Cisco Technology, Inc.

Huawei Technologies Co., Limited

Other

Future Wei Technologies, Inc.

Stewart Frederick Bryant

Ian Michael Charles Shand

Clarence Filsfils

Daniel C Frost

David Delano Ward

Stefano Benedetto Previdi

Carlos M Pignataro

George Swallow

Muthurajah Sivabalan

Gargi Nalawade

Nagendra Kumar Nainar

Keyur Patel

Haoyu Song

Robert Raszuk

Tianran Zhou

Andrew G Malis

Christian Cassar

Mike Shand

Kevin George Miles

Sami Boutros

Zhenbin Li

John Harper

John Galen Scudder

Jim Guichard

John William Evans

James Neil Guichard

Simon James Trevor Spraggs

Jean-Philippe Vasseur

Ijsbrand Wijnands

Rajiv Asati

David R Oran

Gregory J Shepherd

William Mark Townsley

Yi Yang

Alvaro E Retana

Anna Charny

Toerless Eckert

Russell Ivan White

Randall R Stewart

Rex Emmanuel Fernando

John H W Bettink

Bruce Stuart Davie

Peter Lei

Olivier Bonaventure

Mark L Hendrickson

Neale David Raymond Ranns

Priyank Ramesh Warkhede

Giles Douglas Yorke Heron

Pierre Jean Rene Francois

Thomas F Telkamp

Pierre Francois

Neil Jarvis

Dan Frost

Willem Maria Verrydt

Don R Heidrich

Kenneth A Patton

Michael J Seaman

Daniel Frost

Ian Michael Shand

Italo Busi

Jie Dong

Described herein are methods and devices (e.g., routers) that add in-network services to a multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) network. A method can include a router of the MPLS network receiving a packet and modifying the packet by adding one or more MPLS extension headers, adding a header of the extension header(s), and adding an indication within an MPLS label stack that one or more MPLS extension headers have been added to the packet. The method can also include the router forwarding the packet as modified to another router of the MPLS network. In certain embodiments, an extension header label (EHL) within a label value field of a label stack entry indicates that one or more MPLS extension headers have been added to the packet. In other embodiments, a forward equivalent class (FEC) indicates that one or more MPLS extension headers follow the MPLS label stack.

MPLS extension headers for in-network services

Described herein are methods and devices (e.g., routers) for performing segment routing over a multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) network. A method can include a router of the MPLS network receiving a packet, and the router modifying the packet by adding a segment routing header (SRH) type MPLS extension header. The SRH type MPLS extension header includes one or more segment identifiers (SIDs) that collectively provide a SID list for use in segment routing. The method further comprises the router copying one of the one or more SIDs in the SRH type MPLS extension header to a top of an MPLS label stack, and the router forwarding the packet as modified to another router of the MPLS network based on the one of the one or more SIDs included in a label stack entry at the top of the MPLS label stack.

Segment routing in MPLS network

A method for using metadata in an Internet Protocol (IP) packet is provided. A first processor at a first node sets a dedicated field of the IP packet to a predetermined value to indicate that metadata is present in the IP packet, and adds metadata to the IP packet by inserting the metadata between an original transport header of the IP packet and an original packet payload of the IP packet. A second processor at a second node receives the IP packet from the first node, reads the dedicated field to identify the predetermined value indicating that metadata is present in the IP packet, and identifies the metadata in the IP packet based on the predetermined value.

Method for using metadata in internet protocol packets

An apparatus and method is disclosed for segment routing (SR). In one embodiment, the method includes a node creating a segment stack that identifies one segment calculated using a first algorithm and a second segment calculated using a second, different algorithm. The node then attaches this header to a packet and sends it to another node.

Segment routing techniques

In one embodiment, a method includes identifying a change in network topology at a network device, transmitting a test packet from the network device to determine if an adjacent network device located in a backup path has converged following the network topology change, and updating a forwarding information base at the network device in response to the network topology change if a response to the test packet indicates that the adjacent network device has converged. An apparatus and logic are also disclosed herein.

Loop-free convergence in communication networks

Particular embodiments described herein provide for a communication system that can be configured to identify a system that includes network traffic, where at least a portion of the network traffic includes packets, at least a portion of the packets include a stack, and at least a portion of each stack includes one or more previously allocated labels. The communication system can further be configured to determine a synonymous label that triggers an action and to replace a label from the one of the one or more previously allocated labels in a specific stack of a specific packet with the synonymous label. In an example, the synonymous label can be used to identify a subset of packets in the network traffic or a source of the specific packet.

Synonymous labels

A method, communications processing device, and computer readable medium for MPLS segment routing are disclosed. One embodiment of the method comprises generating a first link-state packet comprising a first data structure. The first data structure maps a first portcode to a link connecting the first router within the network or to an additional router reachable from the first router. The method embodiment further includes receiving an incoming data packet encapsulated with a header comprising an incoming portcode stack having the first portcode as its uppermost portcode. The method embodiment further includes removing the first portcode from the incoming portcode stack to create an outgoing portcode stack for an outgoing data packet, and forwarding the outgoing data packet via a port, of the first router, identified by the first portcode.

MPLS segment routing

A method, network device, and computer readable medium are disclosed. In one embodiment of the method, a data packet is received at a node within a first segment routing enabled access network. The first access network is connected, via a first area edge node, to a first area of a subdivided segment routing enabled network, and a specified destination for the data packet is reachable via a second segment routing enabled access network connected to the subdivided network. The method embodiment further includes receiving from a centralized controller a remote segment identifier stack, where the remote segment identifier stack encodes a path extending from the first area edge node to the second access network. The embodiment of the method continues with encapsulating the data packet with a full segment identifier stack comprising the remote segment identifier stack, and forwarding the encapsulated data packet toward the first area edge node.

Seamless segment routing

A system and method are disclosed for generating segment routing (SR) segment lists. In one embodiment, a node receives information that identifies a path from a first node to a second node. Based on the received path, a set of segment identifiers that encodes the path is generated. A packet that is forwarded along the set of segment identifiers travels the received path.

Encoding explicit paths as segment routing segment lists

In one embodiment, a receiver device determines that it accepts flow entropy, and accordingly determines a set of entropy labels the receiver device is accepting. After transmitting the set of entropy labels from the receiver device to one or more sender devices, the receiver device may then receive packets from the one or more sender devices with selected particular entropy labels from the set of entropy labels. In another embodiment, a sender device receives from a receiver device a set of entropy labels the receiver device is accepting. As such, when determining a packet to forward to the receiver device with flow entropy, the sender device may select a particular entropy label from the set of entropy labels for that receiver device, and transmits the packet device to the receiver device with the selected particular entropy label.

Receiver-signaled entropy labels for traffic forwarding in a computer network

In one embodiment, micro-loops are avoided in ring topologies of packet switching devices by changing the order of propagation of link state information concerning failed communications between a particular packet switching device and a neighbor packet switching device. In one embodiment, the particular packet switching device communicates link state information of a high cost of the particular communications (e.g., in the direction from particular to neighbor packet switching devices) such that this link state information will propagate towards the particular packet switching device from at least from the furthest packet switching device in the ring topology that is currently configured to forward packets having a destination address of the neighbor packet switching device through the particular packet switching device.

Avoiding micro-loops in a ring topology of a network

In one embodiment, a method includes generating at a network device, a continuity test packet configured to pass through a set of communication paths terminating at the network device and at least one other network device located at an opposite end of the communication paths, transmitting at the network device the continuity test packet on a first communication path in the set of communication paths, and identifying at the network device a failure in the set of communication paths if the continuity test packet is not received on a last communication path in the set of communication paths. An apparatus and logic are also disclosed herein.

Scalable continuity test for a group of communication paths

MPLS segment routing is disclosed. In one embodiment, a first core router generates a first data structure that maps first portcodes to respective identities of first neighbor routers or respective first links, wherein the first portcodes identify respective first ports of the first core router, and wherein the first ports are coupled to the first neighbor routers, respectively, via the first links, respectively. The first core router generates and transmits a first link-state packet, wherein the first link-state packet comprises an identity of the first core router and the first data structure.

MPLS segment-routing

A method, apparatus, and computer readable medium are disclosed. In one embodiment of the method, a packet and a segment ID stack is received at a first segment routing enabled node. The segment ID stack includes a plurality of segment IDs, one or which is a first area-segment ID that identifies a first area of a subdivided segment routing network. An egress interface of the first segment routing enabled node is selected based on the first area-segment ID. Thereafter, the packet is forwarded via the selected egress interface.

Growing community of inventors

Merstham, United Kingdom

Stewart Frederick Bryant