Ingress Router Single-Stage IP and Ethernet Forwarding
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing MPLS-based virtual lease lines and transparent tunneling mechanisms require two-step processes and external network communications to provide IP connectivity to remote Ethernet hosts, necessitating IP routing decisions at the ingress and far ends, which is inefficient and complex.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a single forwarding stage at the ingress provider edge router to determine both the IP next hop and pseudo-wire next hop, allowing for dynamic convergence and encapsulation of Ethernet frames with MPLS labels, eliminating the need for separate routing decisions at the far end.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a two-step routing process is used with external network communication between routing decisions, then IP connectivity to remote Ethernet hosts can be provided, but device complexity and processing time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the IP routing decision and Ethernet encapsulation decision into a single integrated forwarding process at the ingress provider edge router. Instead of having separate routing decisions made at different devices or stages, the forwarding information base (FIB) is enhanced to include both IP next-hop information and Ethernet destination MAC address information, allowing both decisions to be made simultaneously in one lookup operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary action by pre-computing and storing both IP routing and Ethernet encapsulation information together in the enhanced FIB before forwarding is needed. The FIB entries are populated with complete forwarding information including IP next-hop, Ethernet destination MAC, and VLAN ID, so that when a packet arrives, the router can immediately forward without needing to make sequential decisions or communicate with external systems.
2Reliability
If routing decisions are made at both ingress and far end, then IP connectivity is provided, but processing time and network latency increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple routing decisions into a single forwarding stage at the ingress provider edge router. The enhanced FIB enables the router to determine both the IP next-hop and the Ethernet destination MAC address in one lookup operation, eliminating the need for a second routing decision at the far end device and reducing overall processing time.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs all necessary routing decisions in advance by pre-populating the enhanced FIB with complete forwarding information. This includes determining the IP next-hop, the corresponding Ethernet destination MAC address, and VLAN ID before any packet arrives. When forwarding occurs, the router simply performs a single table lookup and forwards the packet immediately without needing to make additional routing decisions later.
3Measurement precision
If separate routing processes are used for IP next-hop and Ethernet encapsulation, then routing accuracy is maintained, but forwarding efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges separate routing processes into a single integrated forwarding process while maintaining routing accuracy. The enhanced FIB structure preserves the precision of separate routing decisions by storing detailed information including IP next-hop, Ethernet destination MAC address, and VLAN ID, but allows all this information to be determined simultaneously through one unified lookup operation rather than requiring separate processing steps.
Data Source
AI summary
Ethernet VLL spoke termination at an IP interface is disclosed. A packet including an address associated with a remote host is received at an interface. A routing next hop information required to route the packet to the remote host at a far end of a pseudo-wire via which connectivity to the remote host is provided and an intermediate next hop information required to send the packet to the far end via the pseudo-wire are determined in a single forwarding stage, based at least in part on the interface and the address.