Speculative Unified Packet Flows for Faster SDN Connection Setup
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing SDN systems process inbound and outbound data packet flows separately, creating bottlenecks and increasing the computational cost of setting up connections, which limits the frequency and volume of connections between client devices and virtual machines.
Innovation Solution
Generate a speculative reverse direction unified flow based on the characteristics of a main data packet, associating it with the main flow to accelerate processing by predicting the rules for the reverse direction flow, thereby reducing the need for re-evaluation upon receipt of the reverse packet.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If separate processing of inbound and outbound data packet flows is implemented, then connection setup can be completed, but computational overhead increases and connection frequency is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the processing of inbound and outbound data packet flows into a single unified flow entry. Instead of maintaining separate flow entries for forward and reverse directions, the system creates one unified entry that handles both directions of traffic, thereby reducing the computational overhead of creating and managing separate flow entries while increasing connection frequency.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary action by pre-establishing the unified flow entry when the first packet (in either direction) is received. The system proactively creates the flow entry with rules that cover both forward and reverse traffic directions, eliminating the need to create additional flow entries when reverse traffic arrives, thus reducing computational overhead.
2Ease of operation
If separate flow entries are created for inbound and outbound traffic, then traffic can be processed according to direction, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the management of inbound and outbound flow entries into a single unified flow entry. This reduces device complexity by halving the number of flow entries that need to be created, stored, and managed, while still maintaining the ability to process traffic in both directions through a single consolidated structure.
3Reliability
If comprehensive rule evaluation is performed for each packet, then accurate processing decisions are made, but processing speed decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary rule evaluation when the first packet is received, creating a unified flow entry that caches the evaluated rules. Subsequent packets in both forward and reverse directions benefit from this pre-evaluation, as the cached rules are reused without requiring comprehensive re-evaluation, thus maintaining processing accuracy while significantly improving packet processing speed.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a copy of the evaluated rules and caches them in the unified flow entry. This copied rule set is then reused for subsequent packets matching the same flow, eliminating the need to perform comprehensive rule evaluation again, thereby maintaining reliability while improving speed.
Data Source
AI summary
A method is presented for processing directional data packet traffic. A main data packet, characterized by a plurality of main data packet characteristics including at least a first IP address representing a first source, and a second IP address representing a first destination, is received at a rule processing engine. Based on the main data packet characteristics, a set of rules for processing the main data packet is retrieved. A main direction unified flow for the main data packet, and a speculative reverse direction unified flow for a reverse direction data packet are generated based on the main data packet characteristics and the retrieved set of rules. The main data packet is processed based on the main direction unified flow. Responsive to receiving the reverse direction data packet, the reverse direction data packet is processed based on the speculative reverse direction unified flow.