Reliable GRE Tunnels via Nested Transport Protocols

The patent embeds a connection-oriented transport layer protocol (TCP, SCTP, or QUIC) inside the GRE/NVGRE tunneling structure, creating a nested protocol stack where the reliable transport layer is encapsulated within the existing tunneling infrastructure. This allows the benefits of both approaches: the speed and simplicity of connectionless tunneling at the outer layer, combined with the reliability of connection-oriented protocols at the inner layer.

The patent introduces a new transport layer as an intermediary between the IP layer and the GRE/NVGRE tunneling layer. This intermediate layer handles connection establishment, packet sequencing, and error recovery, mediating between the underlying IP network and the virtual tunnel to ensure reliable delivery without compromising the speed of the tunneling operation.

The patent designs the new transport layer to be universally applicable across different tunneling scenarios and protocol types. The same connection-oriented protocol implementation can serve multiple purposes: ensuring reliable delivery for storage traffic, supporting multiplexing for multiple virtual networks, and providing congestion control for data center workloads. This multi-functionality reduces overall system complexity by avoiding specialized solutions for each use case.

The patent merges the connection management functions into the existing tunneling infrastructure rather than creating separate independent systems. The transport layer protocols (TCP, SCTP, QUIC) are integrated with the GRE/NVGRE tunneling mechanism, combining connection establishment, packet routing, and error handling into a unified system that leverages existing hardware and software resources.

The patent performs connection establishment and parameter negotiation in advance, before actual data transmission begins. By pre-establishing the connection-oriented transport layer and negotiating multiplexing parameters during connection setup, the system avoids the need for per-packet connection establishment overhead during data flow, thereby maintaining high throughput while ensuring data integrity.

The patent implements feedback mechanisms at the transport layer to dynamically adjust transmission parameters based on network conditions. Through congestion control algorithms and acknowledgment protocols, the system receives feedback about network state and adapts its behavior accordingly, optimizing the balance between data integrity and processing throughput without requiring excessive overhead.