| 摘要 |
Methods, apparatus and network architectures relating to the use of a Hop-by-Hop packet forwarding technique using “stepping stone” switches. The network architectures include use of stepping stone switches interspersed with non-stepping stone switches such as conventional network switches comprising network elements such switches, routers, repeaters, etc. The stepping stone switches are configured to route packets as multiplexed flows along tunneled sub-paths between stepping stone switches in a hop-by-hop manner with error recovery, as opposed to conventional routing under which packets are routed from a source to a destination using an arbitrary path or along a (generally) lengthy flow-based path. Accordingly, packets from a source endpoint are routed to a destination endpoint via multiple sub-paths connecting pairs of stepping stone switches, with each sub-path traversing one or more conventional switches and constituting a logical Hop in the Hop-by-Hop route. |
| 主权项 |
1. A method, comprising:
receiving, at a first switch comprising a first type of switch, a packet having an original format including an original packet header corresponding to a network forwarding protocol including a destination address for a destination endpoint device communicatively coupled to a network including a plurality of a first type of switches interspersed with a plurality of a second type of switches; determining a route from the first switch to the destination endpoint device that is forwarded through a sub-path between the first switch and a second switch comprising the first type of switch, the sub-path including at least one intermediate switch between the first and second switches comprising the second type of switch, at least one of the first and second switches being an interior switch in the network; prepending a second packet header to the original packet format to form a new packet, the second packet header including a source address corresponding to an address for the first switch and a destination address corresponding to an address for the second switch, the second packet header having a format corresponding to the network forwarding protocol; forwarding the new packet from the first switch toward a first intermediate switch along the sub-path via a link coupled between the first switch and the first intermediate switch; receiving, at the first switch, a second packet that has been forwarded from a third switch to the first switch along a second sub-path, the second packet including a tunnel header that was prepended by the third switch comprising the first type of switch; and stripping the tunnel header from the second packet, wherein the tunnel header includes a first portion comprising a network forwarding protocol header, and a second portion comprising one or more header information fields containing data including one or more of a Sequence No, Flow ID, Flow Sequence No., ACK, Credit, Refuse, Pause, and Resume, and wherein the first type of switches have greater memory buffer capacity than the second type of switches and wherein the first type of switches employ a reliable protocol that facilitates error recovery for sub-paths between the first type of switches. |
