Method and apparatus for flow identifier of unidirectional packet sequence flow in tunnel-less sdwan

A network hub configured to route traffic through a software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN), the network hub comprising:

• a communications interface configured to receive from a first client a sequence of packets of a same flow, to send a start packet of the sequence of packets to a second hub with a flow identifier through a secure tunnel, to receive an acknowledgement of the flow identifier from the second hub, and to send an encapsulated reduced packet of the sequence of packets to the second hub through the secure tunnel in response to the acknowledgment;
• a session management module configured to facilitate the secure tunnel between the network hub and the second hub, to assign the flow identifier to the sequence of packets, and to update a state of the secure tunnel with the acknowledgement;
• and
• a processor configured to associate fields of a header of a start packet of the sequence of packets with the flow identifier, to remove the associated fields from a header of a second packet of the sequence of packets to form a reduced packet in response to receiving the acknowledgment, and to encapsulate the reduced packet in a wrapper that includes the flow identifier.

A method to route traffic through a software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN), the method comprising:

• facilitating a secure tunnel between a first hub and a second hub;
• receiving from the first hub a sequence of encapsulated packets of a same flow through the secure tunnel, the sequence of packets having a flow identifier assigned by the first hub;
• sending an acknowledgement of the flow identifier from the second hub;
• associating fields of a header of a start packet of the sequence of packets with the flow identifier;
• receiving from the first hub a sequence of reduced packets of a same flow through the secure tunnel, the sequence of reduced packets having the associated fields removed from a header;
• decapsulating the reduced packets of the sequence of reduced packets;
• and
• restoring the associated fields to the header of the sequence of reduced packets to form a restored packet.