Autonomous System Path Extension for Ingress Router Saturation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for addressing ingress router saturation in transit networks are inefficient due to the complexity of choosing prefixes that can lead to new saturations, making it difficult to rebalance load effectively.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that optimize the extension of paths associated with prefixes on target routers within an autonomous system by minimizing the number of routers to reconfigure, ensuring traffic remains below saturation thresholds and is routed through geographically closer ingress points, using an integer linear program to determine the optimal configuration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the path associated with a prefix is extended on an ingress router to rebalance load, then the saturation on that router is reduced, but the complexity of choosing which prefixes to extend increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the approach from manually selecting prefixes to automatically determining them through optimization. By formulating the prefix selection as an optimization problem with objective functions and constraints, the system automatically identifies which prefixes to extend their paths, eliminating the complexity of manual selection while achieving load balancing and saturation prevention.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs self-optimization by automatically determining the optimal prefixes and target routers without external intervention. The optimization unit autonomously analyzes traffic patterns, identifies saturation risks, and selects the best routing adjustments, making the system self-managing and reducing operational complexity.
2Productivity
If multiple prefixes are extended to redistribute traffic, then load balancing improves, but the risk of causing new saturations elsewhere increases
Solution Approach 1:
The optimization system incorporates feedback mechanisms by continuously monitoring traffic patterns and saturation levels. The constraints in the optimization problem reflect current network conditions, allowing the system to adjust prefix selections based on real-time feedback to avoid creating new saturation points while achieving effective load balancing.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary analysis of traffic patterns and potential saturation risks before executing routing changes. By predicting which prefixes might cause new saturations and preemptively adjusting the optimization constraints, the system prevents new saturation points from forming while redistributing existing load.
3Ease of operation
If the AS Path attribute is modified for multiple prefixes, then traffic routing improves, but the number of reconfigurations required increases
Solution Approach 1:
The optimization system identifies the minimal set of prefixes that need their paths extended to achieve effective load balancing. By selecting only the necessary prefixes rather than modifying all possible prefixes, the system reduces the number of reconfigurations required while still achieving the desired routing effectiveness.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for configuring a first autonomous system in a transit network is described. The method includes obtaining information according to which the traffic received by an ingress router of the first autonomous system is saturated, and determining a prefix of a destination subnet of a third autonomous system downstream of the first autonomous system. The method also includes extending the path associated with the prefix on at least one target router of the first autonomous system, the prefix and the at least one target router being determined by optimizing an objective function so that the path associated with the prefix must be extended for all the ingress routers of the first autonomous system which are geographically closer to the saturated router than the target router.