Virtual cable modem termination system redundancy in a cable modem network environment

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10089123-B2
Application number	US-201514807720-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 23, 2015
Priority date	May 4, 2015
Publication date	Oct 2, 2018
Grant date	Oct 2, 2018

Abstract

An example system and method for facilitating virtual cable modem termination system VCMTS redundancy in cable modem network environments is provided and includes spawning a first instance of a virtual network function (VNF) on a first server in a cable modem network, spawning a second instance of the VNF on a different second server, configuring the second instance to be communicatively coupled to the first instance in a same subnet of the network, and synchronizing (e.g., copying, coordinating, matching, etc.) state between the first instance and the second instance. In specific embodiments, the VNF comprises a VCMTS.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
spawning, by an orchestration component executing using a processor, a first instance of a virtual network function (VNF) on a first server in a cable modem network;
spawning a second instance of the VNF on a second server, wherein the first instance of the VNF comprises an active control plane and an active data plane, and wherein the second instance of the VNF comprises the active control plane and a standby data plane;
configuring the second instance to be communicatively coupled to the first instance in a subnet of the cable modem network, wherein configuring the second instance to be communicatively coupled to the first instance further comprises:
creating a first communication tunnel between the first instance and a remote physical layer (R-PHY) entity in the cable modem network,
creating a second communication tunnel between the second instance and the R-PHY entity,
communicating data traffic over the first communication tunnel between the first instance and the R-PHY entity,
creating a third communication tunnel between the first instance and the second instance, and
communicating heartbeat messages and state messages between the first instance and the second instance over the third communication tunnel; and

synchronizing state between the first instance and the second instance.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the VNF comprises a virtual cable modem termination system (VCMTS).

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
detecting a failure of the first instance; and
switching over the data traffic to the second communication tunnel between the second instance and the R-PHY entity.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising instructing the R-PHY entity to forward upstream data traffic to the second instance.

5. The method of claim 3 , further comprising reprogramming a backbone network to route downstream data traffic to the second instance, wherein the first server is located in a first network and the second server is located in a second network physically separate and remote from the first network and connected over the backbone network, wherein the downstream data traffic arrives from a third network destined to the first instance.

6. The method of claim 2 , wherein synchronizing the state comprises configuration settings and communication parameters associated with communication channels between one or more cable modems and an R-PHY entity coupled to the first instance.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising storing state of the first instance in a state database external to the first instance and the second instance, wherein the second instance is spawned based on the state stored in the state database.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second server is oversubscribed with a plurality of second instances of different VNFs.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein a plurality of second instances of the VNF corresponds to a single first instance of the VNF.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first instance and the second instance share a control plane in an active-active mode, wherein the first instance and the second instance share a data plane in an active-standby mode.

11. Non-transitory computer readable media that includes instructions for execution, which when executed by a processor, performs operations comprising:
spawning, by an orchestration component executing using the processor, a first instance of a virtual network function (VNF) on a first server in a cable modem network;
spawning a second instance of the VNF on a second server, wherein the first instance of the VNF comprises an active control plane and an active data plane, and wherein the second instance of the VNF comprises the active control plane and a standby data plane;
configuring the second instance to be communicatively coupled to the first instance in a same subnet of the cable modem network, wherein configuring the second instance to be communicatively coupled to the first instance further comprises:
creating a first communication tunnel between the first instance and a remote physical layer (R-PHY) entity in the cable modem network,
creating a second communication tunnel between the second instance and the R-PHY entity,
communicating data traffic over the first communication tunnel between the first instance and the R-PHY entity,
creating a third communication tunnel between the first instance and the second instance, and
communicating heartbeat messages and state messages between the first instance and the second instance over the third communication tunnel; and

synchronizing state between the first instance and the second instance.

12. The non-transitory computer readable media of claim 11 , wherein the VNF comprises a virtual cable modem termination system (VCMTS).

13. The non-transitory computer readable media of claim 11 , wherein the operations further comprise:
detecting a failure of the first instance; and
switching over the data traffic to the second communication tunnel between the second instance and the R-PHY entity.

14. The non-transitory computer readable media of claim 12 , wherein the state comprises configuration settings and communication parameters associated with communication channels between one or more cable modems and an R-PHY entity coupled to the first instance.

15. The non-transitory computer readable media of claim 11 , wherein the operations further comprise storing state of the first instance in a state database external to the first instance and the second instance, wherein the second instance is spawned based on the state stored in the state database.

16. An apparatus, comprising:
a memory element for storing data; and
a processor, wherein the processor executes instructions associated with the data, wherein the processor and the memory element cooperate, such that the apparatus is configured for:
spawning, by an orchestration component executing using the processor, a first instance of a VNF on a first server in a cable modem network;
spawning a second instance of the VNF on a second server, wherein the first instance of the VNF comprises an active control plane and an active data plane, and wherein the second instance of the VNF comprises the active control plane and a standby data plane;
configuring the second instance to be communicatively coupled to the first instance in a same subnet of the cable modem network, wherein configuring the second instance to be communicatively coupled to the first instance further comprises:
creating a first communication tunnel between the first instance and a remote physical layer (R-PHY) entity in the cable modem network,
creating a second communication tunnel between the second instance and the R-PHY entity,
communicating data traffic over the first communication tunnel between the first instance and the R-PHY entity,
creating a third communication tunnel between the first instance and the second instance, and
communicating heartbeat messages and state messages between the first instance and the second instance over the third communication tunnel; and

synchronizing state between the first instance and the second instance.

17. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the VNF comprises a VCMTS.

18. The apparatus of claim 16 , further configured for:
detecting a failure of the first instance; and
switching over the data traffic to the second communication tunnel between the second instance and the R-PHY entity.

19. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the state comprises conf

Assignees

• Cisco Tech Inc

Inventors

• Bernstein Alon
• Chapman John T
• Singh Amit
• Medved Jan

Classifications

• H04L12/2801 Primary

  Broadband local area networks · CPC title

• H04L12/4633

  Interconnection of networks using encapsulation techniques, e.g. tunneling · CPC title

• G06F2009/4557

  Distribution of virtual machine instances; Migration and load balancing · CPC title

• H04L12/2885

  Arrangements interfacing with optical systems (optical network equipment H04B10/00; optical multiplexers H04J14/05 and H04J14/07) · CPC title

• G06F9/455 Primary

  Emulation; Interpretation; Software simulation, e.g. virtualisation or emulation of application or operating system execution engines · CPC title