Temporal Tunnel Services

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016308786-A1
Application number	US-201615083922-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 29, 2016
Priority date	Apr 17, 2015
Publication date	Oct 20, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

An ingress node in a network, comprising a receiver configured to receive a first request for a temporal label switched path (LSP) in the network, wherein the first request indicates a network constraint and a scheduled time interval having a predetermined start time and a predetermined end time for the temporal LSP to carry traffic, a processor coupled to the receiver and configured to compute a path in the network for the temporal LSP, wherein the path satisfies the network constraint in the scheduled time interval, and reserve a network resource for use during the scheduled time interval for the temporal LSP in advance of the predetermined start time, and a transmitter coupled to the processor and configured to send a path request message to the next hop node to initiate set up of the temporal LSP in the network.

First claim

What is claimed:

1 . An ingress node in a network, comprising:
a receiver configured to receive a first request for a temporal label switched path (LSP) in the network, wherein the first request indicates a network constraint and a scheduled time interval having a predetermined start time and a predetermined end time for the temporal LSP to carry traffic; a processor coupled to the receiver and configured to:
compute a path in the network for the temporal LSP, wherein the path satisfies the network constraint in the scheduled time interval; and
reserve a network resource for use during the scheduled time interval for the temporal LSP in advance of the predetermined start time, wherein the network resource is reserved on a link extending from the ingress node to a next hop node on the path; and
a transmitter coupled to the processor and configured to send a path request message to the next hop node to initiate set up of the temporal LSP in the network.

2 . The ingress node of claim 1 , wherein reserving the network resource does not include a reservation for the network resource at a current time, and wherein the network resource is reserved from a time-based traffic engineering link state database (TEDB).

3 . The ingress node of claim 1 , wherein the scheduled time interval is a recurrent time interval, and wherein the path request message further indicates a repeat period that the scheduled time interval repeats and a number of repeats for the scheduled time interval.

4 . The ingress node of claim 1 , wherein the first request further indicates a desired start time and an elastic time range for the scheduled time interval, wherein the processor is further configured to compute the path for the temporal LSP by determining a minimum amount of time to shift the scheduled time interval from the desired start time such that the shifted scheduled time interval satisfies the network constraint and is temporally positioned within the elastic time range, and wherein the path request message indicates the shifted scheduled time interval.

5 . The ingress node of claim 1 , wherein the transmitter is further configured to distribute, in the network, an update of remaining available network resources on the link in the scheduled time interval after the network resource is reserved on the link.

6 . The ingress node of claim 1 , wherein the receiver is further configured to receive a reserve request message from the next hop node subsequent to sending the path request message, wherein the reserve request message requests an in-advance reservation of the network resource for the temporal LSP from the predetermined start time to the predetermined end time, and wherein the network resource is reserved in response to the reserve request message.

7 . The ingress node of claim 1 , wherein the receiver is further configured to receive a second request to tear down the temporal LSP, wherein the processor is further configured to release the network resource reserved in advance on the link in remaining time of the scheduled time interval, and wherein the transmitter is further configured to send a path tear down message to the next hop node to initiate the tear down of the temporal LSP in the network.

8 . The ingress node of claim 7 , wherein the network constraint comprises a bandwidth constraint, a priority constraint, a number of hops constraint, a wavelength constraint, or combinations thereof.

9 . A method implemented in a network element (NE), comprising:
receiving, via a receiver of the NE, a first path request message requesting creation of a first temporal label switched path (LSP) in a network, wherein the first path request message indicates a first network constraint, a first path, and a first scheduled time interval having a predetermined start time and a predetermined end time for the first temporal LSP to carry first traffic; determining, via a processor of the NE, that a first next hop link from the NE to a first next downstream node on the first path comprises a sufficient amount of first network resource in the first scheduled time interval to satisfy the first network constraint; and reserving, via the processor, the first network resource on the first next hop link for use during the first scheduled time interval for the first temporal LSP in advance of the predetermined start time according to the first network constraint to facilitate data forwarding for the first temporal LSP in the first scheduled time interval.

10 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
generating, via the processor, a second path request message according to the first path request message to indicate the first scheduled time interval; and sending, via a transmitter of the NE, the second path request message to the first next downstream node to request the creation of the first temporal LSP in the network in the first scheduled time interval.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the NE is an ingress node of the first temporal LSP, and wherein the method further comprises:
receiving, via the receiver, a configuration for the first temporal LSP indicating the first scheduled time interval and the first network constraint; computing, via the processor, the first path for the first temporal LSP satisfying the first network constraint in the first scheduled time interval; generating, via the processor, the first path request message according to the first path computed for the first temporal LSP and the first scheduled time interval received in the configuration; and sending, via the transmitter, the first path request message to the NE.

12 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
storing, in a memory of the NE, information associated with the first path, the first network constraint, and the first scheduled time interval of the first temporal LSP received in the first path request message, and receiving, via the receiver, a reserve request message from the first next downstream node requesting in-advance reservation of the first network resource; wherein the first network resource is reserved in advance on the first next hop link according to the information stored in the memory in response to the reserve request message.

13 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising storing, in a memory of the NE, a time-based traffic engineering link state database (TEDB), wherein the first network resource is reserved in advance on the first next hop link from the time-based TEDB.

14 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
receiving, via the receiver, a path tear down message requesting deletion of the first temporal LSP; and releasing, via the processor, the first network resource reserved in advance on the first next hop link in remaining time of the first scheduled time interval.

15 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
receiving, via the receiver, a third path request message from a next upstream node requesting creation of a second temporal LSP in the network, wherein the second path request message indicates a second network constraint, a second path, and a second scheduled time interval for the second temporal LSP to carry second traffic; determining, via the processor, that a second next hop link to a second next downstream node on the second path comprises an insufficient amount of second network resource in the second scheduled time interval to satisfy the second network constraint; and sending, via the transmitter, a path error message to the next upstream node indicating a creation error status for the second temporal LSP.

16 . A method comprising:
rec

Assignees

• Futurewei Technologies Inc

Inventors

• Chen Huaimo
• Li Renwei

Classifications

• H04L47/825 Primary

  Involving tunnels, e.g. MPLS · CPC title

• H04L47/724

  at intermediate nodes, e.g. resource reservation protocol [RSVP] · CPC title

• H04L47/748

  Negotiation of resources, e.g. modification of a request · CPC title

• H04L47/826

  Involving periods of time · CPC title

• H04L47/125

  by balancing the load, e.g. traffic engineering · CPC title