NETWORK-LINK METHOD USEFUL FOR A LAST-MILE CONNECTIVITY IN AN EDGE-GATEWAY MULTIPATH SYSTEM

• US 20170134186A1
• Filed: 07/28/2016
• Published: 05/11/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 07/10/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nicira Incorporated (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Ajit Ramachandra Mayya, Stephen Craig Connors, Steven Michael Woo, Sunil Mukundan, Thomas Harold Speeter
• Inventors: MUKUNDAN, SUNIL, CONNORS, STEPHEN CRAIG, WOO, STEVEN MICHAEL, MAYYA, AJIT RAMACHANDRA, SPEETER, THOMAS HAROLD
• Granted Patent: US 10,749,711 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/00 Arrangements for detecting or preventing errors in the information received correcting synchronisation H04L7/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/004 by using forward error control H04L1/0618 takes precedence; coding, decoding or code conversion, for error detection or correction H03M13/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1671 the supervisory signal being transmitted together with control information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/18 Automatic repetition systems, e.g. Van Duuren systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/66 Arrangements for connecting between networks having differing types of switching systems, e.g. gateways
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/028 by filtering
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0894 Packet rate
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/24 Multipath
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/125 by balancing the load, e.g. traffic engineering
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/2408 for supporting different services, e.g. a differentiated services [DiffServ] type of service
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/41 by acting on aggregated flows or links
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]

Abstract

In one exemplary aspect, an edge-gateway multipath method includes the step of providing an edge device in a local network communicatively coupled with a cloud-computing service in a cloud-computing network. A set of wide area network (WAN) links connected to the edge device are automatically detected. The WAN links are automatically measured without the need for an external router. The edge device is communicatively coupled with a central configuration point in the cloud-computing network. The method further includes the step of downloading, from the central configuration point, an enterprise-specific configuration data into the edge device. The enterprise-specific configuration data includes the gateway information. The edge device is communicatively coupled with a gateway in the cloud-computing network. The communicatively coupling of the edge device with the gateway includes a multipath (MP) protocol.

Claims

1. A network-link method useful for a last-mile connectivity in an edge-gateway multipath comprising:

identifying a network-traffic flow of a computer network using deep-packet inspection to determine an identity of an application type associated with the network-traffic flow;

aggregating a bandwidth from a specified set of network links;

intelligently load-balancing a traffic on the set of network links by sending successive packets belonging to a same traffic flow on a set of specified multiple-network links, wherein the set of specified multiple-network links is selected based on the identity of an application type associated with the network-traffic flow;

identifying a set of active-network links in the set of specified multiple-network links;

providing an in-order data delivery with an application persistence by sending data packets belonging to a same data-packet flow on the set of active links; and

correcting an error on a lossy network link using an error control mechanism for data transmission selectively based on the identified network-traffic flow and a current measured condition in the computer network.

2. The network-link method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying the network traffic using the deep-packet inspection to determine an identity of a specific application associated with the network traffic.

3. The network-link method of claim 2, wherein a network link comprises a communications channel that connects two or more communicating devices.

4. The network-link methods of claim 3, wherein the step of intelligently load-balancing the traffic on the set of network links using an application-aware intelligent network link characterization.

5. The network-link method of claim 2, wherein the error-control mechanism for data transmission comprises an Automatic Repeat-reQuest.

6. The network-link method of claim 5, wherein the error-control mechanism comprises a forward error correction (FEC)).

7. The network-link method of claim 1, wherein the application type comprises a real-time application type, a transactional application type, or a bulk-file application type.

8. The network-link method of claim 7, wherein the network traffic is identified as a bulk file transfer network traffic, and wherein the bulk file transfer network traffic is set as a lowest priority traffic and uses a small portion of a network bandwidth.

9. The network-link method of claim 1, wherein the application type comprises a voice-application type, and wherein the forward-error correction is implemented as the error-control mechanism.

10. The network-link method of claim 1, wherein the application type comprises a social-network website browsing application type, and wherein the network traffic is switched to an Internet connection.

11. A computerized system comprising:

a processor configured to execute instructions;

a memory containing instructions when executed on the processor, causes the processor to perform operations that;

identify a network-traffic flow of a computer network using deep-packet inspection to determine an identity of an application type associated with the network-traffic flow;

aggregate a bandwidth from a specified set of network links;

intelligently load-balance a traffic on the set of network links by sending successive packets belonging to a same traffic flow on a set of specified multiple-network links, wherein the set of specified multiple-network links is selected based on the identity of an application type associated with the network-traffic flow;

identify a set of active-network links in the set of specified multiple-network links;

provide an in-order data delivery with an application persistence by sending data packets belonging to a same data-packet flow on the set of active links; and

correct an error on a lossy network link using an error-control mechanism for data transmission selectively based on the identified network-traffic flow and a current measured condition in the computer network.

12. The computerized system of claim 11, wherein a network link comprises a communications channel that connects two or more communicating devices.

13. The computerized system of claim 12, wherein the step of intelligently load-balancing the traffic on the set of network links using an application-aware intelligent network link characterization.

14. The computerized system of claim 13, wherein the error-control mechanism for data transmission comprises an Automatic Repeat-reQuest.

15. The computerized system of claim 14, wherein the error-control mechanism comprises a forward error correction (FEC)).

16. The computerized system of claim 15, wherein the application type comprises a real-time application type, a transactional application type, or a bulk-file application type.

17. The computerized system of claim 16, wherein the network traffic is identified as a bulk file transfer network traffic, and wherein the bulk file transfer network traffic is set as a lowest priority traffic and uses a small portion of a network bandwidth.

18. The computerized system of claim 17, wherein the application type comprises a voice-application type, and wherein the forward-error correction is implemented as the error-control mechanism.

19. The computerized system of claim 18, wherein the application type comprises a social-network website browsing application type, and wherein the network traffic is switched to an Internet connection.