Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (publ)

Ashutosh Bisht

Faseela K

Prashant Anand

Vyshakh Krishnan C H

Mustafa Arisoylu

Joel Halpern

Ashish Anand

Brian Alleyne

Tanmoy Bhowmik

Muthukumaran Kothandaraman

Siva Kumar Perumalla

Rajesh Ishwariah Balay

Nishant Saurabh

D Arunprakash

Hema Gopalakrishnan

Hanamantagoud V Kandagal

Aakash Agarwal

K Faseela

A method of managing a controller of a software defined networking (SDN) network is implemented by a computing device in the SDN network. The method includes receiving status information for the controller, receiving usage information for the operating environment, generating at least one failure prediction for the controller based on the received status information, and outputting prediction information for the at least one failure prediction.

Improving software defined networking controller availability using machine learning techniques

A method is implemented by a network device to reduce bandwidth and compute resources needed by the controller of a software defined networking (SDN) controller by distributing monitoring of virtual network functions (VNFs) to data plane nodes (DPNs) in a SDN network. The method includes receiving a monitoring request from the SDN controller to monitor a VNF, receiving a byte sequence from the SDN controller for the VNF, and generating flow table entries for monitoring the VNF by matching the byte sequence with monitoring response messages from the VNF.

Scalable application level monitoring for SDN networks

Exemplary embodiments include methods and/or procedures for handling messages from one or more data-plane nodes (DPNs) to a plurality of controller nodes configured in a cluster, comprising: receiving a message from a DPN; tagging the message with an incarnation identifier (IID) associated with the DPN; and performing HD handling of the tagged message, which includes comparing a value of the IID of the tagged message with a value of a global IID associated with the DPN, discarding the tagged message if the value of the IID of the tagged message is less than the value of the global IID, and processing the tagged message if the value of the IID of the tagged message is not less than the value of the global IID. Exemplary embodiments also include controller nodes, controller clusters, and computer-readable media embodying operations of the exemplary methods and/or procedures.

Robust message processing for a software-defined networking (SDN) controller cluster

A method implemented in a network device to enable scalable network path tracing. The method includes receiving a data packet with operations, administration and maintenance (OAM) information, updating a previous node identifier field in the OAM information, updating a current node identifier field in the OAM information, and sending a copy of the updated data packet with OAM information to a collector to build a packet trace.

Scalable network path tracing

A method implemented by a network device to reduce bandwidth and compute resources needed by a controller of a software defined networking (SDN) network by distributing monitoring of nodes connected to data plane nodes (DPNs) in an SDN network. The method determines whether a received response message from a node indicates proper operation, inserts parameters of the received response message into a template for a stateful request message, and sends the stateful request message to the node.

Inline stateful monitoring request generation for SDN

A method implemented by a switch in a Software Defined Networking (SDN) network to trace packets in the SDN network, where the switch includes a packet processing pipeline. The method includes receiving a first packet, determining, at a first flow table of the packet processing pipeline, whether the first packet is to be traced, punting a copy of the first packet to an SDN controller and directing the first packet to a second flow table of the packet processing pipeline in response to a determination at the first flow table that the first packet is to be traced.

Efficient troubleshooting in openflow switches

A method is implemented by a switch in a Software Defined Networking (SDN) network to trace packets belonging to a flow. The method includes setting a value in a first field and a second field associated with the packet to indicate that tracing is enabled for the packet, where the second field is a field that is not used for packet matching, determining, at a second flow table, whether tracing is enabled for the packet based on the value in the first field, transmitting a trace message for the packet to a trace collector in response to a determination that tracing is enabled for the packet, setting a value in the first field to indicate that tracing is disabled for the packet, resubmitting the packet to the second flow table, and copying the value in the second field to the first field before directing the packet to another flow table.

Efficient troubleshooting in SDN network

A software defined networking (SDN) system includes a switch, a service function chain (SFC) proxy, and a controller communicatively coupled to the SFC proxy and the switch. The controller is configured to obtain a translation rule for a SFC encapsulation provided by the SFC proxy, responsive to obtaining the translation rule transmit one or more instructions to the switch to program the switch to translate packets belonging to a flow associated with the SFC encapsulation according to the translation rule and to forward the packets belonging to the flow associated with the SFC encapsulation to a service function (SF) in a manner that causes the packets belonging to the flow associated with the SFC encapsulation to bypass the SFC proxy, and transmit an indication to the SFC proxy that the packets belonging to the flow associated with the SFC encapsulation are to bypass the SFC proxy.

Service function proxy performance in software defined networks

A method is implemented by a control plane device in a Software Defined Networking (SDN) network to configure a data plane device in the SDN network to perform network address translation (NAT) for a flow so that the flow can bypass a NAT device. The method includes receiving a translation rule for the flow from the NAT device, configuring the data plane device to steer the flow such that the flow bypasses the NAT device, configuring the data plane device to perform NAT for the flow according to the translation rule for the flow, and transmitting an indication to the NAT device that the flow is to bypass the NAT device.

Efficient NAT in SDN network

A method is implemented by a network device functioning as a switch in a software defined networking (SDN) network to detect data plane loops in the SDN network. The method includes receiving a packet, setting a value of a packet register associated with the packet to an initial loop count value, performing an arithmetic operation on the packet register to update the value of the packet register to an updated loop count value when the packet is to be resubmitted to a current flow table or a previous flow table of a packet processing pipeline of the switch, and determining that the packet is in a data plane loop in response to a determination that the updated loop count value is an invalid value.

Mechanism to detect data plane loops in an openflow network

A method is implemented by a network device functioning as a controller in a Software Defined Networking (SDN) network to configure a switch in the SDN network to process packets on behalf of a Service Function Chain (SFC) proxy so that the packets can bypass the SFC proxy. The method includes receiving a translation rule for an SFC encapsulation from the SFC proxy, transmitting SFC proxy bypass instructions to the switch that cause the switch to translate packets belonging to a flow associated with the SFC encapsulation according to the translation rule for the SFC encapsulation and to forward the packets belonging to the flow associated with the SFC encapsulation to a service function while bypassing the SFC proxy, and transmitting an indication to the SFC proxy that the packets belonging to the flow associated with the SFC encapsulation are to bypass the SFC proxy.

Improving service function proxy performance in software defined networking networks

A packet distribution scheme for forwarding incoming packets to servers in a network. Depending on a hash value of the incoming flow's identification parameters, a hash flow table or database is queried to determine the server to which the packet is to be forwarded. If multiple flows have the same hash index and are associated with different servers, a secondary flow table or database is queried for determining the server. In an example implementation, only the secondary flow table is configured to store fully qualified flow identification parameters whereas the hash flow table is operative to store reduced or compressed state information.

System and method for efectuating packet distribution among servers in a network

A method of operating a load balancing switch may include providing a flow entry in a flow table, the flow entry may include a match pattern that is satisfied by a data flow identification, and the flow entry may identify a first server. A first data packet including a first data flow identification may be received, and the first data packet may be transmitted to the first server responsive to the first data flow identification satisfying the match pattern. After transmitting the first data packet to the first server, the flow entry may be modified so that the flow entry identifies the first server and a second server. After modifying the flow entry, a second data packet including a second data flow identification may be received, and the second data packet may be transmitted to the first and second servers responsive to the second data flow identification satisfying the match pattern.

Methods of operating load balancing switches and controllers using modified flow entries

A load balancing system may include a switch coupled with a plurality of servers and a controller. A flow table may include default flow entries with each default flow entry including a different match pattern. At least one of the default flow entries may include a match pattern with an unrestricted character so that the match pattern having the unrestricted character is satisfied by a plurality of data flow identifications. Each of the default flow entries may include an action to be performed for data packets having data flow identifications that satisfy its match pattern. A data packet including a data flow identification for a data flow may be received from a client device. A default flow entry having a match pattern that is satisfied by the data flow identification is identified, and the data packet is processed in accordance with the action for the identified default flow entry.

Methods of operating load balancing switches and controllers using matching patterns with unrestricted characters

A network device to detect large flows includes a card to receive packets of flows. The device includes a large flow detection module including a serial multiple-stage filter module including series filter modules including a lead filter module and a tail filter module. Each filter module includes counters. The serial filter module is to serially increment the counters to reflect the flows, and is to increment counters that correspond to flows of subsequent filter modules only after all counters that correspond to the flows of all prior filter modules have been incremented serially up to maximum values. The serial filter module is to detect flows that correspond to counters of the tail filter module that have been incremented up to maximum values as the large flows. The large flow detection module includes a lead filter removal module to remove the lead filter module from the start of the series.

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Bengaluru, India

Ashutosh Bisht