Logical router comprising disaggregated network elements

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10965496-B2
Application number	US-201916696279-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 26, 2019
Priority date	Nov 26, 2018
Publication date	Mar 30, 2021
Grant date	Mar 30, 2021

Abstract

A logical router includes disaggregated network elements that function as a single router and that are not coupled to a common backplane. The logical router includes spine elements and leaf elements implementing a network fabric with front panel ports being defined by leaf elements. Control plane elements program the spine units and leaf to function a logical router. The control plane may define operating system interfaces mapped to front panel ports of the leaf elements and referenced by tags associated with packets traversing the logical router. Redundancy and checkpoints may be implemented for a route database implemented by the control plane elements. The logical router may include a standalone fabric and may implement label tables that are used to label packets according to egress port and path through the fabric.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
a plurality of disaggregated network elements coupled by a network and not coupled to one another by a common backplane of a chassis; and
a controller coupled to the plurality of disaggregated network elements and programmed to configure to program the plurality of disaggregated network elements to function as a logical router;
wherein the plurality of disaggregated network elements include line units defining front panel ports and spine units, the line units all being coupled to the spine units by the network;
wherein the controller is programmed to configure each line unit such that:
a packet is received on an ingress port of the front panel ports of the each line unit;
the each line unit determines an egress port of the front panel ports of a second line unit according to the packet;
the each line unit labels the packet with the egress port to obtain a labeled packet; and
the each line unit transmits the labeled packet over the network.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is programmed to configure each line unit to transmit the labeled packet over the network through a tunnel to the egress port.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the tunnel is a multiprotocol tunnel switching (MPLS) tunnel.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein each line unit is programmed to label the packet with a first globally scoped label identifying the egress port.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein each line unit is programmed to label the packet with a second globally scoped label identifying a label switched path to the egress port.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein each spine unit is programmed to:
receive the labeled packet from the each line unit;
rewrite the labeled packet according to a label table stored on the each spine unit to obtain a rewritten packet; and
forward the rewritten packet to the second line unit.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of disaggregated network elements are configured to operate as a standalone backplane.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of disaggregated network elements are programmed to autonomously:
perform discovery of one another over the network; and
configure overlay tunnels to and from all ports of the plurality of disaggregated network elements.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is programmed to program roles of the plurality of disaggregated network elements as either a line unit or a spine unit.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is programmed to:
download a fabric configuration to each element of the plurality of disaggregated network elements;
bring up level 3 (L3) addressing on fabric ports of the each element;
bring up link state over ethernet (LSoE) on the fabric ports of the each element;
invoke a module on the each element to bring up peerings with the fabric ports of other elements of the plurality of disaggregated network elements, learn topology of a fabric formed by the plurality of disaggregated network elements and the network, and install fabric routes.

11. A method comprising:
providing a plurality of disaggregated network elements coupled by a network and not coupled to one another by a common backplane of a chassis, the plurality of disaggregated network elements include line units defining front panel ports and spine units, the line units all being coupled to the spine units by the network;
providing a controller coupled to the plurality of disaggregated network elements and programmed to configure to program the plurality of disaggregated network elements to function as a logical router;
programming, by the controller, the plurality of disaggregated network elements;
performing, by a first line unit of the line units:
receiving a packet on an ingress port of the front panel ports of the first line unit;
determining an egress port of the front panel ports of a second line unit according to the packet;
labeling the packet with the egress port to obtain a labeled packet; and
transmitting the labeled packet over the network.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising transmitting, by the first line unit, the labeled packet over the network through a tunnel to the egress port.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the tunnel is a multiprotocol tunnel switching (MPLS) tunnel.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein labeling the packet with the egress port comprises labeling the packet a first globally scoped label identifying the egress port.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein labeling the packet with the egress port further comprises labeling the packet with a second globally scoped label identifying a label switched path to the egress port.

16. The method of claim 11 , further comprising performing, by a first spine unit of the spine units:
receiving the labeled packet from the first line unit;
rewriting the labeled packet according to a label table stored on the first spine unit to obtain a rewritten packet; and
forwarding the rewritten packet to the second line unit.

17. The method of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of disaggregated network elements are configured to operate as a standalone backplane.

18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising, performing, by the plurality of disaggregated network elements:
performing discovery of one another over the network; and
configure overlay tunnels to and from all ports of the plurality of disaggregated network elements.

19. The method of claim 11 , further comprising programming, by the controller, roles of the plurality of disaggregated network elements as either a line unit or a spine unit.

20. The method of claim 11 , further comprising performing, by the controller:
downloading a fabric configuration to each element of the plurality of disaggregated network elements;
bringing up level 3 (L3) addressing on fabric ports of the each element;
bringing up link state over ethernet (LSoE) on the fabric ports of the each element; and
invoking a module on the each element to bring up peerings with the fabric ports of other elements of the plurality of disaggregated network elements, learn topology of a fabric formed by the plurality of disaggregated network elements and the network, and install fabric routes.

Assignees

• Arrcus Inc

Inventors

• Patel Keyur
• Pai Nalinaksh
• Bush Randall
• Ragukumar Vikram
• Shanker Ashutosh
• Rajaraman Kalyani
• Austein Robert
• Aries Ebben
• Kumar Lalit
• Pitchai Sridhar
• Gurusamy Rajkumar

Classifications

• H04L49/10

  characterised by the switching fabric construction · CPC title

• H04L47/527

  Quantum based scheduling, e.g. credit or deficit based scheduling or token bank · CPC title

• H04L45/60

  Router architectures · CPC title

• H04L45/56

  Routing software · CPC title

• H04L45/48

  Routing tree calculation · CPC title