SoftRouter Control Plane Separation for Scalability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional router architectures tightly integrate forwarding and control planes, limiting flexibility and interoperability between components from different suppliers, and requiring static associations between control and forwarding elements.
Innovation Solution
A network and router architecture that separates control and forwarding elements, using a binding protocol to associate route controllers with packet forwarding components, allowing for dynamic binding and standard protocol communication between control elements and forwarding elements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If forwarding and control planes are tightly integrated in conventional router architectures, then device complexity is reduced and ease of operation is improved, but adaptability and interoperability between components from different suppliers deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the router into separate control plane elements and forwarding plane elements that can be independently selected, configured, and operated. This segmentation allows different suppliers to provide different components while maintaining system functionality through standardized binding protocols.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates universal interfaces and binding protocols that enable control plane elements to work with multiple different forwarding plane elements and vice versa. This universality allows components from different suppliers to interoperate through standardized communication mechanisms.
2Device complexity
If control processors and forwarding line cards are collocated and statically bound, then device complexity is reduced, but adaptability and the ability to interchange components from different suppliers deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic binding between control plane elements and forwarding plane elements, allowing associations to be changed at runtime. This dynamic approach replaces static collocation with flexible, reconfigurable connections that maintain low complexity while enabling component interchangeability.
Solution Approach 2:
By separating control processors from forwarding line cards and eliminating mandatory collocation, the patent segments the router into independent modules that can be dynamically associated through standardized interfaces, reducing overall system complexity while improving adaptability.
3Reliability
If a route has at most two controllers (live and stand-by) with static binding to line cards, then reliability is improved through redundancy, but adaptability and scalability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables dynamic controller-line card associations where multiple controllers can serve multiple line cards through flexible binding. This dynamic approach maintains reliability through redundancy while allowing the system to scale by adding controllers or line cards without fixed pairing constraints.
Solution Approach 2:
By creating universal binding protocols that allow any controller to manage any line card, the patent enables a pool of controllers to serve multiple line cards dynamically. This universality improves scalability while maintaining reliability through flexible failover capabilities.
4Device complexity
If control processors and forwarding line cards share the same router backplane with close integration, then device complexity is reduced, but interoperability between components from different suppliers deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the router architecture into independently selectable control plane and forwarding plane components connected through standardized interfaces, eliminating the need for proprietary backplane integrations and enabling multi-vendor interoperability while maintaining manageable system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces standardized binding protocols as intermediary communication mechanisms between control plane elements and forwarding plane elements. These standardized intermediaries enable interoperability between components from different suppliers while maintaining simple, modular system architecture.
Data Source
AI summary
The SoftRouter architecture separates the implementation of control plane functions from packet forwarding functions. In this architecture, all control plane functions are implemented on general purpose servers called the control elements (CEs) that may be multiple hops away from the forwarding elements (FEs). A network element (NE) or a router is formed using dynamic binding between the CEs and the FEs. The flexibility of the SoftRouter architecture over conventional routers with collocated and tightly integrated control and forwarding functions results in increased reliability, increased scalability, increased security, ease of adding new functionality, and decreased cost.