Identifying and managing connected nodes as reservable resources in a network

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10637795-B2
Application number	US-201715484251-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 11, 2017
Priority date	Apr 11, 2017
Publication date	Apr 28, 2020
Grant date	Apr 28, 2020

Abstract

In one embodiment, a device in a network maintains a plurality of applications executed by the device. The device associates the plurality of applications with a node in the network. The device schedules a time period during which a particular one of the applications is authorized to access the node associated with the applications. The device relays data packets between the node and the particular application during the scheduled time period.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
maintaining, by a device in a network, a plurality of applications executed by the device;
registering, in a node database, a node in the network as available for use by a given application, wherein the node database stores information characterizing one or more aspects of the node;
registering, in an application database, an interest of a particular one of the applications in using the node, wherein the application database stores information characterizing one or more aspects of the interest of the particular application in using the node;
scheduling, by the device, a time period during which the particular application is authorized to access the node based on the information stored in the node database characterizing the one or more aspects of the node and the information stored in the application database characterizing the one or more aspects of the interest of the particular application in using the node; and
relaying, by the device, data packets between the node and the particular application during the scheduled time period.

2. The method as in claim 1 , wherein the node comprises a sensor or actuator in the network.

3. The method as in claim 1 , further comprising:
executing, by the device, the applications within virtual machines (VMs) or containers.

4. The method as in claim 1 , wherein the device is a network router or switch.

5. The method as in claim 1 , further comprising:
scheduling, by the device, a configuration time period that is immediately prior to the time period during which the particular application is authorized to access the node associated with the applications; and
sending, by the device, a configuration associated with the particular application to the node during the configuration time period.

6. The method as in claim 1 , further comprising:
scheduling, by the device, an idle time period this is immediately after the time period during which the particular application is authorized to access the node associated with the applications; and
signaling, by the device, the node to enter into an idle or sleep mode during the scheduled idle time period.

7. The method as in claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, at the device, a registration request from the node to register the node with the device.

8. The method as in claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, at the device, an interest request from the particular application regarding the node, wherein the scheduled time period for the particular application is based in part on the interest request.

9. The method as in claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, at the device, a registration request from one of the applications to register the node or the application with the device.

10. An apparatus, comprising:
one or more network interfaces to communicate with a network;
a processor coupled to the one or more network interfaces and configured to execute a process; and
a memory configured to store the process executable by the processor, the process when executed configured to:
maintain a plurality of applications executed by the apparatus;
register, in a node database, a node in the network as available for use by a given application, wherein the node database stores information characterizing one or more aspects of the node;
register, in an application database, an interest of a particular one of the applications in using the node, wherein the application database stores information characterizing one or more aspects of the interest of the particular application in using the node;
schedule a time period during which the particular application is authorized to access the node based on the information stored in the node database characterizing the one or more aspects of the node and the information stored in the application database characterizing the one or more aspects of the interest of the particular application in using the node; and
relay data packets between the node and the particular application during the scheduled time period.

11. The apparatus as in claim 10 , wherein the node comprises a sensor or actuator in the network.

12. The apparatus as in claim 10 , wherein the process when executed is further operable to:
execute the applications within virtual machines (VMs) or containers.

13. The apparatus as in claim 10 , wherein the apparatus is a network router or switch.

14. The apparatus as in claim 10 , wherein the process when executed is further configured to:
schedule a configuration time period that is immediately prior to the time period during which the particular application is authorized to access the node associated with the applications; and
send a configuration associated with the particular application to the node during the configuration time period.

15. The apparatus as in claim 10 , wherein the process when executed is further configured to:
schedule an idle time period this is immediately after the time period during which the particular application is authorized to access the node associated with the applications; and
signal the node to enter into an idle or sleep mode during the scheduled idle time period.

16. The apparatus as in claim 10 , wherein the process when executed is further configured to:
receive a registration request from the node to register the node with the apparatus.

17. The apparatus as in claim 10 , wherein the process when executed is further configured to:
receive an interest request from the particular application regarding the node, wherein the scheduled time period for the particular application is based in part on the interest request.

18. The apparatus as in claim 10 , wherein the process when executed is further configured to:
receive a registration request from one of the applications to register the node or the application with the apparatus.

19. A tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing program instructions that, when executed by a device in a network, cause the device to perform a process comprising:
maintaining, by the device, a plurality of applications executed by the device;
registering, in a node database, a node in the network as available for use by a given application, wherein the node database stores information characterizing one or more aspects of the node;
registering, in an application database, an interest of a particular one of the applications in using the node, wherein the application database stores information characterizing one or more aspects of the interest of the particular application in using the node;
scheduling, by the device, a time period during which the particular application is authorized to access the node based on the information stored in the node database characterizing the one or more aspects of the node and the information stored in the application database characterizing the one or more aspects of the interest of the particular application in using the node; and
relaying, by the device, data packets between the node and the particular application during the scheduled time period.

20. The computer-readable medium as in claim 19 , wherein the process further comprises:
preventing, by the device, one or more of the applications from accessing the node during the scheduled time period.

Assignees

• Cisco Tech Inc

Inventors

• Pawar Durgaprasad Sukhadeo
• Munishwar Vikram Prasad
• Kadam Avaneesh Anandrao

Classifications

• H04L47/826

  Involving periods of time · CPC title

• H04L67/12

  specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks · CPC title

• H04L47/724 Primary

  at intermediate nodes, e.g. resource reservation protocol [RSVP] · CPC title

• H04L67/10

  in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network (software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46) · CPC title

• H04L67/325

  Electricity · mapped topic