Procedures, apparatuses, systems, and computer program products for adaptive tunnel bandwidth by using software defined networking

1. A network controller, comprising:

an interface operable to receive performance monitoring data from multiple network elements that define one or more paths along a network tunnel and multiple different communication sessions, wherein the performance monitoring data includes data on network utilization; and

a processor operable to:

calculate network tunnel utilization through the network tunnel over a sampling period, based on the performance monitoring data,

detect whether the network utilization through the network tunnel crosses an overflow threshold or an underflow threshold, and

in a case where the network tunnel utilization is detected to cross the overflow threshold

determine from a look-up-table (LUT) at least one new path based on at least one required bandwidth, and transmit instructions to the network elements to implement the at least one new path, and

in a case where the network tunnel utilization is detected to cross the underflow threshold

select a path to delete to decrease tunnel bandwidth,

select one or more, shorter-bandwidth replacement paths, and

transmit instructions to the network elements to implement path deletion and communicate via the one or more, shorter-bandwidth replacement paths.

2. The network controller of claim 1 , wherein detecting of whether the network utilization crosses the overflow threshold includes detecting whether a bandwidth between at least two of the network elements crosses a first predetermined bandwidth threshold, and detecting of whether the network utilization crosses the underflow threshold includes detecting whether the bandwidth between the at least two network elements crosses a second predetermined bandwidth threshold.

3. The network controller of claim 2 , wherein the interface is further operable to receive the first and second predetermined bandwidth thresholds.

4. The network controller of claim 1 , wherein detecting of whether the network utilization crosses the overflow threshold or the underflow threshold is based on whether the performance monitoring data indicates that data packets have been lost between the network elements.

5. The network controller of claim 1 , wherein detecting of whether the network utilization crosses the overflow threshold or the underflow threshold is based on a delay in transferring data between two or more network elements.

6. The network controller of claim 1 , wherein the at least one new path is determined using the look-up table (LUT) which is based on at least one of bandwidth, delay, and a number of network elements used.

7. The network controller of claim 1 , wherein the at least one new path comprises replacement paths which exist on multiple network layers.

8. The network controller of claim 7 , wherein at least one of the replacement paths exists on an optical layer.

9. The network controller of claim 1 , wherein the performance monitoring data is received periodically at the network controller over the sampling period.

10. The network controller of claim 1 , wherein at least one network elements of the network tunnel is a router.

11. A procedure for managing network traffic, the procedure comprising:

receiving performance monitoring data from multiple network elements that define one or more paths along a network tunnel and multiple different communication sessions, wherein the performance monitoring data includes data on network utilization;

calculating network tunnel utilization through the network tunnel over a sampling period, based on the performance monitoring data,

detecting whether the network utilization through the network tunnel crosses an overflow threshold or an underflow threshold; and

in a case where the network tunnel utilization is detected to cross the overflow threshold

determining from a look-up-table (LUT) at least one new path based on at least one required bandwidth, and transmitting instructions to the network elements on the network to implement the at least one new path, and

in a case where the network tunnel utilization is detected to cross the underflow threshold

selecting a path to delete to decrease tunnel bandwidth,

selecting one or more, shorter-bandwidth replacement paths, and

transmitting instructions to the network elements to implement path deletion and communicate via the one or more, shorter-bandwidth replacement paths.

12. The procedure of claim 11 , wherein the detecting of whether the network utilization crosses the overflow threshold includes detecting whether a bandwidth between at least two of the network elements crosses a first predetermined bandwidth threshold, and detecting of whether the network utilization crosses the underflow threshold includes detecting whether the bandwidth between the at least two network elements crosses a second predetermined bandwidth threshold.

13. The procedure of claim 12 , further comprising receiving the first and second predetermined bandwidth thresholds from an interface.

14. The procedure of claim 11 , wherein the detecting of whether the network utilization crosses the overflow threshold or the underflow threshold is based on whether the performance monitoring data indicates that data packets have been lost between the network elements.

15. The procedure of claim 11 , wherein the detecting of whether the network utilization crosses the overflow threshold or the underflow threshold is based on a delay in transferring data between two or more network elements.

16. The procedure of claim 11 , wherein the at least one new path is determined using the look-up table (LUT) which is based on at least one of bandwidth, delay, and a number of network elements used.

17. The procedure of claim 11 , wherein the at least one new path comprises replacement paths which exist on multiple network layers.

18. The procedure of claim 17 , wherein at least one of the replacement paths exists on an optical layer.

19. The procedure of claim 11 , wherein the performance monitoring data is received periodically at the network controller over the sampling period.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium containing a computer program having instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to carry out a procedure for managing network traffic, the procedure comprising:

receiving performance monitoring data from multiple network elements that define one or more paths along a network tunnel and multiple different communication sessions, wherein the performance monitoring data includes data on network utilization;

calculating network tunnel utilization through the network tunnel over a sampling period, based on the performance monitoring data;

detecting whether the network utilization through the network tunnel crosses an overflow threshold or an underflow threshold; and

in a case where the network tunnel utilization is detected to cross the overflow threshold

determining from a look-up-table (LUT) at least one new path based on at least one required bandwidth, and transmitting instructions to the network elements on the network to implement the at least one new path, and

in a case where the network tunnel utilization is detected to cross the underflow threshold

selecting a path to delete to decrease tunnel bandwidth,

selecting one or more, shorter-bandwidth replacement paths, and

transmitting instructions to the network elements to implement path deletion and communicate via the one or more, shorter-bandwidth replacement paths.