Decentralized Network Configuration Agreement Protocol
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Solution Overview
Problem
Complex networks lack central authority control, making it challenging to maintain global configuration consistency for end-to-end services, and existing configuration methods are prone to errors and inconsistencies, leading to significant downtime and vulnerabilities.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a Configuration-Agreement Protocol (CAP) using total ordering guarantees of group communication protocols and the determinism of SAT/SMT solvers ensures decentralized network control while maintaining consistency, by encoding constraints on current and final static routes and solving them to compute a safe reconfiguration order, ensuring all controllers generate identical configurations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If decentralized network control is implemented without central authority, then network autonomy and flexibility are improved, but global configuration consistency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where controllers exchange configuration state information through a logical bus. Each controller reports its current configuration state, and receives updates from other controllers. This feedback loop enables decentralized controllers to maintain global consistency by knowing the current state of the entire network configuration, allowing them to coordinate changes without a central authority.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a logical bus as an intermediary communication channel between decentralized controllers. This intermediary enables controllers to exchange messages about configuration states and changes without requiring direct peer-to-peer coordination or a central controller. The logical bus mediates the information flow, allowing controllers to maintain consistency through shared knowledge of the network state.
2Productivity
If configuration changes are implemented quickly, then productivity and response time are improved, but configuration errors and inconsistencies increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by requiring controllers to propose configuration changes and receive acknowledgment from other controllers before actually applying the changes. The configuration proposal is exchanged and validated in advance through the logical bus, ensuring that all controllers agree on the new configuration state before implementation. This preliminary coordination prevents errors while enabling rapid execution once agreement is reached.
3Device complexity
If in-band configuration is used to reduce overhead, then device complexity is reduced, but connectivity loss risk increases during reconfiguration
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by computing the reconfiguration order in advance using reverse breadth-first search traversal. The system determines the safe sequence of configuration changes before implementation begins, ensuring that connectivity is maintained throughout the process. By planning the reconfiguration order beforehand, the system can execute changes quickly using in-band configuration without risking connectivity loss.
4Manufacturing precision
If SAT/SMT solvers are used to ensure configuration safety, then configuration accuracy is improved, but computational time and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies partial action by using SAT/SMT solvers selectively rather than for all configuration tasks. The solvers are used specifically for computing the reconfiguration order when connectivity constraints must be maintained, and for validating configuration proposals. For routine configuration changes that do not require complex constraint satisfaction, the system uses simpler validation mechanisms, reducing overall computational overhead while maintaining safety where critical.
Data Source
AI summary
A first controller in a distributed network obtains, concurrently with a second controller in the distributed network, a system requirement and a message from a logical bus. The first controller and the second controller are communicatively coupled to the logical bus, and the first controller is communicatively coupled to a first portion of the network components and the second controller is communicatively coupled to a second portion. A processor associated with the first controller solves, concurrently with the second controller, the system requirement and the solving includes applying a solver to generate new configurations of the network components. The new configurations generated by the first controller are identical to the new configurations generated by the second controller. The first controller extracts configurations relevant to the first portion of the network components and applies the configurations to the first portion of the network components.