METHODS AND NETWORK NODES FOR TRAFFIC STEERING BASED ON PER-FLOW POLICIES

• US 20140233385A1
• Filed: 02/15/2013
• Published: 08/21/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/15/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Original Assignee: LM Ericsson Telefon AB (Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson)
• Inventors: Beliveau, Ludovic, Manghirmalani, Ravi, Shirazipour, Meral, Truchan, Catherine
• Granted Patent: US 9,413,667 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/235
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/122 by diverting traffic away from congested entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/19 at layers above the network layer network arrangements for networked applications for scheduling or organising the servicing of application requests H04L67/60
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/148 Migration or transfer of sessions

Abstract

A method for redirecting a traffic flow in a communication network, in which a first or default service path has been configured for the traffic flow to go through is disclosed. The method comprises: receiving a notification message from a network node, the notification message including a traffic characteristic information of a packet of the traffic flow; creating a set of rules based on the received traffic characteristic information; and sending the set of rules to a plurality of switches in the communication network, the set of rules configuring a second or alternative service path to be used by subsequent packets of this traffic flow. Also, a network node for carrying out this method is provided.

Claims

1. A method for redirecting a traffic flow in a communication network, in which a first service path has been configured for the traffic flow to go through, the method comprising:

receiving a notification message from a service network node, the notification message including a traffic characteristic information of a packet of the traffic flow;

creating a set of rules based on the received traffic characteristic information, and

sending the set of rules to a plurality of switches in the communication network, the set of rules indicating a second service path to be used by subsequent packets of the traffic flow.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the notification message further comprises information that uniquely identifies the traffic flow.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the traffic characteristic information is obtained through deep packet inspection of the packet by the service network node.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the traffic characteristic information comprises a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) information.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the traffic characteristic information comprises a traffic type information.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the notification message further comprises information regarding statistics of the traffic flow.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the notification message comprises using a steering service protocol.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein creating the set of rules comprises bypassing a particular service.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein creating the set of rules comprises keeping the first service path.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein sending the set of rules comprises sending flow entry modifications to the plurality of switches.

11. A network node for redirecting a traffic flow in a communication network, in which a first service path has been configured for the traffic flow to go through, the network node comprising:

a communication interface for receiving a notification message from a service network node, the notification message including traffic characteristic information of a packet of the traffic flow; and

a processor operationally connected to the communication interface and configured to create a set of rules based on the received traffic characteristic information;

wherein the communication interface further sends the set of rules to a plurality of switches in the communication network, the set of rules indicating a second service path to be used by subsequent packets of the traffic flow.

12. The network node of claim 11, wherein the notification message further comprises information that uniquely identifies the traffic flow.

13. The network node of claim 11, wherein the traffic characteristic information is obtained through deep packet inspection of the packet by the service network node.

14. The network node of claim 11, wherein the traffic characteristic information comprises a URL information.

15. The network node of claim 11, wherein the traffic characteristic information comprises a traffic type information.

16. The network node of claim 11, wherein the notification message further comprises information regarding statistics of the traffic flow.

17. The network node of claim 11, wherein the communication interface uses a steering service protocol for receiving the notification message.

18. The network node of claim 11, wherein the processor decides to bypass a particular service when creating the set of rules.

19. The network node of claim 11, wherein the processor decides to keep the first service path when creating the set of rules.

20. The network node of claim 11, wherein the communication interface sends the set of rules as flow entry modifications to the plurality of switches.

21. The network node of claim 11, wherein the service network node is a Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) node.

22. A method for redirecting a traffic flow in a communication network, in which a first service path has been configured for the traffic flow to go through, the method comprising:

receiving a set of rules from a network node, the set of rules being created based on a traffic characteristic information from a packet of the traffic flow, the set of rules defining a second service path for the traffic flow to go through;

receiving subsequent packets of the traffic flow; and

redirecting the received packets to follow the second service path as defined by the set of rules.

23. A switch for redirecting a traffic flow in a communication network, in which a first service path has been configured for the traffic flow to go through, the switch comprising:

a first communication interface for receiving a set of rules from a network node, the set of rules being created based on a traffic characteristic information extracted from a packet of the traffic flow, the set of rules defining a second service path for the traffic flow to go through;

a second communication interface for receiving subsequent packets of the traffic flow; and

a processor operationally connected to the first and second communication interfaces, the processor configured to;

redirect the received packets to follow the second service path as defined by the set of rules.

24. A method for triggering a traffic flow redirection in a communication network, in which a first service path has been configured for the traffic flow to go through, the method comprising:

receiving packets of the traffic flow;

inspecting the received packets to obtain a traffic characteristic; and

sending to a network node the traffic characteristic for the traffic flow so that the network node can create a set of rules based on the traffic characteristic, the set of rules defining a second service path for the traffic flow to go through.

25. The method of claim 24, further comprising determining an identification that uniquely identifies the traffic flow.

26. A service network node for triggering a traffic flow redirection in a communication network, in which a first service path has been configured for the traffic flow to go through, the service network node comprising:

a communication interface for receiving packets of the traffic flow; and

a processor operationally connected to the communication interface and configure for inspecting the received packets to obtain a traffic characteristic;

wherein the communication interface further sends to a network node the traffic characteristic for the traffic flow so that the network node can create a set of rules based on the traffic characteristic, the set of rules defining a second service path for the traffic flow to go through.

27. The service node of claim 26, wherein the processor further determines an identification that uniquely identifies the traffic flow.