Patent ID: 9386047
Filing Date: 2016-07-05
CPC Classification: H04L

Claim Text:
1. A method for sending a connection establishment request in an OpenFlow network with forwarding and control element separation, comprising: sending, by an OpenFlow switch, a parameter requesting message to a configuration server, the parameter requesting message being used for obtaining connection parameters of an OpenFlow controller; receiving, by the OpenFlow switch, an Internet Protocol (IP) address and a set of connection parameters of an OpenFlow controller sent from the configuration server, the set of connection parameters comprising at least connection parameters of a first OpenFlow controller; sending, by the OpenFlow switch, a connection establishment request message to the first OpenFlow controller according to the IP address and the connection parameters of the first OpenFlow controller sent from the configuration server; before the OpenFlow switch sends the parameter requesting message to the configuration server, executing by the OpenFlow switch and the configuration server a layer 2 network communication protocol, and generating by the OpenFlow switch a first path according to the layer 2 network communication protocol, wherein the first path is a path from the OpenFlow switch to the configuration server, and the OpenFlow switch sends the parameter requesting message through the first path; after the OpenFlow switch sends the connection establishment request message to the first OpenFlow controller: receiving, by the OpenFlow switch, a layer 2 network communication flow table and an automatic configuration network flow table sent from the first OpenFlow controller and storing the layer 2 network communication flow table and the automatic configuration network flow table, wherein the layer 2 network communication flow table and the automatic configuration network flow table contain information regarding a path from the OpenFlow switch to the configuration server, and the path information is generated as follows: