Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (publ)

Daniele Ceccarelli

Diego Caviglia

Francesco Fondelli

Giulio Bottari

Gianmarco Bruno

Paolo Rebella

Francesco Lazzeri

Jeroen Nijhof

Manuela Scarella

Gianluca Lombardi

Stefan Dahlfort

Ming Xia

Giovanni Fiaschi

Massimiliano Maggiari

Vincent Huang

Roberto Magri

Balázs Peter Gerö

Sergio Lanzone

András Kern

Raoul Fiorone

Riccardo Martinotti

Andrea Corti

Tobias Ley

Antonio Tartaglia

Chirag Parekh

Enrico Dutti

Marco Marchesini

Carlo Giovanni Perocchio

Srinivasa Prasad

Qing Wan

Mukunda Nemade

Giacomo Agostini

Paola Rebella

Maunela Scarella

A method in a physical network controller () for configuring physical resources to provide a physical layer connection in a communications network (). The physical layer connection provides physical connectivity for a higher layer network connection controlled by a higher layer network controller () in a hierarchical arrangement with the physical network controller (). The method comprising the physical network controller () receiving () an indication for a minimum traffic capacity for the physical layer connection. The physical network controller configuring () physical resources according to the received indication.

Physical path control in hierarchical networks

A method () for managing the provision of a service between origin and destination endpoints over a communication network is disclosed. The communication network comprises at least two Autonomous Systems (ASs) and an Abstraction and Control of Traffic Engineered Networks Virtual Network (VN) between the origin and destination endpoints. The method comprises defining, at each of the origin and destination endpoints, a service segregation loopback interface corresponding to a subset of traffic belonging to the service (). The method further comprises binding the subset of traffic to the VN by exposing the service segregation loopback interface defined at the destination endpoint as routing next hop only to traffic belonging to the subset ().

Method and apparatus for service provision in a communication network

Apparatus and methods are provided for path computation for a service in a telecommunications network. In one aspect, a method comprises receiving a request to schedule the service utilizing the network in a time period determining that a path for the service is not available for the whole of the time period, and determining a plurality of paths for the service, each of the plurality of paths being available during a respective portion of the time period, such that at least one of the plurality of paths is available for the service at any time during the time period.

Methods and apparatus for path computation in a telecommunications network

Apparatus and methods are provided for scheduling services in a traffic-engineered communications network. In one aspect a method comprises: receiving a request to schedule a second service utilizing the network in a second time period, wherein the second time period overlaps a first time period in which a first service utilizing the network has already been scheduled; and computing a path for the second service through the network. The step of computing the path for the second service through the network comprises: responsive to a determination that the request is received less than the threshold period of time before the start of the first time period, disallowing the second service from pre-empting the first service.

Methods and apparatus for scheduling of services in a traffic-engineering network

A method of managing a virtual network, VN, comprising a plurality of VN members comprises associating () one or more of the VN members with a first group, the first group including VN members requiring dedicated resource allocations for their corresponding network tunnels, and associating () others of the VN members with a second group, the second group comprising VN members that may share resource allocations with other VN members of the second group. Paths are assigned () through the one or more physical network domains for the VN members such that the assigned paths for the VN members of the first group provide dedicated resource allocations to each VN member of the first group and such that at least one pair of VN members of the second group traversing a common physical link share a bandwidth allocation for the common physical link.

ACTN virtual network augmentation for resource sharing

Embodiments include methods of controlling a client layer of a multi-layer communication network that also includes a server layer. Such methods include receiving, at a client physical network controller (PNC), an indication of at least one characteristic associated with one or more paths between server network nodes in the server layer. The indication is received from a multi-domain service controller (MDSC) in the multi-layer communication network, and the server layer is controlled by a server PNC. Such methods include, based on the at least one characteristic, computing one or more paths in the client layer that facilitate protection and/or restoration for the one or more paths in the server layer. Other embodiments include complementary methods performed by a MDSC, as well as client PNCs and MDSCs configured to perform such methods.

Control of multi-layer communication network

In one example aspect, a method is provided for tearing down a label switched path (LSP) through a communications network. The method comprises sending a first message towards an egress node of the LSP informing nodes of the LSP and the egress node of a tear down of the LSP, determining that one of the nodes of the LSP has not forwarded the first message along the LSP, and sending a second message to a controller of the communications network to cause the controller to communicate directly with one of the nodes to inform the one of the nodes of the tear down of the LSP.

Tearing down a label switched path through a communications network

A method and system for supporting roaming broadband services. The method is implemented by a computing device in a parent provider network of a user having a unique user identifier to enable the user to utilize services associated with a broadband access service contract of the user of the parent provider network in a visited location in the parent provider network or in a roaming provider network. The method includes receiving a registration request from the user, determining the unique user identifier for the user, determining services for the user based on the unique user identifier, determining whether the user is connected to a home customer premise equipment (CPE) in the parent provider network, and configuring services and resources at a local data center in the parent provider network, in response to the user being connected to the visited location in the parent provider network.

Method and system for enabling broadband roaming services

A method in a telecommunications network comprises acquiring values of one or more parameters relating to traffic flow between a first group of nodes in the network. The method further comprises using a first reinforcement learning agent to dynamically adjust a first routing metric used to route traffic through the first group of nodes, based on the values of the one or more parameters, so as to alter the traffic flow through the first group of nodes.

Methods in a telecommunications network

Methods and apparatus are provided for locating a fault in an optical communication link. In one aspect, a method comprises determining a fault in a first optical link, and determining a fault in a second optical link. The method then determines that a first portion of the first optical link is co-located with a second portion of the second optical link and identifies, as a result of determining that the first portion is co-located with the second portion, that the fault in the first optical link is located in the first portion and/or the fault in the second optical link is located in the second portion.

Locating a fault in an optical communication link

A path computation method involves receiving () a request for computation of a new path in the network, the request indicating a future time interval when the path is desired. Subsequently a future network status is generated (), having a representation of availability of path resources at the future time interval, based on selected paths already reserved at that future time interval. Then there is a step of computing () which of the path resources to select for the new path according to the future network status. By generating this future network status when the future time interval is known, it can be generated in respect of a limited time interval rather than covering all possible future reservable times. Thus the benefits of time aware path computation can be achieved without the need for maintaining a huge database of availability at all future times, of all the path resources.

Time aware path computation

It is disclosed a coordinator (), a physical network controller () and methods therein for enabling end-point mobility of a traffic engineering, TE, tunnel in a multi-domain network. Based on a request for virtual network configuration of one or both of the ingress and the egress end-points of the TE tunnel, the coordinator of a multi-domain network determines, Sa second request for virtualizing said one or both of the ingress and the egress end-points of the TE tunnel. The physical network controller may then virtualize end-points of the TE tunnel, providing a virtualized end-point, VEP, TE tunnel, having end-point mobility capacity. Recovery mechanisms of tunnel paths may be efficiently implemented. The present disclosure also provides scalability improvements and operational expenditure, OPEX, savings, as compared to state of art TE tunnels.

Methods and arrangements for end-point mobility of a traffic engineering tunnel of a multi-domain network

Methods for segment routing in a software-defined networking (SDN) system are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method includes receiving a plurality of values of maximum segment identifier (SID) depths, each from one network element of the SDN system, and identifying a path for a packet to transmit through a plurality of network elements, where a plurality of SIDs corresponding to the plurality of network elements is ordered to represent the path. The method further includes splitting the path into a plurality of sub-paths based on the values of the maximum SID depths of the plurality of network elements, where each network element, for the path, is allocated to process a number of ordered SIDs, and where the number is within the network element's maximum SID depth, and causing packet forwarding of the packet along the plurality of sub-paths based on SIDs allocated to the network elements.

Segment routing based on maximum segment identifier depth

A method for routing packet traffic through a network comprising a plurality of network nodes supporting RSVP-TE protocol and Segment Routing protocol. Each of the two protocols is associated with a separate set of labels, the method comprises calculating () a path through the network; checking support () for both protocols at nodes along the calculated path and encoding () the calculated path as a set of Adjacency Segment Identifiers. The method also comprises optimising () a label stack of the calculated path by substituting more than one adjacency SIDs with a node SID if a partial path identified by the substituted adjacency SIDs equals a shortest path. If all nodes along the calculated path support label stack depth equal to or deeper than the optimised label stack () then segment routing is used to set up the path. If a node along the calculated path does not support a label stack depth equal to or deeper than the depth of the optimised label stack () then an Explicit Route Object is used for signalling the calculated path using RSVP-TE ().

Method and apparatus for segment routing and RSVP-TE routing in transport SDN networks

Distributed management of analytics tasks in a programmable network () having a controller (SDNC,), a plurality of network nodes (, N1-N5) coupled to the controller by a Data Communications Network DCN, and a plurality of analytics servers () each coupled to a network node, involves the controller selecting which of the analytics servers to use for an analytics task. The selection is based on how data logged by respective ones of the network nodes and needed for that analytics task, can be routed to the analytics servers. The controller sends to the selected analytics server, an indication of the analytics task and an indication of what data logged by the network nodes is to be used in the analytics task.

Growing community of inventors

Genoa, Italy

Daniele Ceccarelli