Multicast Source Discovery via Loopback Addresses
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
In EVPN deployments with all-active multi-homing and layer 2 stretching, multicast traffic flows are inefficiently managed, leading to potential traffic loss due to unknown multicast source flow hashing and incorrect routing, resulting in computational resource wastage as multicast traffic is bridged or flooded across multiple provider edge routers.
Innovation Solution
The method involves using loopback addresses of provider edge routers in multicast routing messages to control multicast traffic flows within the multicast core network, allowing precise routing without replicating traffic across all edge routers, thereby reducing computational resource usage and ensuring accurate multicast flow establishment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If provider edge routers are synchronized by distributing multicast traffic across redundancy groups, then multicast traffic flow reliability is improved, but computational resource consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the loopback address information from the provider edge router and embeds it in the multicast routing message. This allows the multicast source to independently identify the correct provider edge router without requiring traffic distribution across all routers in the redundancy group, thereby reducing the computational overhead of synchronizing multicast traffic while maintaining flow reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary action by pre-configuring loopback addresses on provider edge routers and embedding these addresses in multicast routing messages before traffic flows are established. This allows the multicast source to proactively identify the correct provider edge router, eliminating the need for runtime traffic distribution and synchronization across redundancy groups.
2Reliability
If provider edge routers are synchronized by flooding multicast traffic across layer 2 stretches, then multicast traffic flow reliability is improved, but computational resource consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the loopback address from the provider edge router and includes it in the multicast routing message. This enables the multicast source to directly identify and send traffic to the correct provider edge router across layer 2 stretches without flooding traffic to all routers, thereby reducing computational resource consumption while maintaining reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary action by pre-configuring loopback addresses and embedding them in routing messages before traffic flows are established. This allows the multicast source to proactively route traffic to the correct provider edge router, eliminating the need for reactive traffic flooding across layer 2 stretches.
3Device complexity
If multicast routing messages do not include provider edge router identification, then message simplicity is maintained, but multicast traffic routing precision deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces the loopback address as an intermediary element in the multicast routing message. This loopback address serves as a unique identifier for the provider edge router, enabling precise routing without significantly increasing message complexity. The loopback address acts as a mediator between the multicast source and the target provider edge router.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the routing message parameter by including the loopback address field. This additional parameter provides precise identification of the target provider edge router, enabling accurate routing decisions while maintaining relatively simple message structure through standardized field formatting.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems, methods, and computer-readable media for controlling multicast traffic flows through provider edge routers. In some examples, a multicast traffic of one or more multicast traffic flows is received from a multicast source at a first provider edge router of a plurality of provider edge routers. A multicast routing message including a loopback address of the first provider edge router can be originated at the first provider edge router. The multicast routing message can be flooded into a multicast core network for controlling traffic in the one or more multicast flows through the multicast core network to the first provider edge router. Subsequently, multicast joins can be received at the first provider edge router for establishing the one or more multicast flows through the multicast core network based on the multicast routing message including the loopback address of the first provider edge router.