Method for intelligent multi-hop overlay routing

Abstract

Systems and methods are presented herewith for selecting a preferred route for routing a packet from a first network node to a second network node. A set of possible routes is maintained, with each route having am associated weight value. A random subset of routes is then selected based on the weight values. Each route of the subset is then probed to determine its gain value. The preferred route is selected based on the gain values (e.g., by selecting the highest gain value). Then, all weight values are updated based on the respective gain values. The steps are periodically repeated. Then, whenever a packet needs to be routed, the route currently designated as preferred is used.

Description

Background technique [0001] Network devices (or network nodes) connected by software-defined networking in a wide area network (SD-WAN) are often unable to identify the optimal path for routing packets from one network node to another. Typically, the route with the shortest number of hops (ie, the route that will traverse the fewest number of network nodes) is chosen. However, the route that will traverse the least number of nodes is often not the route with the least delay or the greatest bandwidth. For example, latency can be affected by a blackout or loss of power at some point in the network. In such cases, routing based on shortest hops is very inefficient. Contents of the invention [0002] Therefore, there is a need for a technique for selecting a preferred (eg, best) route for a packet based on actual network conditions. In some embodiments, the routing system may attempt to maintain an up-to-date table of delays and bandwidths for each possible route. However, p...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

In such cases, routing based on shortest hops is very inefficient

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