Mutually Disjoint Link Groups for Network Failure Independence
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
In multilayer networks, existing methods struggle to ensure that working links and their corresponding protecting links are independent of each other, making it impossible for a single network failure to bring down both links, as the location of failures is unpredictable.
Innovation Solution
The method calculates and configures mutually disjoint paths for connections in the client layer, using a server layer to provision links that belong to the same predetermined mutually disjoint link group (MDLG), ensuring that new links are added to the client layer topology while maintaining path disjointness from existing links, and advertising these links to recognize failure-independent links that can protect each other.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If network over-provisioning is used to protect services against network failures, then service reliability is improved, but network complexity and resource consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The network links are segmented into predetermined mutually disjoint link groups (MDLGs), where each group contains links that are guaranteed to be independent of each other. This segmentation allows the network to identify and utilize failure-independent paths without requiring complete over-provisioning of all possible failure scenarios, thereby reducing complexity while maintaining reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent pre-calculates and stores mutually disjoint link groups before actual failures occur. When a failure is detected, the system can immediately switch to a pre-identified independent path without performing complex real-time calculations. This preliminary action reduces the computational burden during failure events and simplifies the overall network management.
2Reliability
If working links and protecting links are selected to be independent, then protection effectiveness is improved, but path calculation complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs path calculation and identifies mutually disjoint link groups in advance, before actual service deployment or failure events. These pre-calculated groups are stored and can be quickly referenced when needed. This eliminates the need for complex real-time path calculations during failure events, reducing computational complexity while ensuring failure independence.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of requiring complete global path independence for all network links, the patent applies local quality by creating predetermined MDLGs that ensure independence within specific link groups. This localized approach to independence reduces the overall computational burden compared to enforcing global independence across the entire network, while still providing adequate protection for individual service paths.
3Productivity
If new links are added to client layer topology, then network capacity is improved, but maintaining path disjointness becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
Before adding new links to the client layer topology, the system pre-calculates their compatibility with existing mutually disjoint link groups. This preliminary check ensures that new links can be integrated without disrupting the failure independence properties of existing paths. By performing this validation in advance, the system avoids complex reconfiguration operations and maintains path disjointness more easily as the network grows.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and apparatus for providing network failure independent links in a multilayer network comprising a client layer and a server layer, wherein each link of said client layer is served by a connection provisioned in said server layer, wherein mutually disjoint paths for said connections which serve links in said client layer that belong to the same predetermined mutually disjoint link group are calculated.