Distributed Network Routing via Domain Controllers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current telecommunications networks face inefficiencies due to structural and operational complexities, particularly in routing control and information dissemination across large-scale networks with numerous nodes, where existing methods fail to optimize routing and link-state information distribution effectively.
Innovation Solution
A distributed control system where multiple network controllers, each managing a group of nodes, exchange link information to compute global routing tables and inverse routing tables, enabling efficient determination and ranking of end-to-end routes through a mesh structure and spectral router connections, facilitating adaptive routing and state transition management.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a network is divided into multiple domains with domain controllers, then routing control becomes manageable in large-scale networks, but the structural complexity and inefficiency increase due to the need for multiple controllers and domains
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the large-scale network into multiple domains, each managed by a domain controller. This segmentation allows routing control to be distributed and manageable, with each domain controller handling routing decisions for its specific domain while maintaining overall network connectivity through inter-domain routing protocols.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces domain controllers as intermediary entities between network nodes and the central routing authority. These domain controllers mediate routing decisions, managing local domain routing while coordinating with other domain controllers for inter-domain traffic, thereby reducing the burden on individual nodes and improving overall routing efficiency.
2Ease of operation
If source routing with stored route sets is used at each node, then routing decisions can be made locally, but the memory requirements and information storage complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the routing information storage function by introducing domain controllers that maintain route sets for their respective domains. Individual nodes only need to store minimal routing information for local decision-making, while comprehensive route sets are distributed and maintained by domain controllers, reducing memory requirements at each node.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the heavy routing information storage burden from individual nodes and centralizes it in domain controllers. Nodes extract only the essential routing decisions needed for local operation, while domain controllers maintain and manage the complete route sets, thereby reducing the quantity of information that must be stored at each node.
3Reliability
If traditional broadcasting of state-change information is used, then all nodes receive link state updates, but the information dissemination efficiency decreases and unnecessary processing occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements local quality in information dissemination by having domain controllers broadcast state-change information only to relevant domain controllers and affected nodes, rather than universally to all network nodes. This targeted approach maintains reliability of state information propagation while improving efficiency by reducing unnecessary broadcasts to nodes that do not need the updates.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the information dissemination process into domain-level broadcasts. When a link state changes, the affected domain controller broadcasts the update only within its domain and to neighboring domain controllers, rather than triggering network-wide broadcasts. This segmentation maintains reliable state information propagation while significantly improving dissemination efficiency.
4Reliability
If inverse routing tables are generated to identify routes traversing each link, then link state monitoring improves, but the computation complexity and processing overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the inverse routing table generation and maintenance function into domain-level operations. Each domain controller generates and maintains inverse routing information only for its local domain and relevant inter-domain routes, rather than computing complete network-wide inverse routing tables. This segmentation improves link state monitoring reliability within domains while reducing computation complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies partial action by having domain controllers compute and maintain inverse routing information only for routes that are relevant to their domain and neighboring domains, rather than computing complete inverse routing tables for all possible routes in the entire network. This partial computation maintains adequate link state monitoring capability while reducing processing overhead.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and a system for distributed computation of a routing table for a vast communication network are disclosed. The network nodes are arranged into multiple groups with each group associated with a respective network controller. A network controller of a group acquires characterizing information of links emanating from local nodes of the group, communicates the information to each other network controller, reciprocally receives characterizing information from other network controllers, and determines a generic route set from each local node to each other node of the network. The network controllers collectively determine an inverse routing table identifying all routes traversing each individual link in the entire network and exchange node or link state-transition information for updating individual route sets affected by any state transition. Thus, the processing effort of routes generation and tracking network-elements states is distributed among multiple coordinated network controllers.