Network routing based on resource availability

A system for network routing based on resource availability. A network switching element (NSE) may be configured to provide status information to a controller. The controller may be configured to utilize the status information in determining control information that may be provided to the NSE. The NSE may further be configured to assign processing of information flows to processors in the NSE based on the control information. For example, the control information may contain minimum and maximum percent utilization levels for the processors. Information flows may be reassigned to processors that have available processing capacity from processors whose operation is determined not to be in compliance with the minimum and maximum levels. Moreover, inactive processors may be deactivated and alerts may be sent to the controller when the NSE determines that no available processing capacity exists to reassign the flows of processors whose operation is determined to be noncompliant.

BACKGROUND

Electronic communication is becoming increasingly necessary for everyday interactions. Regardless of the location, users may need to connect to networks including local-area networks (LANs) or wide-area networks (WANs) like the Internet to transmit and receive data, to conduct voice or video conferencing, etc. Moreover, devices that did not typically include the ability to communicate electronically (e.g., appliances, vehicles, utility meters, security and other types of monitoring systems, etc.) are becoming communication-enabled and have started contributing to network traffic flow. The resulting burden on network infrastructure may become problematic when, for example, the amount of information to be conveyed spikes (e.g., during core business hours, during emergencies, etc.) creating high traffic situations that existing routing technology was not designed to handle, causing communication delays and low quality of service for users.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Generally, this disclosure describes systems and methods for network routing based on resource availability. Networks, as referred to herein, may include any packet-switched network such as, for example, Ethernet networks as set forth in the IEEE 802.3 standard. Embodiments may further employ a software-based switching system designed to interact with features already present in existing network devices to control information routing in packet-switched networks. OpenFlow, as set forth in the OpenFlow Switch Specification Version 1.1.0 Implemented (Wire Protocol 0x02) dated Feb. 28, 2011, is an example of a software-based switching system that was developed for operation on packet-switched networks like Ethernet. OpenFlow may interact using features common to network devices that are not manufacturer-specific (e.g., internal flow tables) to provide controlled switching at substantially normal operational speeds. In particular, OpenFlow provides a secure interface for controlling the information routing behavior of various commercial Ethernet switches, or similar network devices, regardless of the device manufacturer. Any reference to OpenFlow in the following disclosure is meant only for the sake of explanation herein, and is not intended to limit the various embodiments to implementation only through use of OpenFlow. On the contrary, the various embodiments may be implemented with any software and/or hardware-based solution configured to provide flow control in a packet-switched network. For example, the various embodiments, as disclosed herein, would be readily applicable to any interconnected communication system having high data throughput. Peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) is an example of a board-level interconnected communication system where interconnected components may exchange data in high speeds, and the benefits of flow control consistent with the present disclosure would be apparent. Moreover, a traffic light network may also take advantage of the disclosed embodiments, wherein each traffic light may include a sensor reporting the number of cars, traffic density, etc. to a centralized controller, and the controller would make decisions as to how the traffic lights signal the traffic to stop and go.

In one embodiment, a controller may be configured to interact with a network switching element (NSE) to control routing in a network. A controller may be, for example, a computing device configured to control the operation of the NSE by at least providing control information to the NSE. The NSE may be, for example, a software-based switch configured to control the operation of a network device. The NSE may be configured to interact with existing features of the network device such as, for example, a flow-table, to control how processors in the network device process information flows between ports also in the network device. In one embodiment, the NSE may be configured to provide status information to the controller. The controller may then be configured to use the status information in determining control information, and further, to provide the control information to the NSE. The NSE may then be configured to utilize the control information for assigning processors to process information flows between the ports.

In one embodiment, status information may include, for example, capability information and/or utilization information for the processors in the NSE. The status information may be used by the controller for determining control information including, for example, a minimum and/or maximum utilization level for the processors in the NSE. The control information may be used by the NSE to assign processors to process information flows. For example, at least one of the processors in the NSE may be configured to control the remaining processors, and in this regard may monitor the remaining processors to ensure compliance with the control information. If it is determined that a processor does not comply with the control information (e.g., the processor's utilization is below the minimum level or above the maximum level), information flows may be reassigned to other processors in order to bring the noncompliant processors into compliance.

In the same or a different embodiment, further control may be implemented in the NSE, wherein processors may be deactivated (e.g., to save power) if they are not currently processing information flows. For example, in instances where processors in the NSE are determined to be operating at a level below the minimum utilization level set forth in the control information, the information flows of the non-compliant processors may be reassigned to other processors with available processing capacity, and any inactive processors may be deactivated. Further, if it is determined that any of the processors in the NSE are operating above the maximum utilization level set forth in the control information, and that no other processors have available processing capacity to accept information flows, then the NSE may send an alert to the controller, the alert advising the controller that the processors are not in compliance and that no processing capacity is available to reallocate information flows. The controller may then be configured to resolve the “overload” condition by, for example, directing information flows away from the NSE that sent the alert (e.g., to other NSEs having available processing capacity based on its awareness of the topology of the NSEs it is controlling).

FIG. 1illustrates example system100configured for network routing based on resource availability in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. System100may comprise a controller102and at least one NSE104(e.g., it is possible for controller102to control more than one NSE104). Controller102may be any computing device capable of wired or wireless communication including, for example, mobile communication devices such as a smartphone based on the Android® operating system (OS), iOS®, Blackberry® OS, Palm® OS, Symbian® OS, etc., mobile computing devices such as a tablet computer like an Ipad®, Galaxy Tab®, Kindle Fire®, etc., an Ultrabook® including a low-power chipset manufactured by Intel Corp., a netbook, a notebook computer, a laptop computer, stationary computing devices such as a desktop computer, a network server, etc. In one embodiment, controller102may also be part of a set of distributed controllers102. NSE104may be a software-based switch configured to interact with any of the example devices mentioned in regard to controller102above, but may further be able to utilize devices dedicated to supporting communications on a packet-switched network such as a network switch, router, gateway or other similar network-specific device.

NSE104may include ports106, processors108, ports110and management port112. In instances where Openflow is being employed, the OF-CONFIG protocol may be utilized to associate OpenFlow-related resources in a physical device (e.g., ports106, processors108and ports110) with a software-based switch such as, for example, NSE104. OFCONFIG does not determine how the resources will be assigned in the device. OF-CONFIG merely associates the device resources and allows the software-based switch (e.g., NSE104) to have control over how the resources will be utilized. Ports106and Ports110may be application-specific or process-specific addressable locations in NSE104from which information flows118(e.g., at least one digital data transmission unit such as a packet, frame, etc.) may originate, or alternatively, to which information flows118may be delivered. Processors108may include at least one processor (e.g., processing units, processing cores, etc.) configured to process information flows118. Processing information flows118may include conveying information flows118from ports106to110, and conversely, from ports110to106. Management port112may be configured to allow controller102to communicate with NSE104. Management port112may include a secure channel, such as in instances where OpenFlow is being employed, over which controller102and NSE104may communicate. In one embodiment, NSE104may transmit status information112to controller102via management port112, and may further receive control information from controller102via management port112. Status information114may include, but it not limited to, capability information and/or utilization information for processors108. For example, capability information may include, but is not limited to, the total number of processors108, a type (e.g., manufacturer, model, category, technology, etc.) for processors108, a speed for processors108, a maximum throughput (e.g., bandwidth) for processors108, etc. Utilization information may include, but is not limited to, current statistics corresponding to processors108and/or ports106/110such as, for example, percent utilization of processors108, frames per second (fps) per processor108and/or port106/110, dropped frames per processor108or port106/110, etc. Control information116may include, but is not limited to, permitted operating conditions for processors108such as, for example, a permitted percent utilization level for processors108including a maximum usage level and/or minimum usage level, a maximum/minimum fps for processors108, etc. A minimum permitted usage level may prompt information flow reassignment and deactivation of underutilized processors108, which may reduce energy consumption and allow the deactivated processors108to be freed up for other tasks (e.g., in the instance that the device being controlled by NSE104is not simply a dedicated network device). A maximum permitted usage level for processors108may result in better per-processor performance, and thus, improved overall performance and quality of service.

FIG. 2illustrates example controller102′ in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. Generally, controller102′ may include circuitry capable of implementing the functionality illustrated inFIG. 1. System module200may be configured to perform various functions that may occur during normal operation of controller102′. For example, processing module202may comprise one or more processors situated in separate components, or alternatively, may comprise one or more processing cores situated in a single component (e.g., in a System-on-a-Chip (SOC) configuration). Example processors may include, but are not limited to, various x86-based microprocessors available from the Intel Corporation including those in the Pentium, Xeon, Itanium, Celeron, Atom, Core i-series product families. Processing module202may be configured to execute instructions in controller102′. Instructions may include program code configured to cause processing module202to perform activities related to reading data, writing data, processing data, formulating data, converting data, transforming data, etc. Information (e.g., instructions, data, etc.) may be stored in memory module204. Memory module204may comprise random access memory (RAM) or read-only memory (ROM) in a fixed or removable format. RAM may include memory configured to hold information during the operation of controller102′ such as, for example, static RAM (SRAM) or Dynamic RAM (DRAM). ROM may include memories such as bios memory configured to provide instructions when device102′ activates, programmable memories such as electronic programmable ROMs, (EPROMS), Flash, etc. Other fixed and/or removable memory may include magnetic memories such as floppy disks, hard drives, etc., electronic memories such as solid state flash memory (e.g., eMMC, etc.), removable memory cards or sticks (e.g., uSD, USB, etc.), optical memories such as compact disc-based ROM (CD-ROM), etc. Power module206may include internal (e.g., battery) and/or external (e.g., wall plug) power sources and module configured to supply controller102′ with the power needed to operate. Communications interface module208may be configured to handle packet routing and various control functions for communication module212, which may include various resources for conducting wired and/or wireless communications. Wired communications may include mediums such as, for example, Universal Serial Bus (USB), Ethernet, etc. Wireless communications may include, for example, close-proximity wireless mediums (e.g., radio frequency (RF), infrared (IR), etc.), short-range wireless mediums (e.g., Bluetooth, wireless local area networking (WLAN), etc.) and long range wireless mediums (e.g., cellular, satellite, etc.). For example, communications interface module208may be configured to prevent wireless communications active in communication module212from interfering with each other. In performing this function, communications interface module208may schedule activities for communication module212based on the relative priority of pending communications. User interface module210may include circuitry configured to allow a user to interact with controller102′ such as, for example, various input mechanisms (e.g., microphones, switches, buttons, knobs, keyboards, speakers, touch-sensitive surfaces, one or more sensors configured to capture images and/or sense proximity, distance, motion, gestures, etc.) and output mechanisms (e.g., speakers, displays, indicators, electromechanical components for vibration, motion, etc.).

In one embodiment, NSE control module214may be configured to interact with at least communication module212. Interaction may include NSE control module214being configured to receive status information via communication module212, to determine control information based on the status information, and to cause communication module212to transmit the control information to NSE104. NSE control module214may perform these actions as needed (e.g., in response to receiving status information from NSE104), on a fixed timeframe (e.g., NSE control module214may cause communication module212to periodically transmit requests for status information to NSE104), in response to sensed changes in system100, etc.

FIG. 3illustrates example device300that NSE104may utilize to operate in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. In particular, when OpenFlow or another similar software-based switching system is employed to implement a system concurrent with the disclosed embodiments, NSE104may comprise a software-based switch configured to control the behavior of a communication-enabled device (e.g., device300). For example, the software-based switch may access existing features of device300(e.g., a flow-table in Ethernet-based devices) in order control how processors in device300process information flows between ports.

As illustrated inFIG. 3, device300may include similar modules to those discussed in regard to controller102′ inFIG. 2. However, at least two differences that may exist include user interface module210being optional and NSE module302replacing NSE control module214. User interface module210may be optional (or rudimentary) if, for example, device300is not a full-fledged computing device as discussed above in regard toFIG. 1, but instead is a dedicated networking device such as a switch, router, gateway, etc. NSE module302may be configured to interact with at least processing module202and communication module212in device300. For example, NSE module302may cause communication module212to transmit status information to controller102, and may receive control information from controller102via communication module212. NSE module302may interact with processing module302in order to control how processors in processing module202(e.g., corresponding to processors108in NSE104) process information flows (e.g., corresponding to information flows118in NSE104) between ports (e.g., corresponding to ports106and110in NSE104) in device300. For example, device300may be a computing device (e.g., a desktop computer) and processing module202may comprise a processor integrated circuit (IC) including multiple processing cores (e.g., four cores). NSE module302may then cause one of the processing cores to run an NSE operating system (OS) software causing the processing core to control how the other three cores process information flows in device300.

FIG. 4illustrates an example of information flow assignment including controller102and NSE104′ in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. In system100′ controller102may control the operation of NSE104′ by at least providing control information to NSE104′. NSE104′ may comprise at least ports106A,106B,106C and106D (collectively ports106A-D), processors108A,108B,108C and108D (collectively processors108A-D) and ports110A,110B,110C and110D (collectively ports110A-D) and management port112. Controller102may communicate with NSE104′ via management port112. Processor108A may be loaded with the NSE OS that configures processor108A to, for example, receive status information114from processors108B-D, provide status information114to controller102via management port112, receive control information116from controller102via management port112and assign processors108B-D to process information flows118between ports106A-D and ports110A-D in NSE104′ based on control information116. For example, processor108A may provide status information114to controller102, status information114indicating that NSE104′ has three available processors (e.g., processors108B-D), a processor type (e.g., processing cores in an x86-based microprocessor), the current processing load of the available processors, etc. Controller102may utilize status information114in determining control information116. For the sake of explanation herein, control information116may instruct that, for example, the percent utilization level of processors108B-D is limited to a minimum of 5% and a maximum of 80%. Controller102may then provide control information116to processor108A, which may utilize control information116when assigning information flows118to processors108B-D.

In the example illustrated inFIG. 4, processor108A assigns processor108B to process first information flow118A between port106A and110C. Processing first information flow118A causes processor108B to have a 45% utilization level, which complies with the example minimum and maximum percent utilization levels in control information116. Processors108C and108D are inactive (e.g., 0% utilization level), and thus, have been deactivated as indicated by these processors being grayed-out. As a result, all active processors (e.g., processor108B inFIG. 4) are in compliance, and processor108A does not need to reassign information flows118.

FIG. 5proceeds to build upon the example illustrated inFIG. 4by introducing a second information flow118B between ports106B and110B of NSE104′. Second information flow118B may, at least initially, be assigned to processor108B (e.g., since it is actively processing first information flow118A). Processor108A may then become aware (e.g., based on status information114received from processor108B) that the operation of processor108B is not in compliance with the 80% maximum utilization level set forth in control information116because the percent utilization level of processor108B has risen to 85%. To bring the operation of processor108B back into compliance with control information116, inFIG. 6processor108A may activate processor108C and may then assign second information flow118B to processor108C. As a result of the reassignment, the percent utilization of processor108B may drop back down to 45% and the percent utilization of processor108C may rise to 45%, allowing the operation of both processors108B and108C to be in compliance with control information116.

InFIG. 7, first information flow118A is discontinued (e.g., due to completion, being cut off, etc.). In one embodiment, if processor108B was still actively processing other information flows118, but the percent utilization level of processor108B was below the minimum set forth in control information116(e.g., 5%), then processor108A may reassign the other information flows118to another active processor with capacity such as, for example, processor108C. Once processor108B becomes totally inactive, processor108A may deactivate processor108B to, for example, conserve energy, free up processor108A to perform other tasks, etc. While not shown inFIG. 4-7, situations may occur where the operation of one or more processors108B-D are not in compliance with control information116, but none of processors108B-D have any available processing capacity to balance out the processing load. In one embodiment, this situation may cause processor108A to alert controller102(e.g., via management port112). Controller102may then attempt to direct information flows118away from NSE104′ (e.g., to another NSE) to reduce the processing load for NSE104′, which may allow processor108A to reassign one or more information flows118and bring the operation of processors108B-D into compliance.

FIG. 8illustrates flowcharts of example operations for network routing based on resource availability in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. In particular, operations802,804and816may occur in a controller, while operations800,806,808,810,812and814may occur in an NSE. In operation800the NSE may provide status information to the controller. In one embodiment, the status information may include at least one of capability information or utilization information for processors in the NSE. After receiving the status information from the NSE, controller may determine control information in operation802. Control information may include at least one of a minimum utilization level or a maximum utilization level for the processors based on the status information. The control information may then be provided to the NSE in operation804.

A determination may then be made in operation806as to whether the operation of the processors in the NSE is in compliance with the control information. If in operation806it is determined that the operation of the processors is in compliance with the control information, then in operation808a further determination may be made as to whether any existing communication flows have been discontinued due to, for example, the communication flows being complete, interrupted, etc. If in operation808it is determined that any of the existing communication flows have been discontinued, then in operation810any remaining flows for processors whose operation is determined to be below the minimum allowed utilization level may be assigned to other processors, and any processors that are inactive may be deactivated. Per the dotted arrows illustrated inFIG. 8, if in operation808it is determined that no existing flows have been discontinued, or following any reassignments or deactivations take place in operation810, it may be optional to return to operation800where the NSE may again provide the status information to the controller. The return to operation800may occur if, for example, the system is configured to continually provide updated status information to the controller.

If in operation806it is determined that the operation of any of the processors is not in compliance with the control information (e.g., the percent utilization of any of the processors is above the maximum utilization level set forth in the control information), then in operation812a further determination may be made as to whether any of the processors have processing capacity available to, for example, reassign information flows from the noncompliant processors. If in operation812it is determined that processing capacity is available, then in operation814one or more information flows may be assigned to bring the operation of the noncompliance processors back into compliance. For example, one or more information flows may be reassigned from the noncompliant processors to the processors having processing capacity available. If, on the other hand, in operation812it is determined that no processors have processing capacity available, then an alert may be transmitted from the NSE to the controller. In one embodiment, the NSE may continue to attempt information flow reassignment after the alert is sent to the controller because conditions in the NSE may change (e.g., an existing information flow may complete), resulting in available processing capacity in the NSE usable for information flow reassignment. In operation816the controller may then attempt to resolve the overload condition. For example, the controller may direct one or more information flows away from the NSE (e.g., to another NSE) to reduce the processing burden of the overloaded NSE.

In one embodiment, the system may not be configured to continually provide updated status information to the controller (e.g., to return to operation800as illustrated inFIG. 8). In such a configuration, operations808or810may instead be followed by, for example, a return to operation806wherein monitoring the processors may be continued since other conditions may arise in the NSE requiring information flow reassignment (e.g., such as a software thread running in the NSE that starts to aggressively consume resources, pushing at least one processor out of compliance). As a result, the NSE may continue to reassign information flows from processors operating above the maximum utilization level to processors with available processing capacity (e.g., steps806,812and814), and may reassign information flows from processors operating below the minimum utilization level to processors with available processing capacity, possibly along with deactivating any inactive processors (e.g., steps808and810), until, for example, a situation arises where reassignment is impossible (e.g., due to no available processing capacity being available such as described above). In the same or a different embodiment, the NSE may also notify the controller whenever it changes configuration (e.g., whenever information flows are reassigned and/or discontinued, whenever processors are activated or deactivated, etc.)

Further embodiments consistent with the present disclosure may, for example, vary the manner in which control is allocated between controller and NSE. While the controller may be configured to provide at least control information to the NSE, allowing the NSE to control how information flows are assigned to its processors, in one embodiment the controller may also be configured to orchestrate some or all of the control over how information flows are assigned to the processors in the NSE. For example, the controller may receive status information from the NSE as described above, but may then utilize the status information for generating instructions for controlling how the NSE assigns information flows. The system may also operate in a mode wherein the NSE provides alerts to the controller in certain situations beyond the examples that were described above (e.g., when the average processor usage is below or above a certain level, when a certain number of information flows are active in the NSE, etc.) and the controller may then have the opportunity to intervene in the operation of the NSE, possibly in combination with other NSEs also in the topology controlled by the controller, to balance system-wide flow traffic.

WhileFIG. 8illustrates various operations according to an embodiment, it is to be understood that not all of the operations depicted inFIG. 8are necessary for other embodiments. Indeed, it is fully contemplated herein that in other embodiments of the present disclosure, the operations depicted inFIG. 8, and/or other operations described herein, may be combined in a manner not specifically shown in any of the drawings, but still fully consistent with the present disclosure. Thus, claims directed to features and/or operations that are not exactly shown in one drawing are deemed within the scope and content of the present disclosure.

As used in any embodiment herein, the term “module” may refer to software, firmware and/or circuitry configured to perform any of the aforementioned operations. Software may be embodied as a software package, code, instructions, instruction sets and/or data recorded on non-transitory computer readable storage mediums. Firmware may be embodied as code, instructions or instruction sets and/or data that are hard-coded (e.g., nonvolatile) in memory devices. “Circuitry”, as used in any embodiment herein, may comprise, for example, singly or in any combination, hardwired circuitry, programmable circuitry such as computer processors comprising one or more individual instruction processing cores, state machine circuitry, and/or firmware that stores instructions executed by programmable circuitry. The modules may, collectively or individually, be embodied as circuitry that forms part of a larger system, for example, an integrated circuit (IC), system on-chip (SoC), desktop computers, laptop computers, tablet computers, servers, smart phones, etc.

Thus, the present disclosure provides systems and methods for network routing based on resource availability. A network switching element (NSE) may be configured to provide status information to a controller. The controller may be configured to utilize the status information in determining control information that may be provided to the NSE. The NSE may be further configured to assign processing of information flows to processors in the NSE based on the control information. For example, the control information may contain minimum and maximum percent utilization levels for the processors. Information flows may be reassigned to processors that have available processing capacity from processors whose operation is determined not to be in compliance with the minimum and maximum levels. Moreover, inactive processors may be deactivated and alerts may be sent to the controller when the NSE determines that no available processing capacity exists to reassign the flows of processors whose operation is determined to be noncompliant.

The following examples pertain to further embodiments. In one example embodiment there is provided a system. The system may include a network switching element including at least ports and processors, the network switching element being configured to assign at least one of the processors to process information flows between the ports based on control information, and a controller configured to control the network switching element by providing the control information to the network switching element.

The above example system may be further configured, wherein the network switching element comprises a software-based switch configured to control operation of a device comprising the ports and processors. In this configuration the example system may be further configured, wherein the software-based switch is configured to interact with a flow table in the device, the flow table defining how information will be routed in an Ethernet network based on the IEEE 802.3 standard.

The above example system may be further configured, wherein the control information comprises at least one of a minimum utilization level or a maximum utilization level for the processors.

The above example system may be further configured, wherein the processors comprise at least one processor configured to assign the processing of the information flows based on the control information. In this configuration the example system may be further configured, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to provide information regarding status of the processors to the controller. In this configuration the example system may be further configured, wherein the controller is configured to determine the control information based on the status information received from the at least one controller.

In another example embodiment there is presented a controller. The controller may include a communication module configured to communicate on a network, and a network switching element control module configured to receive status information from a network switching element via the communication module, to determine control information based on the status information, and to provide the control information to the network switching element via the communication module.

The above example controller may be further configured, wherein the status information includes at least one of capability information or utilization information for processors in the network switching element. In this configuration the example controller may be further configured, wherein the control information includes at least one of a minimum utilization level or a maximum utilization level for the processors. In this configuration the example controller may be further configured, wherein the network switching element control module is further configured to receive an alert from the network switching element via the communication module, the alert indicating that at least one of the processors is exceeding the maximum utilization level, and to redirect information flows away from the network switching element based on the alert.

In another example embodiment there is presented a device. The device may include a communication module configured to communicate on a network, ports configured to transmit and receive information flows, processors configured to process the information flows between the ports, and a network switching element module configured to provide status information to a controller via the communication module, to receive control information from the controller via the communication module, and to assign at least one of the processors to process the information flows between the ports based on the control information.

The above example device may be further configured, wherein the network switching element module is configured to interact with a flow table in the device, the flow table defining how information will be routed in an Ethernet network in accordance with the IEEE 802.3 standard.

The above example device may be further configured, wherein the status information includes at least one of capability information or utilization information for processors in the network switching element.

The above example device may be further configured, wherein the control information comprises at least one of a minimum utilization level or a maximum utilization level for the processors based on the status information.

In another example embodiment there is presented a method. The method may include receiving status information from a network switching entity, determining control information based on the status information, and transmitting the control information to the network switching entity.

The above example method may be further configured, wherein the status information includes at least one of capability information or utilization information for processors in the network switching element.

The above example method may be further configured, wherein determining control information includes determining at least one of minimum utilization level or a maximum utilization level for the processors.

In this configuration the above example method may further comprise receiving an alert that at least one of the processors in the network switching element is exceeding the maximum utilization level from the network switching element, and redirecting information flows away from the switching element based on the alert.

In another example embodiment there is presented a method. The method may include providing status information to a controller, receiving control information from the controller, determining whether processors are operating in compliance with the control information, and controlling the processing of information flows between ports so that the operation of the processors complies with the control information.

The above example method may be further configured, wherein the control information comprises at least one of a minimum utilization level or a maximum utilization level for the processors based on the status information.

The above example method may be further configured, wherein controlling the processing of information flows comprises determining if any processors have available processing capacity, and reallocating information flows from processors determined not to be operating in compliance with the control information to processors determined to have available processing capacity. In this configuration the above example method may be further configured, wherein controlling the processing of information flows comprises alerting the controller when it is determined that processors are not operating in compliance with the control information and no processors have available processing capacity. In this configuration the above example method may be further configured, wherein controlling the processing of information flows comprises determining if any information flows have been discontinued, and reallocating information flows between the processors based on the control information. In this configuration the above example method may be configured to further comprise deactivating any processors that are not processing information flows as a result of the reallocation of information flows.

In another example embodiment there is presented a system comprising at least a controller and a network switching entity, the system being arranged to perform the method of any of the above example methods.

In another example embodiment there is presented a chipset arranged to perform any of the above example methods.

In another example embodiment there is presented at least one machine readable medium comprising a plurality of instructions that, in response to be being executed on a computing device, cause the computing device to carry out any of the above example methods.

In another example embodiment there is presented a controller apparatus, the controller apparatus being arranged to perform any of the above methods pertaining to a controller apparatus.

In another example embodiment there is presented a network switching element, the network switching element being arranged to perform any of the above methods pertaining to a network switching element.