IP MULTICAST SERVICE JOIN PROCESS FOR MPLS-BASED VIRTUAL PRIVATE CLOUD NETWORKING

• US 20140098813A1
• Filed: 10/10/2012
• Published: 04/10/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/10/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Original Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Inventors: Mishra, Ramesh, Green, Howard, Baucke, Stephan, Kempf, James, Tatipamula, Mallik
• Granted Patent: US 8,831,000 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/390
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/185 with management of multicast group membership

Abstract

A multicast cloud controller (“MCC”) in a cloud system implements a process to manage multicast traffic in a cloud network. The MCC is coupled to at least one virtualized server for hosting one or more virtual machines (“VM”), wherein the virtualized server comprises at least one virtual switch (“VS”) that supports multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) and the virtual switch is coupled to a top of rack switch (“TORS”) that supports MPLS. MPLS is utilized to support multicast data traffic in the cloud system such that the system and method reduces state and is scalable.

Claims

1. A method performed by a multicast cloud controller (“

MCC”

) in a cloud system to manage multicast traffic in a cloud network, the MCC coupled to at least one virtualized server for hosting one or more virtual machines (“

VM”

), wherein the virtualized server comprises at least one virtual switch (“

VS”

) that supports multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) and the virtual switch is coupled to a top of rack switch (“

TORS”

) that supports MPLS, the method comprising the steps of;

receiving a join message at the MCC, wherein the join message indicates that a VM has requested to join a multicast group;

adding the VM to a set of VMs of a tenant, where the set of VMs are subscribed to the multicast group;

looking up a VS and a TORS for the VM by the MCC using a VM record maintained by the MCC;

installing at least one flow table entry at the VS for the VM, the at least one flow table entry to configure inbound multicast traffic of the multicast group to be forwarded to the VM and to configure outbound multicast traffic of the multicast group to be sent to the TORS of the VM; and

installing at least one flow table entry at the TORS of the VM, the at least one flow table entry of the TORS to configure the TORS to forward the outbound multicast traffic of the multicast group by MPLS to other TORS of the cloud system with VMs subscribing to the multicast group and to configure the TORS to forward incoming multicast traffic of the multicast group to the VS of the VM.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

installing a flow table entry at the VS of the VM to drop multicast group traffic looped back from the TORS of the VM.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the join message further comprises the step of:

receiving any one of a internet group multicast protocol (IGMP) report message or a multicast discovery listener (MLD) report message from the VM having a multicast group address.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

looking a tenant ID up by the MCC using a MAC address of the VM in the join message.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

looking up a multicast group management table for a tenant by the MCC using a tenant ID derived from the join message.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

constructing a VM record with a pointer to a VS record and a pointer to a TORS record, the VM record associated with the VM, the VS record associated with the VS of the VM and the TORS record associated with the TORS of the VM.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

inserting a VM record for the VM into a multicast group management table entry of the multicast group identified by the multicast group address in the join message.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

retrieving an MPLS label of the multicast group from a multicast group management table entry of the multicast group identified by the multicast group address in the join message for use in configuring the VS of the VM and the TORS of the VM to handle multicast traffic.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

installing a flow table entry at VS of VM to match a destination internet protocol address of a packet with the multicast group address, to match the packet source address with an internet protocol address of the VM and to match a source MAC address with a MAC address of the VM, then push an MPLS label for the multicast group onto the packet and copy packet to an output group.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

installing a flow table entry at VS of VM to match a source IP address of the packet with IP address of the VM and to match a port of the TORS, then to drop the packet to prevent looping.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

installing a forwarding action in an input group of the VS to forward multicast group traffic to an internet protocol address of the VM.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

checking whether the VM is a first VM to subscribe to a multicast group at the TORS.

13. The method of claim 12, where the VM is the first VM, further comprising the step of:

installing a flow table entry at the TORS to push backbone routing label onto a packet.

14. The method of claim 12, where the VM is the first VM, further comprising the step of:

installing a flow table entry at the TORS to match a multicast label and forward to output port of a destination TORS.

15. The method of claim 12, where the VM is the first VM, further comprising the step of:

installing a flow table entry at the other TORS to forward multicast group packets to other TORS with subscribing VMs.

16. The method of claim 12, where the VM is the first VM, further comprising the step of:

installing flow table entries at the TORS to forward multicast group packets to all VS in rack with VM subscribing to the multicast group.

17. The method of claim 12, where the VM is the first VM, further comprising the step of:

installing a flow table entry at the TORS to match a backbone routing label in a packet, to decapsulate the backbone routing label and to forward the packet to next table of the TORS.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising the step of:

installing a flow table entry to match a multicast group label in the packet, to decapsulate the multicast group label, and to forward the packet to subscribing VMs via associated VSs using an input group.

19. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

inferring a join of a multicast source from a multicast address; and

installing at least one flow table entry at a TORS of the multicast source, the at least one flow table entry of the TORS of the multicast source to configure the TORS to forward the outbound multicast traffic of the multicast group by MPLS to other TORS of the cloud system with VMs subscribing to the multicast group.

20. A method performed by a multicast cloud controller (“

MCC”

) in a cloud system to manage multicast traffic in a cloud network, the MCC coupled to at least one virtualized server for hosting one or more virtual machines (“

VM”

), wherein the virtualized server comprises at least one virtual switch (“

VS”

) that supports multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) and the virtual switch is coupled to a top of rack switch (“

TORS”

) that supports MPLS, the method comprising the steps of;

receiving a join message in a form of an internet group management protocol report message or multicast listener discovery report message at the MCC, wherein the join message indicates that a VM has requested to join a multicast group;

adding the VM to a set of VMs of a tenant, where the set of VMs are subscribed to the multicast group, the set of VMs tracked in a multicast group management table along with a multicast group label;

looking up a VS and a TORS for the VM by the MCC using a VM record maintained by the MCC;

installing a forwarding action in an input group of the VS to forward multicast group traffic to an internet protocol address of the VM; and

checking whether the VM is a first VM to subscribe to a multicast group at the TORS, where the VM is the first VM,

installing a flow table entry at the TORS to push backbone routing label onto a packet,

installing a flow table entry at the TORS to match a multicast label and forward the packet to an output port of a destination TORS,

installing a flow table entry at the other TORS to forward multicast group packets to other TORS with subscribing VMs,

installing flow table entries at the TORS to forward multicast group packets to all VS in rack with VM subscribing to the multicast group,

installing a flow table entry at the TORS to match a backbone routing label in a packet, to decapsulate the backbone routing label and to forward the packet to next table of the TORS, and

installing a flow table entry to match a multicast group label in the packet, to decapsulate the multicast group label, and to forward the packet to subscribing VMs via associated VSs using an input group.

21. A multicast cloud controller (“

MCC”

) implemented in a cloud system, the MCC coupled to at least one virtualized server for hosting one or more virtual machines (“

VM”

), wherein the virtualized server comprises at least one virtual switch (“

VS”

) that supports multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) and the virtual switch is coupled to a top of rack switch (“

TORS”

) that supports MPLS, the MCC comprising;

a processor to execute a join group module,

the join group module to manage multicast group join operations, where the join group module is configured to receive a join message in a form of an internet group management protocol report message or multicast listener discovery report message at the MCC, wherein the join message indicates that a VM has requested to join a multicast group, the join group module further configured to add the VM to a set of VMs of a tenant, where the set of VMs are subscribed to the multicast group, to look up a VS and a TORS for the VM by the MCC using a VM record maintained by the MCC, configured to install at least one flow table entry at the VS for the VM, the at least one flow table entry to configure inbound multicast traffic of the multicast group to be forwarded to the VM and to configure outbound multicast traffic of the multicast group to be sent to the TORS of the VM, and configured to install at least one flow table entry at the TORS of the VM, the at least one flow table entry of the TORS to configure the TORS to forward the outbound multicast traffic of the multicast group by MPLS to other TORS of the cloud system with VMs subscribing to the multicast group and to configure the TORS to forward incoming multicast traffic of the multicast group to the VS of the VM.

22. The MCC of claim 21, wherein the join group module is further configured to install a flow table entry at the VS of the VM to drop multicast group traffic looped back from the TORS of the VM.

23. The MCC of claim 21, wherein receiving the join message and wherein the join group module is further configured to receive any one of an internet group multicast protocol (IGMP) report message or a multicast discovery listener (MLD) report message from the VM having a multicast group address.

24. The MCC of claim 21, wherein the join group module is configured to look a tenant ID up by the MCC using a MAC address of the VM in the join message.

25. The MCC of claim 21, wherein the join group module is configured to look up a multicast group management table for a tenant by the MCC using a tenant ID derived from the join message.

26. The MCC of claim 21, wherein the join group module is configured to construct a VM record with a pointer to a VS record and a pointer to a TORS record, the VM record associated with the VM, the VS record associated with the VS of the VM and the TORS record associated with the TORS of the VM.

27. The MCC of claim 21, wherein the join group module inserts a VM record for the VM into a multicast group management table entry of the multicast group identified by the multicast group address in the join message.

28. The MCC of claim 21, wherein the join group module is configured to retrieve an MPLS label of the multicast group from a multicast group management table entry of the multicast group identified by the multicast group address in the join message for use in configuring the VS of the VM and the TORS of the VM to handle multicast traffic.

29. The MCC of claim 21, wherein the join group module is configured to install a flow table entry at VS of VM to match a destination internet protocol address of a packet with the multicast group address, to match the packet source address with an internet protocol address of the VM and to match a source MAC address with a MAC address of the VM, then push an MPLS label for the multicast group onto the packet and copy packet to an output group.

30. The MCC of claim 21, wherein the join group module is configured to install a flow table entry at VS of VM to match a source IP address of the packet with IP address of the VM and to match a port of the TORS, then to drop the packet to prevent looping.

31. The MCC of claim 21, wherein the join group module is configured to install a forwarding action in an input group of the VS to forward multicast group traffic to an internet protocol address of the VM.

32. The MCC of claim 21, wherein the join group module checks whether the VM is a first VM to subscribe to a multicast group at the TORS.

33. The MCC of claim 32, where the join group module is configured to install a flow table entry at the TORS to push backbone routing label onto a packet.

34. The MCC of claim 32, where the VM is the first VM and where the join group module is configured to install a flow table entry at the TORS to match a multicast label and forward to output port of a destination TORS.

35. The MCC of claim 32, where the VM is the first VM and where the join group module is configured to install a flow table entry at the other TORS to forward multicast group packets to other TORS with subscribing VMs.

36. The MCC of claim 32, where the VM is the first VM and the join group module is configured to install flow table entries at the TORS to forward multicast group packets to all VS in rack with VM subscribing to the multicast group.

37. The MCC of claim 32, where the VM is the first VM and the join group module is configured to install a flow table entry at the TORS to match a backbone routing label in a packet, to decapsulate the backbone routing label and to forward the packet to next table of the TORS.

38. The MCC of claim 37, wherein the join group module is configured to install a flow table entry to match a multicast group label in the packet, to decapsulate the multicast group label, and to forward the packet to subscribing VMs via associated VSs using an input group.

39. The MCC of claim 21, wherein the join module is further configured to infer a join of a multicast source from a multicast address, and install at least one flow table entry at a TORS of the multicast source, the at least one flow table entry of the TORS of the multicast source to configure the TORS to forward the outbound multicast traffic of the multicast group by MPLS to other TORS of the cloud system with VMs subscribing to the multicast group.

40. A multicast cloud controller (“

MCC”

) is implemented in a cloud system to manage multicast traffic in a cloud network, the MCC coupled to at least one virtualized server for hosting one or more virtual machines (“

VM”

), wherein the virtualized server comprises at least one virtual switch (“

VS”

) that supports multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) and the virtual switch is coupled to a top of rack switch (“

TORS”

) that supports MPLS, MCC comprises;

a processor to execute a join group module,

the join group module to manage multicast group join operations, where the join group module is configured to install the VM to a set of VMs of a tenant, where the set of VMs are subscribed to the multicast group, the set of VMs tracked in a multicast group management table along with a multicast group label, to look up a VS and a TORS for the VM using a VM record maintained by the MCC, to install a forwarding action in an input group of the VS to forward multicast group traffic to an internet protocol address of the VM, and checking whether the VM is a first VM to subscribe to a multicast group at the TORS, where the VM is the first VM, to install a flow table entry at the TORS to push backbone routing label onto a packet, to install a flow table entry at the TORS to match a multicast label and forward the packet to an output port of a destination TORS, to install a flow table entry at the other TORS to forward multicast group packets to other TORS with subscribing VMs, to install flow table entries at the TORS to forward multicast group packets to all VS in rack with VM subscribing to the multicast group, to install a flow table entry at the TORS to match a backbone routing label in a packet, to decapsulate the backbone routing label and to forward the packet to next table of the TORS, and install a flow table entry to match a multicast group label in the packet, to decapsulate the multicast group label, and to forward the packet to subscribing VMs via associated VSs using an input group.