Patent ID: 8442030
Filing Date: 2013-05-14
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A method comprising: executing a software control plane control system on a processor; storing, by means of the executing software control plane control system, information about hardware endpoints and communication connections in a communication network, traffic engineering rules, and network policies governing the communication network; defining services, by means of the executing software control plane control system, to be implemented on the communication network; computing communication paths, by means of the executing software control plane control system, according to the stored information to implement the services, wherein at least one communication path computed includes two or more communication tunnels, each of the two or more communication tunnels having a respective underlying communication protocol, the two or more communication tunnels to transfer data between hardware endpoints of the two or more communication tunnels; programming, by means of the executing software control plane control system, the hardware endpoints of the two or more communication tunnels comprising the at least one communication path to establish the at least one communication path in the communication network, wherein the programming includes configuring a hardware endpoint to emulate a second communication protocol of a second communication tunnel of the two or more communication tunnels, if a first communication protocol of a first communication tunnel of the two or more communication tunnels is different from the second communication protocol; monitoring, by means of the executing software control plane control system, the programmed hardware endpoints and the communication connections along the at least one communication path and updating the stored information; recomputing, by means of the executing software control plane control system, the at least one communication path and reprogramming the hardware endpoints along the recomputed at least one communication path to adapt the at least one communication path according to changes in the stored information and the services to ensure implementation of the services; and migrating the services from the at least one communication path to the recomputed at least one communication path.