Data Plane Circuit Queue Congestion Detection

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing network congestion detection methods are inadequate as they rely on control plane processes and cannot rapidly detect congestion in real-time at data line rates, necessitating a robust data plane congestion identification and reporting mechanism.

Innovation Solution

Implementing a method within forwarding elements that includes a data plane circuit with ingress and egress pipelines and a switching circuit to detect queue congestion, generate reports, and send them to an external data collector, using duplication and encapsulation to preserve original message headers and reduce data payload, while using load balancing to select data collectors.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If control plane processes are used to detect queue congestion, then congestion detection can be implemented, but real-time detection capability deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecongestion detection capabilityVSAvoidreal-time detection speed

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSSpeed

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the congestion detection function by separating control plane processes from data plane operations. The data plane circuit independently performs congestion detection and generates reports, while the control plane handles routing and policy decisions. This segmentation enables real-time detection at data line rates without waiting for control plane processing cycles.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces an intermediary mechanism where the data plane circuit directly generates congestion reports and sends them to data collectors, bypassing the traditional control plane mediation. This intermediary approach allows congestion information to be propagated rapidly through the network without control plane involvement in the detection and reporting path.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Reliability

If data message duplication is used to send congestion reports, then reporting capability is improved, but data transmission volume increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecongestion reporting capabilityVSAvoiddata transmission volume

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts only the essential congestion information from the full data message by creating a simplified report structure. The congestion report contains only necessary fields such as queue identifier, congestion level, and timestamp, discarding unnecessary payload data. This extraction reduces transmission volume while maintaining reporting capability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent applies partial action by duplicating only the necessary portions of data messages for reporting purposes, rather than transmitting complete message copies. The data plane circuit selectively copies only the header and congestion-related fields, omitting the full payload, thus reducing the quantity of data transmitted while preserving essential reporting functionality.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #16Partial or excessive action

3Measurement precision

If original message headers are preserved during duplication, then message identification accuracy is improved, but data processing complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvemessage flow identification accuracyVSAvoiddata plane processing complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent uses copying to create a duplicate data message that replicates the original message headers and structure. This copying mechanism preserves message identification accuracy by maintaining the same header fields (source address, destination address, protocol information) while adding congestion report metadata. The copy operation is performed at the data plane level using efficient hardware or software replication techniques.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #26Copying

4Speed

If congestion detection operates at data line rates, then detection speed is improved, but processing resources required increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedetection speedVSAvoidprocessing resource consumption

Core Design Contradiction:

SpeedVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The patent merges the congestion detection function with the existing data plane forwarding processing pipeline. The data plane circuit performs both packet forwarding and congestion detection simultaneously using shared hardware resources such as TCAM tables, content addressable memory, and pipeline stages. This merging eliminates the need for separate dedicated detection processors, reducing overall resource consumption while maintaining data line rate detection speed.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Data Source

PatentUS11381504B2Identifying congestion in a network

Publication Date: 2022.07.05 INTEL CORP

AI summary

Some embodiments of the invention provide a method for reporting congestion in a network that includes several forwarding elements. In a data plane circuit of one of the forwarding elements, the method detects that a queue in the switching circuit of the data plane circuit is congested, while a particular data message is stored in the queue as it is being processed through the data plane circuit. In the data plane circuit, the method then generates a report regarding the detected queue congestion, and sends this report to a data collector external to the forwarding element. To send the report, the data plane circuit in some embodiments duplicates the particular data message, stores it in the duplicate data message information regarding the detected queue congestion, and sends the duplicate data message to the external data collector.