Network status mapping

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide systems and methods for network status mapping. Such an exemplary system and method involves inserting a network map tag in a flow set of packets in a computer network and receiving a response to the network map tag from a network element that includes populated fields of the network map tag comprising a field to identify a network element, a field to identify the outgoing port of the network element, a field to identify queue of the outgoing port; and a status field for the queue of the outgoing port.

1 . An electronic device comprising:
 circuitry configured to
 insert a network map tag in a flow set of packets of a computer network, wherein the network map tag includes at least one of a field to identify a network element, a field to identify an outgoing port of the network element, a field to identify a queue of the outgoing port, and a congestion field for the queue of the outgoing port; 
 receive a response to the network map tag from the network element that extracted and populated the network map tag, and forwarded a packet including the network map tag; and 
 generate a network map indicating congestion levels across a plurality of network elements of the computer network based on at least the response received from the network element. 
   
     
     
         2 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the packet carrying the network map tag comprises a probe packet. 
     
     
         3 . The electronic device of  claim 2 , wherein the electronic device is a network controller, and the network controller, a network switch, or a sending station generates the probe packet. 
     
     
         4 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the packet carrying the network map tag comprises a packet having a payload from a remote sender. 
     
     
         5 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the circuitry is configured to control a rate at which the network map tag is introduced in the flow set of packets. 
     
     
         6 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the network map tag includes the congestion field, and the congestion field indicates a current level of congestion for the queue of the outgoing port of the network element. 
     
     
         7 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the network map includes identification of network elements in the computer network, identification of an outgoing port for each of the network elements, identification of a queue for each of the outgoing port, and identification of a network congestion status for each of the queues. 
     
     
         8 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the circuitry is configured to modify forwarding rules based on content of the network map tag and provide the modified forwarding rules to a network station that performs routing within a computer network. 
     
     
         9 . An electronic device comprising:
 circuitry configured to
 insert a network map tag in a flow set of packets of a computer network, wherein the network map tag includes at least one of a field to identify a network element, a field to identify an outgoing port of the network element, a field to identify a queue of the outgoing port, and a congestion field for the queue of the outgoing port; 
 receive a response to the network map tag from the network element that extracted and populated the network map tag, and forwarded a packet including the network map tag; and 
 determine at least a first network forwarding rule based on at least the response received from the network element. 
   
     
     
         10 . The electronic device of  claim 9 , wherein the packet carrying the network map tag comprises a probe packet. 
     
     
         11 . The electronic device of  claim 10 , wherein the electronic device is a network controller, and the network controller, a network switch, or a sending station generates the probe packet. 
     
     
         12 . The electronic device of  claim 9 , wherein the packet carrying the network map tag comprises a packet having a payload from a remote sender. 
     
     
         13 . The electronic device of  claim 9 , wherein the circuitry is configured to control a rate at which the network map tag is introduced in the flow set of packets. 
     
     
         14 . The electronic device of  claim 9 , wherein the network map tag includes the congestion field, and the congestion field indicates a current level of congestion for the queue of the outgoing port of the network element. 
     
     
         15 . A method comprising:
 inserting a network map tag in a flow set of packets of a computer network, wherein the network map tag includes at least one of a field to identify a network element, a field to identify an outgoing port of the network element, a field to identify a queue of the outgoing port, and a congestion field for the queue of the outgoing port; and   receiving a response to the network map tag from the network element that extracted and populated the network map tag, and forwarded a packet including the network map tag.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 generating a network map indicating congestion levels across a plurality of network elements of the computer network based on at least the response received from the network element.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 determining at least a first network forwarding rule based on at least the response received from the network element.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein a rate at which the network map tag is introduced in the flow set of packets is programmable. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 constructing a network map indicating congestion levels across a plurality of network elements of the computer network.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the processor is configured to determine network forwarding rules based on at least the response received from the network element.