Tunnelled IP Traffic Load Distribution via Inner Header Extraction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current IP traffic monitoring systems struggle to efficiently process high-speed tunnelled IP traffic due to processor overload, as they rely on outer IP addresses and headers for traffic distribution, which is not scalable and leads to single processors handling all signalling message packets, resulting in potential overload.
Innovation Solution
A method for redirecting Ethernet-based tunnelled IP traffic by modifying the destination Ethernet address based on the inner user IP header, allowing for dynamic selection of Processing Units (PUs) for traffic analysis, which can include monitoring or processing, and using VLAN tags for robustness and load balancing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If traffic distribution is performed based on outer IP addresses and headers, then traffic can be routed to processors, but processors become overloaded because tunnelled packets with identical outer headers cannot be distributed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the inner IP header information from the tunnelled packet payload, which contains unique identification data that can be used for traffic distribution. By taking out this inner header information and using it for processor selection, the system can distribute tunnelled packets across multiple processors even when outer headers are identical, thus preventing processor overload while maintaining processing capacity.
2Device complexity
If a single processor handles all tunnelled packets, then implementation is simple, but the processor becomes overwhelmed in high-speed networks
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the processing of tunnelled packets by distributing them across multiple processors based on inner IP header information. This segmentation allows the system to handle high-speed network traffic by dividing the workload among multiple processing units, thereby increasing overall packet processing throughput while maintaining manageable complexity through a systematic distribution mechanism.
3Adaptability or versatility
If Deep Packet Inspection is performed to inspect inner user IP headers, then traffic can be properly distributed, but processing time and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies partial Deep Packet Inspection by examining only the inner IP header portion of tunnelled packets, rather than performing full packet inspection. This partial action approach extracts sufficient information (inner IP address) for traffic distribution purposes while minimizing additional processing time, thus achieving adaptable traffic distribution without excessive time loss.
Data Source
AI summary
A device receives Ethernet based tunnelled Internet Protocol (IP) traffic transmitted from a first network node towards a second network node of an IP communications network. The Ethernet based tunnelled IP traffic comprises an Ethernet based tunnelled IP packet that comprises a header and a payload. The header contains a destination Ethernet address and the payload contains an inner user IP header of an inner user IP packet. An Ethernet Switch modifies the destination Ethernet address contained in the header of the Ethernet based tunnelled IP packet based on the inner user IP header. One PU is selected, from the plurality of PUs, for traffic analysis of a data session comprising the Ethernet based tunnelled IP traffic. The Ethernet based tunnelled IP packet is to be redirected to the selected PU in accordance with the modified destination Ethernet address.