Multicast Flow Reordering via Status Markers
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Dynamic load balancing in multicast data transmission within communication networks often results in multicast data packets arriving out of order at the egress node, particularly when flows are reassigned from one sublink to another, leading to ordering issues due to the lack of sequence numbers in un-arbitrated multicast traffic.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for multicast data traffic flow reordering that marks data packets with 'last,' 'new,' or 'in-order' status indicators, allowing the egress node to reorder packets based on these markings and manage a reorder queue to ensure correct ordering, even in the absence of sequence numbers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If dynamic load balancing is used to reassign multicast flows to new paths, then network resource utilization is improved, but packet ordering is deteriorated
Solution Approach 1:
The ingress node performs preliminary actions by marking packets with status indicators ('last', 'new', 'in-order') before packets are transmitted through different paths. This pre-marking enables the egress node to correctly reorder packets without requiring sequence numbers, thus maintaining packet ordering reliability while allowing dynamic load balancing to improve network resource utilization
Solution Approach 2:
Status indicator markings serve as an intermediary mechanism between the load balancing function and the packet delivery function. These markings carry ordering information through the network without adding complex sequence numbers, enabling the egress node to reconstruct proper packet order despite packets traversing different paths due to dynamic load balancing
2Reliability
If sequence numbers are added to multicast packets for reordering, then packet ordering is improved, but protocol overhead is increased
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using complex, persistent sequence numbers that require significant processing and storage resources, the invention uses simple status indicator markings that are lightweight and disposable. These markings are added to packets at the ingress node and processed at the egress node, providing packet ordering functionality with minimal overhead and without requiring complex state maintenance
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the parameter used for packet identification from traditional sequence numbers to status indicator markings. This parameter change reduces the complexity and overhead of packet ordering while maintaining the ability to correctly reorder packets at the egress node, as the status indicators provide sufficient information for reordering without the burden of full sequence number processing
Data Source
Figure 1~2A
Figure 2B
Figure 3
AI summary
An example system and method for multicast flow reordering in a network is provided and includes receiving a data packet at an egress of a node, the data packet associated with a descriptor including at least one parameter; determining the at least one parameter of the descriptor; and processing the data packet for reordering based on the determining of the at least on parameter of the descriptor.