System and method for transmitting a data stream in a network

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10951654-B2
Application number	US-201816117309-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 30, 2018
Priority date	Aug 30, 2018
Publication date	Mar 16, 2021
Grant date	Mar 16, 2021

Abstract

In one embodiment, a method includes receiving, by a network controller and from a first node of a network, information associated with a data stream of the network and determining, by the network controller, a segmentation for the data stream. The segmentation includes a plurality of data segments and the plurality of data segments includes a first data segment. The method further includes determining, by the network controller, a data flow path for each of the plurality of data segments and determining, by the network controller, a first wavelength to assign to the first data segment. The first wavelength is one of a plurality of wavelengths spanning between the first node and a second node of the network.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
receiving, by a network controller and from a first node of a network, information associated with a data stream of the network, wherein the information associated with the data stream comprises a level of security for the data stream;
determining, by the network controller, a segmentation for the data stream, wherein the segmentation comprises a plurality of data segments and the plurality of data segments comprises a first data segment;
determining, by the network controller, a data flow path through the network for each of the plurality of data segments, wherein the data flow path through the network includes a plurality of hops between a plurality of network nodes, wherein the first node of the network is one of the plurality of network nodes;
determining, by the network controller, a plurality of different wavelengths to assign to the plurality of hops, wherein a number of the plurality of different wavelengths is increased based on the level of security for the data stream, wherein the determining the plurality of different wavelengths comprises determining a different wavelength for each of the plurality of hops between the plurality of network nodes; and
assigning the plurality of different wavelengths to the plurality of hops between the plurality of network nodes.

2. The method of claim 1 ,
wherein the determining the plurality of different wavelengths comprises determining each of the plurality of different wavelengths using a pseudo-random number generator.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the network is a software-defined network;
the plurality of network nodes comprise optical switches; and
each data segment of the plurality of data segments is an optical frame.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the information associated with the data stream comprises one or more of the following:
a bandwidth requirement for the data stream;
a destination of the data stream;
the level of security for the data stream;
a level of sensitivity of the data stream for latency;
a level of sensitivity of the data stream for jitter; and
a level of sensitivity of the network for available network data paths; and

the determining the segmentation for the data stream is based on the information associated with the data stream.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, by the network controller, an encryption key from a key server; and
communicating the encryption key to the first node, wherein the first node assigns the encryption key to the first data segment.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining, by the network controller, a reassembly of the plurality of data segments after the plurality of data segments traverse the data flow path.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of network nodes are part of a public network.

8. A system comprising one or more processors and a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
receiving, by a network controller and from a first node of a network, information associated with a data stream of the network, wherein the information associated with the data stream comprises a level of security for the data stream;
determining, by the network controller, a segmentation for the data stream, wherein the segmentation comprises a plurality of data segments and the plurality of data segments comprises a first data segment;
determining, by the network controller, a data flow path through the network for each of the plurality of data segments, wherein the data flow path through the network includes a plurality of hops between a plurality of network nodes, wherein the first node of the network is one of the plurality of network nodes;
determining, by the network controller, a plurality of different wavelengths to assign to the plurality of hops, wherein a number of the plurality of different wavelengths is increased based on the level of security for the data stream, wherein the determining the plurality of different wavelengths comprises determining a different wavelength for each of the plurality of hops between the plurality of network nodes; and
assigning the plurality of different wavelengths to the plurality of hops between the plurality of network nodes.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein
each of the plurality of different wavelengths is determined using a pseudo-random number generator.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein:
the network is a software-defined network;
the plurality of network nodes comprise optical switches; and
each data segment of the plurality of data segments is an optical frame.

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein:
the information associated with the data stream comprises one or more of the following:
a bandwidth requirement for the data stream;
a destination of the data stream;
the level of security for the data stream;
a level of sensitivity of the data stream for latency;
a level of sensitivity of the data stream for jitter; and
a level of sensitivity of the network for available network data paths; and

the determining the segmentation for the data stream is based on the information associated with the data stream.

12. The system of claim 8 , wherein the operations further comprise:
receiving, by the network controller, an encryption key from a key server; and
communicating the encryption key to the first node, wherein the first node assigns the encryption key to the first data segment.

13. The system of claim 8 , wherein the operations further comprise
determining a reassembly of the plurality of data segments after the plurality of data segments traverse the data flow path.

14. The system of claim 8 , wherein the plurality of network nodes are part of a public network.

15. One or more computer-readable storage media embodying instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
receiving, by a network controller and from a first node of a network, information associated with a data stream of the network, wherein the information associated with the data stream comprises a level of security for the data stream;
determining, by the network controller, a segmentation for the data stream, wherein the segmentation comprises a plurality of data segments and the plurality of data segments comprises a first data segment;
determining, by the network controller, a data flow path through the network for each of the plurality of data segments, wherein the data flow path through the network includes a plurality of hops between a plurality of network nodes, wherein the first node of the network is one of the plurality of network nodes;
determining, by the network controller, a plurality of different wavelengths to assign to the plurality of hops, wherein a number of the plurality of different wavelengths is increased based on the level of security for the data stream, wherein the determining a plurality of different wavelengths comprises determining a different wavelength for each of the plurality of hops between the plurality of network nodes; and
assigning the plurality of different wavelengths to the plurality of hops between the plurality of network nodes.

16. The one or more computer-readable storage media of claim 15 , wherein the determining the plurality of different wavelengths comprises determining each of the plurality of different wavelengths using a pseudo-random number generator.

17. The one or more computer-readable storage

Assignees

• At & T Ip I Lp
• At&T Intellectual Property 1 L P

Inventors

• Williams Stuart J
• Theall Allan
• Tuggle Timothy
• Axt Steven
• Gardiner Charlton
• Tse Kathleen
• Humphries John

Classifications

• H04K1/006 Primary

  by varying or inverting the phase, at periodic or random intervals · CPC title

• H04Q2011/0086

  Network resource allocation, dimensioning or optimisation · CPC title

• H04J14/0256

  at the optical channel layer · CPC title

• H04Q2213/13295

  Wavelength multiplexing, WDM · CPC title

• H04Q2213/1301

  Optical transmission, optical switches · CPC title