Cisco Technology, Inc.

Christopher Metz

David Delano Ward

Earl Hardin Booth, Iii

W Mark Townsley

Luca Martini

W Scott Wainner

Clarence Filsfils

James Neil Guichard

Wojciech Dec

Cedell Adam Alexander, Jr

Jim Guichard

Daniel C Tappan

Mohammed Azhar Sayeed

Bertrand Duvivier

Jean-Philippe Vasseur

Ijsbrand Wijnands

Ali Sajassi

Stefano Benedetto Previdi

Rajiv Asati

Daniel George Wing

Samer Salam

Jan Medved

Santosh Ramrao Patil

Ian James Wells

Arjen Boers

Samir Parikh

Peter De Vriendt

Avaneesh Anandrao Kadam

Vikram Prasad Munishwar

Durgaprasad Sukhadeo Pawar

Rohan Dhesikan

Zhaoxing Li

Greg Thompson

Tyler Levine

A system is provided comprising one or more application layer audit proxies arranged to obtain application layer network traffic sent in a network. Each of the application layer audit proxies configured to: receive application layer network traffic sent as part of a communication session between a producer entity and a consumer entity; record information about the application layer network traffic to an audit log in a distributed permissioned database comprising a blockchain of immutable data blocks; and forward the application layer network traffic to the producer entity or to the consumer entity.

Layer 7 proxy for immutable application audit trails

In one embodiment, a server generates expected levels of capability associated with possible combinations of settings for first and second adjustable parameters for an aspect of a software image feature. The server receives an indication of a desired level of capability for the aspect of the software image feature and, based on the indication, identifies a particular expected level of capability associated with a particular possible combination of the settings for the first and second adjustable parameters. The particular expected level of capability is closer to a desired level of capability for an aspect of a software image feature than the other expected levels of capability associated with the possible combinations of the settings for the first and second adjustable parameters. The server produces a software image that includes the particular possible combination of the settings for the first and second adjustable parameters.

Automatically producing software images

A method and apparatus for providing information in a network by way of a Pseudowire switching TLV is presented. A second device in the network receives a first message having information relating to a first device in the network. The second device appends information relating to the second device (by way of a Pseudowire switching TLV) to the first message, resulting in a second message. The second message is then forwarded to a third device in the network.

Pseudowire (PW) switching type-length-value (TLV)

In one embodiment, a method includes receiving at a network device, route convergence measurements and traffic demand measurements from a plurality of routers, and computing network availability based on the measurements at the network device. The route convergence measurements are associated with route computations at the routers and the traffic demand measurements include portions of a demand matrix associated with the routers. An apparatus and logic are also disclosed herein.

Network availability analytics

Packets are encapsulated and sent from a service node to an application node for applying one or more Layer-4 to Layer-7 services to the packets, with service-applied packets being returned to the service node. An identification of a virtual private network (VPN) may be carried within a request packet, encapsulating a particular packet, sent by a service node to an application node for applying a service to the particular packet; with the corresponding response packet sent to the service node including an identification of the VPN for use by the service node in forwarding the services-applied packet. Additionally, parameters may be included in a request packet to identify a particular service of a general service to be applied to a particular packet encapsulated in the request packet.

Service node using services applied by an application node

In one embodiment, a stateful computing entity in a computer network determines underlying network information (physical and/or optical) for the computer network, and also determines topologies (Internet Protocol (IP) and/or Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS)) for the computer network and associated resource information. Further, the stateful computing entity determines label switched path (LSP) state information for the computer network. The stateful computing entity may then build network state knowledge by aggregating the underlying network information, the topologies and associated resource information, and the LSP state information, and establishes communication within a dynamic network of other stateful computing entities sharing network state knowledge for parallel computation performance. Accordingly, the stateful computing entity may perform network computation based on the network state knowledge.

Multi-layer stateful path computation element architecture

Packets are encapsulated and sent from a service node to an application node for applying one or more Layer-4 to Layer-7 services to the packets, with service-applied packets being returned to the service node. An identification of a virtual private network (VPN) may be carried within a request packet, encapsulating a particular packet, sent by a service node to an application node for applying a service to the particular packet; with the corresponding response packet sent to the service node including an identification of the VPN for use by the service node node in forwarding the services-applied packet. Additionally, parameters may be included in a request packet to identify a particular service of a general service to be applied to a particular packet encapsulated in the request packet.

Systems, methods, and other embodiments associated with multiple NAT traversal are provided. A request is received from a host for a publicly-routable communication path identifier for the host, where the host is a member of a private network associated with a first network address translation device. The first network address translation device communicates with a second network address translation device using an address-port-borrowing-protocol to acquire information related to the publicly-routable communication path identifier. Information related to the publicly-routable communication path identifier is received with the first network address translation device and the publicly-routable communication path identifier is provided to the host.

Multiple NAT traversal protocol

A method, apparatus and computer program product for routing data within a packet-switched network using a PW wherein the PW is terminated directly on the layer-3 routing device such that certain services and applications can be utilized is presented. The method, apparatus and computer program product receives an encapsulated layer-2 Protocol Data Unit (PDU) from a pseudowire emulating a service. The encapsulation is removed from the encapsulated layer-2 PDU and a layer-2 circuit associated with the pseudowire is terminated. The circuit is treated as an interface and the PDU is forwarded based on upper layer protocol information within the PDU.

Psuedowire termination directly on a router

A method, apparatus and computer program product for building multipoint Pseudo Wires (PWs) using Multicast Label Distribution Protocol (MLDP) is presented. A multipoint PW leaf identifier (mTAI) is configured on one or more Layer 2 (L2) leaf interface(s) of a multipoint PW. A multipoint PW root identifier identifying the root of the multipoint PW is also configured and an opaque value is computed, the opaque value used in MLDP label mapping messages that will flow upstream towards a the root of the multipoint PW. The opaque value is computed from the multipoint leaf identifier and the multipoint root identifier. The PE leaf routers direct MLDP label mapping to the root PE router via a core network.

Building multipoint pseudo wires using a multipoint label distribution protocol (MLDP)

In one embodiment, a method can include: receiving a packet in a device; classifying the received packet as a first packet type or a second packet type; when the packet is the first packet type, forwarding the packet to a next hop; and when the packet is the second packet type: performing forward error correction (FEC) encoding on the packet to generate repair data, modifying the packet by adding a multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) header to indicate that the packet is to be forwarded on an FEC-protected label switched path (LSP), generating an additional MPLS packet carrying the repair data, and forwarding the modified packet and the additional packet to a next hop.

Loss-free packet networks

Disclosed are, inter alia, methods, apparatus, computer-storage media, mechanisms, and means for transportation of IEEE 802.1ah frames over Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) pseudowires for Virtual Private LAN Services (VPLS). The IEEE 802.1ah frames include a corresponding B-VLAN tag, while the MPLS packets including these frames do not include the corresponding B-VLAN tag, and disclosed are methods and apparatus for performing such translation.

Transportation of IEEE 802.1ah frames over multiprotocol label switching pseudowires for virtual private LAN services

A method and apparatus for performing Layer 2 (L2) interworking is presented. A L2 Protocol Data Unit (PDU) is received at an L2 Switching Entity (SE). The L2 PDU is converted to a normalized Pseudowire (PW) PDU. The normalized PW PDU is then forwarded to a Layer 3 (L3) Routing Entity (RE). The normalized PDU may be in the form of a predetermined L2 protocol or a L2 agnostic protocol.

Growing community of inventors

Danville, CA, United States of America

Christopher Metz