SDN Controller Traffic Monitoring for Adaptive Packet Forwarding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional electric power transmission and distribution systems face complexity in managing network traffic due to integrated control and data-forwarding logic in each device, leading to challenges in avoiding loops, achieving route convergence, and prioritizing applications, which complicates the management and reliability of communication networks.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of Software Defined Networking (SDN) systems that separate the control plane from the data plane, allowing for centralized management and configuration, and the use of reverse metering and fast failover groups to adapt forwarding behavior based on traffic metrics and thresholds, enhancing failover decisions and reliability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If integrated control and data-forwarding logic are implemented in each device, then device autonomy is improved, but device complexity increases and network management becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the network functions by separating the control plane from the data plane. The control plane is extracted and centralized in an SDN controller, while the data plane remains distributed in network devices. This segmentation resolves the contradiction by reducing individual device complexity while maintaining network management capabilities through centralized control.
Solution Approach 2:
The control logic is extracted from individual network devices and placed in a centralized SDN controller. This extraction allows network management functions to be consolidated and simplified, reducing the complexity burden on each device while preserving overall network management capabilities through the centralized controller.
2Reliability
If traditional port link state indicators are used to detect network issues, then detection simplicity is improved, but detection accuracy deteriorates when issues are not detected
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms where the SDN controller continuously monitors traffic metrics and flow statistics from network devices. This feedback loop enables the controller to detect network issues by analyzing traffic patterns and meter data, improving detection accuracy beyond simple port link state indicators while maintaining system reliability through adaptive responses.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by configuring meter bands and thresholds in advance to monitor specific traffic flows. This preliminary setup enables proactive detection of network issues before they manifest as complete failures, improving both reliability and detection capability by establishing monitoring mechanisms beforehand.
3Ease of operation
If centralized control is implemented through SDN, then network management is simplified, but control plane concentration increases system vulnerability
Solution Approach 1:
While centralizing control for simplified management, the patent segments control functions into modular components within the SDN controller, including flow management, meter configuration, and failover logic. This modular segmentation reduces vulnerability by isolating failure domains and enabling targeted updates or repairs without affecting the entire control plane.
4Speed
If fast failover groups and reverse metering are implemented, then failover speed is improved, but device configuration complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The SDN controller acts as an intermediary that automates the configuration of fast failover groups and reverse metering parameters. Instead of requiring manual configuration of complex failover mechanisms, the controller programmatically configures these features based on traffic flow analysis, thereby achieving fast failover capability while minimizing the configuration burden on network operators.
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure pertains to systems and methods of monitoring communication devices and communication links in a software defined network (SDN). In one embodiment, a system may include a communications interface configured to receive a plurality of ingress packets. A forwarding subsystem may match a subset of the plurality of ingress packets with the data flow and forwarding the subset of the plurality of ingress packets based on a first instruction set associated with the data flow. A statistical information subsystem may update a meter count associated with the subset of the plurality of ingress packets matched with the data flow. A logic engine configured to determine that the meter count fails to satisfy a threshold, change a port link state based on the failure to satisfy the threshold; and transition from the first instruction set to a second instruction set associated with the flow data.