Comparison of recovery schemes to maximize restorable throughput in multicast networks

Multicast networks have many applications especially in real-time content delivery systems. For high-quality services, users do not expect to witness any interruption; thus, network link failure has to be handled gracefully. In unicast networks there are many approaches for dealing with link failures using backup paths. Recently, Cohen and Nakibly categorized these methods, provided linear programming formulations for optimizing network throughput under the assumption that the paths are splitable, and compared them experimentally. In this work, we take their approach and apply to the multicast failure recovery problem. We propose backup bandwidth allocation algorithms based on linear programs to maximize the throughput, and perform an experimental study on the performance of recovery schemes. We study many recovery schemes in multicast networks and propose a new recovery scheme that performs better than all other recovery scheme except the one that recomputed the whole multicast tree from scratch for each link failure.     

An improved scheme for self-healing in ATM networks

Broadband networks based on ATM technology can carry a large volume of data and can support diverse services like audio, video, and data uniformly. The reliability and availability levels provided by such networks should be very high. Self-healing is an elegant concept in this direction to provide highly reliable networks. A self-healing network can detect failures such as link/node failures and reroute the failed connections automatically using distributed control mechanisms. In this paper, we consider link and node failures including the VP terminating nodes unlike Kawamura and Tokizawa (Self-healing in ATM networks based on virtual path concept, IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications 12 (1) (1994) 120–127). We present here an improved scheme for self-healing in ATM networks based on the concept of backup VPs. The problems we address are: (i) self-healing scheme; and (ii) backup VP routing. Two issues are addressed in the self-healing scheme: (i) backup VP activation protocol; and (ii) dynamic backup VP routing. We propose a new backup VP activation protocol which uses a VC packing strategy which allows the fast and prioritized restoration of critical VCs that were carried by failed VPs. We also propose a distributed dynamic backup VP routing algorithm which reduces the resource contention that may occur when multiple source–destination pairs contend for the routes simultaneously. The objective of the backup VP routing problem is to find a backup VP for each of the working VPs so that the cost of providing the backup is minimized. We propose a heuristic based solution for the backup VP routing problem using the concept of minimum cost shortest paths. We conducted simulation experiments to evaluate the performance of the proposed schemes. The results show that the proposed schemes are effective. Comparison of the results with those of the earlier schemes (R. Kawamura, I. Tokizawa, Self-healing in ATM networks based on virtual path concept, IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications 12 (1) (1994) 120–127; C.J. Hou, Design of a fast restoration mechanism for virtual path-based ATM networks, Proceedings of IEEE INFOCOM’97, Kobe, Japan, April 1997) shows that the proposed schemes perform better.     

A subtree-based approach to failure detection and protection for multicast in SDN

Software-defined networking (SDN) has received tremendous attention from both industry and academia. The centralized control plane in SDN has a global view of the network and can be used to provide more effective solutions for complex problems, such as traffic engineering. This study is motivated by recent advancement in SDN and increasing popularity of multicasting applications. We propose a technique to increase the resiliency of multicasting in SDN based on the subtree protection mechanism. Multicasting is a group communication technology, which uses the network infrastructure efficiently by sending the data only once from one or multiple sources to a group of receivers that share a common path. Multicasting applications, e.g., live video streaming and video conferencing, become popular, but they are delay-sensitive applications. Failures in an ongoing multicast session can cause packet losses and delay, which can significantly affect quality of service (QoS). In this study, we adapt a subtree-based technique to protect a multicast tree constructed for OpenFlow switches in SDN. The proposed algorithm can detect link or node failures from a multicast tree and then determines which part of the multicast tree requires changes in the flow table to recover from the failure. With a centralized controller in SDN, the backup paths can be created much more effectively in comparison to the signaling approach used in traditional multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) networks for backup paths, which makes the subtree-based protection mechanism feasible. We also implement a prototype of the algorithm in the POX controller and measure its performance by emulating failures in different tree topologies in Mininet.     

Heuristic algorithms for designing self-repairing protection trees in mesh networks

Protection trees have been used in the past for restoring multicast and unicast traffic in networks in various failure scenarios. In this paper we focus on shared self-repairing trees for link protection in unicast mesh networks. Shared protection trees have been proposed as a relatively simple approach that is easy to reconfigure and could provide sub-second restoration times with sub-optimal redundancy requirement. The self-repairing nature of this class of protection trees may make them an attractive option for cases where dynamic changes in network topology or demand may occur. In this paper, we present heuristic algorithms to design a self-repairing protection tree for a given network. We study the restorability performance of shared trees and examine the limitations of such schemes in specific topologies, such as cases where long node chains exist. Using extensive simulations with thousands of randomly generated network graphs. We compare redundancy and average backup path length of shared protection trees with optimal tree designs and non-tree designs. We also apply our algorithms to the problem of designing the protection tree in a pre-designed fixed-capacity network, and study the performance of shared protection trees in this scenario under different network loads and link utilization levels.     

Multicast protection scheme in survivable WDM optical networks

The protection design is a key issue in survivable wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) optical networks. Most researches focused on protecting unicast traffic against the failure of a single network component such as a link or a node. In this paper, we investigate the protection scheme for multicast traffic in meshed WDM optical networks under dual-link failure consideration, and propose a novel protection algorithm called shared segment protection with reprovisioning (SSPR). Through dynamically adjusting link-cost according to the current network state, SSPR establishes a primary light-tree and corresponding link-disjoint backup segments for each multicast connection request. A backup segment can efficiently share wavelength capacity of its working tree or the common resource of other backup segments. Capacity reprovisioning establishes new segments for the vulnerable connections after a link failure and tolerates following link failures. The simulation results show that SSPR not only can make good use of wavelength resources and protect multicast sessions against any single-link failure, but also can greatly improve the traffic restorability in the event of dual-link breakdown.     

A new approach for designing fault-tolerant WDM networks

In recent years, path protection has emerged as a widely accepted technique for designing survivable WDM networks. This approach is attractive, since it is able to provide bandwidth guarantees in the presence of link failures. However, it requires allocating resources for backup lightpaths, which remain idle under normal fault-free conditions. In this paper, we introduce a new approach for designing fault-tolerant WDM networks, based on the concept of survivable routing. Survivable routing of a logical topology ensures that the lightpaths are routed in such a way that a single link failure does not disconnect the network. When a topology is generated using our approach, it is guaranteed to have a survivable routing. We further ensure that the logical topology is able to handle the entire traffic demand after any single link failure. We first present an ILP that optimally designs a survivable logical topology, and then propose a heuristic for larger networks. Experimental results demonstrate that this new approach is able to provide guaranteed bandwidth, and is much more efficient in terms of resource utilization, compared to both dedicated and shared path protection.     

Computing on anonymous networks. I. Characterizing the solvablecases

In anonymous networks, the processors do not have identity numbers. We investigate the following representative problems on anonymous networks: (a) the leader election problem, (b) the edge election problem, (c) the spanning tree construction problem, and (d) the topology recognition problem. On a given network, the above problems may or may not be solvable, depending on the amount of information about the attributes of the network made available to the processors. Some possibilities are: (1) no network attribute information at all is available, (2) an upper bound on the number of processors in the network is available, (3) the exact number of processors in the network is available, and (4) the topology of the network is available. In terms of a new graph property called “symmetricity”, in each of the four cases (1)-(4) above, we characterize the class of networks on which each of the four problems (a)(d) is solvable. We then relate the symmetricity of a network to its 1- and 2-factors     

基于重构SPT的单链路故障路由保护方法

为了减少故障对网络运行带来的影响,提出了一种基于重构SPT的单链路故障路由保护算法SLFRPRSPT。该算法在最短路径树SPT的基础上实现,通过制定一系列定义和规则,对SPT进行重构,搜索节点关系发生改变的节点,为每个节点计算最佳备份下一跳节点,从而达到提高路由可用性的目的。经过实验验证,其在网络拓扑中故障保护率可以达到1,并且具有较低的路径拉伸度,可以有效避免单链路故障带来的影响。该方案支持增量部署和逐跳转发,便于实现。     

基于优化链路权值的域内路由保护方案

目前,互联网部署的域内链路状态路由协议,如开放最短路径优先(Open Shortest Path First,OSPF)和中间系统到中间系统(Intermediate System-to-Intermediate System,IS-IS),采用被动恢复方案应对网络故障。随着网络的发展,大量的实时应用部署在互联网上,OSPF的收敛时间无法满足这些实时应用对收敛时间的需求。因此,学术界和工业界提出采用路由保护方案来应对网路中出现的故障。然而,已有的路由保护方案存在两个方面的问题:1)默认路径和备份路径的交叉度较高,如LFA；2)为了计算两条交叉度低的路径,对默认路径加以限制,即默认路径不采用最短路径,如Color Tree。为了解决上述两个问题,首先将上述问题归结为整数规划模型,接着利用启发式方法计算近似最优解,最后在实际网络和模拟网络中对所提算法进行了大量实验。实验结果表明,所提算法可以降低默认路径和备份路径的交叉度,极大地提高网络的可用性。     

An efficient link allocation algorithm for survivable ATM-based personal communication networks

The integration of the issue of survivability of wireless networks in the design process of the backbone network is addressed in this paper. The effectiveness of this integration plays a critical role in the success of the wireless network and the satisfaction of its mobile users. In this paper, we consider the design problem of allocating the backbone links in ATM-based personal communication networks (PCNs) that are survivable under single backbone link failures. Survivability is achieved by selecting two link-disjoint routes in the backbone network between every pair of ATM switches. We also take the novel approach of not only minimizing the diameter of the network as a primary objective but also minimizing the total length of the network as a secondary objective. We propose a new heuristic algorithm to optimize the design of the network based on both objectives. We report the results of an extensive simulation study that show that our algorithm generates backbone networks that can withstand single link failures, have shorter average diameters and smaller total lengths and achieve a higher percentage of admitted calls under a mobile environment.     

基于业务类型的网络切片可靠性映射算法

网络切片是5G网络的基础架构技术,为在多个切片共享同一底层网络资源的同时保证切片的可靠性,提出一种区分业务类型的网络切片可靠性映射算法,解决底层网络链路故障、网络切片可靠性与资源利用率相互矛盾的问题。通过区分切片承载业务类型,对高可靠低时延切片请求的链路提前构建备份路径,并采用基于最大生成树链路的备份资源共享保护方法,对高带宽切片请求则采用基于链路可靠性的重映射算法恢复故障链路。仿真结果验证了该算法的有效性,与SVNE1+1和DPS-VNRA算法相比,其在切片成功运行率、长期收益开销比、物理链路利用率和故障恢复率方面均具有优势。     

Joint coverage and link utilization for fast IP local protection

To mitigate the impact of failures, many IP Fast Local Recovery (IPFLR) schemes have been proposed to reroute traffic in the events of failures. However, the existing IPFLR schemes either aimed to find the alternate backup routes to protect failures, or focused on balancing the traffic load routed on the backup routes. Furthermore, in Internet, flows are often managed by shortest path routing, and therefore purely determining the backup routing paths is not sufficient in protecting the error-prone networks. In this paper, we propose a Simulated Annealing based Load balancing and Protection (SALP) scheme to determine link weights for balancing link utilization in the non-failure state and simultaneously construct backup routing tables for protecting any single link failure in IP networks. In our proposed scheme, the two most significant issues, (1) load balancing and (2) coverage, are jointly considered to recover the network operation from single link failures. In the proposed scheme, upon a failure, only the nodes adjacent to a failure are activated to divert affected traffic to backup paths without disturbing regular traffic. Numerical results delineate that the proposed scheme achieves high coverage rate and load balancing at the expense of slightly increasing the entries of backup routing table.     

一种保证NFV可靠性的最优备份拓扑生成方法

网络功能虚拟化（NFV）将服务功能链（SFC）映射到底层网络时,与传统的虚拟网络一样,会存在可靠性问题。本文针对NFV环境中的单链路故障,在考虑SFC拓扑设计和映射的基础上添加备份拓扑提高可靠性,再进一步简化备份拓扑,减少资源消耗。按照服务路径是否可分离,提出了两种最优备份拓扑的生成算法。仿真结果表明,最优备份拓扑在提高可靠性的基础上能够有效的减少备份带宽资源的消耗,提高资源利用率。     

Simultaneous Optimization for Concave Costs: Single Sink Aggregation or Single Source Buy-at-Bulk

We consider the problem of finding efficient trees to send information from k sources to a single sink in a network where information can be aggregated at intermediate nodes in the tree. Specifically, we assume that if information from j sources is traveling over a link, the total information that needs to be transmitted is f(j). One natural and important (though not necessarily comprehensive) class of functions is those which are concave, non-decreasing, and satisfy f(0) = 0. Our goal is to find a tree which is a good approximation simultaneously to the optimum trees for all such functions. This problem is motivated by aggregation in sensor networks, as well as by buy-at-bulk network design. We present a randomized tree construction algorithm that guarantees E[max_f C_f/C^*(f)] ≤ 1 + log k, where C_f is a random variable denoting the cost of the tree for function f and C^*(f) is the cost of the optimum tree for function f. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first result regarding simultaneous optimization for concave costs. We also show how to derandomize this result to obtain a deterministic algorithm that guarantees max_f C_f/C^*(f) = O(log k). Both these results are much stronger than merely obtaining a guarantee on max_f E[C_f/C^*(f)]. A guarantee on max_f E[C_f/C^*(f)] can be obtained using existing techniques, but this does not capture simultaneous optimization since no one tree is guaranteed to be a good approximation for all f simultaneously. While our analysis is quite involved, the algorithm itself is very simple and may well find practical use. We also hope that our techniques will prove useful for other problems where one needs simultaneous optimization for concave costs.     

Quality of service based resource allocation for scheduled lightpath demands

In this paper, we consider resource allocation under the scheduled traffic model, where the setup and teardown times of scheduled demands are known in advance. A number of integer linear program (ILP) solutions for this problem have been presented in the literature. Most of these ILPs minimize the number of wavelength links. A more appropriate metric, for wavelength routed, all-optical networks, is to minimize the congestion (the maximum number of lightpaths on a single fiber link) of the network. We present a new ILP formulation for routing and wavelength allocation, under the scheduled traffic model that minimizes the congestion of the network. We propose two levels of service, where idle backup resources can be used to carry low-priority traffic, under fault-free conditions. When a fault occurs, and resources for a backup path need to be reclaimed, any low-priority traffic on the affected channels is dropped. The results demonstrate that this can lead to significant improvements over single service level models. We also show that the complexity of our formulation (in terms of the number of integer variables) is lower, even compared to existing approaches, which only allow a single level of service. Therefore, we are able to generate optimal solutions for practical networks within a reasonable amount of time, whereas existing formulations often do not find the optimal solution even after 2 h. Finally, we present a simple and fast heuristic that can quickly generate good solutions for much larger networks.     

Loop-Free Alternates with Loop Detection for Fast Reroute in Software-Defined Carrier and Data Center Networks

Loop-Free Alternates (LFAs) are a local fast-reroute mechanism defined for IP networks. They are simple but suffer from two drawbacks. Firstly, some flows cannot be protected due to missing LFAs, i.e., this concept does not provide full protection coverage, which depends on network topology. Secondly, some LFAs cause loops in case of node or multiple failures. Avoiding those LFAs decreases the protection coverage even further. In this work, we propose to apply LFAs to OpenFlow-based networks. We suggest a method for loop detection so that loops can be avoided without decreasing protection coverage. We propose an implementation with OpenFlow that requires only a single additional flow rule per switch. We further investigate the percentage of flows that can be protected, not protected, or even create loops in different types of failure scenarios. We consider realistic ring and mesh networks as well as typical topologies for data center networks. None of them can be fully protected with LFAs. Therefore, we suggest an augmented fat-tree topology which allows LFAs to protect against all single link and node failures and against most double failures.     

WSN中层次型拓扑控制与网络资源配置联合设计方法

综合考虑异构无线传感器网络中节点速率分配、簇的划分规则和链路层网络频带资源占用情况, 提出一种基于拓扑控制与资源优化分配的层次型路由算法. 在网络层, 该算法根据成员节点和簇首节点的速率分配机制建立节点流量平衡模型. 在链路层, 分析无线传感器网络频谱共享行为, 研究邻近用户间访问冲突的规避抑制模型, 重构网络频带资源. 通过引入带宽比例因子将可用频带划分成若干子带, 提高网络频带资源的利用效率. 本文基于跨层联合设计思路, 建立一个混合整数非线性规划问题,对异构无线传感器网络中拓扑控制和网络资源分配问题联合设计, 得到最优的分簇结果和资源分配方案. 最后, 在设定网络拓扑中评估性能, 仿真结果证实该算法在网络频带资源充分利用的同时, 可实现最优的簇首匹配和路由建立结果.     

A Task Allocation Method for Stream Processing with Recovery Latency Constraint

Stream processing applications continuously process large amounts of online streaming data in real time or near real time. They have strict latency constraints. However, the continuous processing makes them vulnerable to any failures, and the recoveries may slow down the entire processing pipeline and break latency constraints. The upstream backup scheme is one of the most widely applied fault-tolerant schemes for stream processing systems. It introduces complex backup dependencies to tasks, which increases the difficulty of controlling recovery latencies. Moreover, when dependent tasks are located on the same processor, they fail at the same time in processor-level failures, bringing extra recovery latencies that increase the impacts of failures. This paper studies the relationship between the task allocation and the recovery latency of a stream processing application. We present a correlated failure effect model to describe the recovery latency of a stream topology in processor-level failures under a task allocation plan. We introduce a recovery-latency aware task allocation problem (RTAP) that seeks task allocation plans for stream topologies that will achieve guaranteed recovery latencies. We discuss the difference between RTAP and classic task allocation problems and present a heuristic algorithm with a computational complexity of O(n log² n) to solve the problem. Extensive experiments were conducted to verify the correctness and effectiveness of our approach. It improves the resource usage by 15%–20% on average.     

A two-level location–allocation problem in designing local access fiber optic networks

This paper deals with a two-level facility location–allocation problem on tree topology arising from the design of access networks. The access network design problem seeks to find an optimal location of switch and allocation of demands such that the total cost of switch and fiber cable is minimized, while satisfying switch port constraint, switch capacity constraint, and no-split routing constraint. The problem is formulated as a mixed-integer programming model and alternative formulations are developed by the reformulation-linearization technique (RLT) for improving computational effectiveness. By exploiting the tree structure of the problem, we develop some valid inequalities that have complementary strength and devise separation problems for finding effective valid inequalities that cut off fractional LP solutions. Also, we develop an effective MIP-based tree partitioning heuristic for finding good quality solutions for large size problems. Computational results demonstrate the efficacy of the valid inequalities and the proposed heuristic.     

End-to-end epidemic multicast loss recovery: Analysis of scalability and robustness

For ensuring reliability at the transport level end-to-end multicasting, an efficient loss recovery mechanism is indispensable. We consider scalability, topology independence and robustness as the significant features that such a mechanism should offer, and demonstrate that an epidemic loss recovery approach is superior in all these aspects. We also show that the epidemic approach transparently handles network link failures by using pair-wise propagation of information, and compare it with feedback controlled loss recovery on identical network settings. The contribution of this work is the simulative analysis of recovery overhead distribution on multicast group members in the case of various link failures on the network, the impact of group size, randomized system-wide noise and message rate on scalability, and examination of various scenarios modeling the overlay networks. We investigate the important features of epidemic multicast loss recovery extensively together and reach concrete results on realistic network scenarios.