Seamless segment routing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9450829-B2
Application number	US-201414210837-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 14, 2014
Priority date	Mar 15, 2013
Publication date	Sep 20, 2016
Grant date	Sep 20, 2016

Abstract

In one embodiment, a packet and a segment ID stack is received at a node. The segment ID stack includes a plurality of segment IDs, one or which is a first area-segment ID that identifies a first area of a subdivided network. One of a plurality of forwarding tables at the node is selected based on the first area-segment ID. Thereafter, the packet is forwarded based on information contained in the selected forwarding table.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
receiving a packet and a segment identifier (ID) stack at a segment routing enabled node, wherein
the segment ID stack comprises a plurality of segment IDs comprising a first area-segment ID,
the first area-segment ID identifies a first area of a subdivided segment routing enabled network, and
the first area comprises a first two or more nodes within the subdivided segment routing enabled network;

selecting one of a plurality of segment routing forwarding tables based on the first area-segment ID; and
forwarding the packet based on forwarding information contained in the selected forwarding table.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein each of the plurality of segment routing enabled forwarding tables is associated with a respective one of a plurality of area-segment IDs, including the first area-segment ID.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein:
the segment routing enabled node comprises an area border node connected to the first area and a second area of the subdivided segment routing enabled network; and
the second area comprises a second two or more nodes within the subdivided segment routing enabled network.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the segment routing enabled node comprises an edge node contained in the first area, and wherein the edge node is coupled to another node in an access network.

5. The method of claim 3 wherein the plurality of segment IDs comprises a second area-segment ID that identifies the second area of the subdivided segment routing enabled network.

6. The method of claim 4 wherein:
the plurality of segment IDs comprises a second area-segment ID that identifies a second area of the subdivided segment routing enabled network; and
the second area comprises a second two or more nodes within the subdivided segment routing enabled network.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
popping the first area-segment ID from the stack to expose an underlying segment ID;
accessing the selected forwarding table to read the forwarding information mapped in the selected forwarding table to the underlying segment ID.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein forwarding the packet comprises forwarding the packet and the underlying segment ID to another segment routing enabled node.

9. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising executable instructions, wherein a method is implemented in response to executing the instructions, the method comprising:
receiving a packet and a segment identifier (ID) stack at a segment routing enabled node, wherein
the segment ID stack comprises a plurality of segment IDs comprising a first area-segment ID,
the first area-segment ID identifies a first area of a subdivided segment routing enabled network, and
the first area comprises a first two or more nodes within the subdivided segment routing enabled network;

selecting one of a plurality of segment routing forwarding tables based on the first area-segment ID; and
forwarding the packet based on forwarding information contained in the selected forwarding table.

10. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 9 wherein each of the plurality of segment routing enabled forwarding tables is associated with a respective one of a plurality of area-segment IDs, including the first area-segment ID.

11. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 9 wherein:
the segment routing enabled node comprises an area border node connected to the first area and a second area of the subdivided segment routing enabled network; and
the second area comprises a second two or more nodes within the subdivided segment routing enabled network.

12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 9 wherein:
the plurality of segment IDs comprises a second area-segment ID that identifies a second area of the subdivided segment routing enabled network; and
the second area comprises a second two or more nodes within the subdivided segment routing enabled network.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 9 wherein the method further comprises:
popping the first area-segment ID from the stack to expose an underlying segment ID;
accessing the selected forwarding table to read the forwarding information mapped in the selected forwarding table to the underlying segment ID.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13 wherein forwarding the packet comprises forwarding the packet and the underlying segment ID to another segment routing enabled node.

15. An apparatus comprising a segment routing enabled network node, the node comprising:
a memory for storing a plurality of segment routing forwarding tables; and
a processor adapted to
receive a packet and a segment identifier (ID) stack comprising a first area-segment ID,
select one of the plurality of segment routing forwarding tables based on the first area-segment ID, and
forward the packet based on forwarding information contained in the selected forwarding table, wherein
the first area-segment ID identifies a first area of a subdivided segment routing enabled network, and
the first area comprises a first two or more nodes within the subdivided segment routing enabled network.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein each of the plurality of segment routing enabled forwarding tables is associated with a respective one of a plurality of area-segment IDs, including the first area-segment ID.

17. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein:
the segment routing enabled network node comprises an area border node connected to the first area and a second area of the subdivided segment routing enabled network; and
the second area comprises a second two or more nodes within the subdivided segment routing enabled network.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein the segment ID stack further comprises a second area-segment ID that identifies the second area of the subdivided segment routing enabled network.

19. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the processor is further adapted to:
remove the first area-segment ID from the stack to expose an underlying segment ID; and
access the selected forwarding table to read the forwarding information mapped in the selected forwarding table to the underlying segment ID.

Assignees

• Cisco Tech Inc

Inventors

• Filsfils Clarence
• Ward David D
• Bryant Stewart F
• Frost Daniel C
• Nainar Nagendra Kumar
• Pignataro Carlos M

Classifications

• H04L45/745

  Address table lookup; Address filtering · CPC title

• H04L45/12

  Shortest path evaluation · CPC title

• H04L47/724

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

• H04L45/04

  Interdomain routing, e.g. hierarchical routing · CPC title

• H04L45/54

  Organization of routing tables · CPC title