Flow-Aware Pseudowire Label Stack for VPLS Flow Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current network technologies, such as IP and MPLS networks, face challenges in efficiently differentiating and managing large and small flows within Virtual Private Local Area Networks (VPLS) across wide area networks, particularly in using flow labels to optimize data transport over multiple paths.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a system that allows provider edges (PEs) to establish Virtual Private Local Area Network (VPLS) services using either flow-aware or flow-unaware pseudowires, enabling the exchange of flow label indications to manage flow labels within the label stack, thereby configuring a mesh topology across multiple PE pairs to emulate a LAN across a wide area network.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If flow labels are used in VPLS to differentiate large and small flows, then flow management capability is improved, but protocol compatibility and system complexity worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces flow labels as intermediary elements that are inserted into the data stream between provider edge devices. These flow labels act as mediators that enable flow differentiation and management without requiring fundamental changes to the underlying VPLS protocol, thus improving flow management capability while controlling system complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The flow labels are nested within the existing VPLS data structure, specifically embedded in the Ethernet frame or MPLS header. This nesting approach allows flow information to be carried within the existing protocol framework without adding external complexity, enabling flow differentiation while maintaining protocol compatibility
2Measurement precision
If flow aware pseudowires are deployed across all PE pairs, then flow differentiation is improved, but network complexity and configuration overhead worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables flow awareness to be applied locally and selectively at specific PE device pairs where it is needed, rather than uniformly across the entire VPLS network. Each PE can independently determine whether to insert flow labels based on local traffic characteristics and requirements, improving flow differentiation where necessary while avoiding unnecessary complexity elsewhere
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts the use of flow aware pseudowires based on traffic conditions and requirements. Flow labels are inserted adaptively when large flows need differentiation, and can be omitted when not needed, allowing the network to transition between flow-aware and flow-unaware modes as conditions change, thus improving flow differentiation while controlling overall network complexity
Data Source
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AI summary
An apparatus comprising a provider edge (PE) coupled to a second PE and to a customer edge (CE) and configured to establish a Virtual Private Local Area Network (LAN) Service (VPLS) that is interconnected by either a flow aware pseudowire (PW) or a flow unaware PW and exchange a flow label indication with the second PE to enable using a flow label below a PW label on the label stack. Also disclosed is a network component comprising a processor configured to support a signaling protocol that indicates a capability to send, receive, or both a flow label over a PW configured for a Layer Two (Layer 2) Virtual Private Network (VPN), a transmitter configured to send a PW packet with a flow label to a peer network component, and a receiver configured to receive a PW packet either with a flow label or without a flow label.