Network Flooding Topology Encoding with Critical-Link Backup Paths

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current network communication systems face inefficiencies in flooding topology representation, leading to large signaling overhead and slow convergence due to inefficient encoding of link state advertisements, which do not account for critical failures and links.

Innovation Solution

A network system that computes and encodes flooding topologies using compact node indexes and encoded node sizes, along with backup paths for critical links, to minimize flooding and ensure reliable communication.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Loss of information

If the flooding topology is represented by encoding all links between nodes, then the topology information is complete, but the signaling overhead becomes very large

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvetopology information completenessVSAvoidsignaling overhead
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of informationVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts only the critical links and nodes from the complete flooding topology that are necessary for reliable communication. Instead of flooding all topology information, the system identifies and extracts the minimal subset of links that must be maintained for network reliability, thereby reducing signaling overhead while preserving essential topology information.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent segments the flooding topology into critical and non-critical components. By dividing the topology information into segments, the system can selectively flood only the critical segments that impact network reliability, rather than transmitting the entire topology structure, thus reducing the quantity of flooded information.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

2Quantity of substance

If the flooding topology size is reduced through encoding, then the signaling overhead decreases, but the representation of critical failures and links becomes insufficient

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveflooding topology sizeVSAvoidcritical failure representation
Core Design Contradiction:
Quantity of substanceVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies local quality by differentiating between critical and non-critical topology elements. The encoding scheme assigns special treatment to critical links and nodes, ensuring they are properly represented and monitored. This localized enhancement ensures that reliability is maintained for critical components while allowing compression for non-critical parts.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The system performs preliminary identification of critical links and nodes before the flooding process. By pre-marking critical topology elements, the encoding mechanism can ensure their proper representation in the reduced topology information, preventing loss of critical failure representation while achieving overall size reduction.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

3Device complexity

If traditional encoding schemes are used for flooding topology, then the implementation is simple, but the convergence speed is slow

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveencoding implementation complexityVSAvoidconvergence speed
Core Design Contradiction:
Device complexityVSSpeed

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces dynamic elements to the encoding process by adapting the topology representation based on network conditions and criticality. The encoding scheme dynamically adjusts which links and nodes are represented in the flooded information, enabling faster convergence by prioritizing critical changes while maintaining manageable implementation complexity through structured rules.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

Data Source

PatentEP3837812B1System and method to reduce flooding topology size
Publication Date: 2025.08.13 HUAWEI TECH CO LTD
  • EP3837812B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3837812B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3837812B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

The disclosure relates to path computation and setup of one or more nodes in a network. Connectivity information is received at a local node of the nodes in the network, and a processor of the local node computes a flooding topology based on the received connectivity information, where the flooding topology is represented by links between nodes in the network. The links are encoded between the local node and remote nodes and between remote nodes on the flooding topology, and a link state message is flooded to the remote nodes from the local node in the network, where the link state message includes each of the encoded links in the flooding topology.