Control apparatus, communication system, communication method, and program

A control apparatus, comprising:

• a memory storing a network topology and a port group information of a plurality of switch apparatus;
• and
• a controller comprising a processor configured to execute program instructions to:
• determine, based on the port group information, a representative port from a plurality of ports belonging to a port group;
• calculate, based on the network topology and the port group information, a flow path such that a predetermined packet passes only the representative port among the port group;
• determine, based on the flow path, a forwarding instruction to forward a packet along the flow path;
• and
• send the forwarding instruction to the switch apparatus.

A communication system, comprising:

• a control apparatus;
• and
• a plurality of switches to forward packets based on forwarding instructions from a control apparatus,
• wherein the control apparatus comprises:
• a memory storing a network topology and a port group information of a plurality of switch apparatus;
• and
• a controller comprising a processor configured to execute program instructions to:
• determine, based on the port group information, a representative port from a plurality of ports belonging to the port group;
• calculate, based on the network topology and the port group information, a flow path such that a predetermined packet passes only the representative port among the port group;
• determine, based on the flow path, a forwarding instruction to forward a packet along the flow path;
• and
• send the forwarding instruction to the switch apparatus.

A control method, comprising:

• determining, based on a port group information of a plurality of switch apparatus, a representative port from a plurality of ports belonging to a port group;
• calculating, based on a network topology and the port group information, a flow path such that a predetermined packet passes only the representative port among the port group;
• determining, based on the flow path, a forwarding instruction to forward a packet along the flow path;
• and
• sending the forwarding instruction to a switch apparatus of the plurality of switch apparatuses.