Dynamic use of multiple wireless network links to connect a vehicle to an SD-WAN
Some embodiments provide a novel method for connecting one or more vehicles to a software defined wide area network (SD-WAN). The method deploys an edge router to operate in the vehicle, and configures the edge router to connect to several wireless network links (e.g., 5G cellular links) operating in the vehicle. In some embodiments, the different wireless network links are different mobile hotspot links provided by different telecommunication network providers (e.g., AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Orange, etc.). The method configures the edge router to forward several data message flows from a device operating in the vehicle (e.g., a computer located in the vehicle or a machine (e.g., virtual machine, Pod, container, etc.) executing on a computer located in the vehicle) to the SD-WAN using the several telecommunications network links.
1 . A method of dynamically distributing data message flows across a plurality of wireless network links for forwarding from a device operating in a vehicle to a software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN), the method comprising:
at an edge router operating in the vehicle:
determining future locations of the vehicle based on a route to be traveled by the vehicle;
retrieving a plurality of metrics for each wireless network link in the plurality of wireless network links;
based on the retrieved plurality of metrics, determining predicted metrics for each wireless network link at each of the future locations of the vehicle, the predicted metrics representing expected performance of the respective wireless network links at the future locations;
based on the predicted metrics, identifying, for each of the future locations of the vehicle, candidate wireless network links to use from among the plurality of wireless network links; and
when the vehicle reaches each of the future locations, forwarding the data message flows to a destination router of the SD-WAN using the candidate wireless network links identified for the respective future location.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein retrieving the plurality of metrics for each wireless network link comprises:
sending an application programming interface (API) request to a networking interface to request the plurality of metrics; and
receiving an API response from the networking interface comprising the requested plurality of metrics.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the predicted metrics for each wireless network link comprises:
for each wireless network link:
using two or more metrics associated with the wireless network link to generate a linear regression for the wireless network link; and
using the linear regression to determine the predicted metrics for the wireless network link.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a current location of the vehicle is determined based on global positioning system (GPS) location data provided by a GPS satellite or cellular derived location data.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the predicted metrics comprise signal strength metrics for each of the wireless network links.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein forwarding the data message flows to the destination router using the candidate wireless network links comprises forwarding the data message flows using one wireless network link.
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein forwarding the data message flows to the destination router using the candidate wireless network links comprises forwarding the data message flows along different wireless network links.
8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein forwarding the data message flows along different wireless network links comprises forwarding data messages of a particular flow along different wireless network links.
9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the edge router is one of (i) an edge router appliance, (ii) an edge router that executes on a computer that operates in the vehicle, or (iii) an edge router that executes on a machine that executes on the computer.
10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the edge router retrieves the plurality of metrics at each of the future locations of the vehicle.
11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the edge router determines the future locations of the vehicle to be along the route and separated by a fixed distance.
12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the edge router determines the future locations of the vehicle based on user inputs specifying the future locations.
13 . A non-transitory machine readable medium storing a program for execution by at least one processor of an edge router operating in a vehicle, the program dynamically distributing data message flows across a plurality of wireless network links for forwarding from a device operating in the vehicle to a software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN), the program comprising:
determining future locations of the vehicle based on a route to be traveled by the vehicle;
retrieving a plurality of metrics for each wireless network link in the plurality of wireless network links;
based on the retrieved plurality of metrics, determining predicted metrics for each wireless network link at each of the future locations of the vehicle, the predicted metrics representing expected performance of the respective wireless network links at the future locations;
based on the predicted metrics, identifying, for each of the future locations of the vehicle, candidate wireless network links to use from among the plurality of wireless network links; and
when the vehicle reaches each of the future locations, forwarding the data message flows to a destination router of the SD-WAN using the candidate wireless network links identified for the respective future location.
14 . The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the set of instructions for retrieving the plurality of metrics for each wireless network link comprises sets of instructions for:
sending an application programming interface (API) request to a networking interface to request the plurality of metrics; and
receiving an API response from the networking interface comprising the requested plurality of metrics.
15 . The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the set of instructions for determining the predicted metrics for each wireless network link comprises sets of instructions for:
for each wireless network link:
using two or more metrics associated with the wireless network link to generate a linear regression for the wireless network link; and
using the linear regression to determine the predicted metrics for the wireless network link.
16 . The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 13 , wherein a current location of the vehicle is determined based on global positioning system (GPS) location data provided by a GPS satellite or cellular derived location data.
17 . A vehicle comprising an edge router that is programmed to execute a method of dynamically distributing data message flows across a plurality of wireless network links for forwarding from a device operating in the vehicle to a software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN), the method comprising:
determining future locations of the vehicle based on a route to be traveled by the vehicle;
retrieving a plurality of metrics for each wireless network link in the plurality of wireless network links;
based on the retrieved plurality of metrics, determining predicted metrics for each wireless network link at each of the future locations of the vehicle, the predicted metrics representing expected performance of the respective wireless network links at the future locations;
based on the predicted metrics, identifying, for each of the future locations of the vehicle, candidate wireless network links to use from among the plurality of wireless network links; and
when the vehicle reaches each of the future locations, forwarding the data message flows to a destination router of the SD-WAN using the candidate wireless network links identified for the respective future location.
18 . The vehicle of claim 17 , wherein the edge router retrieves the plurality of metrics at each of the future locations of the vehicle.
19 . The vehicle of claim 17 , wherein the edge router determines the future locations of the vehicle to be along the route and separated by a fixed distance.
20 . The vehicle of claim 17 , wherein the edge router determines the future locations of the vehicle based on user inputs specifying the future locations.