End-to-end dynamic multicast-only fast re-route (MoFRR)

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12418472-B2
Application number	US-202318492890-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 24, 2023
Priority date	Oct 24, 2023
Publication date	Sep 16, 2025
Grant date	Sep 16, 2025

Abstract

In some aspects, a method for establishing a multicast-only Fast Re-Route (FRR) (MoFRR) path between a source node and a receiving node in a network, the method includes receiving, by a merged receiving node, a plurality of data packets in a data flow comprising an FRR indicator, wherein the merged receiving node is configured to identify an FRR path for data transmission to the source node, extracting, by the merged receiving node, from the FRR indicator, an identification of the source node as a destination of the data transmission, and a first identifier identifying a first data packet as part of a first flow of a MoFRR, and a second identifier identifying a second data packet as part of a second flow of a MoFRR, transmitting, by the receiving node, the first data packet along a primary data path and the second data packet along a secondary data path.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for establishing a multicast-only Fast Re-Route (FRR) (MoFRR) path between a source node and a receiving node in a network, the method comprising:
receiving, by a merged receiving node, a plurality of data packets in a data flow comprising an FRR indicator, wherein the merged receiving node is configured to identify an FRR path for data transmission to the source node, wherein the merged receiving node is in a primary data path and a secondary data path, and wherein the FRR indicator indicates a communication type for the plurality of data packets;
extracting, by the merged receiving node, from the FRR indicator, an identification of the source node as a destination of the data transmission, and a first identifier identifying a first data packet as part of a first flow of a MoFRR to be routed down the primary data path, and a second identifier identifying a second data packet as part of a second flow of a MoFRR to be routed down the secondary data path; and
transmitting, by the merged receiving node, the first data packet along the primary data path and the second data packet along the secondary data path, wherein the transmitting includes dynamically adjusting the primary data path and the secondary data path based on one or more network conditions of one or more received nodes along the primary data path.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first identifier identifies the data flow as a primary join to the source node, and the second identifier identifies the data flow as a secondary join to the source node.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first identifier identifies the data flow by a first flow identifier to a first source and the second identifier identifies the data flow by the first flow identifier to a second source.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
configuring one or more network devices along the FRR path to forward data packets through an identified next available node towards the source node as a part of the first flow or the second flow of the MoFRR.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
automatically triggering utilization of the secondary data path when a failure is detected for one or more next available nodes along the primary data path; and
in response to the triggering, diverting the data packets to be transmitted along the FRR path to either the primary data path or the secondary data path to maintain uninterrupted communication between the source node and the receiving node.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining, at the merged receiving node, a divergent path in route to the source node associated with the first and second identifier associated with each of the first data packet and the second data packet, wherein the divergent path includes an adjusted primary data path and secondary data path with respect to the merged receiving node.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the merged receiving node prioritizes the transmission of the first data packet along the adjusted primary data path over the adjusted secondary data packet based on a real-time evaluation of data traffic in route to the source node.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
dynamically adjusting the FRR path by selecting alternate nodes or paths in response to changes in network topology.

9. A network device comprising:
one or more memories having computer-readable instructions stored therein; and
one or more processors configured to execute the computer-readable instructions to:
receive, by a merged receiving node, a plurality of data packets in a data flow comprising an FRR indicator, wherein the merged receiving node is configured to identify an FRR path for data transmission to a source node, wherein the merged receiving node is in a primary data path and a secondary data path, and wherein the FRR indicator indicates a communication type for the plurality of data packets;
extract, by the merged receiving node, from the FRR indicator, an identification of the source node as a destination of the data transmission, and a first identifier identifying a first data packet as part of a first flow of a MoFRR to be routed down the primary data path, and a second identifier identifying a second data packet as part of a second flow of a MoFRR to be routed down the secondary data path;
transmit, by the merged receiving node, the first data packet along the primary data path and the second data packet along the secondary data path, wherein the transmitting includes dynamically adjusting the primary data path and the secondary data path based on one or more network conditions of one or more received nodes along the primary data path.

10. The network device of claim 9 , wherein the first identifier identifies the data flow as a primary join to the source node, and the second identifier identifies the data flow as a secondary join to the source node.

11. The network device of claim 9 , wherein the first identifier identifies the data flow by a first flow identifier to a first source and the second identifier identifies the data flow by the first flow identifier to a second source.

12. The network device of claim 9 , further comprising:
configuring one or more network devices along the FRR path to forward data packets through an identified next available node towards the source node as a part of the first flow or the second flow of the MoFRR.

13. The network device of claim 9 , further comprising:
automatically triggering utilization of the secondary data path when a failure is detected for one or more next available nodes along the primary data path; and
in response to the triggering, diverting the data packets to be transmitted along the FRR path to either the primary data path or the secondary data path to maintain uninterrupted communication between the source node and the receiving node.

14. The network device of claim 9 , further comprising:
determining, at the merged receiving node, a divergent path in route to the source node associated with the first and second identifier associated with each of the first data packet and the second data, wherein the divergent path includes an adjusted primary data path and secondary data path with respect to the merged receiving node.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising computer-readable instructions, which when executed by one or more processors of a network appliance, cause the network appliance to:
receive, by a merged receiving node, a plurality of data packets in a data flow comprising an FRR indicator, wherein the merged receiving node is configured to identify an FRR path for data transmission to a source node, wherein the merged receiving node is in a primary data path and a secondary data path, and wherein the FRR indicator indicates a communication type for the plurality of data packets;
extract, by the merged receiving node, from the FRR indicator, an identification of the source node as a destination of the data transmission, and a first identifier identifying a first data packet as part of a first flow of a MoFRR to be routed down the primary data path, and a second identifier identifying a second data packet as part of a second flow of a MoFRR to be routed down the secondary data path;
transmit, by the merged receiving node, the first data packet along the primary data path and the second data packet along the secondary data path, wherein the transmitting includes dynamically adjusting the primary data path and the secondary data path based on one or more network conditions of one or more received nodes along the primary data path.

Assignees

• Cisco Tech Inc

Inventors

• Mishra Mankamana Prasad
• Kumar Nitin
• De Ghein Luc
• Budhiraja Anuj
• Ramachandran Vinish

Classifications

• H04L45/38 Primary

  Flow based routing · CPC title

• H04L45/02

  Topology update or discovery · CPC title

• H04L45/24

  Multipath · CPC title

• H04L45/16

  Multipoint routing · CPC title

• H04L45/28

  using route fault recovery · CPC title