Multipath inter-domain policy routing

• Author(s): Amaral, Pedro Miguel Figueiredo
• Date: 2012
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10362/8797
• Origin: Repositório Institucional da UNL
• Subject(s): Inter-domain routing; Multipath routing; Algebraic models; Graph theory; Tra c engineering; Routing problem
• Document Type: Doctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Advisor(s): Pinto, Paulo

Description

Dissertação submetida para a obtenção do grau de Doutor em Engenharia Electrotécnica e de Computadores Routing can be abstracted to be a path nding problem in a graph that models the network. The problem can be modelled using an algebraic approach that describes the way routes are calculated and ranked. The shortest path problem is the most common form and consists in nding the path with the smallest cost. The inter-domain scenario introduces some new challenges to the routing problem: the routing is performed between independently con gured and managed networks; the ranking of the paths is not based on measurable metrics but on policies; and the forwarding is destination based hop-by-hop. In this thesis we departed from the Border gateway Protocol (BGP) identifying its main problems and elaborating on some ideal characteristics for a routing protocol suited for the inter-domain reality. The main areas and contributions of this work are the following: The current state of the art in algebraic modeling of routing problems is used to provide a list of possible alternative conditions for the correct operation of such protocols. For each condition the consequences in terms of optimality and network restrictions are presented. A routing architecture for the inter-domain scenario is presented. It is proven that it achieves a multipath routing solution in nite time without causing forwarding loops. We discuss its advantages and weaknesses. A tra c-engineering scheme is designed to take advantage of the proposed architecture. It works using only local information and cooperation of remote ASes to minimize congestion in the network with minimal signalling. Finally a general model of a routing protocol based on hierarchical policies is used to study how e cient is the protocol operation when the correctness conditions are met. This results in some conclusions on how the policies should be chosen and applied in order to achieve speci c goals.