Method and system for virtualizing flow tables in a software-defined networking (sdn) system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016142301-A1
Application number	US-201414542805-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Nov 17, 2014
Priority date	Nov 17, 2014
Publication date	May 19, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

In one embodiment, a method is implemented in a network element coupled to the SDN system, which contains a set of network elements processing traffic flows and a SDN controller managing the set of network elements. The method includes creating a set of virtual tables for processing packets of traffic flows at the network element based on a set of flow tables of the network element, where the set of flow tables is ordered in a sequence. The method further includes mapping each of the set of virtual tables to a single flow table of the set of flow tables, where the mapping causes at least one flow table being mapped to a plurality of the set of virtual tables. The method also includes forwarding packets of traffic flows to the set of virtual tables for processing.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method implemented in a network element coupled to a software-defined networking (SDN) system, wherein the SDN system contains a set of network elements processing traffic flows and a SDN controller managing the set of network elements, the method comprising:
creating a set of virtual tables for processing packets of traffic flows at the network element based on a set of flow tables of the network element, wherein the set of flow tables is ordered in a sequence; mapping each of the set of virtual tables to a single flow table of the set of flow tables, wherein the mapping causes at least one flow table being mapped to a plurality of the set of virtual tables; and forwarding packets of traffic flows to the set of virtual tables for processing.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the creating the set of virtual tables comprises:
for each virtual table, performing at least one of:
setting a table identifier for the virtual table;
setting a set of key components of the virtual table;
setting a set of actions upon receiving a matching packet; and
setting an entry for match miss.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the mapping each of the set of virtual tables to a flow table of the network element comprises:
mapping a table identifier of a virtual table to a table identifier of a flow table.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the forwarding packets of traffic flows comprises:
upon receiving a packet of a traffic flow at a virtual table, searching for a matching flow entry in a mapping flow table of the virtual table; upon finding the matching flow entry in the mapping flow table, determining a corresponding set of actions of the matching flow entry for the virtual table; and performing the corresponding set of actions.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the searching for the matching flow entry is to match key components of the packet to match fields of flow entries in the mapping flow table.

6 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
upon finding no matching flow entry in the mapping flow table, performing an instruction for match miss.

7 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
updating a counter in the virtual table upon the performing the corresponding set of actions.

8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
identifying the network element with flow table virtualization capability through at least one of:
capability negotiation between the network element and the SDN controller;
adding a vendor extension in communication between the network element and the SDN controller;
adding a predetermined data path identifier for the network element with flow table virtualization capability; and
initiating communication from the network element through a predetermined port to the SDN controller.

9 . A network element coupled to a software-defined networking (SDN) system, wherein the SDN system contains a plurality of network elements processing traffic flows and a SDN controller managing the plurality of network elements, the network element comprising:
a processor and a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium coupled to the processor, the non-transitory machine-readable storage medium containing an virtual table coordinator module executable by the processor, wherein the network element is operative to:
create a set of virtual tables for processing packets of traffic flows at the network element based on a set of flow tables of the network element, wherein the set of flow tables is ordered in a sequence,
map each of the set of virtual tables to a single flow table of the set of flow tables, wherein the mapping causes at least one flow table being mapped to a plurality of the set of virtual tables, and
forward packets of traffic flows to the set of virtual tables for processing.

10 . The network element of claim 9 , wherein the creation of the set of virtual tables is to:
for each virtual table, perform at least one of:
setting a table identifier for the virtual table;
setting a set of key components of the virtual table;
setting a set of instructions upon receiving a matching packet; and
setting an entry for match miss.

11 . The network element of claim 9 , wherein the mapping is to:
map a table identifier of a virtual table to a table identifier of a flow table.

12 . The network element of claim 9 , wherein the forwarding is to:
upon receiving a packet of a traffic flow at a virtual table, search for a matching flow entry in a mapping flow table of the virtual table; upon finding the matching flow entry in the mapping flow table, determine a corresponding set of actions of the matching flow entry for the virtual table; and perform the corresponding set of actions.

13 . A non-transitory machine-readable medium having instructions stored therein, which when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations in a network element coupled to a software-defined networking (SDN) system, wherein the SDN system contains a set of network elements processing traffic flows and a SDN controller managing the set of network elements, the operations comprising:
creating a set of virtual tables for processing packets of traffic flows at the network element based on a set of flow tables of the network element, wherein the set of flow tables is ordered in a sequence; mapping each of the set of virtual tables to a single flow table of the set of flow tables, wherein the mapping causes at least one flow table being mapped to a plurality of the set of virtual tables; and forwarding packets of traffic flows to the set of virtual tables for processing.

14 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the creating the set of virtual tables comprises:
for each virtual table, performing at least one of:
setting a table identifier for the virtual table;
setting a set of key components of the virtual table;
setting a set of actions upon receiving a matching packet; and
setting an entry for match miss.

15 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the mapping each of the set of virtual tables to a flow table of the network element comprises:
mapping a table identifier of a virtual table to a table identifier of a flow table.

16 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the forwarding packets of traffic flows comprises:
upon receiving a packet of a traffic flow at a virtual table, searching for a matching flow entry in a mapping flow table of the virtual table; upon finding the matching flow entry in the mapping flow table, determining a corresponding set of actions of the matching flow entry for the virtual table; and performing the corresponding set of actions.

17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the searching for the matching flow entry is to match key components of the packet to match fields of matching flow entries in the mapping flow table.

18 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising:
upon finding no matching flow entry in the mapping flow table, performing an instruction for match miss.

19 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising:
updating a counter in the virtual table upon the performing the corresponding set of actions.

20 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
identifying the network element with flow table virtualization capability through at least one of:
capability negotiation between the network element and the SDN controller;
adding a vendor extension in commu

Assignees

• Ericsson Telefon Ab L M

Inventors

• Anand Prashant

Classifications

• H04L49/70

  Virtual switches · CPC title

• H04L45/54 Primary

  Organization of routing tables · CPC title

• H04L45/42

  Centralised routing · CPC title

• H04L45/38

  Flow based routing · CPC title