FEEDBACK-BASED TUNING OF CONTROL PLANE TRAFFIC BY PROACTIVE USER TRAFFIC OBSERVATION

• US 20140029432A1
• Filed: 07/30/2012
• Published: 01/30/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 07/30/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Vasseur, Jean-Philippe, Hui, Jonathan W., Dasgupta, Sukrit
• Granted Patent: US 9,225,616 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/236
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5025 by proactively reacting to service quality change, e.g. by reconfiguration after service quality degradation or upgrade
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/70 Routing based on monitoring results

Abstract

In one embodiment, a management device may determine whether user traffic in a computer network is suffering from insufficient network resources. In response to user traffic suffering from insufficient network resources, the device may then trigger the computer network to reduce control plane traffic. In another embodiment, a network device may transmit control plane traffic into a computer network at a first rate. In response to receiving instructions to reduce control plane traffic due to user traffic suffering from insufficient network resources, the device may then transmit control plane traffic into the computer network at a reduced second rate.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

determining whether user traffic in a computer network is suffering from insufficient network resources; and

in response to user traffic suffering from insufficient network resources, triggering the computer network to reduce control plane traffic.

2. The method as in claim 1, wherein determining whether user traffic in a computer network is suffering from insufficient network resources comprises:

determining a factor of the computer network selected from a group consisting of;

network congestion;

degradation of the level of quality of service for specific flows;

a number of retransmission attempts;

control packet volume; and

one or more network characteristics discoverable through deep packet inspection.

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

determining one or more nodes contributing to non-user-traffic resource consumption within a localized area; and

triggering the reduced control plane traffic within the localized area.

4. The method as in claim 3, wherein the computer network is arranged as a directed acyclic graph (DAG) and wherein the localized area is a sub-DAG.

5. The method as in claim 1, wherein triggering the reduced control plane traffic comprises:

stopping optional control messages.

6. The method as in claim 1, wherein triggering the reduced control plane traffic comprises:

requiring an increased differential between routing updates.

7. The method as in claim 1, wherein triggering the reduced control plane traffic comprises:

preventing advertisements regarding path cost changes.

8. The method as in claim 1, wherein triggering the reduced control plane traffic comprises:

preventing parent selection changes.

9. The method as in claim 1, wherein triggering the reduced control plane traffic comprises:

requiring expiration of a timer between control plane messages.

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

detecting network instability with the reduced control plane traffic; and

, in response,

triggering an increase in control plane traffic in the computer network.

11. The method as in claim 1, wherein determining and triggering are performed by a device selected from a group consisting of:

a root node;

a network management server (NMS);

a border router; and

a field area router (FAR).

12. An apparatus, comprising:

one or more network interfaces to communicate with a 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;

determine whether user traffic in a computer network is suffering from insufficient network resources; and

trigger the computer network to reduce control plane traffic in response to user traffic suffering from insufficient network resources.

13. The apparatus as in claim 12, wherein the process when executed to determine whether user traffic in a computer network is suffering from insufficient network resources is further operable to:

determine a factor of the computer network selected from a group consisting of;

network congestion;

degradation of the level of quality of service for specific flows;

a number of retransmission attempts;

control packet volume; and

one or more network characteristics discoverable through deep packet inspection.

14. The apparatus as in claim 12, wherein the process when executed is further operable to:

determine one or more nodes contributing to non-user-traffic resource consumption within a localized area; and

trigger the reduced control plane traffic within the localized area.

15. The apparatus as in claim 14, wherein the computer network is arranged as a directed acyclic graph (DAG) and wherein the localized area is a sub-DAG.

16. The apparatus as in claim 12, wherein the process when executed to trigger the reduced control plane traffic is further operable to:

stop optional control messages.

17. The apparatus as in claim 12, wherein the process when executed to trigger the reduced control plane traffic is further operable to:

require an increased differential between routing updates.

18. The apparatus as in claim 12, wherein the process when executed to trigger the reduced control plane traffic is further operable to:

prevent advertisements regarding path cost changes.

19. The apparatus as in claim 12, wherein the process when executed to trigger the reduced control plane traffic is further operable to:

prevent parent selection changes.

20. The apparatus as in claim 12, wherein the process when executed to trigger the reduced control plane traffic is further operable to:

require expiration of a timer between control plane messages.

21. The apparatus as in claim 12, wherein the process when executed is further operable to:

detect network instability with the reduced control plane traffic; and

, in response,

trigger an increase in control plane traffic in the computer network.

22. The apparatus as in claim 12, wherein the apparatus is a device selected from a group consisting of:

a root node;

a network management server (NMS);

a border router; and

a field area router (FAR).

23. A method, comprising:

transmitting control plane traffic into a computer network at a first rate;

receiving instructions to reduce control plane traffic due to user traffic suffering from insufficient network resources; and

, in response,

transmitting control plane traffic into the computer network at a reduced second rate.

24. The method as in claim 23, wherein the reduced second rate of control plane traffic comprises at least one of:

stopping optional control messages;

requiring an increased differential between routing updates;

preventing advertisements regarding path cost changes;

preventing parent selection changes; and

requiring expiration of a timer between control plane messages.

25. An apparatus, comprising:

one or more network interfaces to communicate with a 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;

transmit control plane traffic into a computer network at a first rate;

receive instructions to reduce control plane traffic due to user traffic suffering from insufficient network resources; and

transmit control plane traffic into the computer network at a reduced second rate in response to the instructions to reduce control plane traffic.