KEY ESTABLISHMENT AND MANAGEMENT PROTOCOL OPTIMIZATIONS IN VIEW OF CHANNEL RELIABILITY

• US 20160234172A1
• Filed: 02/10/2015
• Published: 08/11/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 02/10/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: Agarwal, Avesh, Paris, Eric
• Granted Patent: US 9,692,733 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/061 for key exchange, e.g. in peer-to-peer networks cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for key agreement H04L9/0838
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/104 Peer-to-peer [P2P] networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34

Abstract

A peer device may determine a reliability level of a connection with another peer device during a learning duration at instances in a communication session. The connection can be established using key establishment and management protocols. The peer device can adjust a frequency with which the peer device determines the reliability level of the connection during the communication session. The peer device can determine an updated reliability level of the connection in view of the adjusted frequency, and then optimize resource utilization by key establishment and management protocols.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

determining, at a first peer device, a reliability level of a connection during a learning interval at instances in a communication session,

wherein the connection is established between the first peer device and a second peer device using key establishment and management protocols, and

wherein the reliability level is determined in view of reliability criteria;

adjusting, at the first peer device, a frequency with which the first peer device determines the reliability level of the connection during the communication session, wherein the frequency is adjusted in view of the reliability level of the connection during the learning interval at a previous instance; and

determining, at the first peer device, an updated reliability level of the connection in view of the adjusted frequency.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising adjusting a resource usage level for key establishment and management protocols of the first peer device in the communication network in view of the reliability level of the connection, wherein the resource comprises a central processing unit (CPU) or a memory storage of the first peer device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the reliability criteria comprises at least one of:

a packet loss rate between the first peer device and the second peer device;

a packet delay between the first peer device and the second peer device;

or a type of error that occurs at the first peer device, at the second peer device, or in the communications network.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising adjusting a length of the learning interval in view of the reliability level of the connection during the learning interval at the previous instance.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising switching the first peer device to an inactive mode when the updated frequency exceeds a threshold value.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising preserving the connection between the first peer device and the second peer device when the reliability level decreases below a threshold level for a first period of time and the reliability level previously exceeded a second reliability level for a second period of time.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising eliminating the connection between the first peer device and the second peer device when the reliability level decreases below a threshold level for a threshold period of time.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions that, when executed by a processing device, cause the processing device to perform operations comprising:

determine, at a first peer device, a reliability level of the connection between the first peer device and a second peer device during a learning interval at instances in a communication session, wherein the reliability level is determined in view of reliability criteria;

adjust a frequency with which the first peer device determines the reliability level of the connection during the communication session, wherein the frequency is adjusted in view of the reliability level of the connection during the learning interval at a previous instance; and

determine, at the first peer device, an updated reliability level of the connection in view of the adjusted frequency.

9. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein:

the connection is a single communication channel between the first peer device and the second device;

or

the connection is multiple communication channels between the first peer device and the second device.

10. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the reliability level of the connection is determined for a plurality of the multiple communication channels.

11. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 8, the operations further comprising:

store previous reliability level information of the connection; and

determine the reliability of the connection in view of the previous reliability level information.

12. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 8, the operations further comprising:

perform an action on the communication connection in view of the reliability level of the communication connection, wherein the action comprises;

continuing to communicate data between the first peer device and the second peer device using the communication connection when the reliability level exceeds a threshold level;

or

eliminating the communication connection between the first peer device and the second peer device when the reliability level decreases below the threshold level.

13. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the action further comprises:

increasing a usage level of a resource of the first peer device in a communication network when the reliability level of the connection decreases below a first threshold value;

or

decreasing a usage level of a resource of the first peer device in the communication network when the reliability level of the connection exceeds the first threshold value.

14. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 12, the operations further comprising:

assign a first weight to the previous reliability level information and a second weight to a current reliability level of the connection; and

perform the action on the connection in view of the weighted previous reliability level information and the weighted current reliability level.

15. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the weighted previous reliability level information has a greater weight than the weighted current reliability level.

16. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the threshold level is adjusted in view of:

a type of the first peer device;

a type of the second peer device;

a type of application communicating data at the first peer device;

or

a type of application communicating data at the second peer device.

17. A peer device comprising:

a memory to store data; and

a processor coupled to the memory, the processor to;

determine, by the processor, a reliability level of a connection between the peer device and another peer device during a learning interval at instances in a communication session, wherein the reliability level is determined in view of reliability criteria;

adjust, by the processor, a frequency of the instances that the peer device determines the reliability level of the connection during the communication session, wherein the frequency of the instances is adjusted in view of the reliability level of the connection during the learning interval at a previous instance; and

adjust, by the processor, the reliability level of the connection in view of the frequency of the instances.

18. The peer device of claim 17, wherein the processor is to switch the peer device to an inactive mode when the updated frequency exceeds a rekey duration for the connection.

19. The peer device of claim 17, wherein the processor is to determine, at the peer device, the reliability level of the connection using a keepalive scheme, a deed peer detection (DPD) scheme, monitoring data traffic between the peer device and the other peer device, or determining packet loss traffic between the peer device and the other peer device.

20. The peer device of claim 17, wherein the processor is to:

increase the reliability level of the connection as the frequency of the instances decreases;

or

decrease the reliability level of the connection as the frequency of the instances increase.