Software defined network (SDN) control signaling for traffic engineering to enable multi-type transport in a data plane
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- receiving, by a network node in a packet switched domain, a control signaling instruction from a controller, wherein the control signaling instruction comprises routing information, the routing information indicating at least one egress next-hop or egress pathway and at least one of a link-based flow transport protocol, a path-based flow transport protocol, and a source-based flow transport protocol, and wherein the at least one egress next-hop or egress pathway corresponds to one of the flow transport protocols;
receiving, by the network node, a traffic flow or a traffic flow portion over an ingress link; and
transmitting, by the network node, the traffic flow or the traffic flow portion to next-hop network nodes over the at least one egress next-hop or egress pathway.
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Abstract
Aspects of this disclosure provide techniques for dynamically configuring flow splitting via software defined network (SDN) signaling instructions. An SDN controller may instruct an ingress network node to split a traffic flow between two or more egress paths, and instruct the ingress network node, and perhaps downstream network nodes, to transport portions of the traffic flow in accordance with a forwarding protocol. In one example, the SDN controller instructs the network nodes to transport portions of the traffic flow in accordance with a link-based forwarding protocol. In other examples, the SDN controller instructs the network nodes to transport portions of the traffic flow in accordance with a path-based or source-based transport protocol.
29 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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receiving, by a network node in a packet switched domain, a control signaling instruction from a controller, wherein the control signaling instruction comprises routing information, the routing information indicating at least one egress next-hop or egress pathway and at least one of a link-based flow transport protocol, a path-based flow transport protocol, and a source-based flow transport protocol, and wherein the at least one egress next-hop or egress pathway corresponds to one of the flow transport protocols; receiving, by the network node, a traffic flow or a traffic flow portion over an ingress link; and transmitting, by the network node, the traffic flow or the traffic flow portion to next-hop network nodes over the at least one egress next-hop or egress pathway. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A network node in a packet switched domain, the network node comprising:
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a processor; and a computer readable storage medium storing programming for execution by the processor, the programming including instructions to; receive a control signaling instruction from a controller, wherein the control signaling instruction comprises routing information, the routing information indicating at least one egress next-hop or egress pathway and at least one of a link-based flow transport protocol, a path-based flow transport protocol, and a source-based flow transport protocol, and wherein the at least one egress next-hop or egress pathway corresponds to one of the flow transport protocols; receive a traffic flow or a traffic flow portion over an ingress link; and transmit the traffic flow or the traffic flow portion to next-hop network nodes over the at least one egress next-hop or egress pathway.
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13. A method for implementing flow splitting in software defined networking (SDN) topologies, the method comprising:
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communicating, by a controller, a control signaling instruction to a network node of a packet switched domain, wherein the control signaling instruction comprises routing information, the routing information indicating at least one egress next-hop or egress pathway and at least one of a link-based flow transport protocol, a path-based flow transport protocol, and a source-based flow transport protocol, and wherein the at least one egress next-hop or egress pathway corresponds to one of the flow transport protocols, and wherein the routing information prompts the network node to forward a traffic flow or traffic flow portion over the at least one egress next-hop or egress pathway of the packet switched domain in accordance with a forwarding protocol indicated by the control signaling instruction. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A controller comprising:
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a processor; and a computer readable storage medium storing programming for execution by the processor, the programming including instructions to; communicate a control signaling instruction to a network node of a packet switched domain, wherein the control signaling instruction comprises routing information, the routing information indicating at least one egress next-hop or egress pathway and at least one of a link-based flow transport protocol, a path-based flow transport protocol, and a source-based flow transport protocol, and wherein the at least one egress next-hop or egress pathway corresponds to one of the flow transport protocols, and wherein the routing information prompts the network node to forward a traffic flow or traffic flow portion over the at least one egress next-hop or egress pathway of the packet switched domain in accordance with a forwarding protocol indicated by the control signaling instruction.
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Specification