Method for managing data routing in a communication system and devices for implementing the method
A method for measuring the propagation time of data routing information in a data communication system including a data communication network which comprises a plurality of router nodes operating according to a routing protocol for routing data packets between nodes of the data communication network is disclosed. The method includes, at a router node referred to as the generator node: generating timestamp data for the transmission of data routing information; inserting the transmission timestamp data into a field of a routing protocol message carrying the data routing information, the field being intended to receive data relating to data routing; and sending the message to a different router node referred to as the receiver node.
1 . A method of measuring a propagation time of data routing information in a data communication system comprising a data communication network which comprises a plurality of router nodes operating according to a Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) routing protocol for routing data packets between nodes of the data communication network, the method comprising, at a router node referred to as a generator node:
generating timestamp data for transmission of the data routing information;
inserting the timestamp data into a predefined field of a BGP-UPDATE routing protocol message of the BGP routing protocol that carries the data routing information, the predefined field corresponding to a “withdrawn” part or a “NLRI” part of the BGP-UPDATE routing protocol message and being defined to receive an Internet Protocol (IP) address prefix or a virtual private network (VPN) prefix; and
sending the BGP-UPDATE routing protocol message to a different router node referred to as a receiver node, wherein the timestamp data is usable to determine an estimate of the propagation time of the data routing information between the generator node and the receiver node;
wherein the timestamp data are inserted into the predefined field corresponding to the “withdrawn” part or the “NLRI” part of the BGP-UPDATE routing protocol message as the Internet Protocol (IP) address prefix or the virtual private network (VPN) prefix.
2 . A method of measuring a propagation time of data routing information in a data communication system comprising a data communication network which comprises a plurality of router nodes operating according to a Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) routing protocol for routing data packets between nodes of the data communication network, the method comprising, at a router node referred to as a receiver node:
receiving, from another router node referred to as a generator node, a BGP-UPDATE routing protocol message of the BGP routing protocol that carries the data routing information;
extracting timestamp data from a predefined field of the received BGP-UPDATE routing protocol message, the predefined field corresponding to a “withdrawn” part or a “NLRI” part of the received BGP-UPDATE routing protocol message and being defined to receive an Internet Protocol (IP) address prefix or a virtual private network (VPN) prefix;
generating current timestamp data; and
determining an estimate of the propagation time of the data routing information between the generator node and the receiver node on the basis of the timestamp data from the received BGP-UPDATE routing protocol message and the current timestamp data,
wherein the timestamp data are inserted into the predefined field corresponding to the “withdrawn” part or the “NLRI” part of the received BGP-UPDATE routing protocol message as the Internet Protocol (IP) address prefix or the virtual private network (VPN) prefix.
3 . The method according to claim 2 , further comprising: extracting, from the received BGP-UPDATE routing protocol message, information relating to a router where the data routing information originated, referred to as the generator node.
4 . A data communication network node comprising a processor and a communication interface operatively coupled to the processor, the network node being configured for implementing a method for measuring a propagation time of data routing information in a data communication system comprising a data communication network which comprises a plurality of router nodes operating according to a Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) routing protocol for routing data packets between nodes of the data communication network, the method comprising, at a router node referred to as a generator node:
generating timestamp data for transmission of the data routing information;
inserting the timestamp data into a predefined field of a BGP-UPDATE routing protocol message of the BGP routing protocol that carries the data routing information, the predefined field corresponding to a “withdrawn” part or a “NLRI” part of the BGP-UPDATE routing protocol message and being defined to receive an Internet Protocol (IP) address prefix or a virtual private network (VPN) prefix; and
sending the BGP-UPDATE routing protocol message to a different router node referred to as a receiver node, wherein the timestamp data is usable to determine an estimate of the propagation time of the data routing information between the generator node and the receiver node;
wherein the timestamp data are inserted into the predefined field corresponding to the “withdrawn” part or the “NLRI” part of the BGP-UPDATE routing protocol message as the Internet Protocol (IP) address prefix or the virtual private network (VPN) prefix.
5 . A non-transitory storage medium for a computer-executable program, comprising a set of data representing one or more programs, the one or more programs comprising instructions for, when the one or more programs are executed by a computer comprising a processor operatively coupled to memory means and to an input/output interface module, causing the computer to implement a method for measuring a propagation time of data routing information in a data communication system comprising a data communication network which comprises a plurality of router nodes operating according to a Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) routing protocol for routing data packets between nodes of the data communication network, the method comprising, at a router node referred to as a generator node:
generating timestamp data for transmission of the data routing information;
inserting the timestamp data into a predefined field of a BGP-UPDATE routing protocol message of the BGP routing protocol that carries the data routing information, the predefined field corresponding to a “withdrawn” part or a “NLRI” part of the BGP-UPDATE routing protocol message and being defined to receive an Internet Protocol (IP) address prefix or a virtual private network (VPN) prefix; and
sending the BGP-UPDATE routing protocol message to a different router node referred to as a receiver node, wherein the timestamp data is usable to determine an estimate of the propagation time of the data routing information between the generator node and the receiver node;
wherein the timestamp data are inserted into the predefined field corresponding to the “withdrawn” part or the “NLRI” part of the BGP-UPDATE routing protocol message as the Internet Protocol (IP) address prefix or the virtual private network (VPN) prefix.
6 . A data communication network node comprising a processor and a communication interface operatively coupled to the processor, the network node being configured for implementing a method for measuring a propagation time of data routing information in a data communication system comprising a data communication network which comprises a plurality of router nodes operating according to a Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) routing protocol for routing data packets between nodes of the data communication network, the method comprising, at a router node referred to as a receiver node:
receiving, from another router node referred to as a generator node, a BGP-UPDATE routing protocol message of the BGP routing protocol that carries the data routing information;
extracting timestamp data from a predefined field of the received BGP-UPDATE routing protocol message, the predefined field corresponding to a “withdrawn” part or a “NLRI” part of the received BGP-UPDATE routing protocol message and being defined to receive an Internet Protocol (IP) address prefix or a virtual private network (VPN) prefix;
generating current timestamp data; and
determining an estimate of the propagation time of the data routing information between the generator node and the receiver node on the basis of the timestamp data from the received BGP-UPDATE routing protocol message and the current timestamp data,
wherein the timestamp data are inserted into the predefined field corresponding to the “withdrawn” part or the “NLRI” part of the received BGP-UPDATE routing protocol message as the Internet Protocol (IP) address prefix or the virtual private network (VPN) prefix.
7 . The data communication network node according to claim 6 , wherein the method further comprises: extracting, from the received BGP-UPDATE routing protocol message, information relating to a router where the data routing information originated, referred to as the generator node.
8 . A non-transitory storage medium for a computer-executable program, comprising a set of data representing one or more programs, the one or more programs comprising instructions for, when the one or more programs are executed by a computer comprising a processor operatively coupled to memory means and to an input/output interface module, causing the computer to implement a method for measuring a propagation time of data routing information in a data communication system comprising a data communication network which comprises a plurality of router nodes operating according to a Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) routing protocol for routing data packets between nodes of the data communication network, the method comprising, at a router node referred to as a receiver node:
receiving, from another router node referred to as a generator node, a BGP-UPDATE routing protocol message of the BGP routing protocol that carries the data routing information;
extracting timestamp data from a predefined field of the received BGP-UPDATE routing protocol message, the predefined field corresponding to a “withdrawn” part or a “NLRI” part of the received BGP-UPDATE routing protocol message and being defined to receive an Internet Protocol (IP) address prefix or a virtual private network (VPN) prefix;
generating current timestamp data; and
determining an estimate of the propagation time of the data routing information between the generator node and the receiver node on the basis of the timestamp data from the received BGP-UPDATE routing protocol message and the current timestamp data,
wherein the timestamp data are inserted into the predefined field corresponding to the “withdrawn” part or the “NLRI” part of the received BGP-UPDATE routing protocol message as the Internet Protocol (IP) address prefix or the virtual private network (VPN) prefix.
9 . The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 8 , wherein the method further comprises: extracting, from the received BGP-UPDATE routing protocol message, information relating to a router where the data routing information originated, referred to as the generator node.