Flow label systems and methods
View Patent ↗Network edge devices receive IPv6 packets from source devices. These packets may or may not contain values in their flow label fields. The network edge devices apply a value to the flow label field. This value may include a flow identifier established by the network edge device. The value may also include an additional information element pertaining to QoS, security status, subscriber identity, content rating.
1. A method comprising:
receiving a first packet of a flow in a network node other than a source of the first packet, the first packet having an old value for a flow label;
generating a new value for the flow label for the first packet, the new value comprising a combination of a flow identifier and at least one other information element, wherein the new value is different than the old value;
applying, at the network node, the new value to the flow label of said first packet;
forwarding, by the network node, the first packet with the new value for the flow label;
receiving, at the network node, a second packet of the flow, the second packet having an old value for a flow label;
assigning a new value for the flow label for the second packet, the new value comprising a combination of the flow identifier generated for the first packet and at least one other information element, wherein the new value is different than the old value;
applying, at the network node, the new value to the flow label of said second packet; and
forwarding, by the network node, the second packet with the new value for the flow label.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the packet has a header comprising a source address, a destination address and the flow label.
3. The method of claim 2 wherein the packet is an IP packet.
4. The method of claim 3 wherein the packet is an IPv6 packet.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving the packet in the network node comprises receiving a packet in a network edge device.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one other information element is selected from a group consisting of:
QoS information;
individual and/or group subscriber identifier;
charging identifier information;
security status;
content rating; and
information about an originating host device.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein generating the new value for the flow label comprises using some of flow label field bits to contain the at least one other information element and some of the flow label field bits to contain the flow identifier.
8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
examining the packet and either defining the new flow label value for the packet, or
associating the packet with an existing flow.
9. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
applying the new value for the flow label for a flow after receiving several packets of the flow.
10. The method of claim 9 wherein applying the new value for the flow label for the flow after receiving several packets of the flow comprises defining the new flow label value after determining a content rating for the flow, the new flow label value comprising a field containing the content rating.
11. A network node comprising:
at least one ingress interface card;
at least one egress interface card;
a flow label processor adapted:
to receive a first packet of a flow having an old value for a flow label field;
to generate a new value for the flow label field, the new value comprising a flow identifier and at least one other information element;
to apply the new value for the flow label field to the first packet;
to forward the first packet with the new value for the flow label field;
to receive a second packet of the flow having an old value for a flow label field;
to generate a new value for the flow label field, the new value comprising the flow identifier generated for the first packet and at least one other information element;
to apply the new value for the flow label field to the second packet; and
to forward the second packet with the new value for the flow label field; and
a routing element that routes the packet between the interface cards as a function of the applied flow label.
12. The network node of claim 11 , wherein the network node is a network edge device.
13. The network node of claim 11 wherein the packet is an IP packet.
14. The network node of claim 13 wherein the packet is an IPv6 packet.
15. The network node of claim 11 wherein the at least one other information element is selected from a group consisting of:
QoS information;
individual and/or group subscriber identifier;
charging identifier information;
security status;
content rating; and
information about an originating host device.
16. A network node comprising:
at least one ingress interface card;
at least one egress interface card;
a flow label processor adapted to receive a first packet and a second packet of a flow, having a respective old value for a flow label field, the old value comprising a flow identifier and at least one other information element;
the network node being adapted to perform further processing of the first packet and the second packet as a function of the respective at least one other information element, to produce a new value for the respective flow label field, wherein the flow identifier of the second packet is the same as the flow identifier of the first packet; and
a routing element that routes the packet between the interface cards as a function of the new value for the flow label field and at least one other information element.
17. The network node of claim 16 wherein the at least one other information element is selected from a group consisting of:
QoS information in which case performing further packet processing as a function of the at least one other information element comprises giving QoS treatment based on QoS information;
individual and/or group subscriber identifier in which case performing further packet processing as a function of the at least one other information element comprises performing subscriber identity specific processing;
charging identifier information in which case performing further packet processing as a function of the at least one other information element comprises performing packet accounting using the charging identifier information;
security status in which case performing further packet processing as a function of the at least one other information element comprises performing packet processing having regard to the security status field;
content rating in which case performing further packet processing as a function of the at least one other information element comprises performing content specific charging; and
information about an originating host device.