Virtual Provider Edge Cluster for SDN Agility
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional network architectures are inflexible and costly, struggling to meet the dynamic and scalable needs of modern data centers and cloud services due to hierarchical designs that do not support changing traffic patterns, increasing IT load, growth of cloud services, and higher bandwidth requirements.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a centralized controller architecture using commodity hardware and software-based solutions for Virtual Provider Edge (vPE) clusters, enabling unified management, increased agility, and cost reduction by using a single routing management entity and virtual routing engines with forwarding engines, along with GRE tunnels for traffic management and unified cloud solutions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If traditional hierarchical network architecture is used, then network stability is maintained, but network adaptability and scalability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the traditional hierarchical network architecture into a flat network design with distributed control. Each node operates as an independent virtual routing engine with its own forwarding engine, eliminating the need for complex hierarchical structures while maintaining network functionality through peer-to-peer communication and distributed decision-making.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamic network behavior through software-defined control planes that can be programmatically adjusted. The control plane separates decision-making logic from data forwarding, allowing network policies to be dynamically changed through software without affecting the underlying hardware architecture, thereby enhancing adaptability.
2Adaptability or versatility
If virtualization is introduced to improve scalability, then network scalability is improved, but system reliability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by implementing independent virtual routing engines at each node, where each node maintains its own control plane and forwarding engine. This ensures that failures at one node do not propagate to other nodes, as each node operates independently with its own state information and routing decisions, thereby maintaining reliability while enabling scalability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements redundancy mechanisms where each node has backup routing engines and fault tolerance capabilities built in advance. The system includes mechanisms to detect and isolate failures, ensuring continuous operation even when individual components fail, thus cushioning against reliability issues while maintaining scalability through virtualization.
3Ease of operation
If centralized control is implemented to simplify management, then ease of operation is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal control plane architecture where a single controller can manage multiple nodes through standardized interfaces. The controller provides unified management functionality for routing, forwarding, and policy enforcement across the entire network, simplifying operations while using modular software components that can be deployed on diverse hardware platforms.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a controller as an intermediary between network administrators and individual nodes. The controller receives high-level management commands, translates them into node-specific actions, and coordinates the execution across the distributed network. This intermediary layer simplifies management by abstracting the complexity of individual node configurations while maintaining the distributed architecture's flexibility.
4Ease of manufacture
If commodity hardware is used to reduce costs, then cost is reduced, but manufacturing precision and performance deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces traditional hardware-based networking solutions with software-defined networking. Instead of relying on expensive ASICs and specialized hardware, the system uses commodity hardware with standard processors and memory, running virtualized routing and forwarding engines. This substitution of mechanical/hardware solutions with software-based approaches reduces costs while maintaining performance through efficient software implementation and hardware abstraction.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the operational parameters of commodity hardware through virtualization and software control. By running multiple virtual routing engines and forwarding engines on standard hardware platforms, the system extracts maximum performance from commodity components through software optimization, resource pooling, and dynamic resource allocation, thereby achieving hardware performance equivalent to more expensive specialized equipment at lower cost.
Data Source
AI summary
A sub-system is described which is operative to be used as a virtual Provider Edge (v PE) cluster of an SDN communication system. The sub-system comprises a plurality of network elements, wherein the v PE cluster further comprises one or more virtual routing engines for routing traffic to/from the plurality of network elements, the one or more virtual routing engines are configured to communicate with a managing entity and with a plurality of virtual forwarding engines, and wherein the managing entity is configured to manage operation of the one or more virtual routing engines and the plurality of virtual forwarding engines. According to another aspect, the sub-system comprises a plurality of network elements and a managing entity, wherein the network elements having each one or more ports to convey traffic therethrough, and wherein at least one of the ports associated with the sub-system is configured to serve a plurality of customers.