System and method for router keep-alive control
View Patent ↗The real-time aspects of keep-alive generation are removed from the dynamic routing protocol (DRP) application and are embedded within a Unix-based operating system, which is programmed by DRP. A keep-alive control provides the ability to create a keep-alive message and a timeout interval on a TCP socket. Each socket can have an independent keep-alive message and timeout interval. A keep-alive message is sent whenever the TCP socket sends no normal user output for a duration exceeding the timeout interval. A timeout interval is normally specific in seconds and a keep-alive message is user definable and must not exceed a predetermined length in bytes. System calls are used to set the timeout interval and keep-alive message independently. Both a timeout and a keep-alive message must be set before the timeout becomes active.
1. A method, comprising:
programming, by a routing protocol process, a real-time kernel underlying the routing protocol process to perform keep-alive message processing of data communication, thereby relieving the routing protocol process from performing keep-alive message processing;
maintaining, by the routing protocol process, a timeout timer, a temporal frequency at which to generate keep-alive packets, and a keep alive message in a per-socket data structure in the real-time kernel;
providing, by the routing protocol process, to a scheduler in the real-time kernel the temporal frequency;
replicating, by the real-time kernel, the keep-alive message in respective keep-alive packets; and
associating a port in a switch, by the real-time kernel, as an output port for a respective keep-alive packet in response to no user output message of the data communication being associated with the port for a predetermined duration.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising establishing at least one programming interface between the routing protocol process and the real-time kernel.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the temporal frequency corresponds to a timeout interval.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the keep-alive packets are sent to one or more Transmission Control Protocol (TCP sockets; and
wherein the keep-alive packets associated with a respective TCP socket are independent from keep-alive packets associated with other TCP sockets.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the keep-alive packets is triggered by a timeout period during which no user message is sent.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the routing protocol is a dynamic routing protocol.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the routing protocol is a Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) or an Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) protocol.
8. A switch system, comprising:
a processor;
a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which when executed by the processor causes the processor to perform a method, the method comprising:
programming, by a routing protocol process, a real-time kernel underlying the routing protocol process to perform keep-alive message processing of data communication, thereby relieving the routing protocol process from performing keep-alive message processing;
maintaining, by the routing protocol process, a timeout timer, a temporal frequency at which to generate keep-alive packets, and a keep alive message in a per-socket data structure in the real-time kernel;
providing, by the routing protocol process, to a scheduler in the real-time kernel the temporal frequency;
replicating, by the real-time kernel, the keep-alive message in respective keep-alive packets; and
associating a port in the switch system, by the real-time kernel, as an output port for a respective keep-alive packet in response to no user output message of the data communication being associated with the port for a predetermined duration.
9. The switch system of claim 8 , wherein the real-time kernel comprises at least one programming interface with the routing protocol process.
10. The switch system of claim 8 , the temporal frequency corresponds to a timeout interval.
11. The switch system of claim 8 , wherein the keep-alive packets are sent to one or more Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) sockets; and
wherein the keep-alive packets associated with a respective TCP socket are independent from keep-alive packets associated with other TCP sockets.
12. The switch system of claim 8 , wherein generating the keep-alive packets is triggered by a timeout period during which no user message is sent.
13. The switch system of claim 8 , wherein the routing protocol is a dynamic routing protocol.
14. The switch system of claim 8 , wherein the routing protocol is a Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) or an Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) protocol.
15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform a method, the method comprising:
programming, by a routing protocol process, a real-time kernel underlying the routing protocol process to perform keep-alive message processing of data communication, thereby relieving the routing protocol process from performing keep-alive message processing;
maintaining, by the routing protocol process, a timeout timer, a temporal frequency at which to generate keep-alive packets, and a keep alive message in a per-socket data structure in the real-time kernel;
providing, by the routing protocol process, to a scheduler in the real-time kernel the temporal frequency;
replicating, by the real time kernel, the keep-alive message in respective keep-alive packets; and
associating a port in a switch, by the real-time kernel, as an output port for a respective keep-alive packet in response to no user output message of the data communication being associated with the port for a predetermined duration.
16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the method further comprises establishing at least one programming interface between the routing protocol process and the real-time kernel.
17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the temporal frequency corresponds to a timeout interval.
18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the keep-alive packets are sent to one or more Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) sockets; and
wherein the keep-alive packets associated with a respective TCP socket are independent from keep-alive packets associated with other TCP sockets.
19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein generating the keep-alive packets is triggered by a timeout period during which no user message is sent.
20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the routing protocol is a dynamic routing protocol.
21. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the routing protocol is a Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) or an Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) protocol.