Map Tables for Hardware Table Management in SDN
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Solution Overview
Problem
In software-defined networks (SDN), the fixed set of hardware tables restricts the ability to optimize the flow pipeline, limiting adaptability to specific requirements of controllers and applications, as they are restricted in using hardware tables and managing the flow pipeline effectively.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a map table that allocates and manages hardware tables, allowing for dynamic allocation, rearrangement, and deallocation of resources, enabling flexible management of the flow pipeline by maintaining references to other hardware tables and facilitating maintenance requests such as adding, removing, or modifying tables, thereby optimizing the flow pipeline.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a fixed set of hardware tables is used, then the hardware structure is simple and reliable, but the adaptability to optimize the flow pipeline is restricted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a map table as an intermediary layer between the fixed hardware tables and the logical flow tables. The map table stores entries that reference hardware tables, allowing flexible mapping and rearrangement without changing the underlying hardware structure. This mediator enables adaptability while maintaining hardware simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamic management of hardware tables through the map table, which allows entries to be added, removed, rearranged, and modified. The flow pipeline can be dynamically reconfigured by changing the order or presence of map table entries, providing adaptability without requiring physical hardware changes.
2Stability of the object's composition
If hardware tables are fixed and cannot be rearranged, then the hardware structure remains stable, but the ability to maintain optimal flow pipeline order is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The map table serves as a stable intermediary layer that provides a consistent interface for flow pipeline management. While the hardware tables remain stable and fixed, the map table can dynamically reference and rearrange them, maintaining stability at the hardware level while enabling adaptability at the logical level.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the flow pipeline management into two independent parts: the fixed hardware tables (stable layer) and the flexible map table (control layer). This segmentation allows the hardware structure to remain stable while the map table provides dynamic rearrangement capabilities for optimization.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the number of hardware tables is fixed, then the hardware resource allocation is simple, but the flexibility to allocate resources according to changing requirements is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables dynamic resource allocation by allowing the map table to dynamically add, remove, and rearrange entries. The number of active hardware tables can be flexibly adjusted according to changing requirements without modifying the physical hardware, as the map table can dynamically map logical tables to available hardware resources.
Solution Approach 2:
The map table provides multi-functional capabilities: it acts as a lookup table, a rearrangement mechanism, and a dynamic allocation manager. This universal structure enables flexible resource allocation for different flow pipeline requirements using the same hardware tables, reducing the need for dedicated hardware for each function.
4Productivity
If complex entry changes are made in hardware tables, then the flow pipeline can be fully optimized, but the complexity of maintaining hardware table entries increases
Solution Approach 1:
The map table acts as an intermediary that simplifies flow pipeline maintenance. Instead of directly modifying complex hardware table entries, the system updates the map table entries, which then reflect the changes in the hardware tables. This mediator reduces the complexity of maintenance operations while maintaining full optimization capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The map table creates a logical copy or view of the hardware tables, allowing flexible manipulation and rearrangement of entries without directly modifying the hardware structure. This copying approach enables efficient maintenance and optimization by working with the logical representation rather than the physical hardware directly.
Data Source
AI summary
In one implementation, a system for maintaining a flow pipeline includes a logical table interface engine to expose an interface to receive a maintenance request regarding a flow pipeline of a network element, a map engine to maintain an entry in a first hardware table based on an action of the maintenance request associated with a logical flow table, and a hardware table engine to maintain the second hardware table of the network element based on the entry in the first hardware table.