Split-plane wireless network architecture
View Patent ↗A split-plane mobility network architecture separates control and data plane operations typically encapsulated in a conventional wireless controller. Configurations provide a unified split-plane mobility switch that separates the data transport and switching in a separate hardware element, and performs control plane operations via exchanges with a centralized topology, rather than simply by adjacent switches within range. In contrast to conventional switch deployment, in which the same switch handles processing demands of the control plane and the data plane, the disclosed approach separates the data plane processing base by employing a mobility agent to define adjacent switch visibility. Thus, the routing capabilities of the data plane may be enhanced, such as to handle increasingly bandwidth-hungry applications of the same user base, without uprooting the infrastructure defined by the control plane.
1. A method for transporting wireless message traffic comprising:
deploying a plurality of mobility switches in a mobility domain, the mobility switches defining a data plane of the mobility domain and having a coupling to a mobility controller in a control plane of the mobility domain, the data plane performing routing and switching for user data traffic;
receiving, by a mobility agent in each mobility switch, from the mobility controller, a topology indicative of connectivity between the mobility switches, the mobility controller computationally independent from the routing and throughput operations in each of the mobility switches;
identifying, from the received topology, a set of mobility switches of the plurality of mobility switches with which to establish connectivity;
identifying, at each mobility switch, a link to least one access point or other mobility switch for establishing communication with a mobility device, the mobility device corresponding to a user;
wherein the topology includes a mobility switch table, each of the mobility agents responsive to the mobility switch table via a mobile control protocol, the mobility switch table defining a topology by identifying, for each mobility switch, a set of other mobility switches to establish connections to;
receiving, at an access point, a request from a mobile device to establish wireless communications with the mobility domain;
identifying a mobility switch corresponding to the access point; and
defining a virtual LAN (VLAN) indicative of a port mapping from the mobility switch to the access point and an RF (radio frequency) link between the access point and the mobile device, the VLAN defining a broadcast domain from the mobility switch to the mobile device.
2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
identifying a VLAN corresponding to the mobile device, the VLAN extended to the access point and to the RF link from the access point to the mobile device.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the control plane is defined by a plurality of mobility agents responsive to a mobility controller for receiving a mobility switch table, the mobility switch table for establishing connectivity to other mobility switches.
4. The method of claim 3 further comprising associating ports with VLANs, the ports corresponding to wired routing destinations and the VLANs corresponding to individual mobility devices accessible via an access point.
5. The method of claim 4 wherein the VLAN corresponds to an access tunnel, the access tunnel in communication with an access point, the VLAN coupled to a remote VLAN responsive to a mobility agent at a remote switch via an access tunnel; and
identifying a roaming mobile device as leaving the coverage area of the access point and entering a coverage area served by the remote switch.
6. The method of claim 1 further comprising defining the topology in a mobility switch table, the mobility switch table having connectivity information indicative of interconnections between the mobility switches, the mobility switch table disseminated in a top-down manner from the mobility controller to the mobility agent at each mobility switch.
7. The method of claim 6 further comprising propagating the connectivity information according to a mobility control protocol, the mobility control protocol exchanged between the mobility controller in the control plane and each of the mobility agents in the mobility switches for transporting the connectivity information.
8. The method of claim 7 further comprising receiving a mobility VLAN table, the mobility VLAN table indicative of, for each mobility device, an access point and mobility switch employed by the mobility device for message traffic.
9. The method of claim 8 further comprising receiving connectivity information at the mobility switches exclusively from the mobility controller, the mobility switches maintaining a split data and control plane by exchanging only data transport information including message traffic in the data plane with other mobility switches, the split plane separating the control and access operations from the transport and routing operations.
10. A split-plane mobility switch comprising:
an interconnection to at least one other of a plurality of mobility switches, the mobility switches defining a data plane of the mobility domain and having a coupling to a mobility controller in a control plane of the mobility domain, the data plane performing routing and switching for user data traffic;
a mobility agent configured to receive, from a mobility controller, a topology indicative of connectivity between the mobility switches, the mobility controller computationally independent of the routing and throughput operations in each of the mobility switches;
the mobility agent configured to identify, from the received topology, a subset of mobility switches of the plurality of mobility switches with which to establish connectivity;
an interface to at least one access point for establishing communication with a mobility device, the mobility device corresponding to a user;
wherein the mobility switch is a split plane mobility switch operates in a wireless network architecture comprising:
a control plane for monitoring and managing authentication and access of wireless devices to a wireless access point;
a data plane for receiving, routing and transporting data between wireless devices via the access points; and
an access plane for maintaining wireless connectivity by managing RF connections to wireless users across a plurality of access points;
the control plane and data plane implemented separately and independently scalable, such that a change in processing resources available to one of the control plane or data plane does not affect the processing resources available to other planes.
11. The mobility switch of claim 10 wherein the topology includes:
a mobility switch table, each of the mobility agents responsive to the mobility switch table via a mobile control protocol, the mobility switch table defining a topology by identifying, for each mobility switch, a set of other mobility switches to establish connections to; and
a mobility VLAN table, the mobility VLAN table indicative of, for each mobility device, an access point and mobility switch employed by the mobility device for message traffic, the data plane defined by a plurality of mobility switches, each of the mobility agents having a corresponding mobility switch and having selective connectivity to other mobility switches according to the mobility switch table for data traffic between wireless devices and the access points.
12. The mobility switch of claim 11 wherein the mobility switch table defines switch visibility for each mobility switch in the mobility domain and common to each mobility switch in the mobility domain.
13. The method of claim 10 wherein the split plane includes a control plane, a data plane and an access plane, and further includes performing failover of one of the planes without interfering with operations in another plane.
14. The method of claim 10 further comprising identifying rogue routers by receiving from a wireless destination not connected to at least one of the mobility switches in the mobility domain.
15. A computer program product having computer program code encoded as a set of instructions on a non-transient computer readable storage medium that, when executed by a processor, cause the computer to perform a method for managing a split-plane wireless network, the method comprising:
deploying a plurality of mobility switches in a mobility domain, the mobility switches defining a data plane of the mobility domain and having a coupling to a mobility controller in a control plane of the mobility domain, the data plane performing routing and switching for user data traffic;
receiving, by a mobility agent in each mobility switch, from the mobility controller, a topology indicative of connectivity between the mobility switches, the mobility controller computationally independent from the routing and throughput operations in each of the mobility switches;
identifying, from the received topology, a set of mobility switches of the plurality of mobility switches with which to establish connectivity;
identifying, at each mobility switch, a link to least one access point or other mobility switch for establishing communication with a mobility device, the mobility device corresponding to a user;
wherein the topology includes a mobility switch table, each of the mobility agents responsive to the mobility switch table via a mobile control protocol, the mobility switch table defining a topology by identifying, for each mobility switch, a set of other mobility switches to establish connections to;
receiving, at an access point, a request from a mobile device to establish wireless communications with the mobility domain;
identifying a mobility switch corresponding to the access point; and
defining a virtual LAN (VLAN) indicative of a port mapping from the mobility switch to the access point and an RF (radio frequency) link between the access point and the mobile device, the VLAN defining a broadcast domain from the mobility switch to the mobile device.
16. The computer program of claim 15 further comprising defining a split plane arrangement of control plane and data plane operations the split plane separating the control and access operations from the transport and routing operations such that the admission and access operations of the control plane are computationally independent from the routing and throughput operations in each of a plurality of mobility switches defining the data plane.
17. The computer program of claim 16 wherein the split-plane arrangement further comprises performing the control plane and data plane operations in separate processing realms under the control of independent processors, the separate processing realms such that processing demands of one of the plane does not consume processing resources of another plane.