Technologies for network path and topology management
The present disclosure relates to techniques for determining optimal routing paths for computing devices in a network, including selecting an optimal gateway among a number of available gateways. The techniques include gathering data regarding characteristics of a network, including gateways and network access nodes (NANs) in at least one access network. The characteristics can include, e.g., supported frequency bands, communication protocols, signal-to-noise ratio, power, signal noise and quality, slicing information, and whether a network vender is a standalone network vendor or a non-standalone network vendor. In one aspect, the characteristics are obtained using the Mobile Broadband Interface Model (MBIM). The characteristics can be used by devices in determining routing paths based on requirements of individual flows and/or workflows of individual application instances.
1 . An apparatus to be associated with one or more network devices, the apparatus comprising:
a memory to store instructions; and
a processor to execute the instructions, the instructions, when executed by the processor resulting in performance of operations comprising:
determine one or more requirements of a subject flow of a set of flows of an application;
obtain, from a database, characteristics of at least one radio access network (RAN); and
select, for the subject flow, a gateway among a plurality of gateways to access the at least one RAN based on a comparison of the obtained characteristics to the one or more requirements of the subject flow;
wherein:
the apparatus is to execute the application;
the database is to be distributed, at least in part, in respective local versions of the database in the apparatus and the one or more network devices; and
the respective local versions of the database are to be updated with updated information to be used in determining dynamic traffic splitting and/or dynamic traffic shaping.
2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the characteristics comprise parameters of a Mobile Broadband Interface Model (MBIM).
3 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is to execute the instructions to select different gateways from among the plurality of gateways to access the at least one RAN for different flows of the application.
4 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is to execute the instructions to select different paths for the subject flow to the at least one RAN at different times.
5 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is to execute the instructions to select different gateways from among the plurality of gateways for the subject flow at different times.
6 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the selection of the gateway from among the plurality of gateways is based on an output of a multi-objective satisfaction algorithm.
7 . The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the processor is to execute the instructions to operate the multi-objective satisfaction algorithm to select the gateway from among the plurality of gateways.
8 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is to execute the instructions to:
prioritize selection of a gateway among the plurality of gateways in communication with a network access node (NAN) of a standalone network over a gateway among the plurality of gateways in communication with a NAN of a non-standalone network when a requirement of the one or more requirements is a guaranteed bit rate requirement.
9 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is to execute the instructions to:
prioritize selection of a gateway among the plurality of gateways in communication with a NAN configured to operate at a sub-band greater than 6 GHz over a gateway among the plurality of gateways in communication with a NAN configured to operate at a sub-band less than 6 GHz when a requirement of the one or more requirements is a guaranteed bit rate requirement.
10 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is to execute the instructions to:
prioritize selection of a gateway among the plurality of gateways in communication with a NAN having a higher signal quality than other NANs over a gateway among the plurality of gateways in communication with a NAN having a lower signal quality than at least one other NAN when a requirement of the one or more requirements is a high signal quality requirement.
11 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is to execute the instructions to:
prioritize selection of a gateway among the plurality of gateways in communication with a NAN configured for Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) communication over a gateway among the plurality of gateways in communication with a NAN configured for Time Division Duplex (TDD) communication when a requirement of the one or more requirements is a low latency requirement.
12 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein, when a requirement of the one or more requirements is a requirement for a guaranteed bit rate, the processor is to execute the instructions to:
prioritize selection of a default gateway of the plurality of gateways when the default gateway has a capacity to provide the guaranteed bit rate; and
prioritize selection of another gateway of the plurality of gateways over the default gateway if the default gateway does not have the capacity to provide the guaranteed bit rate and the other gateway has the capacity to provide the guaranteed bit rate.
13 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is to execute the instructions to:
determine, after selection of the gateway among a plurality of gateways, whether an existing connection with the selected gateway can be used to carry the subject flow; and
determine whether a new connection can be established for the subject flow when the existing connection of the selected gateway cannot be used to carry the subject flow.
14 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more requirements include at least one of a maximum allowable packet error rate, a packet delay budget, and a quality of service (QoS) classification.