Reducing multicast service traffic for matching and streaming in SDN (software defined networking enabled networks
View Patent ↗Multicast packets from streaming services on a data network are reduced. A packet conversion policy distributes OpenFlow rules to network components involved in multicasting services. In coordination with, and responsive to, detecting a matching service provider advertisement and service receiver request, executing an SDN policy governing a multicast streaming service. Specifically, multicast packets from a flow for streaming the multicast service are converted from multicast to unicast when sent from the network component associated with the service provider, and then are converted from unicast to multicast when received at the network component associated with the station.
1. A computer-implemented method for efficient management of multicast services in a software-defined network (SDN) controller in a data communication network by centrally coordinating data plane behavior, the method comprising the steps of: distributing at least one OpenFlow rule from a multicast streaming policy comprising one or more OpenFlow rules to a plurality of network components involved in multicasting services, the at least one OpenFlow rule of the multicast streaming policy suppressing advertising packets that broadcast availability of a streaming service, and the at least one OpenFlow rule of the multicast streaming policy suppressing request packets for available streaming services; centrally monitoring data plane traffic flow of the data communication network, including receiving monitoring data from the plurality of network components from different locations on the data communication network; responsive to one or more advertising packets of a service provider being suppressed at a first network component of the plurality of network components, receiving notification of advertisement packets; responsive to one or more request packets of a station being suppressed at a second network component of the plurality of network components, receiving notification of a request packet; notifying the service provider and the station of a match based on matching parameters of the advertisement packets and the request packet; and distributing at least one OpenFlow rule of the multicast streaming policy to at least the network component associated with the service provider and to the network component associated with the receiving station, wherein the at least one OpenFlow rule concerns packets from a flow for streaming the multicast service are converted from multicast to unicast when sent from the network component associated with the service provider, and then are converted from unicast to multicast when received at the network component associated with the receiving station.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein suppressing the one or more advertisements comprises: refraining from transmitting copies of the service advertisement packets to a multicast address associated with the data packets.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein suppressing the one or more service requests comprises: refraining from transmitting copies of the service requests packets to a multicast address associated with the data packets.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: refraining from transmitting copies of the streaming packets received by the network component associated with the service provider to a multicast address associated with the data packets.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: refraining from transmitting copies of the streaming packets received by the network component associated with the service receiver to a multicast address associated with the data packets.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: determining a specific port from a plurality of ports to transmit the multicast packets that have been converted from a unicast packet, wherein the specific port facilitates a connection to the receiving device; and refraining from transmitting copies of the multicast packets to other ports of the plurality of ports that do not facilitate the connection to the receiving device.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: identifying the advertising packets, and parameters associated with the streaming service, using deep packet inspection.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least two of the plurality of network devices implementing the OpenFlow rules are manufactured by different vendors and have distinct operating systems.
9. A non-transitory computer-readable medium that, when executed by a processor, performs a computer-implemented method for efficient management of multicast services in a software-defined network (SDN) controller in a data communication network by centrally coordinating data plane behavior, the method comprising the steps of: distributing at least one OpenFlow rule from a multicast streaming policy comprising one or more OpenFlow rules to a plurality of network components involved in multicasting services, the at least one OpenFlow rule of the multicast streaming policy suppressing advertising packets that broadcast availability of a streaming service, and the at least one OpenFlow rule of the multicast streaming policy suppressing request packets for available streaming services; centrally monitoring data plane traffic flow of the data communication network, including receiving monitoring data from the plurality of network components from different locations on the data communication network; responsive to one or more advertising packets of a service provider being suppressed at a first network component of the plurality of network components, receiving notification of advertisement packets; responsive to one or more request packets of a station being suppressed at a second network component of the plurality of network components, receiving notification of a request packet; notifying the service provider and the station of a match based on matching parameters of the advertisement packets and the request packet; and distributing at least one OpenFlow rule of the multicast streaming policy to at least the network component associated with the service provider and to the network component associated with the receiving station, wherein the at least one OpenFlow rule concerns packets from a flow for streaming the multicast service are converted from multicast to unicast when sent from the network component associated with the service provider, and then are converted from unicast to multicast when received at the network component associated with the station.
10. A software-defined networking (SDN) controller for efficient management of multicast services in a software-defined network (SDN) controller in a data communication network by centrally coordinating data plane behavior, the SDN controller comprising: a processor; a network interface; a memory, storing a multicast streaming policy manager, a data plane manager, and an available services tracker, wherein the multicast streaming policy manager distributes a packet conversion policy comprising one or more OpenFlow rules to a plurality of network components involved in multicasting services, at least one OpenFlow rule of the packet conversion policy suppressing advertising packets that broadcast availability of a streaming service, and at least one OpenFlow rule of the packet conversion policy suppressing request packets for available streaming services, wherein the data plane manager centrally monitors data plane traffic flow of the data communication network, including receiving monitoring data from the plurality of network components from different locations on the data communication network, and wherein the available service tracker to, responsive to one or more advertising packets of a service provider being suppressed at a first network component of the plurality of network components, receive notification of advertisement packets, the available service tracker to, responsive to one or more request packets of a station being suppressed at a second network component of the plurality of network components, receive notification of a request packet, and the available service tracker to notify the service provider and the station of a match based on matching parameters of the advertisement packets and the request packet, wherein the multicast streaming policy manager distributes at least one OpenFlow rule to at least the network component associated with the service provider and to the network component associated with the station, wherein packets from a flow for streaming the multicast service are converted from multicast to unicast when sent from the network component associated with the service provider, and then are converted from unicast to multicast when received at the network component associated with the station.
11. The SDN controller of claim 10 , further comprising: a deep packet inspection engine stored n the memory to analyze forwarded packets to identify the advertising packets of the service provider and request packets of the receiving station.