Guaranteed First-Mile Connectivity for Teleworkers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Teleworkers often experience service interruptions and poor performance due to first-mile connectivity issues with their Internet Service Provider (ISP) when accessing cloud or enterprise networks, as existing solutions like SDWAN and SDCI do not guarantee service levels and may have disjointed WAN circuits, leading to unreliable connections.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a system that leverages incoming session-based first-mile information and cross-domain controller communication to dynamically create guaranteed first-mile connectivity and SDCI tunnels, allowing enterprises to establish agreements with ISPs for guaranteed service levels, ensuring continuous and reliable access to cloud or enterprise networks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If teleworkers use best-effort Internet connectivity to access cloud or enterprise networks, then device complexity and cost are reduced, but service reliability and performance are poor due to first-mile connectivity problems
Solution Approach 1:
An intermediary system comprising a gateway and network controller is introduced between the teleworker's best-effort Internet connection and the enterprise network. The gateway establishes guaranteed service level connections through the ISP while the network controller manages SLA agreements and dynamically provisions connections, thereby improving reliability without requiring complex changes at the teleworker's end device.
2Reliability
If multiple WAN circuits are used with SDWAN to provide redundancy, then service reliability is improved, but the WAN circuits may be disjointed and lack SLA guarantees, leading to unreliable connections
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple WAN circuits and disjointed network paths are merged into a unified guaranteed service connection through the gateway. The network controller consolidates SLA management across multiple ISPs and circuits, integrating them into a single reliable access path to the enterprise network, thereby improving both reliability and adaptability.
3Reliability
If guaranteed service levels are implemented through ISP agreements, then service reliability and performance are improved, but device complexity and SLA management overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The network controller implements self-service capabilities that automatically discover teleworker locations, identify appropriate ISPs, negotiate service levels, and provision guaranteed connections without manual intervention. The system autonomously manages SLA agreements, monitors performance, and dynamically adjusts connections, thereby reducing SLA management complexity while maintaining reliability guarantees.
4Productivity
If dynamic connection management is implemented to provide guaranteed service levels, then service performance and continuity are improved, but system complexity and control overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-establishing guaranteed service level agreements with ISPs and pre-provisioning network connections before teleworkers need them. The network controller proactively monitors connection quality and preemptively switches to alternative guaranteed paths if degradation is detected, thereby improving productivity without requiring complex real-time control during active teleworking sessions.
Data Source
AI summary
A device associated with an enterprise receives, from a user device, a message indicating that a user of the user device has requested a service level for accessing a service while performing teleworking activities for the enterprise. The user device accesses the service via a network that includes a portion controlled by an Internet Service Provider (ISP). The enterprise has established an agreement with the ISP indicating that the ISP is to provide service levels for users who are performing teleworking activities for the enterprise via the ISP. The ISP associated with the user device is identified based on the message. A request is transmitted to the ISP to provide the service level for the portion of the network that is controlled by the ISP and the ISP provides the service level for accessing the service based on the request.