Abstract: We disclose a signal-routing method directed at improving the throughput of an optical network by taking into account the fiber nonlinearity in the process of solving a joint signal-routing and power-control problem for the optical network. Based on the obtained solution, a network controller may set the signal-routing configurations of the various network nodes and the optical gains of the various optical amplifiers to enable the optical network to carry the traffic in a manner that results in a higher throughput than that achievable with the use of conventional signal-routing and/or power-control methods.

Abstract: We disclose a signal-routing method directed at improving the throughput of an optical network by taking into account the fiber nonlinearity in the process of solving a joint signal-routing and power-control problem for the optical network. Based on the obtained solution, a network controller may set the signal-routing configurations of the various network nodes and the optical gains of the various optical amplifiers to enable the optical network to carry the traffic in a manner that results in a higher throughput than that achievable with the use of conventional signal-routing and/or power-control methods.

Abstract: A flow deflection capability is provided for deflecting data flows within a Software Defined Network (SDN) in order to provide security for the SDN. A flow forwarding rule is generated for a first network element of the SDN based on detection of a condition (e.g., TCAM utilization condition, CPU utilization condition, or the like) associated with the first network element. The flow forwarding rule is generated by a control element of the SDN or the first network element of the SDN. The flow forwarding rule is indicative that at least a portion of new flow requests received at the first network element are to be forwarded from the first network element to a second network element of the SDN. The flow forwarding rule may specify full flow deflection or selective flow deflection.

Abstract: Various embodiments provide a method and apparatus of providing a load balancing configuration that adapts to the overall load and scales the power consumption with the load to improve energy efficiency and scalability. The energy efficient distributed and elastic load balancing architecture includes a collection of multi-tiered servers organized as a tree structure. The handling of incoming service requests is distributed amongst a number of the servers. Each server in the virtual load distribution tree accepts handles incoming service requests based on its own load. Once a predetermined loading on the receiving server has been reached, the receiving server passes the incoming requests to one or more of its children servers.

Abstract: The invention includes a method for routing traffic from a first node towards a plurality of intermediate nodes. A method includes receiving traffic at a first node and routing respective portions of the received traffic toward respective intermediate nodes according to respective traffic weighting factors associated with the intermediate nodes. Upon receiving the respective portions of the traffic, the intermediate nodes may then route the traffic toward one or more destination nodes, or may route the traffic toward another plurality of intermediate nodes before the traffic is routed to a destination node. The intermediate node traffic weighting factors may be dependent on the first node and the destination node, or may be independent of the first node and the destination node.

Abstract: A manner of providing redundancy protection for a data center network that is both reliable and low-cost. In a data center network where the data traffic between numerous access nodes and a network core layer via primary aggregation nodes, an optical network device such as and OLT (optical line terminal) is provided as a backup aggregation node for one or more of the primary aggregation nodes. When a communication path through a primary aggregation node fails, traffic is routed through the optical network device. In a preferred embodiment, a communication link is formed from a plurality of access nodes to a single port of the OLT or other optical network device via an optical splitter that combines upstream transmissions and distributes downstream transmissions. The upstream transmissions from the plurality of access nodes may occur according to an allocation schedule generated when the backup aggregation node is needed.

Abstract: A method and system for scheduling tasks is provided. A plurality of lower bound completion times is determined, using one or more computer processors and memory, for each of a plurality of jobs, each of the plurality of jobs including a respective subset plurality of tasks. A task schedule is determined for each of the plurality of processors based on the lower bound completion times.

Abstract: The SoftRouter architecture separates the implementation of control plane functions from packet forwarding functions. In this architecture, all control plane functions are implemented on general purpose servers called the control elements (CEs) that may be multiple hops away from the forwarding elements (FEs). A network element (NE) or a router is formed using dynamic binding between the CEs and the FEs. There is a protocol failover mechanism for handling failovers initiated by FEs to transfer control from one CE to another CE.

Abstract: An optical routing scheme in which an optical network having a mesh topology is configured to route optical packets through an optical routing layout superimposable with the mesh topology, but having a star-like topology. Using this routing layout, the optical network can be configured to transport optical packets from respective ingress nodes, through the hub node located at the star center, to respective egress nodes in a manner that enables a data throughput that approaches the theoretical capacity. No special hardware is required for implementing the hub functionality, and any node of the optical network can be configured to serve as the hub node. The latter feature enables relatively straightforward optimization of the optical routing layout and transmission schedule, e.g., by changing the identity of the hub node and adjusting the transmission schedule at the ingress nodes to synchronize packet arrivals to the hub node.

Abstract: A capability for scale-up of a control plane of a Software Defined Network (SDN) using a virtual switch based overlay is presented. A central controller (CC) of the SDN that is providing control functions for a physical switch (pSwitch) of the SDN, based on a determination that the control plane between the CC and the pSwitch is congested, modifies the default flow forwarding rule on the pSwitch from a rule indicating that new traffic flows are to be forwarded to the central controller to a rule indicating that new traffic flows are to be forwarded to a virtual switch (vSwitch). Upon receipt of a first packet of a new traffic flow at the pSwitch, the pSwitch provides the first packet of the new traffic flow to the vSwitch, which in turn provides an indication of the first packet of the new traffic flow to the CC for processing by the CC.

Abstract: A manner of providing redundancy protection for a data center network that is both reliable and low-cost. In a data center network where the data traffic between numerous access nodes and a network core layer via primary aggregation nodes, an optical network device such as and OLT (optical line terminal) is provided as a backup aggregation node for one or more of the primary aggregation nodes. When a communication path through a primary aggregation node fails, traffic is routed through the optical network device. In a preferred embodiment, a communication link is formed from a plurality of access nodes to a single port of the OLT or other optical network device via an optical splitter that combines upstream transmissions and distributes downstream transmissions. The upstream transmissions from the plurality of access nodes may occur according to an allocation schedule generated when the backup aggregation node is needed.

Abstract: A capability is provided for allocating and migrating cloud resources in a distributed cloud system. A cloud resource request is received and an associated cloud resource allocation is determined. The cloud resource request includes cloud resource request information. The cloud resource request information includes a cloud resource allocation parameter associated with allocation of requested cloud resources responsive to the cloud resource request and a cloud resource migration parameter associated with migration of cloud resources allocated responsive to the cloud resource request. The cloud resource allocation includes cloud resource allocation information specifying allocation of cloud resources within the cloud system responsive to the cloud resource request and cloud resource migration information specifying migration of cloud resources allocated within the cloud system responsive to the cloud resource request.

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.

Abstract: Various embodiments provide a method and apparatus for allocating resources to processes by using statistical allocation based on the determined maximum average resource demand at any time across all applications (“ ?”), and the determined maximum resource demand at any time by any application (“C”). In particular, resource allocation includes an auto-scaling scheme based on ? and C.

Abstract: A network architecture includes one or more feature servers and control servers in a control plane that is logically separate from a data plane that includes forwarding elements. Feature servers facilitate adding network-based functionality in a centralized way that is has better scalability than the traditional router architecture. Some examples of network-based functionality are voice over IP, enhancing QoS support, scaling BGP route reflectors, network-based VPN support, scaling mobile IP support, introducing IPv6 into existing and future networks, and enhancing end-to-end network security. Feature servers remove complexity from routers, allow functions to be implemented on a standard-off-the-shelf server platform, facilitate easy introduction of value-added functions, and scale well.

Abstract: A dynamic binding protocol has three tasks that run in parallel: discovery, association, and operation. During discovery, control elements (CEs) and forwarding elements (FEs) learn about immediate neighbors and CEs in a SoftRouter network that has separate control and data planes. During association, FEs associate with CEs and are configured with basic parameters, such as IP interface addresses, hostnames, and the like. During operation, failover and packet tunneling between CEs and FEs is handled.

Abstract: An optical routing scheme in which an optical network having a mesh topology is configured to route optical packets through an optical routing layout superimposable with the mesh topology, but having a star-like topology. Using this routing layout, the optical network can be configured to transport optical packets from respective ingress nodes, through the hub node located at the star center, to respective egress nodes in a manner that enables a data throughput that approaches the theoretical capacity. No special hardware is required for implementing the hub functionality, and any node of the optical network can be configured to serve as the hub node. The latter feature enables relatively straightforward optimization of the optical routing layout and transmission schedule, e.g., by changing the identity of the hub node and adjusting the transmission schedule at the ingress nodes to synchronize packet arrivals to the hub node.

Abstract: A capability is provided for allocating cloud and network resources in a distributed cloud system including a plurality of data centers. A request for resources is received. The request for resources includes a request for cloud resources and an indication of an amount of cloud resources requested. The request for resources also may include a request for network resources or one or more constraints. A set of feasible resource mappings is determined based on the request for resources and information associated with the distributed cloud system. A resource mapping to use for the request for resources is selected from the set of feasible resource mappings. The selected resource mapping includes a mapping of the requested cloud resources to cloud resources of one or more of the data centers and an identification of network resources configured to support communications for the cloud resources of the one or more data centers.

Abstract: A flow deflection capability is provided for deflecting data flows within a Software Defined Network (SDN) in order to provide security for the SDN. A flow forwarding rule is generated for a first network element of the SDN based on detection of a condition (e.g., TCAM utilization condition, CPU utilization condition, or the like) associated with the first network element. The flow forwarding rule is generated by a control element of the SDN or the first network element of the SDN. The flow forwarding rule is indicative that at least a portion of new flow requests received at the first network element are to be forwarded from the first network element to a second network element of the SDN. The flow forwarding rule may specify full flow deflection or selective flow deflection.

Abstract: A capability is provided for representing a set of data values using data structures, including converting a binary trie data structure representing the set of data values to a shape graph data structure representing the set of data values. The shape graph data structure is generated from the binary trie data structure based on the shapes of the sub-trees rooted at the nodes of the binary trie data structure. The shape graph includes vertices representing shapes of the sub-trees of the binary trie data structure. A shape graph data structure permits operations similar to the operations that may be performed on the binary trie data structure for performing lookups for data values from the set of data values, while at the same time reducing the structural redundancy of the binary trie data structure such that the shape graph data structure provides significant improvements in memory usage over the binary trie data structure.