Network performance assessment without topological information

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10904095-B2
Application number	US-201816032133-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 11, 2018
Priority date	Jul 11, 2018
Publication date	Jan 26, 2021
Grant date	Jan 26, 2021

Abstract

Techniques for network performance assessment are described. Techniques may include collecting initial measurements relating to transmission of probe traffic between endpoints of endpoint pairs in a plurality of endpoint pairs and clustering the plurality of endpoints into a plurality of endpoint groups. The method may also include determining a plurality of endpoint group pairs and generating a network performance assessment, based on measuring performance metrics pertaining to traffic between endpoints within the endpoint groups in the plurality of endpoint group pairs.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for network performance assessment comprising:
collecting initial measurements relating to transmission of probe traffic between a plurality of endpoints in a network, wherein the probe traffic is transmitted between endpoints in endpoint pairs selected from the plurality of endpoints;
clustering the plurality of endpoints into a plurality of endpoint groups, based on the collected initial measurements;
determining a plurality of endpoint group pairs, based on the plurality of endpoint groups; and
generating a network performance assessment, based on measuring performance metrics pertaining to traffic between endpoints across the endpoint groups in the plurality of endpoint group pairs and the initial measurements.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein collecting the initial measurements relating to the transmission of probe traffic further comprises:
transmitting probe traffic between two endpoints of each endpoint pair;
measuring a throughput value of the probe traffic; and
storing the throughput value for each endpoint pair in an endpoint correlation table.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein clustering the plurality of endpoints into a plurality of endpoint groups, based on the collected initial measurements further comprises:
determining from the endpoint correlation table, a plurality of similar measured throughput values for a plurality of endpoint pairs, wherein the throughput values of the plurality of endpoints pairs are similar if a difference between the one or more throughput values is within a similarity threshold; and
based on the one or more similar throughputs, grouping the one or more endpoints into one or more endpoint groups.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining a plurality of endpoint group pairs, based on the plurality of endpoint groups further comprises:
selecting a representative endpoint from each plurality of endpoint groups; and
pairing the representative endpoint with each other representative endpoint from the plurality of endpoint groups.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein generating a network performance assessment further comprises:
transmitting probe traffic between two endpoints of each endpoint group pair; and
measuring one or more performance assessment parameters between each measurement endpoint of each endpoint group.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein performance assessment parameters comprise one or more of:
network throughput;
packet delay;
packet loss; and
network jitter.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the probe traffic comprises a workload package.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
measuring a performance parameter of an application running on the network;
if the measured performance parameter of the application is below a performance parameter threshold, determining, from the network performance assessment an endpoint group which provides an improved performance of the application; and
orchestrating a deployment of the application to utilize an endpoint of the determined endpoint group.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining that the generated network performance assessment is stale; and
reprocessing the network performance assessment.

10. A system for performing network performance assessment, comprising:
one or more computer processors; and
a memory containing a program which when executed by the one or more computer processors performs an operation comprising:
collecting initial measurements relating to transmission of probe traffic between a plurality of endpoints in a network, wherein the probe traffic is transmitted between endpoints in endpoint pairs selected from the plurality of endpoints;
clustering the plurality of endpoints into a plurality of endpoint groups, based on the collected initial measurements;
determining a plurality of endpoint group pairs, based on the plurality of endpoint groups; and
generating a network performance assessment, based on measuring performance metrics pertaining to traffic between endpoints across the endpoint groups in the plurality of endpoint group pairs and the initial measurements.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein to collect the initial measurements relating to the transmission of probe traffic further, the operation further comprises:
transmitting probe traffic between two endpoints of each endpoint pair;
measuring a throughput value of the probe traffic; and
storing the throughput value for each endpoint pair in an endpoint correlation table.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein to cluster the plurality of endpoints into a plurality of endpoint groups, based on the collected initial measurements, the operation further comprises:
determining from the endpoint correlation table, a plurality of similar measured throughput values for a plurality of endpoint pairs, wherein the throughput values of the plurality of endpoints pairs are similar if a difference between the one or more throughput values is within a similarity threshold; and
based on the one or more similar throughputs, grouping the one or more endpoints into one or more endpoint groups.

13. The system of claim 10 , wherein to determine a plurality of endpoint group pairs, based on the plurality of endpoint groups, the operation further comprises:
selecting a representative endpoint from each plurality of endpoint groups; and
pairing the representative endpoint with each other representative endpoint from the plurality of endpoint groups.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein to generate a network performance assessment, the operation further comprises:
transmitting probe traffic between two endpoints of each endpoint group pair; and
measuring one or more performance assessment parameters between each measurement endpoint of each endpoint group.

15. The system of claim 10 , wherein the operation further comprises:
measuring a performance parameter of an application running on the network;
if the measured performance parameter of the application is below a performance parameter threshold, determining, from the network performance assessment an endpoint group which provides an improved performance of the application; and
orchestrating a deployment of the application to utilize an endpoint of the determined endpoint group.

16. A non-transitory computer program product for network performance assessment, the computer program product comprising:
a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code embodied therewith, the computer-readable program code executable by one or more computer processors to perform an operation that includes:
collecting initial measurements relating to transmission of probe traffic between a plurality of endpoints in a network, wherein the probe traffic is transmitted between endpoints in endpoint pairs selected from the plurality of endpoints;
clustering the plurality of endpoints into a plurality of endpoint groups, based on the collected initial measurements;
determining a plurality of endpoint group pairs, based on the plurality of endpoint groups; and
generating a network performance assessment, based on measuring performance metrics pertaining to traffic between endpoints across the endpoint groups in the plurality of endpoint group pairs and the initial measurements.

17. The computer program product of claim 16 , wherein, wherein to collect the initial measurements relating to the transmission of probe traffic, the operation further comprises:
transmitting probe traffic between two endpoints of each endpoint pair;
measuring a t

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Karacali-Akyamac Bengi
• Tracey John Michael
• Basso Claude
• Crumley Paul
• Felter Wesley Michael

Classifications

• H04L45/036

  Updating the topology between route computation elements, e.g. between OpenFlow controllers · CPC title

• H04L41/12 Primary

  Discovery or management of network topologies · CPC title

• H04L43/10 Primary

  Active monitoring, e.g. heartbeat, ping or trace-route · CPC title

• H04L43/026 Primary

  using flow identification · CPC title

• H04L45/02

  Topology update or discovery · CPC title