Network Problem Detection via Flow Path Analysis
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Solution Overview
Problem
In networks with multiple end nodes and transit nodes, identifying and addressing communication problems across various paths is challenging due to varying performance levels, which can lead to inefficiencies and disruptions in data transmission.
Innovation Solution
End nodes monitor and report flow information, including endpoint and performance data, which is used by a system to estimate likely paths and identify common problem entities such as faulty links or nodes. This information allows the system to mitigate issues by adjusting traffic routing and reducing reliance on problematic entities.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If network monitoring and flow information collection is implemented, then network problem detection capability is improved, but system complexity and overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential flow information needed for problem detection (performance metrics, path data) from the complex network traffic, filtering out unnecessary details. This allows monitoring and analysis without capturing the entire network state, reducing complexity while maintaining detection capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The flow information collection mechanism serves multiple purposes: monitoring performance, identifying problematic entities, and enabling routing decisions. By making the monitoring system multi-functional, the patent reduces the need for separate specialized systems, thereby lowering overall complexity while improving detection capability.
2Reliability
If multiple flow paths are monitored to identify common problem entities, then network reliability is improved, but measurement and detection difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple flow monitoring measurements and merges the results to identify common problem entities. By aggregating data from different flows and paths, the system can detect issues that would be invisible in individual measurements, making detection easier while improving reliability assessment.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses performance information from monitored flows as feedback to identify problematic network entities. This feedback mechanism allows the system to automatically detect and report issues without complex manual measurement procedures, reducing detection difficulty while maintaining high reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
The detection of network communication problems in networks that have multiple end nodes, and multiple transit nodes in between. One or more of the end nodes monitors one or more flows, creates associated flow information including performance information for each flow, and then reports the flow information. A system then estimates, for each of multiple flows within the network, a likely path that network traffic takes through that network. The system might then use performance information for each of the reported flows to identify at least one candidate problem network entity that is common amongst the estimated paths of the at least the subset of the plurality of flows.