CONTROLLING ROUTING DURING SCHEDULED NODE DOWNTIME

• US 20140314096A1
• Filed: 04/23/2013
• Published: 10/23/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 04/23/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Hui, Jonathan W., Vasseur, Jean-Philippe, Hong, Wei
• Granted Patent: US 9,628,371 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/400
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/22 Alternate routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/28 using route fault recovery

Abstract

In one embodiment, a first node in a shared-media communication network may receive a message indicated a scheduled downtime of a second node located between the first node and a destination. The first node may determine whether to perform a search for an alternate route toward the destination. In response to determining to perform the search, the first node may perform the search for an alternate route toward the destination for use at least during the scheduled downtime.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, at a first node in a shared-media communication network, a message indicating a scheduled downtime of a second node located between the first node and a destination;

determining, by the first node, whether to perform a search for an alternate route toward the destination; and

in response to determining to perform the search, searching for an alternate route toward the destination for use at least during the scheduled downtime.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether to perform the search is based on one or more of a time of the scheduled downtime, a duration of the scheduled downtime, and a time when the message was originated.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to determining not to perform the search, determining that the duration of the scheduled downtime is less than a predetermined amount of time; and

holding transmission of messages during the scheduled downtime.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

determining not to perform the search in response to determining that the duration of the scheduled downtime is less than a predetermined amount of time.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein searching for the alternate route further comprises:

searching for a precalculated alternate route.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein searching for the alternate route further comprises:

searching for an alternate directed acyclic graph (DAG) in which the first node already participates.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein searching for the alternate route further comprises:

searching for an alternate route in an alternate communication network.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein searching for the alternate route further comprises:

simultaneously performing a plurality of search techniques in parallel.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the simultaneous performance is based on at least one of a time remaining until the scheduled downtime and additional control traffic capacity.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein searching for the alternate route further comprises:

serially selecting a search technique from a plurality of techniques based on a level of a disruption of each of the plurality of techniques until an alternate route is detected.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether a detected alternate route complies with a service level agreement of a traffic type transmitted by the first node; and

selecting the detected alternate route in response to the detected alternate route complying with the service level agreement.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

advertising the message to neighboring nodes in the shared-media communication network to trigger the neighboring nodes to determine whether to search for alternate routes.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the message is advertised to neighboring nodes when the search for an alternate route fails.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a plurality of messages indicating scheduled downtimes of a respective plurality of nodes in the shared-media communication network; and

searching for one or more alternate routes based on the plurality of scheduled downtimes.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the plurality of scheduled downtimes are either synchronized scheduled downtimes or non-synchronized scheduled downtimes.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the second node is a parent node of the first node in a directed acyclic graph (DAG).

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the second node is a root node of a directed acyclic graph (DAG).

18. An apparatus, comprising:

one or more network interfaces to communication with a shared-media communication 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;

receive a message indicating a scheduled downtime of a second node located between the apparatus and a destination;

determine whether to perform a search for an alternate route toward the destination; and

in response to determining to perform the search, search for an alternate route toward the destination for use at least during the scheduled downtime.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the process when executed is further operable to:

determine, in response to determining not to perform the search, that the duration of the scheduled downtime is less than a predetermined amount of time; and

hold transmission of messages during the scheduled downtime.

20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the search includes a plurality of search techniques selected from a group consisting of:

searching for a precalculated alternate route, searching for a new alternate route, searching for an alternate route within an alternate directed acyclic graph (DAG) in which the first node already participates, and searching for an alternate route in an alternate communication network.

21. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the search includes a plurality of search techniques performed simultaneously in parallel.

22. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the search includes a plurality of search techniques serially selected based on a level of a disruption of each of the plurality of techniques until an alternate route is detected.

23. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the process when executed is further operable to:

advertise the message to neighboring nodes in the shared-media communication network to trigger the neighboring nodes to determine whether to search for alternate nodes.

24. A tangible non-transitory computer readable medium containing a process executed on a first node, wherein the process when executed is operable to:

receive a message indicating a scheduled downtime of a second node located between the first node and a destination;

determine whether to perform a search for an alternate route toward the destination; and

search for an alternate route toward the destination for use at least during the scheduled downtime, in response to determining to perform the search.