DETERMINING CONNECTIVITY BETWEEN ENDPOINTS IN A NETWORK
A method of determining connectivity between two endpoints in a communications network is described. The method includes identifying transport addresses associated with each of the two endpoints and determining pairs of the transport addresses identifying a transmission path between the two endpoints. The method then proceeds to determining, at each endpoint, which of the pairs of transport addresses identifies a unique transmission path; and then performing connectivity checks at each endpoint for each pair identifying a unique transmission path.
1 . A method of determining connectivity between two endpoints in a communications network, the method comprising:
identifying transport addresses associated with each of the two endpoints;
determining pairs of the transport addresses identifying a transmission path between the two endpoints;
determining, at each endpoint, which of the pairs of transport addresses identifies a unique transmission path; and
performing connectivity checks at each endpoint for each pair identifying a unique transmission path.
2 . The method of claim 1 , the step of identifying transport addresses comprising:
discovering, at each endpoint, transport addresses associated with that endpoint; and
providing, from one of the endpoints to the other endpoint, information on the transport addresses associated with that endpoint.
3 . The method of claim 1 , the step of determining which of the pairs comprising:
deriving, at each endpoint, a set of transport addresses associated with that endpoint from which messages can originate; and
determining, at each endpoint, a set of the pairs of transport addresses that include a transport address from the derived set for that endpoint, the pairs in the set identifying a unique transmission path.
4 . A method of reducing connectivity checks between two endpoints in a communications network, the method comprising:
identifying candidates for each endpoint, each endpoint classifying candidates for that endpoint as being either a base candidate or a non-base candidate;
determining pairs of the candidates that delimit a transmission path between the two endpoints;
developing, at each endpoint, a list of connectivity checks to be performed for each pair; and
filtering, at each endpoint, the list for that endpoint to suppress performance of connectivity checks for all pairs including a non-base candidate for that endpoint.
5 . The method of claim 4 wherein the base candidate is a transport address from which messages can originate.
6 . The method of claim 4 , the step of identifying candidates comprising:
discovering, at each endpoint, candidates associated with that endpoint; and
providing, from one of the endpoints to the other endpoint, information on the candidates associated with that endpoint.
7 . The method of claim 4 , the step of filtering comprising:
determining, at each endpoint, a set of the pairs of candidates including a non-base candidate for that endpoint; and
removing, at each endpoint, connectivity checks for the pairs from the set from the list for that endpoint.
8 . The method of 4 , the step of filtering comprising:
determining, at each endpoint, a set of the pairs of candidates including a non-base candidate for that endpoint;
developing, at each endpoint, a filter to suppress connectivity checks for the pairs from the set for that endpoint;
applying, at each endpoint, the filter to the list for that endpoint; and
performing connectivity checks at each endpoint based on the filtered list.
9 . The method of claim 4 wherein the candidates for each endpoint are transport addresses that are advertised to be associated with that endpoint.
10 . A method of reducing connectivity checks between two endpoints in a communications network, the method comprising:
identifying candidates for each endpoint, each endpoint classifying candidates for that endpoint as being either a base candidate or a non-base candidate;
determining, at each endpoint, a corresponding base candidate for each non-base candidates;
determining pairs of the candidates that delimit a transmission path between the two endpoints;
developing, at each endpoint, a list of connectivity checks to be performed for each pair;
examining, at each endpoint, each pair and corresponding base candidate for non-base candidates to determine if a connectivity check for a pair corresponding to corresponding base candidates of the examined pair has already been performed;
performing a connectivity check for the examined pair if no connectivity check has been performed for a pair corresponding to corresponding base candidates of the examined pair has been performed; and
suppressing performance of a connectivity check for the pair if a connectivity check for a pair corresponding to corresponding base candidates of the examined pair has been performed.
11 . The method of claim 10 wherein the base candidate is a transport address from which messages can originate.
12 . The method of claim 10 wherein the candidates for each endpoint are transport addresses that are advertised to be associated with that endpoint.
13 . A method of determining connectivity between two endpoints in a communications network, the method comprising:
identifying transport addresses associated with each of the two endpoints;
determining, at each endpoint, pairs of the transport addresses identifying a transmission path between the two endpoints, each pair including a transport address associated that endpoint from which messages can originate; and
performing connectivity checks at each endpoint for each pair identifying a unique transmission path.
14 . The method of claim 13 , the step of identifying transport addresses comprising:
discovering, at each endpoint, transport addresses associated with that endpoint;
providing, from one of the endpoints to the other endpoint, information on the transport addresses associated with that endpoint; and
determining, at each endpoint, which transport addresses associated with that endpoint messages can originate from.
15 . A method of checking connectivity between two endpoints in a communications network, the method comprising:
identifying candidates for each endpoint, each endpoint classifying candidates for that endpoint as being either a base candidate or a non-base candidate;
determining, at each endpoint, pairs of the candidates that delimit a transmission path between the two endpoints, each pair including a base candidate from that endpoint;
developing, at each endpoint, a list of connectivity checks to be performed for each pair; and
performing for each endpoint connectivity checks for all pairs including a non-base candidate for that endpoint.
16 . The method of claim 15 wherein the base candidate is a transport address from which messages can originate.
17 . The method of claim 15 , the step of identifying candidates comprising:
discovering, at each endpoint, candidates associated with that endpoint; and
providing, from one of the endpoints to the other endpoint, information on the candidates associated with that endpoint.
18 . The method of 15 wherein the candidates for each endpoint are transport addresses that are advertised to be associated with that endpoint.