Power Aware Path Placement for Network Devices
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current network management techniques fail to account for power consumption when placing paths across networks, leading to unnecessary consumption of computing and networking resources during non-peak utilization times.
Innovation Solution
A network device determines a power group associating ports and processing components, uses a path placement strategy to compute paths, and disables unused components based on traffic load to conserve power.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the network operates with all ports and processing components active to ensure peak utilization capability, then network reliability and adaptability are improved, but power consumption increases unnecessarily during non-peak times
Solution Approach 1:
The network device dynamically adjusts the operational state of ports and processing components based on real-time traffic load conditions. During non-peak times, unused ports and processing components are disabled to reduce power consumption, while during peak times they are activated to maintain network reliability and performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the operational parameter (power state) of network components based on traffic load conditions. By monitoring traffic patterns and adjusting the power state of ports and processing components accordingly, the system optimizes the balance between reliability and energy consumption.
2Adaptability or versatility
If paths are placed to distribute traffic across multiple processing components, then network adaptability and fault tolerance are improved, but power consumption increases due to more components remaining active
Solution Approach 1:
The path placement strategy is dynamically adjusted based on current traffic conditions. The system computes paths that utilize available processing components while enabling the power savings feature to reduce the number of actively powered components, thereby balancing adaptability with energy efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the path placement parameters to optimize for power efficiency. By modifying how paths are computed and assigned, the system can achieve similar adaptability with fewer active processing components, thus reducing overall power consumption.
3Loss of energy
If unused ports and processing components are disabled to save power, then energy efficiency is improved, but network reliability may be compromised during sudden traffic increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary assessments of traffic patterns to identify truly unused ports and processing components before disabling them. By analyzing historical and real-time traffic data, the system ensures that components critical for handling sudden traffic increases are kept active, while only genuinely idle components are powered down.
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors network traffic and performance metrics, providing feedback to the path placement and power management algorithms. This feedback mechanism allows the system to quickly react to changing conditions and reactivate components if traffic patterns change, thus maintaining reliability while optimizing energy efficiency.
Data Source
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AI summary
A first network device may determine a power group associating a plurality of ports of the first network device with a processing component of the first network device, and may advertise the power group to a second network device. The first network device may utilize the power group with a path placement strategy to compute a path to the second network device, and may determine a traffic load associated with the first network device. The first network device may disable the plurality of ports and the processing component based on the path and the traffic load.