Flow Table Entry Importance Management for Packet Processing
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Solution Overview
Problem
In control and forwarding separation centralized systems, such as OpenFlow systems, the inability to add new flow table entries when all resources are in use leads to reduced reliability in packet processing, as the system cannot perform timely processing of new flows.
Innovation Solution
A method and device that determine the importance of flow table entries, allowing the network device to delete lower-importance entries and add new ones when no idle resources are available, ensuring timely processing of high-importance flows by prioritizing and managing flow table resources effectively.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the flow table is full and cannot accept new entries, then the existing flow table entries are preserved, but new flows cannot be processed timely, reducing packet processing reliability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a new parameter 'importance' for flow table entries, which allows the system to differentiate between critical and non-critical flows. By changing the parameter structure of flow table entries to include importance levels, the system can make informed decisions about which entries to evict when the flow table is full, thereby maintaining reliability for important flows while still adapting to new flows.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamic flow table management where the system can adaptively adjust which flow table entries to retain or evict based on current importance levels. The flow table is no longer a static structure but a dynamic one that can reconfigure itself by evicting lower-importance entries to accommodate new or higher-priority flows, thus maintaining both reliability and adaptability.
2Quantity of substance
If all flow table entry resources are in use, then resource utilization is maximized, but the system cannot add new flow table entries, causing reduction in packet processing reliability
Solution Approach 1:
By adding the 'importance' parameter to flow table entries, the system transforms the resource management approach from simple first-come-first-served to priority-based management. This parameter change enables the system to maintain a higher effective utilization of flow table resources by ensuring that critical flows always have entry availability, thus preventing reliability degradation even when the flow table is full.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts lower-importance flow table entries from the flow table when resources are needed for higher-importance flows. This selective removal mechanism ensures that critical flows are never blocked due to resource exhaustion, while still maintaining high overall resource utilization by keeping non-critical flows in the table when possible.
3Ease of operation
If the OpenFlow switch reports every first packet of a flow to the controller, then the controller can establish new flow table entries, but the controller becomes a bottleneck and processing timeliness is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-establishing flow table entries in the OpenFlow switch for common or anticipated flows before they are actually needed. The controller can proactively populate the flow table with important flow entries, so when packets arrive, the switch can immediately forward them without waiting for controller intervention, thus reducing processing time while maintaining ease of flow table management.
Solution Approach 2:
The OpenFlow switch is empowered to make autonomous decisions about flow table entry eviction based on importance levels, without requiring controller intervention for every new flow. This self-service capability allows the switch to independently manage its flow table by evicting lower-importance entries to make room for new or higher-priority flows, significantly reducing the bottleneck effect of the controller.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
AI summary
The present application provides a packet processing method, device and system. With the present application, timely processing can be performed on a received packet according to an added first flow table entry, so that the timely processing can be implemented for a flow whose importance is high, and the problem in the prior art that a forwarding device cannot add a new flow table entry to a flow table because all flow table entry resources are in use can be relieved, thereby improving the reliability of packet processing.