BGP Neighbor Selection for Shorter Paths to Target ASes
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) routing system provides an incomplete and biased view of the Internet topology due to its path attribute construction, limiting the accuracy of routing decisions and efficiency between Autonomous Systems (ASes).
Innovation Solution
A method and system to identify candidate ASes and determine their impact on connecting given network administrator ASes to target ASes, using RIB data to infer economic relationships and calculate distances, thereby reducing the average number of hops between them.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If BGP routers use traditional path attribute construction methods, then routing decisions can be made with available information, but the view of Internet topology remains incomplete and biased
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary analysis of BGP routing data to identify candidate ASes and their potential impacts before actual routing decisions are made. By pre-calculating the number of hops and identifying optimal connection paths, the system prepares routing information in advance, allowing routers to make more accurate topology assessments without losing critical path information.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces an intermediary analysis layer that processes BGP routing data between data collection and routing decision-making. This intermediary component calculates hop counts, identifies candidate ASes, and determines their impacts on routing paths, thereby completing the incomplete topology view and preventing information loss in the routing decision process.
2Adaptability or versatility
If BGP routers announce routes to all neighbors with full path attributes, then routing flexibility and policy implementation are improved, but the number of BGP messages and processing overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts only the essential path attribute information needed for routing decisions, specifically the number of hops and candidate AS identification, while separating out the detailed policy-based path attributes. This extraction allows routers to maintain routing flexibility through selective attribute propagation while reducing the overall complexity of BGP message processing by focusing on critical topology information.
3Measurement precision
If routers maintain comprehensive RIB data from all BGP neighbors, then routing decision accuracy is improved, but memory requirements and data processing time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system creates simplified copies of BGP routing data that contain only the essential topology information needed for accurate routing decisions, such as hop counts and candidate AS identifiers. Instead of maintaining complete RIB data from all neighbors, routers work with these condensed representations that preserve routing accuracy while significantly reducing memory requirements and data processing time.
Data Source
AI summary
The disclosed method and system increase routing efficiency by identifying a set of candidate Autonomous Systems (ASes) able to reduce average AS distances towards a set of target ASes. Starting from a list of Routing Information Base (RIB) snapshots and a set of target ASes, candidate ASes are ranked based on the gain they would provide in terms of AS distance if they were connected to the network administrator AS. A set of starting ASes may represent the ASes to which the administrator is already connected, and a set of forbidden ASes may represent the ASes to which the administrator does not want to connect. An exemplary web-based interface may show gains of candidate ASes, allowing the administrator to better understand how much an average AS distance toward the set of target ASes would improve.