Differential forwarding in address-based carrier networks

• US 8,923,292 B2
• Filed: 04/06/2005
• Issued: 12/30/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 04/06/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: RPX Clearinghouse LLC (RPX Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Rockstar Consortium US LP (Rockstar Consortium Inc.)
• Inventors: Friskney, Robert, Bragg, Nigel, Parry, Simon, Ashwood Smith, Peter, Allan, David, Brueckheimer, Simon
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, Andrew
• Application Number:
  US10/593,108
• Publication Number:
  US 20080279196A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,555 Days
• Field of Search: 370/395.52, 370/392, 370/400, 370/410, 370/389, 370/401, 370/431, 370/474, 370/393
• US Class Current: 370/392
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4645 Details on frame tagging routing of packets H04L45/00; support for virtual LAN H04L49/354
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0823 characterised by the purposes of a change of settings, e.g. optimising configuration for enhancing reliability for optimising operational conditions of wireless networks H04W24/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/00 Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks routing or path finding in wireless networks H04W40/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/16 Multipoint routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/54 Organization of routing tables
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/64 using an overlay routing layer
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/66 Layer 2 routing, e.g. in Ethernet based MAN's
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/72 Routing based on the source address
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/205 Quality of Service based
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/253 using establishment or release of connections between ports
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/254 Centralised controller, i.e. arbitration or scheduling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/351 for local area network [LAN], e.g. Ethernet switches
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/354 for supporting virtual local area networks [VLAN]

Abstract

The invention relates to enabling differential forwarding in address-based carrier networks such as Ethernet networks. There is described a method of and connection controller for establishing connections (76, 77) in a frame-based communications network comprising nodes (71-75 and 78) such as Ethernet switches. The connections are established by configuring, in various of the nodes, mappings for forwarding data frames, such as Ethernet frames. The mappings are from a combination of a) a destination (or source) address corresponding to a destination (or source) node (73) of the connection and b) an identifier, such as a VLAN tag. The mappings are to selected output ports of the various nodes. By using the combination of destination (or source) address AND identifier, the mappings enable data frames belonging to different connections (76, 77) to be forwarded differentially (ie forwarded on different output ports) at a node (75) despite the different connections having the same destination node. This enables flexibility in routing connections and the ability to perform traffic engineering.

Claims

1. A method of establishing a connection in a network including one or more nodes, the method comprising the step of:

configuring, in an intermediate node of the network, a first mapping for forwarding data frames to a selected output port of the intermediate node, based on a combination of;

a first network address uniquely identifying, within an addressing scheme of the network, a first node of the network, and

a first identifier associated with the connection, the first identifier being allocated to the connection such that it is unique at least among connections to the first network address that diverge at the intermediate node;

wherein data frames are received via an attachment interface having a service instance identifier, and

wherein the service instance identifier is associated with the connection such that data frames received via the customer attachment interface are forwarded through the connection.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the first network address is a destination address.

3. A method according to claim 1, wherein the first network address is a source address.

4. A method according to claim 1, wherein the network is an Ethernet network and the one or more nodes are Ethernet switches.

5. A method according to claim 4, wherein the first identifier is a VLAN tag or part thereof.

6. A method according to claim 4, wherein the first identifier is an IEEE 802.1Q field or part thereof.

7. A method according to claim 4, wherein the first identifier is an MPLS label or part thereof.

8. A method according to claim 4, wherein the first identifier is a DiffServ codepoint (DSCP) or part thereof.

9. A method according to claim 4, wherein the first identifier is an IPv6 flow identifier or part thereof.

10. A method according to claim 4, wherein the data frames are MAC frames transported over MAC frames.

11. A method according to claim 4, wherein the data frames are pseudo-wire frames transported over MAC frames.

12. A method according to claim 4, wherein broadcast on unknown destination address functionality is disabled on Ethernet switches of the network.

13. A method according to claim 4, wherein broadcast on unknown destination address functionality is rate limited on Ethernet switches of the network.

14. A method according to claim 1, wherein the network is an IP network and the one or more nodes are IP routers.

15. A method according to claim 14, wherein the first identifier is an MPLS label or part thereof.

16. A method according to claim 14, wherein the first identifier is a DiffServ codepoint (DSCP) or part thereof.

17. A method according to claim 14, wherein the first identifier is an IPv6 flow identifier or part thereof.

18. A method according to claim 1, wherein the network is at least partially meshed.

19. A method according to claim 1, wherein the selected output port designates a forwarding class.

20. A method according to claim 1, comprising the further step of:

forwarding data frames having the first network address and first identifier from at least two different ingress nodes of the network, the data frames being co-routed at one or more nodes of the network.

21. A method according to claim 20, wherein the one or more nodes of the network at which data frames are co-routed is an egress node of the network.

22. A method of forwarding customer data frames across a carrier network, the method comprising the steps of:

establishing a first connection in the carrier network by configuring, in an intermediate node of the network, a first mapping for forwarding data frames to a selected output port of the intermediate node, based on a combination of;

a first network address uniquely identifying, within an addressing scheme of the network, a first node of the network; and

a first identifier associated with the connection, the first identifier being allocated to the connection such that it is unique at least among connections to the first network address that diverge at the intermediate node;

receiving data frames from a customer;

associating the customer with the first connection;

forwarding the data frames over the first connection;

receiving the data frames over the first connection; and

associating the data frames received over the first connection with the customer;

wherein the data frames are received from the customer through a customer attachment interface, the customer attachment interface having a service instance identifier;

wherein the step of associating the customer with the first connection comprises associating the service instance identifier with the first connection, and

wherein the step of associating the data frames received over the first connection with the customer comprises associating the data frames received over the first connection with the customer attachment interface on the basis of the service instance identifier.

23. A method of forwarding customer data frames across a carrier network, the method comprising the steps of:

establishing a first connection in the carrier network by configuring, in an intermediate node of the network, a first mapping for forwarding data frames to a selected output port of the intermediate node, based on a combination of;

a first network address uniquely identifying, within an addressing scheme of the network, a first node of the network; and

a first identifier associated with the connection, the first identifier being allocated to the connection such that it is unique at least among connections to the first network address that diverge at the intermediate node;

receiving data frames from a customer through a customer attachment interface of a network node;

mapping the customer attachment interface to a service instance identifier;

associating the service instance identifier with the first connection;

encapsulating the customer data frames to further include the service instance identifier, the first network address and the first identifier associated with the first connection;

forwarding the data frames over the first connection;

receiving the data frames over the first connection;

de-encapsulating the customer data frames;

associating the data frames received over the first connection with a customer on the basis of the service instance identifier; and

delivering the data frames over the customer attachment interface associated with the service instance identifier.

24. A method of forwarding customer data frames across a carrier network, the method comprising the steps of:

establishing a first connection in the carrier network by configuring, in an intermediate node of the network, a first mapping for forwarding data frames to a selected output port of the intermediate node, based on a combination of;

a first network address uniquely identifying, within an addressing scheme of the network, a first node of the network; and

a first identifier associated with the connection, the first identifier being allocated to the connection such that it is unique at least among connections to the first network address that diverge at the intermediate node;

receiving data frames from a first customer through a customer attachment interface of a network node;

mapping the customer attachment interface to a first service instance identifier;

associating the first service instance identifier with the first connection;

receiving data frames from a second customer having a second service instance identifier;

associating the second service instance identifier with the first connection;

encapsulating the data frames from the first and second customers to further include the first and second service instance identifiers, the first network address and the first identifier associated with the first connection;

forwarding the data frames over the first connection;

receiving the data frames over the first connection;

de-encapsulating the data frames;

associating the data frames received over the first connection with one of the first and the second customers on the basis of the service instance identifier; and

delivering the data frames over the customer attachment interface associated with the service instance identifier.

25. A method of forwarding data frames across a carrier network, the method comprising the steps of:

establishing a first connection in the carrier network by configuring, in an intermediate node of the network, a first mapping for forwarding data frames to a selected output port of the intermediate node, based on a combination of;

a first network address uniquely identifying, within an addressing scheme of the network, a first node of the network; and

a first identifier associated with the connection, the first identifier being allocated to the connection such that it is unique at least among connections to the first network address that diverge at the intermediate node;

wherein at least part of the first identifier designates one of a plurality of forwarding classes;

forwarding data frames having the first identifier across the first connection according to the designated forwarding class;

wherein the data frames are received from a customer via a customer attachment interface having a service instance identifier, and

wherein the service instance identifier is associated with the first connection such that data frames received from the customer via the customer attachment interface are forwarded through the first connection.

26. A method according to claim 25, comprising the further step of:

mapping a customer designated forwarding class to the at least part of the first identifier.

27. A method according to claim 25, comprising the further step of:

mapping data frames of a first customer to a first forwarding class; and

mapping data frames of a second customer to a second forwarding class.

28. A method of establishing a connection in a network having one or more nodes, the method comprising the step of:

configuring, in a node of the network, a first mapping for use in forwarding data frames, the first mapping being from a combination of;

a first multicast network address uniquely associated, within an addressing scheme of the network, with a group of first nodes of the network, and

a first identifier,

the first mapping being to a plurality of selected output ports of the node,

the configuring thereby establishing at least part of a first connection for forwarding data frames, the connection being through the node,

the first identifier being a qualifier of the first network address, the combination thereby enabling differential forwarding, at the node, of data frames addressed to the group of first nodes;

wherein data frames are received via an attachment interface having a service instance identifier, and

wherein the service instance identifier is associated with the connection such that data frames received via the attachment interface are forwarded through the connection.

29. A connection controller for establishing a connection in a network having one or more nodes, the connection controller comprising:

a signal generator arranged in use to generate a first signal for configuring, in an intermediate node of the network, a first mapping for forwarding data frames to a selected output port of the intermediate node, based on a combination of;

a first network address uniquely identifying, within an addressing scheme of the network, a first node of the network, and

a first identifier associated with the connection, the first identifier being allocated to the connection such that it is unique at least among connections to the first network address that diverge at the intermediate node;

wherein data frames are received via an attachment interface having a service instance identifier, and

wherein the service instance identifier is associated with the connection such that data frames received via the attachment interface are forwarded through the connection.

30. A connection controller according to claim 29, wherein the network is an Ethernet network and the one or more nodes are Ethernet switches.

31. A connection controller according to claim 30, wherein the first identifier is a VLAN tag or part thereof.

32. A connection controller according to claim 30, wherein the first identifier is an IEEE 802.1Q field or part thereof.

33. A connection controller according to claim 30, wherein the first identifier is an MPLS label or part thereof.

34. A connection controller according to claim 30, wherein the first identifier is a DiffServ codepoint (DSCP) or part thereof.

35. A connection controller according to claim 30, wherein the first identifier is an Ipv6 flow identifier or part thereof.

36. A connection controller according to claim 30, wherein the data frames are MAC frames transported over MAC frames.

37. A connection controller according to claim 30, wherein the data frames are psuedo-wire frames transported over MAC frames.

38. A connection controller according to claim 29, wherein the network is an IP network and the one or more nodes are IP routers.

39. A connection controller according to claim 38, wherein the first identifier is an MPLS label or part thereof.

40. A connection controller according to claim 38, wherein the first identifier is a DiffServ codepoint (DSCP) or part thereof.

41. A connection controller according to claim 38, wherein the first identifier is an IPv6 flow identifier or part thereof.

42. A connection controller according to claim 29, wherein the network is at least partially meshed.

43. A connection controller for establishing a connection in a network having one or more nodes, the connection controller comprising:

a signal generator for generating a signal for configuring, in at least one node of the network, a first mapping for use in forwarding data frames to a plurality of selected output ports of the at least one node, based on a combination of;

a first multicast network address uniquely associated, within an addressing scheme of the network, with a group of first nodes of the network, and

a first identifier associated with the connection, the first identifier being allocated to the connection such that it is unique at least among connections to the group of first nodes of the network;

wherein data frames are received via a customer attachment interface having a service instance identifier, and

wherein the service instance identifier is associated with the connection such that data frames received via the customer attachment interface are forwarded through the connection.

44. A network comprising one or more nodes including an intermediate node comprising a non-transitory machine readable medium storing a first mapping for forwarding data frames to a selected output port of the intermediate node, based on a combination of:

a first network address uniquely identifying, within an addressing scheme of the network, a first node of the network, and

a first identifier associated with the connection, the first identifier being allocated to the connection such that it is unique at least among connections to the first network address that diverge at the intermediate node;

wherein data frames are received via a customer attachment interface having a service instance identifier, and

wherein the service instance identifier is associated with the connection such that data frames received via the customer attachment interface are forwarded through the connection.

45. A network according to claim 44, wherein the first network address is a destination address.

46. A network according to claim 44, wherein the first network address is a source address.

47. A network according to claim 44, wherein the network is an Ethernet network and the one or more nodes are Ethernet switches.

48. A network according to claim 47, wherein the first identifier is a VLAN tag or part thereof.

49. A network according to claim 47, wherein the first identifier is an IEEE 802.1Q field or part thereof.

50. A network according to claim 47, wherein the first identifier is an MPLS label or part thereof.

51. A network according to claim 47, wherein the first identifier is a DiffServ codepoint (DSCP) or part thereof.

52. A network according to claim 47, wherein the first identifier is an Ipv6 flow identifier or part thereof.

53. A network according to claim 47, wherein the data frames are MAC frames transported over MAC frames.

54. A network according to claim 47, wherein the data frames are psuedo-wire frames transported over MAC frames.

55. A network according to claim 47, wherein broadcast on unknown destination address functionality is disabled on Ethernet switches of the network.

56. A network according to claim 47, wherein broadcast on unknown destination address functionality is rate limited on Ethernet switches of the network.

57. A network according to claim 44, wherein the network is an IP network and the one or more nodes are IP routers.

58. A network according to claim 57, wherein the first identifier is an MPLS label or part thereof.

59. A network according to claim 57, wherein the first identifier is a DiffServ codepoint (DSCP) or part thereof.

60. A network according to claim 57, wherein the first identifier is an IPv6 flow identifier or part thereof.

61. A network according to claim 44, wherein the network is at least partially meshed.

62. A network according to claim 44, wherein the selected output port designates a forwarding class.

63. A network according to claim 44, comprising:

at least two different ingress nodes of the network from which data frames having the first network address and first identifier are forwarded, the data frames being co-routed at one or more nodes of the network.

64. A network according to claim 63, wherein the one or more nodes of the network at which data frames are co-routed is an egress node of the network.

65. A carrier network for forwarding customer data frames, the carrier network comprising:

a first connection established by configuring, in an intermediate node of the network, a first mapping for forwarding data frames to a selected output port of the intermediate node, based on a combination of;

a first network address uniquely identifying, within an addressing scheme of the network, a first node of the network; and

a first identifier associated with the connection, the first identifier being allocated to the connection such that it is unique at least among connections to the first network address that diverge at the intermediate node;

an ingress node arranged in use to receive data frames from a customer through a customer attachment interface of the ingress node, the customer attachment interface having a service instance identifier;

a mapper arranged in use to map the first connection to the service instance identifier;

an egress node arranged in use to receive data frames forwarded over the first connection; and

an associator arranged in use to associate the data frames received over the first connection with the customer on the basis of the service instance identifier.

66. A carrier network for forwarding data frames, the carrier network comprising:

a first connection established by configuring, in an intermediate node of the network, a first mapping for forwarding data frames to a selected output port of the intermediate node, based on a combination of;

a first network address uniquely identifying, within an addressing scheme of the network, a first node of the network; and

a first identifier associated with the connection, the first identifier being allocated to the connection such that it is unique at least among connections to the first network address that diverge at the intermediate node, wherein at least part of the first identifier designates one of a plurality of forwarding classes; and

forwarding means arranged in use to forward data frames having the first identifier across the first connection according to the one forwarding class;

wherein data frames are received from a customer via a customer attachment interface having a service instance identifier, and

wherein the service instance identifier is associated with the first connection such that data frames received from the customer via the customer attachment interface are forwarded through the first connection.

67. A carrier network according to claim 66, comprising:

a mapper arranged in use to map a customer designated forwarding class to the at least part of the first identifier.

68. A carrier network according to claim 66, comprising:

a mapper arranged in use to map data frames of a first customer to a first forwarding class and data frames of a second customer to a second forwarding class.

69. A network comprising one or more nodes arranged to establish a connection in the network, the one or more nodes including an intermediate node comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium storing a forwarding table configured with a first mapping for forwarding data frames to a selected output port of the intermediate node, based on a combination of:

a first network address uniquely identifying, within an addressing scheme of the network, a first node of the network, and

a first identifier associated with the connection, the first identifier being allocated to the connection such that it is unique at least among connections to the first network address that diverge at the intermediate node.

wherein data frames are received via an attachment interface having a service instance identifier, and

wherein the service instance identifier is associated with the connection such that data frames received via the attachment interface are forwarded through the connection.

70. A network comprising one or more nodes including at least one node comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a forwarding table configured with a first mapping for forwarding data frames to a plurality of selected output ports of the at least one node, based on a combination of:

a first multicast network address uniquely associated, within an addressing scheme of the network, with a group of first nodes of the network, and

a first identifier associated with the connection, the first identifier being allocated to the connection such that it is unique at least among connections to the group of first nodes of the network;

wherein data frames are received via a customer attachment interface having a service instance identifier, and

wherein the service instance identifier is associated with the connection such that data frames received via the customer attachment interface are forwarded through the connection.