Tunnel provisioning with link aggregation
AssigneeOrckit-Corrigent Ltd.
InventorRonen Solomon
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method for processing data packets in a communication network includes establishing a path for a flow of the data packets through the communication network. At a node along the path having a plurality of aggregated ports, a port is selected from among the plurality to serve as part of the path. A label is chosen responsively to the selected port. The label is attached to the data packets in the flow at a point on the path upstream from the node. Upon receiving the data packets at the node, the data packets are switched through the selected port responsively to the label.
Claims26
A method for assigning and utilizing an Ethernet physical data port in an Ethernet Link Aggregation Group (LAG) in a Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) network, the method comprising the steps of:
- selecting, by a first MPLS/LAG switch, from a plurality of physical data ports in said first MPLS/LAG switch, a single physical tunnel port of the LAG which meets a bandwidth requirement of a network tunnel, wherein said single physical tunnel port has a port serial number;
- assigning, by said first MPLS/LAG switch, said single physical tunnel port to said network tunnel;
- preparing, by said first MPLS/LAG switch, a data packet label by which said single physical tunnel port may be identified;
- sending, by said first MPLS/LAG switch, a message comprising said data packet label to a preceding node;
- receiving from the preceding node, by said first MPLS/LAG switch, a data packet comprising said data packet label;
- and
- switching, by said first MPLS/LAG switch, said data packet to said single physical tunnel port according to said serial port number, and sending said data packet to a second MSPLS/LAG switch via said single physical tunnel port.
An apparatus for assigning and utilizing an Ethernet physical data port in an Ethernet Link Aggregation Group (LAG) located downstream from a preceding node in a Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) network tunnel employing Resource Reservation Protocol Traffic Engineering (RSVP-TE) tunnel provisioning, the LAG having a first MPLS/LAG switch and a second MPLS/LAG switch, the apparatus comprising:
- a processor, which is configured to:
- receive a tunnel configuration request message from the preceding node;
- make a selection from a plurality of physical data ports in said first MPLS/LAG switch, of a single physical tunnel port which meets a bandwidth requirement of the network tunnel, wherein said single physical tunnel port has a port serial number;
- assign said single physical tunnel port to the network tunnel;
- prepare a data packet label, by which said single physical tunnel port may be identified;
- dedicate a sub-set of bits of said data packet label to encode said port serial number of said single physical tunnel port;
- and
- publish said packet label upstream;
- and
- a mapper, which is configured to:
- receive a data packet from an upstream node;
- detect said data packet label in said data packet;
- and
- if said data packet contains said data packet label, to direct the first MPLS/LAG switch to switch said data packet to said single physical tunnel port, and send said data packet to the second MPLS/LAG switch via said single physical tunnel port.
A method for assigning and utilizing an Ethernet physical data port in an Ethernet Link Aggregation Group (LAG) in a Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) network, the method comprising the steps of:
- receiving from a preceding node located upstream from a first MPLS/LAG switch, at said first MPLS/LAG switch, a request message requesting configuration of a network tunnel, the message further requesting a data packet label associated with said network tunnel, said request message specifying a bandwidth requirement;
- selecting, at the first MPLS/LAG switch, from a plurality of physical data ports associated with said first MPLS/LAG switch, a single physical tunnel of the LAG, which meets the bandwidth requirement of a network tunnel, wherein said single physical tunnel port has a port serial number;
- assigning, at the first MPLS/LAG switch, said single physical tunnel of the LAG to said network tunnel;
- preparing, at said first MPLS/LAG switch, a data packet label by which said single physical tunnel may be identified;
- sending, by said first MPLS/LAG switch, a message that includes said data packet label to the preceding node;
- receiving from the preceding node, at said first MPLS/LAG switch, a data packet that includes said data packet label;
- and
- switching, by said first MPLS/LAG switch, said data packet to said single physical tunnel associated with said serial port number, and sending said data packet to a second MSPLS/LAG switch via said single physical tunnel.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.