Ring Network VLAN Protection Switching for Outage Isolation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing ring network topologies face issues such as flooding, isolation of impact due to outages, and latency with protocols like ERPS, which are also oriented towards MAC switching rather than VLAN switching, leading to inefficiencies and complex troubleshooting.
Innovation Solution
Implementing an Ethernet Linear Protection Switching (ELPS) protocol with concentric rings and ELPS groups, each operating on its own VLAN, allowing rapid protection switching between active and standby paths, reducing hardware resource requirements, and enabling load balancing without impacting resiliency, while supporting shared services and simplifying troubleshooting.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If ERPS protocol is used for resilience in ring architecture, then network resiliency is provided, but flooding and isolation of impact occur due to outages
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the ring network into multiple ELPS groups, each operating independently on its own VLAN. This segmentation allows fault isolation within specific groups while preventing widespread flooding across the entire network, directly addressing the harmful effects of ERPS outages.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces ELPS groups as intermediary structures between the physical ring topology and the data traffic. These ELPS groups act as mediators that manage fault detection and protection switching independently, preventing direct propagation of faults through the entire network.
2Reliability
If ERPS protocol is used for resilience, then protection switching is provided, but latency increases due to message propagation delay
Solution Approach 1:
The patent pre-configures ELPS groups with dedicated protection paths and pre-establishes forwarding tables for rapid switching. When a fault occurs, the system can immediately switch traffic along pre-planned paths without waiting for complex message propagation, significantly reducing latency compared to traditional ERPS.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the message-based protection switching mechanism of ERPS with a direct forwarding table-driven approach. Instead of relying on iterative message propagation through the network, the system uses pre-computed forwarding decisions stored in hardware tables, enabling much faster protection switching.
3Reliability
If ERPS is used for resilience, then ring protection is provided, but the protocol is oriented to MAC switching rather than VLAN switching
Solution Approach 1:
The patent designs ELPS groups to be universally applicable across multiple VLANs simultaneously. Each ELPS group can serve multiple VLANs with different service requirements, making the protection mechanism versatile enough to handle both MAC switching and VLAN switching scenarios, unlike ERPS which is MAC-switching oriented.
Solution Approach 2:
By segmenting the network into ELPS groups that operate independently on different VLANs, the patent enables VLAN-aware protection switching. Each ELPS group can be configured to protect specific VLAN traffic, providing fine-grained control over which VLANs receive protection and under what conditions.
4Device complexity
If traditional ring topology is used, then physical connections are minimized, but troubleshooting becomes complex requiring tracing through forwarding tables
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces ELPS groups as intermediary fault management units that simplify troubleshooting. Instead of tracing through complex forwarding tables across the entire ring, administrators can directly identify which ELPS group is affected by checking the group-level fault status, significantly simplifying detection and measurement.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms at the ELPS group level that provide real-time status information about protection path states and fault conditions. This feedback allows for rapid fault detection and simplifies troubleshooting by providing aggregated status information rather than requiring detailed tracing through individual forwarding tables.
Data Source
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AI summary
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for communication resilience in a Ring Network Topology. In some aspects, a top Ethernet node, implemented in a Ring Network Topology ("RNT") that includes multiple additional Ethernet nodes, receives downstream traffic having a virtual local area network ("VLAN") service address. The top Ethernet node can determine that the downstream traffic is destined for a given device serviced by a given Ethernet node, from among the multiple additional Ethernet nodes, that terminates a given Ethernet Ring Protection Switching ("ELPS") group. The top Ethernet node can determine a given VLAN subnetwork that has been mapped to the given ELPS group, and transmit the downstream traffic through the RNT using the given VLAN subnetwork.