Proactive notification of wireless client address rotation
A network controller provides proactive notification of a wireless client device's address rotation to layer 2 (L2) and/or layer 3 (L3) devices. Traditional methods of device address discovery rely on broadcasting of address queries across a plurality of links until a path to a device having the queried address responds. As device address changes become more frequent in an effort to improve user privacy, traditional methods of address discovery impose a large burden on networks, reducing their performance and efficiency. By proactively propagating address changes to upstream devices, the need for broadcast oriented address discovery techniques is reduced, resulting in improved network performance.
1. A method comprising:
maintaining a list of one or more network devices which store an address mapping of a wireless client device, the wireless client device identified via a first device address;
receiving, from a wireless network controller, a notification that the wireless client device has rotated its device address from the first device address to a second device address; and
notifying the one or more network devices included in the list of the rotation and of the second device address.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising requesting address mappings from the one or more network devices; and wherein the maintaining of the list of one or more network devices is based on the address mappings.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the list includes an address mapping that maps an Internet Protocol (IP) address to a device address, a virtual local area network (VLAN) identifier to a device address, or a device address to a port of a network device that stores the address mapping.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the notifying is configured to cause a network device to update a stored address mapping that references the first device address to instead reference the second device address.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the maintaining the list comprises:
receiving a first message from a first network device indicating that the first network device is associated with the wireless client device; and
adding the first network device to the list of one or more network devices in response to the receiving of the first message.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the first message is a request to subscribe to updates of the wireless client device.
7. The method of claim 5 , further comprising decoding the first message to identify address information of the first network device, wherein adding the first network device to the list comprises storing the address information in the list of one or more network devices.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining a virtual local area network (VLAN) in which the wireless client device participates; and
searching the list to identify a set of network devices participating in the VLAN, wherein the notifying includes notifying the set of network devices.
9. An apparatus comprising:
a network interface configured to enable network communications;
one or more processors; and
one or more memories storing instructions that when executed configure the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
maintaining a list of one or more network devices which store an address mapping of a wireless client device, the wireless client device identified via a first device address;
receiving, from a wireless network controller, a notification that the wireless client device has rotated its device address from the first device address to a second device address; and
notifying the one or more network devices included in the list of the rotation and of the second device address.
10. The apparatus of claim 9 , the operations further comprising requesting address mappings from the one or more network devices; and wherein the maintaining of the list of one or more network devices is based on the address mappings.
11. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the list includes an address mapping that maps an Internet Protocol (IP) address to a device address, a virtual local area network (VLAN) identifier to a device address, or a device address to a port of a network device that stores the address mapping.
12. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the notifying is configured to cause a network device to update a stored address mapping that references the first device address to instead reference the second device address.
13. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the maintaining the list comprises:
receiving a first message from a first network device indicating that the first network device is associated with the wireless client device; and
adding the first network device to the list of one or more network devices in response to the receiving of the first message.
14. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the first message is a request to subscribe to updates of the wireless client device.
15. The apparatus of claim 13 , the operations further comprising decoding the first message to identify address information of the first network device, wherein adding the first network device to the list comprises storing the address information in the list of one or more network devices.
16. The apparatus of claim 9 , the operations further comprising:
determining a virtual local area network (VLAN) in which the wireless client device participates; and
searching the list to identify a set of network devices participating in the VLAN, wherein the notifying includes notifying the set of network devices.
17. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that when executed configure one or more processor to perform operations comprising:
maintaining a list of one or more network devices which store an address mapping of a wireless client device, the wireless client device identified via a first device address;
receiving, from a wireless network controller, a notification that the wireless client device has rotated its device address from the first device address to a second device address; and
notifying the one or more network devices included in the list of the rotation and of the second device address.
18. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 17 , the operations further comprising requesting address mappings from the one or more network devices; and wherein the maintaining of the list of one or more network devices is based on the address mappings.
19. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 17 , wherein the notifying is configured to cause a network device to update a stored address mapping that references the first device address to instead reference the second device address.
20. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 17 , the operations further comprising:
determining a virtual local area network (VLAN) in which the wireless client device participates; and
searching the list to identify a set of network devices participating in the VLAN, wherein the notifying includes notifying the set of network devices.