OSPF Router Link State Request Suppression
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Solution Overview
Problem
In OSPF-compliant computer networks, the existing link-state request mechanism leads to unnecessary traffic and high control packet overhead, especially in wireless environments like mobile ad hoc networks, due to duplicate requests and retransmissions, resulting in poor routing convergence and increased bandwidth usage.
Innovation Solution
The solution suppresses duplicate link state requests by ensuring that requests are only sent for LSAs not already requested from neighboring routers, and implements a failsafe mechanism to retry requests to other neighbors if the initial neighbor does not respond, using a round-robin scheme to manage retransmissions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a router requests link state advertisements from multiple neighboring routers simultaneously, then the router ensures complete link state information, but duplicate requests and updates increase control traffic overhead
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple link state request operations into a single coordinated request mechanism. When a router needs link state information, it requests from one neighboring router and suppresses duplicate requests to other neighbors, combining what would be multiple separate transactions into one efficient operation while maintaining complete information acquisition.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements preliminary suppression of duplicate link state requests before they are sent. By preemptively identifying and blocking redundant requests based on previously sent requests, the system prevents unnecessary control traffic from being generated in the first place, rather than having to handle and suppress duplicates after transmission.
2Reliability
If link state requests are sent to multiple neighbors simultaneously, then the router increases probability of receiving updates, but packet loss in wireless environments causes retransmissions and higher overhead
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a request suppression mechanism as an intermediary layer between the routing logic and actual packet transmission. This intermediary monitors which link state requests have been sent and prevents duplicate requests from being transmitted, thereby reducing the number of packets subject to loss and retransmission in wireless environments.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts and removes duplicate link state requests from the transmission queue before they can be sent over the wireless medium. By taking out redundant requests that would inevitably lead to duplicate updates and retransmissions, the system eliminates the root cause of excessive energy consumption from retransmissions.
3Quantity of substance
If duplicate link state requests are suppressed, then control traffic overhead is reduced, but routing convergence may be delayed if requests are not sent to all neighbors
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary identification of redundant requests by tracking which link state advertisements have been requested. This advance knowledge allows the system to suppress duplicates without delay while ensuring that non-redundant requests are still sent promptly, maintaining convergence speed without the overhead of duplicates.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the router tracks which link state requests have been sent to which neighbors. This feedback information is used to intelligently suppress duplicate requests while ensuring that necessary requests are transmitted, optimizing the balance between traffic reduction and convergence speed.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of administering a plurality of routers in a computer network, comprising initializing a router in the plurality; receiving initial database description packets from at least first and second neighboring routers; processing the data description packet received from the first neighboring router; generating a request for link state advertisements from the first neighboring router; processing the database description packet received from the second neighboring router; if requesting link state advertisements from the second neighboring router that were not requested from the first neighboring router.