US2015089057A1PendingUtilityA1

Method and apparatus for discovering, negotiating, and provisioning end-to-end slas between multiple service provider domains

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Assignee: ROCKSTAR CONSORTIUM US LPPriority: May 12, 2008Filed: Dec 9, 2014Published: Mar 26, 2015
Est. expiryMay 12, 2028(~1.8 yrs left)· nominal 20-yr term from priority
Inventors:Ravishankar RavindranFrancois BlouinDelfin Y. Montuno
H04L 41/5058H04L 41/5038H04L 41/5006H04L 41/5003H04L 41/5009H04L 41/5054H04L 43/55H04L 41/046
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Claims

Abstract

Domains (multiple collaborating service providers) create service offerings between pairs of edge nodes that interconnect with other domains in the network. The service offerings may specify the available bandwidth, quality of service, reliability, available security, price, subscriber and service contextual specific and other SLA information. When a new service is to be created, the service definition is used along with information about the available service offerings to determine a set of networks to implement the service. Information associated with the service offerings may be flooded to all other networks. Alternatively, the service offering information may be provided to a trusted third party (SLA broker) which may provide SLA services on the network to select sets of domains to implement inter-domain services, and may also proxy to set up the service for the SLA requesting party. A hybrid approach may also be used.

Claims

exact text as granted — not AI-modified
What is claimed is: 
     
         1 - 12 . (canceled) 
     
     
         13 . A system for discovering, negotiating and exchanging Service Level Agreement (SLA) information, comprising:
 a SLA agent to collect SLA information associated with services that are able to be provided within a domain and make the SLA information available outside of the domain;   a SLA database to store the SLA information; and   a SLA manager to monitor services that have been established through the domain.   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the SLA agent advertises the SLA information to peer domains to make the SLA information available outside of the domain. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the SLA agent transmits the SLA information to a trusted SLA broker to make the SLA information available outside of the domain. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the SLA agent advertises some of the SLA information to peer domains and transmits other portions of the SLA information to a trusted SLA broker to make the SLA information available outside of the domain. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the SLA agent further receives other domain SLA information advertised by other domains and stores the other domain SLA information in the SLA database. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the SLA information comprises performance related metrics and business metrics, and wherein the performance related metrics are associated with service guarantees that the domain is able to provide between pairs of border nodes on the domain. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein the performance related metrics include quality of service, availability, and security properties of a service that is available and guaranteed to be provided by the network between the pair of nodes. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein the business metrics define the service offering in terms of pricing, context, and behavioral properties. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 20 , wherein the SLA information includes multiple service offerings to be defined between a given pair of nodes, each of the multiple service offerings having unique performance related metrics and business metrics which may be customer specific. 
     
     
         22 . A system for exchanging Service Level Agreement (SLA) information, comprising: a SLA agent configured to collect SLA information associated with services that are able to be provided within a domain and to make the SLA information available outside of the domain; a SLA database configured to store the SLA information; and a SLA manager configured to monitor services that have been established through the domain. 
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 22 , wherein the SLA agent is configured to advertise the SLA information to peer domains to make the SLA information available outside of the domain. 
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 22 , wherein the SLA agent is configured to transmit the SLA information to a trusted SLA broker to make the SLA information available outside of the domain. 
     
     
         25 . The system of  claim 22 , wherein the SLA agent is configured to advertise some of the SLA information to peer domains and to transmit other portions of the SLA information to a trusted SLA broker to make the SLA information available outside of the domain. 
     
     
         26 . The system of  claim 22 , wherein the SLA agent is configured to receive other domain SLA information advertised by other domains and to store the other domain SLA information in the SLA database. 
     
     
         27 . The system of  claim 22 , wherein the SLA information comprises performance related metrics and business metrics. 
     
     
         28 . The system of  claim 27 , wherein the performance related metrics are associated with service guarantees that the domain is able to provide between pairs of border nodes on the domain. 
     
     
         29 . The system of  claim 28 , wherein the performance related metrics include quality of service, availability, and security properties of a service that is available and guaranteed to be provided by the network between the pair of nodes. 
     
     
         30 . The system of  claim 27 , wherein the business metrics define the service offering in terms of pricing, context, and behavioral properties. 
     
     
         31 . The system of  claim 27 , wherein the SLA information includes multiple service offerings to be defined between a given pair of nodes, each of the multiple service offerings having unique performance related metrics and business metrics which may be customer specific. 
     
     
         32 . A method of exchanging Service Level Agreement (SLA) information, comprising:
 operating a SLA agent to collect SLA information associated with services that are able to be provided within a domain and to make the SLA information available outside of the domain;   operating a SLA database to store the SLA information; and   operating a SLA manager to monitor services that have been established through the domain.   
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 32 , comprising operating the SLA agent to advertise the SLA information to peer domains to make the SLA information available outside of the domain. 
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 32 , comprising operating the SLA agent is to transmit the SLA information to a trusted SLA broker to make the SLA information available outside of the domain. 
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 32 , comprising operating the SLA agent to advertise some of the SLA information to peer domains and to transmit other portions of the SLA information to a trusted SLA broker to make the SLA information available outside of the domain. 
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 32 , comprising operating the SLA agent to receive other domain SLA information advertised by other domains and to store the other domain SLA information in the SLA database. 
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein the SLA information comprises performance related metrics and business metrics. 
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 37 , wherein the performance related metrics are associated with service guarantees that the domain is able to provide between pairs of border nodes on the domain. 
     
     
         39 . The method of claim  44 , wherein the performance related metrics include quality of service, availability, and security properties of a service that is available and guaranteed to be provided by the network between the pair of nodes. 
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 37 , wherein the business metrics define the service offering in terms of pricing, context, and behavioral properties. 
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 37 , wherein the SLA information includes multiple service offerings to be defined between a given pair of nodes, each of the multiple service offerings having unique performance related metrics and business metrics which may be customer specific.

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