SDN Route Manager Reduces Forwarding Table Entries
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Solution Overview
Problem
Weighted-Cost Multi-Path (WCMP) routing entries in forwarding tables consume a significant portion of memory, and existing methods do not efficiently reduce the number of entries while maintaining network performance.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for generating replacement sets of routing entries with fewer entries than initial sets, using a traffic reduction cost metric to select and replace entries in the forwarding table, particularly in software-defined networks (SDN), to optimize memory usage while minimizing network performance impact.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If WCMP routing entries are included in the forwarding table to enable weighted multi-path routing, then network traffic distribution is improved, but memory consumption increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the necessary routing entries from the complete WCMP routing table. Instead of installing all possible weighted multi-path routing entries in the forwarding table, the system selectively installs only those entries needed for current traffic flows, thereby reducing memory consumption while maintaining traffic distribution capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The forwarding table is made dynamic by allowing routing entries to be added and removed based on current network conditions and traffic requirements. The system dynamically determines which WCMP entries to install, enabling the forwarding table to adapt its size and content rather than being statically filled with all possible routing entries.
2Quantity of substance
If the number of routing entries is reduced to free up memory, then memory availability is improved, but network performance may deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by making different routing decisions for different traffic flows. Instead of uniformly reducing all routing entries or maintaining all entries for all flows, the system selectively determines which entries to keep based on local traffic characteristics and requirements, ensuring that each flow receives appropriate routing resources.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameter of routing entry selection based on traffic characteristics. By analyzing traffic flow properties and dynamically adjusting which routing entries are installed, the system optimizes the balance between memory usage and network performance for each specific traffic scenario.
Data Source
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AI summary
Methods and systems for generating a forwarding table for a packet switch. The system includes a route manager for the packet switch, configured to identify a plurality of multi-path groups each corresponding to a respective initial set of routing entries in the forwarding table and generate, for one or more multi-path groups, at least one replacement set of routing entries with fewer routing entries than the initial set corresponding to the respective multi-path group. The route manager selects, based on a traffic reduction cost metric, one or more of the replacement sets of routing entries, each corresponding to a different respective multi-path group, and updates the forwarding table with the selected replacement sets. In some implementations, the traffic reduction cost metric includes a traffic characteristic. In some implementations, the packet switch participates in a software-defined network (SDN) and the route manager is part of an SDN controller.