Method of supporting power control in a communication network
First Claim
1. A method of supporting power control in a communication network, said network including a plurality of network elements that perform packet forwarding, each network element including one or more element ports, the method comprising:
- assigning a flow table to each of said network elements, said flow table including flow entries that specify via which element ports to forward packets the network element receives;
deriving target sets from said flow tables, each of the target sets characterizing either a network element as a whole element target set or an individual element port as a port target set in terms of its utilization; and
based on changes in the respective target sets, determining enforcement of power states on said network elements and/or said element ports,wherein the target set of the element port of the network element, which is the port target set, includes all flow entries of said network element that have the element port as an egress port together with all flow entries of other network elements that are connected to the element port of the network element via an element port specified as an egress port in the flow entries.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method of supporting power control in a communication network, the network including a plurality of network elements (1) that perform packet forwarding, wherein each network element (1) includes one or more ports—element ports (2)—, is characterized in the steps of assigning a flow table (4) to each of the network elements (1), wherein the flow table (4) includes flow entries (5) that specify via which element ports (2) to forward packets the network element (1) receives, deriving target sets from the flow tables (4), wherein a target set characterizes either a network element (1) as a whole—element target set—or an individual element port (2)—port target set—in terms of its utilization, and based on changes in the respective target sets, deciding on the enforcement of power states on the network elements (1) and/or the element ports (2).
15 Citations
24 Claims
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1. A method of supporting power control in a communication network, said network including a plurality of network elements that perform packet forwarding, each network element including one or more element ports, the method comprising:
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assigning a flow table to each of said network elements, said flow table including flow entries that specify via which element ports to forward packets the network element receives; deriving target sets from said flow tables, each of the target sets characterizing either a network element as a whole element target set or an individual element port as a port target set in terms of its utilization; and based on changes in the respective target sets, determining enforcement of power states on said network elements and/or said element ports, wherein the target set of the element port of the network element, which is the port target set, includes all flow entries of said network element that have the element port as an egress port together with all flow entries of other network elements that are connected to the element port of the network element via an element port specified as an egress port in the flow entries. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method of supporting power control in a communication network, said network including a plurality of network elements that perform packet forwarding, each network element including one or more element ports, the method comprising:
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assigning a flow table to each of said network elements, said flow table including flow entries that specify via which element ports to forward packets the network element receives; deriving target sets from said flow tables, each of the target sets characterizing either a network element as a whole element target set or an individual element port as a port target set in terms of its utilization; and based on changes in the respective target sets, determining enforcement of power states on said network elements and/or said element ports, wherein the element port is deactivated when the corresponding port target set becomes empty and/or the network element is deactivated when the corresponding element target set becomes empty.
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22. A method of supporting power control in a communication network, said network including a plurality of network elements that perform packet forwarding, each network element including one or more element ports, the method comprising:
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assigning a flow table to each of said network elements, said flow table including flow entries that specify via which element ports to forward packets the network element receives; deriving target sets from said flow tables, each of the target sets characterizing either a network element as a whole element target set or an individual element port as a port target set in terms of its utilization; and based on changes in the respective target sets, determining enforcement of power states on said network elements and/or said element ports, wherein a centralized power control is provided that, upon relevant changes of the port target set and/or the element target set, initiates activation/deactivation of the corresponding element port and/or network element, and wherein said centralized power control calculates a routing path, identifies network elements on said routing path, and stores a local copy of the flow tables of each of said network elements. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24)
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Specification