Location-based network routing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9787586-B2
Application number	US-201414523364-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 24, 2014
Priority date	Oct 24, 2013
Publication date	Oct 10, 2017
Grant date	Oct 10, 2017

Abstract

Apparatus and method for routing packets in a computer network. A network switch for routing packets in a computer network includes a plurality of ports for communicative connection of computing devices to the switch, and routing logic. The routing logic is configured to extract, from a packet received via a first of the ports, a destination address that identifies a destination device to which the packet is directed; to extract from the destination address a switch ID value and a port ID value; to compare the switch ID value extracted from the destination address to a switch ID value identifying the network switch; and to transmit the packet via a second of the ports of the network switch corresponding to the port ID value based on the switch ID value extracted from the destination address being equal to the switch ID value identifying the network switch.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A network switch for routing packets in a computer network, comprising:
a plurality of ports for communicative connection of computing devices to the network switch; and
routing logic configured to:
extract, from a packet received via a first of the plurality of ports, a destination address that identifies a destination device to which the packet is directed, wherein the destination address identifies the destination device by specifying, within the destination address, a device connectivity hierarchy that identifies a plurality of network devices that are hierarchically connected to the destination device;
apply the destination address to route the packet without referencing routing information not provided in the destination address, in routing the packet to:
extract from the destination address:
a switch ID value identifying a destination switch to which the destination device is connected; and
a port ID value identifying a port, of the destination switch, to the destination device is connected;

compare the switch ID value extracted from the destination address to a switch ID value identifying the network switch; and
transmit the packet via a second of the plurality of ports of the network switch corresponding to the port ID value based on the switch ID value extracted from the destination address being equal to the switch ID value identifying the network switch.

2. The network switch of claim 1 , wherein the routing logic is configured to:
extract from the destination address a site prefix value that identifies a physical location of the destination device;
compare the site prefix value extracted from the destination address to a site prefix value identifying a physical location of the network switch; and
transmit the packet via the second of the ports based on the site prefix value extracted from the destination address being equal to the site prefix value identifying the physical location of the network switch.

3. The network switch of claim 1 , wherein the routing logic is configured to:
extract from the destination address a controller ID value that identifies a controller to which the destination switch is connected;
compare the controller ID value extracted from the destination address to a controller ID value identifying a controller to which the network switch is connected; and
transmit the packet via the second of the ports based on the controller ID value extracted from the destination address being equal to the controller ID value identifying the controller to which the network switch is connected.

4. The network switch of claim 1 , wherein the routing logic is configured to:
retrieve routing information from a controller to which the network switch is connected via the network based on the switch ID value extracted from the destination address not being equal to the switch ID value identifying the network switch;
store the retrieved routing information in a routing table of the network switch; and
apply the routing information to route the packet to the destination device.

5. The network switch of claim 1 , wherein the routing logic is configured to:
access a routing table of the network switch to determine whether routing information for the destination address is stored in the routing table; and
route the packet to the destination device based on the routing information for the destination device stored in the routing table.

6. The network switch of claim 1 , further comprising a content addressable memory configured to store routing information; wherein the routing logic is configured to route the packet to the destination device without retrieving routing information from the content addressable memory.

7. The network switch of claim 1 , wherein the routing logic is configured to retrieve from a controller to which the network switch is connected: the switch ID value identifying the network switch, a site prefix value that identifies a physical location of the network switch, and a controller ID value that identifies a controller to which the network switch is connected.

8. A method for routing a packet in a computer network, comprising:
receiving, by a network switch, a packet via a first port of the network switch;
extracting, from the packet, by the network switch, a destination address that identifies a destination device to which the packet is directed, wherein the destination address identities the destination device by specifying, within the destination address, a device connectivity hierarchy that identifies a plurality of network devices that are hierarchically connected to the destination device;
applying, by the network switch, the destination address to route the packet without referencing routing information not provided in the destination address, the routing comprising:
extracting, by the network switch, from the destination address:
a switch ID value identifying a destination switch to which the destination device is connected; and
a port ID value identifying a port of the destination switch to the destination device is connected;

comparing, by the network switch, the switch ID value extracted from the destination address to a switch ID value identifying the network switch; and
transmitting, by the network switch, the packet via a second port of the network switch corresponding to the port ID value based on the switch ID value extracted from the destination address being equal to the switch ID value identifying the network switch.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
extracting from the destination address:
a site prefix value that identifies a physical location of the destination device; and
a controller ID value that identifies a controller to which the destination switch is connected;

comparing the site prefix value extracted from the destination address to a site prefix value identifying a physical location of the network switch;
comparing the controller ID value extracted from the destination address to a controller ID value identifying a controller to which the network switch is connected; and
transmitting the packet via the second port based on the site prefix value extracted from the destination address being equal to the site prefix value identifying the physical location of the network switch, and the controller ID value extracted from the destination address being equal to the controller ID value identifying the controller to which the network switch is connected.

10. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
retrieving routing information for the destination address from a controller to which the network switch is connected via the network responsive to the switch ID value extracted from the destination address not being equal to the switch ID value identifying the network switch; and
storing the retrieved routing information in a routing table of the network switch.

11. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
accessing a routing table of the network switch to determine whether routing information for the destination address is stored in the routing table;
routing the packet to the destination device based on the routing information for the destination device stored in the routing table; and
retrieving routing information from a controller to which the network switch is connected via the network responsive to the routing table lacking routing information for the destination address.

12. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
for each of a plurality of computing devices connected to the network switch via the network:
constructing, by a controller connected to the network switch, via the network, an address comprising:
a site

Assignees

• Univ Houston System

Inventors

• Gurkan Deniz
• Araji Bahaa

Classifications

• H04L45/74 Primary

  Address processing for routing · CPC title

• H04L49/25

  Routing or path finding in a switch fabric · CPC title

• H04L45/7457

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04L45/72 Primary

  Routing based on the source address · CPC title

• H04L45/74591

  using content-addressable memories [CAM] · CPC title