Softrouter separate control network
US9014181B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 8, 2005 |
| Grant date | Apr 21, 2015 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jan 9, 2029 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L45/60
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An embodiment of the exemplary SoftRouter architecture includes two physically separate networks, a control plane network and a data plane network. The data plane network is one physical network for the data traffic, while the control plane network is another physical network for the control traffic. The topology of the data plane network is made up of interconnected forwarding elements (FEs). The topology of the control plane network is made up interconnected control elements (CEs). This physical independence of the control plane network from the data plane network provides for a secure mechanism to communicate among the CEs in the control plane network. In addition, this physical independence provides improved reliability and improved scalability, when compared to the traditional router architecture, where control plane message are in-band with the data plane.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.