System and methods for managing network protocol address assignment with a controller
US8856384B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 14, 2011 |
| Grant date | Oct 7, 2014 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 30, 2032 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L61/5076
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A controller may help reduce network traffic that is associated with broadcasting of Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) packets by converting broadcast DHCP packets into unicast DHCP packets and forwarding the unicast DHCP packets to appropriate DHCP servers. The servers may be identified from a database of servers that is updated with DHCP server address information based on DHCP reply packets that are received by the controller from servers in the network. To convert DHCP request packets into unicast packets, the controller may modify address header fields of the packets such as Ethernet addresses and Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. The controller may forward the modified DHCP request packets to the server by providing packet forwarding rules such as flow table entries to the switches or by forwarding the modified DHCP request packets through the controller.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.