Patents by Inventor Zhi-Li Zhang

Zhi-Li Zhang has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 11979290
    Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed for parallelizing service function chains.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 14, 2022
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2024
    Assignees: AT&T Intellectual Property I, L.P., Regents of the University of Minnesota
    Inventors: Bo Han, Vijay Gopalakrishnan, Muhammad Bilal Anwer, Zhi-Li Zhang, Yang Zhang
  • Patent number: 11962514
    Abstract: Systems, computer-readable media, and methods are disclosed for parallel data processing for service function chains with network functions spanning multiple servers. An example system includes a first server hosting a first network function of a service function chain, a second server hosting a second network function of the service function chain, a mirror function deployed in a first switch to replicate a plurality of packets received by the system and to send respective copies of the plurality of packets to the first network function and to at least one of the second network function and a third network function of the service function chain, and a merge function deployed in a second switch to merge respective outputs of the first network function and the at least one of the second network function and the third network function.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2023
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Assignees: AT&T Intellectual Property I, L.P, REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
    Inventors: Bo Han, Vijay Gopalakrishnan, Muhammad Bilal Anwer, Zhi-Li Zhang, Yang Zhang
  • Publication number: 20230198917
    Abstract: Systems, computer-readable media, and methods are disclosed for parallel data processing for service function chains with network functions spanning multiple servers. An example system includes a first server hosting a first network function of a service function chain, a second server hosting a second network function of the service function chain, a mirror function deployed in a first switch to replicate a plurality of packets received by the system and to send respective copies of the plurality of packets to the first network function and to at least one of the second network function and a third network function of the service function chain, and a merge function deployed in a second switch to merge respective outputs of the first network function and the at least one of the second network function and the third network function.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 13, 2023
    Publication date: June 22, 2023
    Inventors: Bo Han, Vijay Gopalakrishnan, Muhammad Bilal Anwer, Zhi-Li Zhang, Yang Zhang
  • Publication number: 20230118489
    Abstract: The concepts and technologies disclosed herein are directed to a network-assisted Raft consensus protocol, referred to herein as “NetRaft.” According to one aspect of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein, a system can include a plurality of servers operating in a server cluster, and a plurality of P4 switches corresponding to the plurality of servers. Each server of the plurality of servers can include a back-end that executes a complete Raft algorithm to perform leader election, log replication, and log commitment of a Raft consensus algorithm. Each P4 switch of the plurality of P4 switches can include a front-end that executes a partial Raft algorithm to perform the log replication and the log commitment of the Raft consensus algorithm. The back-end can maintain a complete state for responding to requests that cannot be fulfilled by the front-end. The requests can include read requests and/or write requests.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 19, 2022
    Publication date: April 20, 2023
    Applicants: AT&T Intellectual Property I, L.P., Regents of the University of Minnesota
    Inventors: Bo Han, Vijay Gopalakrishnan, Marco Platania, Zhi-Li Zhang, Yang Zhang
  • Publication number: 20230084160
    Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed for parallelizing service function chains.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 14, 2022
    Publication date: March 16, 2023
    Inventors: Bo Han, Vijay Gopalakrishnan, Muhammad Bilal Anwer, Zhi-Li Zhang, Yang Zhang
  • Publication number: 20230068437
    Abstract: A system and method for predicting one or more cellular performance parameters associated with user equipment (UE) within a three-dimensional (3D) space having one or more cellular nodes, the cellular nodes including one or more cellular nodes, including a 5G cellular node. For each of one or more of pieces of UE within the 3D space, determine values associated with one or more UE-side features of each piece of UE. Predict values of the one or more cellular performance parameters for each UE as a function of the values associated with the one or more UE-side features of each respective piece of UE, wherein predicting values of the one or more cellular performance parameters includes applying the values determined for each respective piece of UE to a machine learning module trained using truth data associated with the one or more UE-side features.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 18, 2022
    Publication date: March 2, 2023
    Inventors: Arvind Narayanan, Eman Ramadan, Feng Qian, Zhi-Li Zhang
  • Patent number: 11582167
    Abstract: Systems, computer-readable media, and methods are disclosed for parallel data processing for service function chains with network functions spanning multiple servers. An example system includes a first server hosting a first network function of a service function chain, a second server hosting a second network function of the service function chain, a mirror function deployed in a first switch to replicate a plurality of packets received by the system and to send respective copies of the plurality of packets to the first network function and to at least one of the second network function and a third network function of the service function chain, and a merge function deployed in a second switch to merge respective outputs of the first network function and the at least one of the second network function and the third network function.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 11, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 14, 2023
    Assignees: AT&T Intellectual Property I, L.P., Regents of the University of Minnesota
    Inventors: Bo Han, Vijay Gopalakrishnan, Muhammad Bilal Anwer, Zhi-Li Zhang, Yang Zhang
  • Patent number: 11533220
    Abstract: The concepts and technologies disclosed herein are directed to a network-assisted Raft consensus protocol, referred to herein as “NetRaft.” According to one aspect of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein, a system can include a plurality of servers operating in a server cluster, and a plurality of P4 switches corresponding to the plurality of servers. Each server of the plurality of servers can include a back-end that executes a complete Raft algorithm to perform leader election, log replication, and log commitment of a Raft consensus algorithm. Each P4 switch of the plurality of P4 switches can include a front-end that executes a partial Raft algorithm to perform the log replication and the log commitment of the Raft consensus algorithm. The back-end can maintain a complete state for responding to requests that cannot be fulfilled by the front-end. The requests can include read requests and/or write requests.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 23, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2022
    Assignees: AT&T Intellectual Property I, L.P., Regents of the University of Minnesota
    Inventors: Bo Han, Vijay Gopalakrishnan, Marco Platania, Zhi-Li Zhang, Yang Zhang
  • Patent number: 11502910
    Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed for parallelizing service function chains.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 12, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2022
    Assignees: AT&T Intellectual Property I, L.P., Regents of the University of Minnesota
    Inventors: Bo Han, Vijay Gopalakrishnan, Muhammad Bilal Anwer, Zhi-Li Zhang, Yang Zhang
  • Publication number: 20220029897
    Abstract: Systems, computer-readable media, and methods are disclosed for parallel data processing for service function chains with network functions spanning multiple servers. An example system includes a first server hosting a first network function of a service function chain, a second server hosting a second network function of the service function chain, a mirror function deployed in a first switch to replicate a plurality of packets received by the system and to send respective copies of the plurality of packets to the first network function and to at least one of the second network function and a third network function of the service function chain, and a merge function deployed in a second switch to merge respective outputs of the first network function and the at least one of the second network function and the third network function.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 11, 2021
    Publication date: January 27, 2022
    Inventors: Bo Han, Vijay Gopalakrishnan, Muhammad Bilal Anwer, Zhi-Li Zhang, Yang Zhang
  • Patent number: 11146506
    Abstract: Systems, computer-readable media, and methods are disclosed for parallel data processing for service function chains with network functions spanning multiple servers. An example system includes a first server hosting a first network function of a service function chain, a second server hosting a second network function of the service function chain, a mirror function deployed in a first switch to replicate a plurality of packets received by the system and to send respective copies of the plurality of packets to the first network function and to at least one of the second network function and a third network function of the service function chain, and a merge function deployed in a second switch to merge respective outputs of the first network function and the at least one of the second network function and the third network function.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 12, 2021
    Assignees: AT&T INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY I, L.P., REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
    Inventors: Bo Han, Vijay Gopalakrishnan, Muhammad Bilal Anwer, Zhi-Li Zhang, Yang Zhang
  • Patent number: 11038796
    Abstract: The concepts and technologies disclosed herein are directed to parallelism for virtual network functions (“VNFs”) in service function chains (“SFCs”). According to one aspect, a packet processing system can receive instructions to process, in parallel, at least a portion of a plurality of data packets associated with an SFC including a plurality of VNFs. The system can create a copy of at least the portion of the data packets. The system can send the copy of at least the portion of the data packets to at least two VNFs. The at least two VNFs can process, in parallel, the copy of at least the portion of the data packets. The system can receive, from the at least two VNFs, processed packets including the copy of at least the portion of the data packets and processed, in parallel, by the at least two VNFs. The system can combine the processed packets.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 15, 2021
    Assignees: AT&T Intellectual Property I, L.P., Regents of the University of Minnesota
    Inventors: Bo Han, Muhammad Bilal Anwer, Vijay Gopalakrishnan, Aman Shaikh, Joshua Reich, Yang Zhang, Zhi-Li Zhang
  • Publication number: 20210105177
    Abstract: The concepts and technologies disclosed herein are directed to a network-assisted Raft consensus protocol, referred to herein as “NetRaft.” According to one aspect of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein, a system can include a plurality of servers operating in a server cluster, and a plurality of P4 switches corresponding to the plurality of servers. Each server of the plurality of servers can include a back-end that executes a complete Raft algorithm to perform leader election, log replication, and log commitment of a Raft consensus algorithm. Each P4 switch of the plurality of P4 switches can include a front-end that executes a partial Raft algorithm to perform the log replication and the log commitment of the Raft consensus algorithm. The back-end can maintain a complete state for responding to requests that cannot be fulfilled by the front-end. The requests can include read requests and/or write requests.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 23, 2020
    Publication date: April 8, 2021
    Applicants: AT&T Intellectual Property I, L.P., Regents of the University of Minnesota
    Inventors: Bo Han, Vijay Gopalakrishnan, Marco Platania, Zhi-Li Zhang, Yang Zhang
  • Publication number: 20210028990
    Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed for parallelizing service function chains.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 12, 2020
    Publication date: January 28, 2021
    Inventors: Bo Han, Vijay Gopalakrishnan, Muhammad Bilal Anwer, Zhi-Li Zhang, Yang Zhang
  • Patent number: 10848375
    Abstract: The concepts and technologies disclosed herein are directed to a network-assisted Raft consensus protocol, referred to herein as “NetRaft.” According to one aspect of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein, a system can include a plurality of servers operating in a server cluster, and a plurality of P4 switches corresponding to the plurality of servers. Each server of the plurality of servers can include a back-end that executes a complete Raft algorithm to perform leader election, log replication, and log commitment of a Raft consensus algorithm. Each P4 switch of the plurality of P4 switches can include a front-end that executes a partial Raft algorithm to perform the log replication and the log commitment of the Raft consensus algorithm. The back-end can maintain a complete state for responding to requests that cannot be fulfilled by the front-end. The requests can include read requests and/or write requests.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 13, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 24, 2020
    Assignees: AT&T Intellectual Property I, L.P., Regents of the University of Minnesota
    Inventors: Bo Han, Vijay Gopalakrishnan, Marco Platania, Zhi-Li Zhang, Yang Zhang
  • Patent number: 10805164
    Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed for parallelizing service function chains.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 13, 2020
    Assignees: AT&T INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY I, L.P., REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
    Inventors: Bo Han, Vijay Gopalakrishnan, Muhammad Bilal Anwer, Zhi-Li Zhang, Yang Zhang
  • Publication number: 20200195507
    Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed for parallelizing service function chains.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 14, 2018
    Publication date: June 18, 2020
    Inventors: Bo Han, Vijay Gopalakrishnan, Muhammad Bilal Anwer, Zhi-Li Zhang, Yang Zhang
  • Publication number: 20200195580
    Abstract: Systems, computer-readable media, and methods are disclosed for parallel data processing for service function chains with network functions spanning multiple servers. An example system includes a first server hosting a first network function of a service function chain, a second server hosting a second network function of the service function chain, a mirror function deployed in a first switch to replicate a plurality of packets received by the system and to send respective copies of the plurality of packets to the first network function and to at least one of the second network function and a third network function of the service function chain, and a merge function deployed in a second switch to merge respective outputs of the first network function and the at least one of the second network function and the third network function.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 14, 2018
    Publication date: June 18, 2020
    Inventors: Bo Han, Vijay Gopalakrishnan, Muhammad Bilal Anwer, Zhi-Li Zhang, Yang Zhang
  • Publication number: 20200052954
    Abstract: The concepts and technologies disclosed herein are directed to a network-assisted Raft consensus protocol, referred to herein as “NetRaft.” According to one aspect of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein, a system can include a plurality of servers operating in a server cluster, and a plurality of P4 switches corresponding to the plurality of servers. Each server of the plurality of servers can include a back-end that executes a complete Raft algorithm to perform leader election, log replication, and log commitment of a Raft consensus algorithm. Each P4 switch of the plurality of P4 switches can include a front-end that executes a partial Raft algorithm to perform the log replication and the log commitment of the Raft consensus algorithm. The back-end can maintain a complete state for responding to requests that cannot be fulfilled by the front-end. The requests can include read requests and/or write requests.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 13, 2018
    Publication date: February 13, 2020
    Applicants: AT&T Intellectual Property I, L.P., Regents of the University of Minnesota
    Inventors: Bo Han, Vijay Gopalakrishnan, Marco Platania, Zhi-Li Zhang, Yang Zhang
  • Publication number: 20200028780
    Abstract: The concepts and technologies disclosed herein are directed to parallelism for virtual network functions (“VNFs”) in service function chains (“SFCs”). According to one aspect, a packet processing system can receive instructions to process, in parallel, at least a portion of a plurality of data packets associated with an SFC including a plurality of VNFs. The system can create a copy of at least the portion of the data packets. The system can send the copy of at least the portion of the data packets to at least two VNFs. The at least two VNFs can process, in parallel, the copy of at least the portion of the data packets. The system can receive, from the at least two VNFs, processed packets including the copy of at least the portion of the data packets and processed, in parallel, by the at least two VNFs. The system can combine the processed packets.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 30, 2019
    Publication date: January 23, 2020
    Applicants: AT&T Intellectual Property I, L.P., Regents of the University of Minnesota
    Inventors: Bo Han, Muhammad Bilal Anwer, Vijay Gopalakrishnan, Aman Shaikh, Joshua Reich, Yang Zhang, Zhi-Li Zhang