Dynamic middlebox redirection based on client characteristics

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9426076-B2
Application number	US-201213610376-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 11, 2012
Priority date	Aug 21, 2012
Publication date	Aug 23, 2016
Grant date	Aug 23, 2016

Abstract

Dynamic middleboxes include a network monitor module configured to determine a quality-affective factor in a connection between a client and a server in a network; a processor configured to compare the quality-affective factor to a threshold to determine whether the connection would benefit from a network processing function; and a network control module configured to reconfigure the network to redirect the connection to a middlebox that performs the network processing function if the connection would benefit and further configured to reconfigure the network to exclude the middlebox from the connection if the connection would not benefit.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A middlebox, comprising:
a network monitor module configured to determine a quality-affective factor comprising a throughput in an existing connection between a client and a server in a network;
a processor configured to compare the quality-affective factor to a threshold to determine whether the connection would benefit from a network processing function; and
a network control module configured to reconfigure the network to redirect the connection to or away from a middlebox that performs the network processing function in accordance with the determination of whether the connection would benefit from the network processing function, including configuring a router to exclude the middlebox from the connection if the connection would not benefit and a middlebox is already present in the connection to cease operation of the middlebox on the connection, wherein reconfiguration is delayed until the connection is idle.

2. The middlebox of claim 1 , wherein the throughput is calculated as

2
/
p

t

,

where p is a packet loss rate and t is a measured round trip time.

3. The middlebox of claim 1 , wherein the quality-affective factor includes a client location.

4. The middlebox of claim 3 , wherein said network monitor module is configured to compare the client location to a coverage map to determine a signal quality to determine the quality-affective factor.

5. The middlebox of claim 1 , wherein the quality-affective factor includes a media access control (MAC) address for the client.

6. The middlebox of claim 5 , wherein said network monitor module is configured to compare the MAC address to a table of known low-quality chipsets to determine the quality-affective factor.

7. The middlebox of claim 1 , wherein said network monitor module is configured to determine the quality-affective factor periodically.

8. The middlebox of claim 1 , wherein network monitor module is configured to determine the quality-affective factor when a second client arrives or departs in the network.

9. The middlebox of claim 1 , wherein network monitor module is configured to determine the quality-affective factor upon a change in network congestion.

10. A middlebox, comprising:
a network monitor module configured to determine a quality-affective factor in an existing connection between a client and a server in a network, where the quality-affective factor is a measure of a quality of the connection;
a processor configured to compare the quality-affective factor to a threshold to determine whether the connection would benefit from a network processing function; and
a network control module configured to configuring the network based on the result of the comparison by, configuring a router to redirect the connection to a middlebox that performs the network processing function if the connection would benefit and a middlebox is not already present in the connection and configuring a router to exclude the middlebox from the connection if the connection would not benefit and a middlebox is already present in the connection to cease operation of the middlebox on the connection, wherein configuration is delayed until the connection is idle.

11. The middlebox of claim 10 , wherein the quality-affective factor includes a throughput.

12. The middlebox of claim 11 , wherein the throughput is calculated as

2
/
p

t

,

where p is a packet loss rate and t is a measured round trip time.

13. The middlebox of claim 10 , wherein the quality-affective factor includes a client location.

14. The middlebox of claim 13 , wherein said network monitor module is configured to compare the client location to a coverage map to determine a signal quality to determine the quality-affective factor.

15. The middlebox of claim 10 , wherein the quality-affective factor includes a media access control (MAC) address for the client.

16. The middlebox of claim 15 , wherein said network monitor module is configured to compare the MAC address to a table of known low-quality chipsets to determine the quality-affective factor.

17. The middlebox of claim 10 , wherein said network monitor module is configured to determine the quality-affective factor periodically.

18. The middlebox of claim 10 , wherein network monitor module is configured to determine the quality-affective factor when a second client arrives or departs in the network.

19. The middlebox of claim 10 , wherein network monitor module is configured to determine the quality-affective factor upon a change in network congestion.

20. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising a computer readable program for traffic redirection, wherein the computer readable program when executed on a computer causes the computer to perform the steps of:
determining a quality-affective factor comprising a throughput in a connection between a client and a server in a network;
comparing the quality-affective factor to a threshold to determine whether the connection would benefit from a network processing function; and
reconfiguring the network to redirect the connection to or away from a middlebox that performs the network processing function in accordance with the determination of whether the connection would benefit from the network processing function, including configuring a router to exclude the middlebox from the connection if the connection would not benefit and a middlebox is already present in the connection to cease operation of the middlebox on the connection, wherein reconfiguration is delayed until the connection is idle.

21. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising a computer readable program for traffic redirection, wherein the computer readable program when executed on a computer causes the computer to perform the steps of:
determining network quality in an existing connection between a client and a server in a network;
comparing the quality-affective factor to a threshold to determine whether the connection would benefit from a network processing function; and
configuring the network based on the result of the comparison, wherein configuration is delayed until the connection is idle, where said configuring comprises:
if the connection would benefit and a middlebox is not already present in the connection, configuring a router to redirect the connection to a middlebox that performs the network processing function; and
if the connection would not benefit and a middlebox is already present in the connection, configuring a router to exclude the middlebox from the connection to cease operation of the middlebox on the connection.

Assignees

• Calo Seraphin B
• Cornejo William
• Le Thai F
• Nahum Erich M
• Touma Maroun
• Verma Dinesh C
• IBM

Inventors

• Calo Seraphin B
• Cornejo William
• Le Thai F
• Nahum Erich M
• Touma Maroun
• Verma Dinesh C

Classifications

• H04L47/10

  Flow control; Congestion control · CPC title

• H04L41/0816

  the condition being an adaptation, e.g. in response to network events · CPC title

• H04L47/122 Primary

  by diverting traffic away from congested entities · CPC title

• H04L47/127 Primary

  by using congestion prediction · CPC title

• H04L47/12

  Avoiding congestion; Recovering from congestion · CPC title