System and method for supporting virtualized links at an exterior network-to-network interface
First Claim
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1. A system for deriving a virtualized topology from a physical network topology and linking the virtualized topology with actual resources in the physical network topology in order to control resource utilization, comprising:
- a control domain;
a plurality of nodes representing actual resources located within the control domain;
wherein at least one of the plurality of nodes is a border node that hosts an exterior network-to-network interface (E-NNI);
a routing controller;
a plurality of virtual links, wherein a virtual link provides a communication path between two nodes;
a path computation selector, wherein the path computation selector analyzes the plurality of virtual links to determine the types of virtual links and thereby compute a network path over a predetermined set of network resources;
wherein only the virtualized topology is advertised and not the actual resources within the control domain; and
wherein the virtualized topology comprises the plurality of virtual links comprising one or more generic virtual links with no basis or relationship to the actual resources and one or more instantiated virtual links representing a specific physical path, and wherein the one or more generic virtual links are selected based on control over security, policy, and concealment of resources of the physical network topology and the one or more instantiated virtual links are selected to enable the virtualized topology to reflect a true status of resources configured thereon.
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Abstract
The present invention provides systems and methods for abstracting a network topology into virtual links and supporting both generic and instantiated virtualized links for linking a virtualized topology with actual resources within a domain, providing security over network topology information, providing control over the allocation of resources, and reducing the complexity of advertising.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. A system for deriving a virtualized topology from a physical network topology and linking the virtualized topology with actual resources in the physical network topology in order to control resource utilization, comprising:
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a control domain; a plurality of nodes representing actual resources located within the control domain; wherein at least one of the plurality of nodes is a border node that hosts an exterior network-to-network interface (E-NNI); a routing controller; a plurality of virtual links, wherein a virtual link provides a communication path between two nodes; a path computation selector, wherein the path computation selector analyzes the plurality of virtual links to determine the types of virtual links and thereby compute a network path over a predetermined set of network resources; wherein only the virtualized topology is advertised and not the actual resources within the control domain; and wherein the virtualized topology comprises the plurality of virtual links comprising one or more generic virtual links with no basis or relationship to the actual resources and one or more instantiated virtual links representing a specific physical path, and wherein the one or more generic virtual links are selected based on control over security, policy, and concealment of resources of the physical network topology and the one or more instantiated virtual links are selected to enable the virtualized topology to reflect a true status of resources configured thereon. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 17)
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7. A method for deriving a virtualized topology from a physical network topology and linking the virtualized topology with actual resources in the physical network topology in order to control resource utilization, comprising:
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establishing a control domain; abstracting a plurality of nodes representing actual resources located within the control domain; implementing a routing controller; establishing a plurality of virtual links, the plurality of virtual links comprising one or more generic virtual links with no basis or relationship to the actual resources and one or more instantiated virtual links representing a specific physical path, and wherein the one or more generic virtual links are selected based on control over security, policy, and concealment of resources of the physical network topology and the one or more instantiated virtual links are selected to enable the virtualized topology to reflect a true status of resources configured thereon; linking the virtualized topology with the actual resources in the physical network topology and accounting for unavailable resources in the physical network topology in the virtualized topology in order to control resource utilization; implementing a path computation selector, wherein the path computation selector analyzes the plurality of virtual links to determine the types of virtual links and thereby compute a network path over a predetermined set of network resources; advertising the virtualized topology to one or more external domains, wherein only the virtualized topology is advertised and not the actual resources within the control domain, wherein the one or more external domains are configured to request the actual resources based on the advertised virtualized topology; controlling the resource allocation and utilization by policy; and providing security over physical network topology information by not advertising the actual resources within the control domain. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. An apparatus, comprising:
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logic configured to generate a plurality of virtual links in a control domain, the plurality of virtual links comprising one or more generic virtual links with no basis or relationship to the actual resources and one or more instantiated virtual links representing a specific physical path, and wherein the one or more generic virtual links are selected based on control over security, policy, and concealment of resources of the physical network topology and the one or more instantiated virtual links are selected to enable the virtualized topology to reflect a true status of resources configured thereon; logic configured to advertise the plurality of virtual links to external networks; logic configured to analyze the available virtual links to determine the types of virtual links and thereby compute a network path over a predetermined set of network resources; and logic configured to route received requests for services based on an advertised virtual topology, wherein unavailable resources in the control domain are accounted for in the advertised virtual topology, wherein the external networks are configured to provide requests for services based on the advertised virtualized topology; wherein the virtualized topology is provided on the E-NNI such that the external networks linked by the E-NNI receive the same representation, wherein the external networks are configured to request actual resources based on the advertised virtualized topology, and wherein the external networks are configured to manipulate the advertised virtualized topology as required to maintain control over the actual resources. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
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Specification