# US 10,320,660 B2 · Method and device for transmitting forwarding parameter > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,320,660 B2 - Document ID: US10320660B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 15/449,862 - Filed: 2017-03-03 - Published: 2017-06-29 - Granted: 2019-06-11 - Earliest claimed: 2014-09-05 - Assignees: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. - Applicants: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. - Inventors: Guangxue Yu; Cheng Chen; Pengfei Ma - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10320660B2 ## CPC - H04L 45/38: {Flow based routing} - H04L 41/0823: characterised by the purposes of a change of settings, e.g. optimising configuration for enhancing reliability (for optimising operational conditions of wireless networks H04W24/02) - H04L 41/0886: {Fully automatic configuration} - H04L 41/342: between virtual entities, e.g. orchestrators, SDN or NFV entities - H04L 45/64: using an overlay routing layer - H04L 45/74: Address processing for routing - H04L 67/63: Routing a service request depending on the request content or context - H04L 69/22: Parsing or analysis of headers - H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M) ## Abstract Embodiments of the present invention disclose a method, an apparatus, and a system for transmitting a forwarding parameter. The method includes: obtaining, by a controller, an extended forwarding module description, where the extended forwarding module description includes a first format encoding rule, the first format encoding rule is used to indicate a type of a first forwarding parameter and a location of the first forwarding parameter in a first field, and the first field is a field in a flow entry of an OpenFlow protocol; and filling, by the controller, the first forwarding parameter in the first field according to the first format encoding rule, and sending, to a forwarding device by using the OpenFlow protocol, the flow entry that carries the first field, so that the forwarding device parses the first field in the flow entry according to the first format encoding rule, to obtain the first forwarding parameter. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method for transmitting a forwarding parameter, applied to a network for which control and forwarding are separated, wherein the network comprises a controller and a forwarding device, the controller controls the forwarding device, and the method comprises: obtaining, by the controller, an extended forwarding model description, wherein the extended forwarding model description comprises a first format encoding rule for indicating a type of a first forwarding parameter and a location of the first forwarding parameter in a first field, wherein the first field is an Open Flow protocol flow entry field; and filling, by the controller, the first forwarding parameter in the first field according to the first format encoding rule, and sending, to the forwarding device by using the OpenFlow protocol, the flow entry that carries the first field to facilitate the forwarding device parsing the first field according to the first format encoding rule to obtain the first forwarding parameter. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein the extended forwarding model description further comprises a second format encoding rule for indicating a type of a second forwarding parameter and a location of the second forwarding parameter in the first field; wherein the method further comprises: filling, by the controller, the second forwarding parameter in the first field according to the second format encoding rule; and wherein sending, to the forwarding device by using the OpenFlow protocol, the flow entry that carries the first field further facilitates parsing the first field according to the second format encoding rule to obtain the second forwarding parameter. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein the extended forwarding model description further comprises a second format encoding rule for indicating a type of a second forwarding parameter and a location of the second forwarding parameter in a second field, wherein the second field is an OpenFlow protocol flow entry field, and the second field is different from the first field; and wherein the method further comprises: filling, by the controller, the second forwarding parameter in the second field according to the second format encoding rule, and sending, to the forwarding device by using the OpenFlow protocol, the flow entry that carries the second field to facilitate the forwarding device parsing the second field according to the second format encoding rule, to obtain the second forwarding parameter. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein the first field is a MetaData field in the OpenFlow protocol. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein the first format encoding rule is generated according to an extended syntax of a forwarding model description language, and the extended syntax comprises a field format encoding keyword, an encoding location keyword, and an encoding location information type keyword, wherein the field format encoding keyword is used to indicate a function of the extended syntax, the encoding location keyword is used to indicate a location for storing data in a field, and the encoding location information type keyword is used to indicate a type of the data. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The method according to claim 5, wherein the type of the data is one of the following: a virtual routing and forwarding instance identifier (VRFID), a next hop Internet Protocol (IP) address, an outbound interface, or an entry index. ### Claim 7 A method for transmitting a forwarding parameter, applied to a network for which control and forwarding are separated, wherein the network comprises a controller and a forwarding device, the forwarding device is controlled by the controller, and the method comprises: obtaining, by the forwarding device, an extended forwarding model description, wherein the extended forwarding model description comprises a first format encoding rule for indicating a type of a first forwarding parameter and a location of the first forwarding parameter in a first field, wherein the first field is an OpenFlow protocol flow entry field; and receiving, by the forwarding device, from the controller, the flow entry that carries the first field, and parsing the first field according to the first format encoding rule to obtain the first forwarding parameter. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The method according to claim 7, wherein the extended forwarding model description further comprises a second format encoding rule for indicating a type of a second forwarding parameter and a location of the second forwarding parameter in the first field; and wherein the method further comprises: parsing the first field according to the second format encoding rule, to obtain the second forwarding parameter. ### Claim 9 (depends on 7) The method according to claim 7, wherein the extended forwarding model description further comprises a second format encoding rule for indicating a type of a second forwarding parameter and a location of the second forwarding parameter in a second field, wherein the second field is an OpenFlow protocol flow entry field, and the second field is different from the first field; and wherein the method further comprises: receiving, by the forwarding device, from the controller, the flow entry that carries the second field, and parsing the second field according to the second format encoding rule to obtain the second forwarding parameter. ### Claim 10 (depends on 7) The method according to claim 7, wherein the first field is a MetaData field in the OpenFlow protocol. ### Claim 11 (depends on 7) The method according to claim 7, wherein the first format encoding rule is generated according to an extended syntax of a forwarding model description language, and the extended syntax comprises a field formal encoding keyword, an encoding location keyword, and an encoding location information type keyword, wherein the field format encoding keyword is used to indicate a function of the extended syntax, the encoding location keyword is used to indicate a location for storing data in a field, and the encoding location information type keyword is used to indicate a type of the data. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The method according to claim 11, wherein the type of the data is one of the following: a virtual routing and forwarding instance identifier (VRFID), a next hop Internet Protocol (IP) address, an outbound interface, or and an entry index. ### Claim 13 (depends on 7) The method according to claim 7, wherein the extended forwarding model description is stored in the controller and/or the forwarding device. ### Claim 14 A controller for controlling a forwarding device, wherein control and forwarding are separated for a network comprising the controller and the forwarding device, and wherein the controller comprises a processor and a non-transitory computer-readable medium having processor-executable instructions stored thereon, the processor-executable instructions, when executed by the processor, facilitating the following: obtaining an extended forwarding model description, wherein the extended forwarding model description comprises a first format encoding rule for indicating a type of a first forwarding parameter and a location of the first forwarding parameter in a first field, wherein the first field is an OpenFlow protocol flow entry field; and filing the first forwarding parameter in the first field according to the first format encoding rule, and sending to the forwarding device by using the OpenFlow protocol, the flow entry that carries the first field to facilitate the forwarding device parsing the first field according to the first format encoding rule to obtain the first forwarding parameter. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The controller according to claim 14, wherein the extended forwarding model description further comprises a second format encoding rule for indicating a type of a second forwarding parameter and a location of the second forwarding parameter in the first field; wherein the processor-executable instruction, when executed by the processor, further facilitate: filing the second forwarding parameter in the first field according to the second format encoding rule; and wherein sending, to the forwarding device by using the OpenFlow protocol, the flow entry that carries the first field further facilitates parsing the first field according to the second format encoding rule to obtain the second forwarding parameter. ### Claim 16 (depends on 14) The controller according to claim 14. wherein the extended forwarding model description further comprises a second format encoding rule for indicating a type of a second forwarding parameter and a location of the second forwarding parameter in a second field, wherein the second field is an OpenFlow protocol flow entry field, and the second field is different from the first field; and wherein the processor-executable instructions, when executed by the processor, further facilitate: filing the second forwarding parameter in the second field according to the second format encoding rule, and sending, to the forwarding device by using the OpenFlow protocol, the flow entry that carries the second field to facilitate the forwarding device parsing the second field according to the second format encoding rule to obtain the second forwarding parameter. ### Claim 17 A forwarding device by a controller, wherein control and forwarding are separated for a network comprising the controller and the forwarding device, and wherein the forwarding device comprises a processor and a non-transitory computer-readable medium having processor-executable instructions stored thereon, the processor-executable instructions, when executed by the processor, facilitating the following: obtaining an extended forwarding model description, wherein the extended forwarding model description comprises a first format encoding rule for indicating a type of a first forwarding parameter and a location of the first forwarding parameter in a first field, wherein the first field is an OpenFlow protocol flow entry field; and receiving, from the controller, the flow entry that carries the first field, and parsing the first field according to the first format encoding rule to obtain the first forwarding parameter. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The forwarding device according to claim 17, wherein the extended forwarding model description further comprises a second format encoding rule for indicating a type of a second forwarding parameter and a location of the second forwarding parameter in the first field; and wherein the processor-executable instructions, when executed by the processor, further facilitate parsing: the first field according to the second format encoding rule to obtain the second forwarding parameter. ### Claim 19 (depends on 17) The forwarding device according to claim 17, wherein the extended forwarding model description further comprises a second format encoding rule for indicating a type of a second forwarding parameter and a location of the second forwarding parameter in a second field, wherein the second field is an OpenFlow protocol flow entry field, and the second field is different from the first field; and wherein the processor-executable instructions, when executed by the processor, further facilitate: receiving, from the controller, the flow entry that carries the second field and parsing the second field according to the second format encoding rule to obtain the second forwarding parameter. ### Claim 20 A system for transmitting a forwarding parameter for a network for which control and forwarding are separated, wherein the system comprises: a controller; and a forwarding device; wherein the network comprises the controller and the forwarding device; wherein the controller is configured to control the forwarding device; wherein the controller is configured to: obtain an extended forwarding model description, wherein the extended forwarding model description comprises a first format encoding rule for indicating a type of a first forwarding parameter and a location of the first forwarding parameter in a first field, wherein the first field is an OpenFlow protocol flow entry field; and fill the first forwarding parameter in the first field according to the first format encoding rule, and send, to the forwarding device by using the OpenFlow protocol, the flow entry that carries the first field; and wherein the forwarding device is configured to: obtain an extended forwarding model description; and receive, from the controller, the flow entry that carries the first field, and parse the first field according to the first format encoding rule to obtain the first forwarding parameter.