Network virtualization

US8959215B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Nicira, Inc. · US

Inventors

• Teemu Koponen · San Francisco, US
• Martin Casado · Portola Valley, US
• Paul S. Ingram · Menlo Park, US
• W. Andrew Lambeth · San Mateo, US
• Peter J. Balland, III · Dublin, US
• Keith E. Amidon · Los Altos, US
• Daniel J. Wendlandt · Los Altos, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Jul 6, 2011
• Grant date: Feb 17, 2015
• Expiry date: Nov 27, 2032

Classification

• Technology area (CPC H): Electricity
• CPC primary: H04L2101/622
• WIPO field: Digital communication
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

Some embodiments of the invention provide a robust scaling-out of network functionality by providing a software layer, called the network hypervisor, that sits between the network forwarding functions (i.e., the forwarding plane) and the network control interfaces (i.e., the control plane). The network hypervisor of some embodiments provides a logical abstraction of the network's forwarding functionality, so that network operators make their control decisions in terms of this abstraction, independent of the details of the underlying networking hardware. The network hypervisor of some embodiments may then “compile” commands placed against this abstraction into configurations of the underlying hardware. Accordingly, in some embodiments, there are two design challenges: (1) the choice of the network abstraction, and (2) the technology needed to compile the logical “abstract” controls into low-level configurations.