The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 10, 2018
Filed:
Nov. 13, 2014
Futurewei Technologies, Inc., Plano, TX (US);
Sam Aldrin, Santa Clara, CA (US);
FUTUREWEI TECHNOLOGIES, INC., Plano, TX (US);
Abstract
Techniques for mapping a topology of a chain of network service functions on a computer network are described. A request packet is sent to an ingress service function on the network. The request packet is encapsulated with a network service header, which identifies the packet as an OAM packet, and an OAM payload. Where the packet is received by a service function that is not an egress service function, the request packet is forwarded to the next service function hop in the chain. Where the packet is an egress service function, the request packet is returned to the discovery source. A service path is constructed based on the metadata in the OAM payload describing the identified the service functions. This technique can be applied to multiple connected chains to provide a complete mapping of the network topography.