Patent ID: 9455911
Filing Date: 2016-09-27
CPC Classification: H04L

Claim Text:
1. A method of in-band centralized control of a software-defined network, comprising: receiving, at a designated port of a first network device, a request packet from a second network device, the request packet originating from a controller computer separate from the second network device; identifying, using one or more processors of the first network device, routing data from the request packet, the routing data indicating a path to respond to the controller computer via the second network device; populating, using the one or more processors, a table using the routing data, wherein populating the table includes populating the table with an IP address of the controller computer and an identification of the second network device; sending, using the one or more processors, a response packet to the controller computer using the routing data in the table; receiving, at the first network device, an answer packet from the controller computer; and establishing, using the one or more processors, a software-defined networking control connection with the controller computer via the second network device based on the request packet, the response packet, and the answer packet.