Network topology discovery method and system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9769054-B2
Application number	US-201414890429-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 15, 2014
Priority date	May 14, 2013
Publication date	Sep 19, 2017
Grant date	Sep 19, 2017

Abstract

A network topology discovery method and system are disclosed, which relates to the field of software defined network architecture, and solves a problem that greater pressure is easily put on a control channel in a case that a great many switches and ports exist. The method includes: a controller receiving a message sent by a network device, wherein the message carries a device ID of a network device where a link far-end port of the network device is located and a port number of the link far-end port; and the controller performing topology discovery on a network according to the message. The technical scheme provided in the present document is applicable to a software defined network, which achieves that related parameters are carried to the controller via an OpenFlow protocol.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A network topology discovery method, comprising:
a controller receiving a message sent by a network device, wherein the message carries a device identifier (ID) of a far-end network device where a link far-end port of the network device is located and a port number of the link far-end port; wherein before the network device sends the message to the controller, the network device discovers the device ID of the far-end network device where the link far-end port of the network device is located and the port number of the link far-end port; and
the controller performing topology discovery on a network according to the message.

2. The network topology discovery method according to claim 1 , wherein, the message is a Port-status message of an OpenFlow protocol.

3. The network topology discovery method according to claim 1 , wherein, links between the network devices are unidirectional links or bidirectional links.

4. The network topology discovery method according to claim 1 , wherein, the controller receiving the message sent by the network device is:
the controller receiving the message sent by the network device via a control channel.

5. The network topology discovery method according to claim 2 , wherein, an extended field node identifier (node_ID) of the Port-status message represents the device ID of the far-end network device where the link far-end port of the network device is located, and an extended field port number (port_no) represents the port number of the link far-end port.

6. The network topology discovery method according to claim 5 , wherein, the Port-status message further carries a local node port number of the network device, and the controller performing topology discovery on the network according to the message comprises:
according to an identifier of a neighboring device, the controller determining a connection relation between various network devices;
according to the port number of the link far-end port and the local node port number, the controller determining ports used when connecting between the various network devices; and
according to the connection relation between the various network devices and the ports used when connecting between the various network devices, the controller restoring a network image.

7. A network topology discovery method, comprising:
a network device discovering a device identifier (ID) of a far-end network device where a link far-end port of the network device is located and a port number of the link far-end port; and
the network device sending a message to a controller, wherein the message carries the device ID of the far-end network device where the link far-end port of the network device is located and the port number of the link far-end port.

8. The network topology discovery method according to claim 7 , wherein, the message is a Port-status message of an OpenFlow protocol.

9. The network topology discovery method according to claim 8 , wherein, an extended field node_ID of the Port-status message represents the device ID of the far-end network device where the link far-end port of the network device is located, and an extended field port_no represents the port number of the link far-end port.

10. A network topology discovery system, comprising: a controller and a plurality of network devices;
the network device is configured to: discover a device identifier (ID) of a far-end network device where a link far-end port of the network device is located and a port number of the link far-end port, and send a message to the controller, wherein the message carries the device ID of the far-end network device where the link far-end port of the network device is located and the port number of the link far-end port; and
the controller is configured to: receive the message, and perform topology discovery on a network according to the message.

11. The network topology discovery system according to claim 10 , wherein, the message is a Port-status message of an OpenFlow protocol.

12. The network topology discovery system according to claim 10 , wherein, links between the plurality of network devices are unidirectional links or bidirectional links.

13. The network topology discovery system according to claim 11 , wherein, an extended field node identifier (node_ID) of the Port-status message represents the device ID of the far-end network device where the link far-end port of the network device is located, and an extended field port number (port_no) represents the port number of the link far-end port.

14. The network topology discovery system according to claim 13 , wherein, the controller being configured to perform topology discovery on the network according to the message is:
according to an identifier of a neighboring device, the controller determining a connection relation between various network devices, and according to the port number of the link far-end port and a local node port number, determining ports used when connecting between the various network devices; and according to the connection relation between the various network devices and the ports used when connecting between the various network devices, restoring a network image.

Assignees

• Zte Corp

Inventors

• Wang Qilei

Classifications

• H04L45/02 Primary

  Topology update or discovery · CPC title

• H04L41/12

  Discovery or management of network topologies · CPC title

• H04L41/122

  of virtualised topologies, e.g. software-defined networks [SDN] or network function virtualisation [NFV] · CPC title