Increasing failure coverage of MOFRR with dataplane notifications

摘要

An enhanced fast re-route mechanism provides increased failure coverage to a multicast communication network. If a network node detects a failure and determines that it cannot re-route multicast data, the network node sends a downstream fast notification packet (DFNP) in the network. The DFNP causes a downstream merge node to switch reception of the multicast data to its secondary path. The network node then receives an upstream fast notification packet (UFNP) from the merge node. The network node modifies its forwarding information upon receipt of the UFNP such that the multicast data is to be received by the network node from its downstream via which the UFNP was received. The DFNP and the UFNP cause the multicast data to reverse its flow direction between the network node and the merge node.

主权项

1. A method performed by a network node in a multicast communication network, the multicast communication network including a multicast tree to provide connectivity from a common source node to one or more multicast recipient nodes, the multicast communication network further including a set of secondary paths to provide redundancy to the multicast tree, the method comprising the steps of:
detecting by the network node a loss of connection at an incoming interface to an upstream neighbor; determining that the network node cannot re-route the multicast data traffic to allow the multicast data traffic to reach the multicast recipient nodes; sending a downstream fast notification packet (DFNP) from the network node downstream towards the multicast recipient nodes, wherein the DFNP causes a downstream merge node to switch reception of the multicast data traffic to a secondary path that leads to the common source node; receiving an upstream fast notification packet (UFNP) from the downstream merge node by the network node; and modifying forwarding information of the network node upon receipt of the UFNP such that the multicast data traffic is to be received by the network node from a downstream neighbor of the network node via which the UFNP was received, wherein the DFNP and the UFNP cause the multicast data traffic to reverse a direction of flow between the network node and the downstream merge node to thereby re-route the multicast data traffic.