Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US8064467B2/en
Timestamp: 2019-05-26 07:18:50
Document Index: 221138428

Matched Legal Cases: ['application No. 2', 'application No. 2', 'application No. 200780025193', 'application No. 200680003986', 'application No. 2', 'application No. 06720174', 'application No. 07710455', 'application No. 07710455', 'application No. 07864928', 'application No. 07710455', 'application No. 06720175', 'application No. 07864928', 'application No. 2007']

US8064467B2 - Systems and methods for network routing in a multiple backbone network architecture - Google Patents
Systems and methods for network routing in a multiple backbone network architecture Download PDF
US8064467B2
US8064467B2 US11/565,563 US56556306A US8064467B2 US 8064467 B2 US8064467 B2 US 8064467B2 US 56556306 A US56556306 A US 56556306A US 8064467 B2 US8064467 B2 US 8064467B2
US11/565,563
US20070086429A1 (en
Nassar El-Aawar
Steven Craig White
2005-02-04 Priority to US65031205P priority Critical
2006-02-03 Priority to US11/347,810 priority patent/US8526446B2/en
2006-11-30 Application filed by Level 3 Communications LLC filed Critical Level 3 Communications LLC
2006-11-30 Priority to US11/565,563 priority patent/US8064467B2/en
2007-04-19 Publication of US20070086429A1 publication Critical patent/US20070086429A1/en
2007-10-31 Priority claimed from US11/933,020 external-priority patent/US9426092B2/en
2008-01-30 Assigned to LEVEL 3 COMMUNICATIONS, LLC reassignment LEVEL 3 COMMUNICATIONS, LLC ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: WHITE, STEVEN CRAIG, LOHER, DARREN, ALCALA, RAOUL, LAWRENCE, JOSEPH, COMSTEDT, NICLAS, EL-AAWAR, NASSAR
2011-11-22 Publication of US8064467B2 publication Critical patent/US8064467B2/en
Embodiments of a network include a backbone node that includes a plurality of independent routers or switches connected in a matrix, wherein the matrix includes a plurality of stages of routers or switches, to form a node having a node switching capacity that is greater than the node switching capacity of the individual routers or switches. The routers or switches may be connected in an N×M Internet Protocol (IP) based CLOS matrix, wherein N>1 is the number of stages in the matrix and M>1 is the number of routers or switches in each stage. Traffic may be directed among the routers or switches using IP or Ethernet routing protocols. Traffic may be load balanced using one or more load balancing techniques selected from a group consisting of equal cost load balancing, traffic engineering, or flow-based load balancing. A number of links may be provisioned on the routers or switches in a manner that supports the traffic balancing technique performed by the node.
In some embodiments of a network architecture including multiple backbone networks, at least one of backbone networks may serve as a backup network to at least one of the other backbone networks. At least one of the backbone networks may include a backbone node including an N×M IP-implemented CLOS matrix of Ethernet switches, where N>1 is the number of stages in the matrix and M>1 is the number or switches in each stage.
Some embodiments relate to a network architecture that includes a backbone node having of independent routers or switches connected in matrix configuration resulting in a node switching capacity that is greater than the node switching capacity of the individual routers. The routers or switches may be connected in an N×M Internet Protocol (IP) implemented CLOS matrix, where N>1 is the number of stages in the matrix and M>1 is the number of routers or switches in each stage. Using this network architecture and matrix, the traffic is directed among the routers or switches using standard IP or Ethernet routing protocols and load balancing techniques that may include but are not limited to equal cost load balancing, traffic engineering, or flow based load balancing. The links are provisioned on the routers in a manner to best interoperate with traffic balancing of the node.
Various systems and processes have been developed to provide backbone network routing between networks. These systems can be used individually or together to form a cost effective, scalable core backbone network and/or edge network. The systems include a multi-chassis Ethernet router (“MER”), a multiple parallel backbone configuration (“N×BB”), and a LAN in the middle (“LIM”) configuration,
FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic illustration of one embodiment of a 3-stage MER 100 in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. In this particular embodiment, the MER utilizes 4 Ethernet switches 102 in each of the three stages 104 a-104 c. Again, additional switches 102 or stages can be added. In this particular example, as illustrated by the arrows in FIG. 1, traffic destined out L34 arrives at L11. L11 equally distributes the traffic across L21-L24 using one or more load balancing or distribution methods. L21-L24 forwards traffic to L34, which combines the flows and forwards them out the necessary links. This design provides a dramatic increase in scale. For example, in the illustrated embodiment, a 4× MER 100 provides a 4× increase in node size. The maximum increase for a 3 stage fabric is (n^2)/2, where n is the number of switches used in each stage. Five stage and seven stage matrices will further increase scalability.
Multiple Parallel Backbones N×BB
Another implementation that can be utilized to scale a core backbone network is to create multiple parallel backbone networks. One embodiment of a multiple parallel backbone architecture 200 is illustrated in FIG. 2. With the N×BB configuration 200, traffic can be split across multiple backbones to increase scale. More specifically, each backbone network can be selectively assigned to one or more network addresses, such that the assigned backbone network handles communication traffic (e.g., packets) associated with the assigned one or more network addresses.
Further, as illustrated in FIG. 3, a combination of multi-chassis Ethernet routers (MER) 302 and parallel backbones (N×BB) 304 can be used for even greater scaling. For example, as illustrated in the example in FIG. 3, a 300G Ethernet switch 306 capacity could be increased 64× to 19,200G using a combination of MER 302 and parallel backbones 304. In this example, an 8× MER 310 and an 8× parallel backbone architecture 312 is combined to obtain a 64× scalability multiple parallel MER-based network architecture 314. Scalability can be even larger if larger MERs 302 (e.g., 16× or 32×) and/or more parallel backbones 304 are used. Thus, these technologies used alone and/or together can help scale capacity greatly.
FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic illustration of an alternative embodiment of a LIM 700. Customer facing provider edges (PE) 702 can, for example, have 4×10G to the LIM. With a 1+1 protection, this would allow 20G customer facing working traffic. On the WAN facing side, each provider or core router (P) 704 has 4×10 G to the LIM. With 1+1 protection, this allows at least 20 G of WAN traffic.
PE1 804 receives one or more advertisements from nodes in customer network A 806 a and customer network B 806 b. The PE1 804 determines which of the backbone networks to assign to A.X addresses and which of the backbone networks to assign to the B.X addresses. In one embodiment, the PE1 selects backbone networks based on an external least cost routing policy, such as Border Gateway Protocol (BGP). In this embodiment, the shortest exit behavior is maintained regardless of the backbone network that is selected for each of A.X addresses and B.X addresses. In the particular scenario shown in FIG. 8, backbone network 802 a is selected to handle communications associated with customer network A 806 a and backbone network 802 b is selected to handle communications associated with customer network B 806 b.
To enforce the policy of using backbone network 802 a for A.X addresses and backbone network 802 b for B.X addresses, a next hop least cost routing protocol metric is used. In one embodiment, a next hop IGP metric is used to enforce route selection. PE1 804 advertises a first next hop loopback address L0 associated with A.X addresses and a second next hop loopback address L1 associated with B.X addresses. Address L0 and address L2 each are associated with ports on PE1 804. In one embodiment, the PE1 uses OSPF tagging to propagate tags associated with each of L0 and L2 through backbone network 802 a and backbone network 802 b. As shown in more detail below, cost metrics can be associated with next hop loopback addresses in such a way that packets destined for A.X addresses are routed through backbone network 802 a and packets destined for B.X addresses are routed through backbone network 802 b.
In accordance with one embodiment, PE1 804 generates a route map that includes routing information related to A.X addresses and B.X addresses. In the particular scenario shown in FIG. 8, the route map may have an association between A.X and L0 and another association between A.X and backbone network 802 a (BB0). Similarly, the route map may have an association between B.X and L2 and another association between B.X and backbone network 802 b (BB2). The identifiers BB0 and BB2 are referred to as community identifiers, and can be propagated through the backbone networks in association with their assigned customer address. A simplified example of a route map is shown below for illustration:
set next hop L0.PE1.WDC.CUST.NET
set community BB0
Match B.X.
set next hop L2.PE1.WDC.CUST.NET
set community BB2
Initially, a provider of backbone network services will have one backbone network, which is a wide area network. The backbone network services provider may add one or more additional backbone area networks to its network architecture for a number of reasons. Additional backbone networks may provide for better routing efficiency or scalability. The backbone network service provider may increase the number of backbone networks as a result of a merger with another backbone network service provider. Regardless of the reason for adding one or more backbone networks, the backbone network service provider can carry out a process of migrating some network service provider routes to the one or more added backbone networks. FIGS. 9-10 illustrate a process that could be carried out to support the migration of ISP routes in accordance with one embodiment.
PE1.WDC 904 a is communicably connected to a first WDC-based core node 906 a, labeled P.BB0.WDC, on BB0 902 a, and a second WDC-based core node 906 b, labeled P.BB2.WDC, on BB2 902 b. PE1.LAX 904 b is communicably connected to a first LAX-based core node 908 a, labeled P.BB0.WDC, on BB0 902 a, and a second LAX-based core node 908 b, labeled P.BB2.WDC, on BB2 902 b.
In the illustrated scenario, next hop loopback address L0 has been assigned to customer addresses A.X and next hop loopback address L2 has been assigned to customer addresses B.X. Embodiments advertise L0 and L2 in a manner that ensures that address L0 is reached via BB0 902 a and L2 is reached via BB2 902 b. In one specific scenario, B.X traffic is migrated to BB2 902 b using a cost-based redistribution process.
According to the present example, the computing device 1200 includes a bus 1201, at least one processor 1202, at least one communication port 1203, a main memory 1204, a removable storage media 1205, a read only memory 1206, and a mass storage 1207. Processor(s) 1202 can be any know processor, such as, but not limited to, an Intel® Itanium® or Itanium 2® processor(s), or AMD® Opteron® or Athlon MP® processor(s), or Motorola® lines of processors. Communication port(s) 1203 can be any of an RS-232 port for use with a modem based dialup connection, a 10/100 Ethernet port, a Gigabit port using copper or fiber, or a USB port. Communication port(s) 1203 may be chosen depending on a network such a Local Area Network (LAN Wide Area Network (WAN), or any network to which the computing device 1200 connects. The computing device 1200 may be in communication with peripheral devices (not shown) such as, but not limited to, printers, speakers, cameras, microphones, or scanners.
performing the internal least cost routing protocol process between the source core router device and a destination core router device to determine a cost associated with each of the first next hop loopback address and the second next hop loopback address.
US11/565,563 2005-02-04 2006-11-30 Systems and methods for network routing in a multiple backbone network architecture Active 2028-05-25 US8064467B2 (en)
US65031205P true 2005-02-04 2005-02-04
US11/347,810 US8526446B2 (en) 2005-02-04 2006-02-03 Ethernet-based systems and methods for improved network routing
US11/565,563 US8064467B2 (en) 2005-02-04 2006-11-30 Systems and methods for network routing in a multiple backbone network architecture
PCT/US2007/061629 WO2008066936A1 (en) 2006-11-30 2007-02-05 Systems and methods for network routing in a multiple backbone network architecture
CA 2657111 CA2657111A1 (en) 2006-11-30 2007-02-05 Systems and methods for network routing in a multiple backbone network architecture
CN2007800251934A CN101485161B (en) 2006-11-30 2007-02-05 Systems and methods for network routing in a multiple backbone network architecture
EP12177337.8A EP2515490A3 (en) 2006-11-30 2007-02-05 Systems and methods for network routing in a multiple backbone network architecture
EP20070710455 EP2087664B1 (en) 2006-11-30 2007-02-05 Systems and methods for network routing in a multiple backbone network architecture
US11/933,020 US9426092B2 (en) 2006-02-03 2007-10-31 System and method for switching traffic through a network
CN2007800250931A CN101485156B (en) 2006-11-30 2007-11-29 System and method for switching traffic through a network
EP07864928A EP2087657B1 (en) 2006-11-30 2007-11-29 System and method for switching traffic through a network
PCT/US2007/085977 WO2008067493A2 (en) 2006-11-30 2007-11-29 System and method for switching traffic through a network
CA2655984A CA2655984C (en) 2006-11-30 2007-11-29 System and method for switching traffic through a network
AT07864928T AT543306T (en) 2006-11-30 2007-11-29 System and method for switching traffic through a network
US12/367,147 US8259713B2 (en) 2005-02-04 2009-02-06 Systems and methods for network routing in a multiple backbone network architecture
HK10101007.7A HK1134973A1 (en) 2006-11-30 2010-01-29 Systems and methods for network routing in a multiple backbone network architecture
US13/601,806 US8995451B2 (en) 2005-02-04 2012-08-31 Systems and methods for network routing in a multiple backbone network architecture
US11/347,810 Continuation-In-Part US8526446B2 (en) 2005-02-04 2006-02-03 Ethernet-based systems and methods for improved network routing
US12/367,147 Division US8259713B2 (en) 2005-02-04 2009-02-06 Systems and methods for network routing in a multiple backbone network architecture
US20070086429A1 US20070086429A1 (en) 2007-04-19
US8064467B2 true US8064467B2 (en) 2011-11-22
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US11/565,563 Active 2028-05-25 US8064467B2 (en) 2005-02-04 2006-11-30 Systems and methods for network routing in a multiple backbone network architecture
US12/367,147 Active 2028-05-28 US8259713B2 (en) 2005-02-04 2009-02-06 Systems and methods for network routing in a multiple backbone network architecture
US13/601,806 Active 2026-09-01 US8995451B2 (en) 2005-02-04 2012-08-31 Systems and methods for network routing in a multiple backbone network architecture
US (3) US8064467B2 (en)
EP (2) EP2087664B1 (en)
CN (2) CN101485161B (en)
CA (1) CA2657111A1 (en)
HK (1) HK1134973A1 (en)
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US20090141632A1 (en) 2009-06-04
CA2657111A1 (en) 2008-06-05
US20120327946A1 (en) 2012-12-27
EP2515490A3 (en) 2013-07-17
CN101485161A (en) 2009-07-15
WO2008066936A1 (en) 2008-06-05
EP2087664A4 (en) 2010-04-28
CN101485156B (en) 2013-09-11
CN101485156A (en) 2009-07-15
HK1134973A1 (en) 2013-12-27
US8259713B2 (en) 2012-09-04
EP2515490A2 (en) 2012-10-24
CN101485161B (en) 2013-06-12
US20070086429A1 (en) 2007-04-19
EP2087664A1 (en) 2009-08-12
EP2087664B1 (en) 2013-05-15
US8995451B2 (en) 2015-03-31
US8018891B2 (en) 2011-09-13 Automatic configuration of virtual network switches
EP2582103A2 (en) 2013-04-17 Tie-breaking in shortest path determination
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Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:LAWRENCE, JOSEPH;EL-AAWAR, NASSAR;LOHER, DARREN;AND OTHERS;SIGNING DATES FROM 20070809 TO 20071212;REEL/FRAME:020439/0678