Ring Network Route Switching for Silent Failure Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Deterioration of communication performance (silent failure) in ring networks without detected failures, affecting communication between functional units in network systems.
Innovation Solution
A communication route control system that monitors communication quality, determines deteriorated routes, and switches to alternative routes when quality issues are detected in a predetermined number of successive routers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If monitoring is performed between routers in a ring network, then communication quality can be assessed, but silent failures may go undetected when communication deteriorates without abnormality detection
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the ring network into multiple monitoring units, where each router monitors communication quality between adjacent routers. This segmentation allows detection of communication deterioration at specific segments, enabling identification of silent failures that would otherwise go undetected in the entire network.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where each router reports communication quality status to the network controller. When communication quality deteriorates between adjacent routers, the system receives feedback and triggers route switching to alternative paths, thereby detecting and responding to silent failures dynamically.
2Reliability
If communication route switching is implemented when multiple successive routers show deteriorated quality, then silent failures can be counteracted, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent pre-configures alternative communication routes in the ring network before failures occur. When communication quality deterioration is detected between multiple successive routers, the system can immediately switch to pre-planned alternative routes without complex real-time calculations, reducing the complexity of the switching control mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses communication quality parameters (such as signal strength, packet loss rate, or latency) as trigger conditions for route switching. By monitoring changes in these parameters across multiple successive routers, the system can automatically determine when to switch routes based on objective parameter thresholds, simplifying the decision-making process.
3Measurement precision
If communication quality is monitored for each router in the ring network, then accurate detection of deteriorated quality is possible, but monitoring overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the monitoring function into the existing router infrastructure, where each router incorporates monitoring capabilities to assess communication quality with adjacent routers. This integration eliminates the need for separate monitoring devices and reduces overall monitoring overhead while maintaining precise communication quality assessment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements monitoring at strategic points (between adjacent routers) rather than exhaustively monitoring all possible communication paths. By focusing monitoring on critical segments where communication quality deterioration first appears, the system achieves sufficient measurement precision without the time cost of comprehensive monitoring.
Data Source
AI summary
It is enabled that countermeasures are accurately taken against occurrence of a silent failure in communication between elements through a ring network. A monitor (72) monitors, for each of a plurality of routers that form the ring network, communication quality of a communication network under control of the router. A policy manager (90) determines, for each of the plurality of routers, whether the communication quality of the communication network under the control of the router has deteriorated. A slice manager (92) switches, when it is determined that the communication quality of the communication networks under the control of a predetermined number of two or more routers in succession from the router on a most upstream side in a communication route connecting the plurality of routers has deteriorated and it is determined that the communication quality of the communication network under the control of remaining router has not deteriorated, the communication route between the plurality of routers to an alternative route.