Secondary input queues for maintaining a consistent network state
AssigneeNicira, Inc.
InventorsAlexander Yip, Timothy L. Hinrichs, Amar Padmanabhan, Natasha Gude, Igor Ganichev, Anuprem Chalvadi
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Some embodiments provide a novel network control system that uses secondary input queues to receive and store inputs from multiple input sources prior to moving the inputs to a primary input queue for processing. The secondary input queues provide a separate storage for each input source so that the inputs from the different sources do not get mixed with each other to ensure that fixed points and barriers sent to the controller maintain their integrity.
Claims20
A network controller for computing network state data in a distributed network control system, the network controller comprising:
- a plurality of secondary input queues, each secondary input queue for receiving inputs from a plurality of different corresponding input sources;
- a primary input queue for feeding inputs to a processor to compute outputs that include the network state data;
- a barrier manager for inserting barriers between the received inputs in each secondary input queue of the plurality of secondary input queues, each of the barriers indicating an end to a set of the inputs to be processed together;
- and
- a queue manager for detecting the barriers on the secondary input queues and moving each of the sets of inputs as a group to the primary input queue.
For a network controller that computes network state data in a distributed network control system, a method comprising:
- providing a plurality of secondary input queues, each secondary input queue for receiving inputs from a plurality of different corresponding input sources;
- providing a primary input queue for feeding inputs to a processor to compute outputs that include the network state data;
- providing a barrier manager for inserting barriers between the received inputs in each secondary input queue of the plurality of secondary input queues;
- and
- providing a queue manager for detecting the barriers on the secondary input queues and moving the inputs with the barrier as a group to the primary input queue.
A method for computing network state data in a distributed network control system, the method comprising:
- storing inputs received from a plurality of different input sources at a plurality of corresponding secondary input queues;
- determining whether a fixed point for a particular secondary input queue has been reached;
- inserting a barrier on the particular secondary input queue when the fixed point has been reached;
- moving the barrier and inputs from the particular secondary input queue as a group to a primary input queue;
- and
- feeding the inputs from the primary input queue as a group to a processor to compute outputs for propagation of the network state data.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.