Interdomain Network Redundancy Pooling for Fast Rerouting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing IP networks face challenges in achieving redundancy at a reasonable cost to enhance network reliability, particularly in mission-critical applications, as restoration techniques have slow response times and require significant investments.
Innovation Solution
The system pools resources from multiple networks for mutual backup, employing interdomain redundancies and a control module to provide bypass paths using Border Gateway Protocol messages, traffic engineering, and mixed integer programming to optimize data routing and rerouting.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If restoration techniques are used in the IP layer for rerouting data under potential failures, then network reliability is improved, but response time becomes slow and cannot meet mission-critical application requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements pre-computed rerouting paths and fast rerouting mechanisms that prepare alternative paths in advance before failures occur. The system maintains multiple potential paths and pre-calculates rerouting decisions, enabling immediate action when failures are detected without waiting for complex restoration processes to complete.
2Productivity
If path protection with alternate paths computed for each source is implemented, then rerouting performance is improved by avoiding bottlenecks, but network complexity and cost increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple networks together to create a unified redundancy system where networks share backup resources. Instead of each network independently computing and maintaining separate alternate paths, the system combines path computation and backup resources across multiple networks, reducing overall complexity while maintaining performance benefits.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a universal backup system where networks serve multiple functions: they provide primary routing services normally and simultaneously serve as backup paths for other networks. This multi-functionality allows a single network infrastructure to fulfill both primary and backup roles, reducing the need for dedicated separate backup paths.
3Reliability
If redundancy is added to IP networks to enhance reliability, then failure processing capability is improved, but cost increases due to over-provisioning and rights-of-way expenses
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines backup resources across multiple networks, allowing networks to share redundancy capabilities. Instead of each network independently provisioning and maintaining separate backup infrastructure, the system merges backup resources so that Network A's backup capacity can serve Network B and vice versa, significantly reducing total cost while maintaining enhanced failure processing capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables networks to perform multiple functions with the same infrastructure: carrying primary traffic during normal operation and providing backup paths when failures occur. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for dedicated separate backup infrastructure, reducing over-provisioning costs while still achieving enhanced reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and techniques to increase the redundancy (i.e., physical diversity and bandwidth) available to an IP network, thereby increasing the failure processing capability of IP networks. The techniques include pooling the resources of multiple networks together for mutual backup purposes to improve network reliability and employing methods to efficiently utilize both the intradomain and the interdomain redundancies provided by networks at low cost.