Buffered subscriber tables for maintaining a consistent network state

US10164894B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Nicira, Inc. · US

Inventors

• Alexander Yip · Menlo Park, US
• Timothy L. Hinrichs · Los Altos, US
• Amar Padmanabhan · Menlo Park, US
• Natasha Gude · San Francisco, US
• Igor Ganichev · San Jose, US
• Anuprem Chalvadi · Palo Alto, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Jun 26, 2014
• Grant date: Dec 25, 2018
• Expiry date: Mar 13, 2035

Classification

• Technology area (CPC H): Electricity
• CPC primary: H04L67/10
• WIPO field: Digital communication
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

Some embodiments provide a novel network control system that provides publications for managing different slices (e.g., logical and/or physical entities) of a network. The publications are published from publisher controllers in the network control system to subscriber controllers. The network control system uses publications with generation numbers and buffered subscribers to implement the fixed points in order to help maintain a consistent network state. Buffered subscribers buffer the inputs received from a publisher in case the publisher becomes unavailable. Rather than deleting all of the output state that is based on the published inputs, the buffered subscriber allows the subscriber to maintain the network state until an explicit change to the state is received at the subscriber from a publisher (e.g., a restarted publisher, a backup publisher, etc.).