apparatus as in claim 14, wherein the process when executed is further operable to:

maintain the specific routing topology for a configured length of time after no longer detecting the application flow.

20. The apparatus as in claim 14, wherein the process when executed is further operable to:

maintain the specific routing topology for a configured length of time based on historical analysis indicative of the application flow being intermittent.

21. The apparatus as in claim 14, wherein the process when executed is further operable to:

inform one or more end nodes in the computer network of the specific routing topology and a set of rules to apply to application flows to insert corresponding traffic into the specific routing topology.

22. A tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media having software encoded thereon, the software when executed by a processor operable to:

detect an application flow of traffic within the computer network;

determine one or more traffic requirements of the application flow;

establish a routing topology objective function based on the traffic requirements; and

initiate creation of a specific routing topology based on the objective function for use with the application flow.