Transmitting residence time information in a network

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10567101-B2
Application number	US-201515524540-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 26, 2015
Priority date	Nov 5, 2014
Publication date	Feb 18, 2020
Grant date	Feb 18, 2020

Abstract

A method of operation of a Multiprotocol Label Switching network involves, in an active node of the network, receiving a first data packet from a source node and forwarding the first data packet to a destination node. At the same time, the active node measures a residence time of the first data packet in the active node. The active node then sends a further data packet containing residence time information.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method of operation of a Multiprotocol Label Switching network, the method comprising, in an active node of the network:
receiving a first data packet from a source node;
forwarding the first data packet to a destination node, the first data packet comprising a flag indicating if a two-step mode is being used; and
when the flag indicates that the two-step mode is being used:
measuring a residence time of the first data packet in the active node; and
sending a further data packet containing residence time information of the first data packet.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the first data packet is sent as part of a method for synchronization by two-way exchange of packets carrying timing information.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1 , comprising including in the further data packet information identifying the first data packet.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein sending the further data packet containing residence time information comprises:
receiving a second data packet from the source node;
including the residence time information in the second data packet; and
forwarding the second data packet to the destination node.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein:
the source node is a clock operating in a two-step mode; and
wherein the first data packet is sent as part of a method for synchronization, and the synchronization is based on at least one of a timestamp of transmission and receipt of the first data packet.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein sending the further data packet containing residence time information comprises:
receiving a second data packet from the destination node;
including the residence time information in the second data packet, and
forwarding the second data packet to the source node.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein sending the further data packet containing residence time information comprises:
creating a new data packet;
including the residence time information in the new data packet; and
sending the new data packet to the destination node.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein:
the source node is a clock operating in a one-step mode; and
wherein the first data packet is sent as part of a method for synchronization, and the synchronization is based on at least one of a timestamp of transmission and receipt of the first data packet.

9. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising setting a flag in the forwarded first data packet to indicate if a two-step mode is being used.

10. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein sending the further data packet containing residence time information comprises:
creating a new data packet;
including the residence time information in the new data packet; and
sending the new data packet to the source node.

11. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the source node comprises one of a boundary clock and a clock connected to a boundary clock.

12. The method as claimed in claim 1 , comprising updating a correction field in the further data packet to include the residence time information.

13. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the further data packet is encapsulated into a Generic Associated Channel packet.

14. A Multiprotocol Label Switching, MPLS, network node, being configured for:
receiving a first data packet from a source node;
forwarding the first data packet to a destination node, the first data packet comprising a flag indicating if a two-step mode is being used; and
when the flag indicates that the two-step mode is being used:
measuring a residence time of the first data packet in the active node; and
sending a further data packet containing residence time information of the first data packet.

15. The MPLS network node as claimed in claim 14 further configured for including in the further data packet information identifying the first data packet.

16. The MPLS network node as claimed in claim 14 , further configured for sending the further data packet containing residence time information by:
receiving a second data packet from the source node;
forwarding the second data packet to the destination node; and
including the residence time information in the second data packet forwarded to the destination node.

17. The MPLS network node as claimed in claim 14 , further configured for sending the further data packet containing residence time information by:
receiving a second data packet from the destination node;
forwarding the second data packet to the source node; and
including the residence time information in the second data packet forwarded to the source node.

18. The MPLS network node as claimed in claim 14 , being further configured for sending the further data packet containing residence time information by:
creating a new data packet;
including the residence time information in the new data packet; and
sending the new data packet to the destination node.

19. The MPLS network node as claimed in claim 14 , further configured for setting a flag in the forwarded first data packet to indicate that two-step mode is being used.

20. The MPLS network node as claimed in claim 14 , further configured for updating a correction field in the further data packet to include the residence time information.

21. The MPLS network node as claimed in claim 14 , wherein the further data packet is encapsulated into a Generic Associated Channel packet.

22. A Multiprotocol Label Switching, MPLS, network node, comprising:
a processor; and
a memory, said memory containing instructions executable by said processor to configure the node to:
receive a first data packet from a source node;
forward the first data packet to a destination node, the first data packet comprises a flag indicating if a two-step mode is being used; and
when the flag indicates that the two-step mode is being used:
measure a residence time of the first data packet in the active node; and
send a further data packet containing residence time information of the first data packet.

Assignees

• Ericsson Telefon Ab L M

Inventors

• Ruffini Stefano
• Gray Eric Ward
• Kini Sriganesh
• Mirsky Gregory

Classifications

• H04J3/0658

  Clock or time synchronisation among packet nodes · CPC title

• H04L45/50 Primary

  using label swapping, e.g. multi-protocol label switch [MPLS] · CPC title

• H04J3/0667 Primary

  Bidirectional timestamps, e.g. NTP or PTP for compensation of clock drift and for compensation of propagation delays (arrangements for monitoring round trip delays in packet switching networks H04L43/0864) · CPC title

• H04J3/0673 Primary

  using intermediate nodes, e.g. modification of a received timestamp before further transmission to the next packet node, e.g. including internal delay time or residence time into the packet · CPC title

• H04L45/507

  Label distribution · CPC title