Quasi-Stateful Load Balancing for Network Link Pinning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current load balancing techniques in communication networks face challenges such as uneven traffic distribution across links, leading to potential traffic loss on overloaded links, and scalability issues due to the need to maintain extensive state information for stateful load balancing, while stateless per-flow load balancing does not guarantee in-order delivery of packets.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of quasi-stateful load balancing, which uses stateless per-flow load balancing as a default method, creates temporary link pinning state entries for flows on overloaded links and remaps them to underutilized links based on bandwidth consumption, retaining permanent entries for remapped flows and deactivating temporary entries on default links, thereby reducing the number of state entries needed.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If stateful load balancing is used to maintain in-order delivery and even traffic distribution, then packet delivery reliability is improved, but device complexity increases due to extensive state information requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the state management by creating separate temporary link pinning state entries only for flows that need remapping, while maintaining stateless per-flow load balancing for other flows. This segmentation allows the system to maintain reliability where needed without managing extensive state information across all flows, thus reducing overall device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the state management function from the general load balancing process by introducing temporary link pinning state entries only when bandwidth conditions require remapping. This extraction allows the system to maintain packet delivery reliability for affected flows while avoiding the complexity of maintaining comprehensive state information for all flows continuously.
2Device complexity
If stateless per-flow load balancing is used to reduce state information, then device complexity is reduced, but traffic distribution uniformity deteriorates leading to potential traffic loss
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces dynamic temporary link pinning state entries that can be created and deactivated based on real-time bandwidth conditions. When a link's bandwidth exceeds a threshold, temporary state entries are created to remap flows to underutilized links, ensuring uniform traffic distribution. When conditions change, these entries are deactivated, allowing the system to adapt dynamically while maintaining simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter of link pinning state entry permanence based on bandwidth conditions. Temporary entries are created when bandwidth thresholds are exceeded and deactivated when conditions improve. This parameter change allows the system to maintain traffic distribution uniformity only when necessary, reducing overall complexity while preventing traffic loss.
3Stability of the object's composition
If link pinning state entries are retained permanently for all flows, then traffic distribution is optimized, but device complexity and memory usage increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses temporary link pinning state entries that are created only when needed and deactivated when conditions change. These temporary entries are analogous to disposable objects - they provide the necessary traffic distribution optimization temporarily without the long-term memory and complexity burden of permanent state entries for all flows.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies partial action by creating link pinning state entries only for flows that require remapping due to bandwidth conditions, rather than permanently retaining entries for all flows. This partial approach maintains traffic distribution optimization for affected flows while reducing the overall quantity of state entries in the system.
Data Source
AI summary
Various example embodiments for supporting quasi-stateful load balancing in communication networks are presented herein. Various example embodiments for supporting quasi-stateful load balancing in communication networks may be configured to reduce or minimize the amount of state information that needs to be maintained by a node for supporting load balancing across outgoing links of the node by reducing or minimizing the number of link pinning state entries that need to be maintained by a node for supporting load balancing across outgoing links of the node. Various example embodiments for supporting quasi-stateful load balancing in communication networks may be configured to reduce or minimize the number of link pinning state entries by deactivating those link pinning state entries associated with flows that remain default mapped to outgoing links and retaining only those link pinning state entries associated with flows that are remapped between outgoing links.