Best Path Controller Offload for Custom Network Route Selection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing routing protocols like BGP are standardized and lack customizability, leading to issues such as routing table growth, unreliable routes, and increased load due to frequent route changes, which are exacerbated in software-defined networks.
Innovation Solution
Offload best path decision-making to an external entity, referred to as a Best Path Controller (BPC), which can implement a custom algorithm for determining optimal paths across networks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If path computation is performed using traditional software-based methods in network devices, then path computation can be performed, but the network devices experience high computational overhead and increased processing time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the path computation function from traditional network devices and relocates it to a separate hardware accelerator or external computing system. This separation removes the computational burden from network devices while maintaining path computation capability, directly resolving the contradiction between computation speed and device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a hardware accelerator or external computing system as an intermediary component that handles path computation tasks. This intermediary absorbs the computational overhead from network devices and provides accelerated path computation, resolving the contradiction by acting as a dedicated processing mediator.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple protocol formats are supported in network devices, then network compatibility is improved, but device complexity and resource consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts protocol conversion and format handling functions from the core network device and relocates them to external components or dedicated processing units. This extraction maintains multi-protocol compatibility while reducing the complexity burden on the main network device.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the network device functionality by separating protocol handling tasks from core routing functions. Different protocol formats are processed by dedicated modules or external systems, allowing multi-protocol support without uniformly increasing overall device complexity.
3Reliability
If network devices perform extensive path computation and protocol handling, then routing functionality is complete, but processing time and computational resources are excessive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces software-based path computation and protocol handling with hardware-accelerated processing. This substitution maintains complete routing functionality while dramatically reducing processing time by leveraging dedicated hardware resources instead of general-purpose software processing.
Data Source
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AI summary
Systems, methods, and devices for offloading best path computations in a networked computing environment. A method includes storing in memory, by a best path controller, a listing of a plurality of paths learnt by a device, wherein each of the plurality of paths is a route for transmitting data from the device to a destination device. The method includes receiving, by the best path controller, a message from the device. The method includes processing, by the best path controller, a best path computation to identify one or more best paths based on the message such that processing of the best path computation is offloaded from the device to the best path controller. The method includes sending the one or more best paths to the device.