Customer traffic forwarding continues while control plane is reset

Abstract

A method and apparatus selectively resetting a control plane in a network element is described. One embodiment of the invention is a network element with a selective reset controller that can reset the control plane of the network element without interrupting the data traffic processing of the data plane of the network element.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the invention may be best understood by referring to the following description and accompanying drawings which illustrate such embodiments. The numbering scheme for the Figures included herein is such that the leading number for a given element in a Figure is associated with the number of the Figure. For example, network element 100 can be located in FIG. 1. However, element numbers are the same for those elements that are the same across different Figures. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 illustrates a network element that continues forwarding data traffic when the control plane is reset according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates the reset domains for the control and data planes of the network element according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates the selecting multi-domain reset controller according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates the cross plane processor control interface logic according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 illustrates the cross plane data control interface logic according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates the network element switching data traffic between a plurality of devices and a data network illustrates the cross plane processor control interface logic according to one embodiment of the invention.

Claims

1. A network element comprising: one or more control planes configured to the control data traffic processing of the network element;a data plane configured to perform the data traffic processing; anda selecting multi-domain reset controller configured to selectively reset the one or more control planes without resetting the data plane, wherein to selectively reset the one or more control planes comprises resetting the control plane without an interruption of data traffic processing by the data plane and returning the one or more control plane to a state able to reassert control over the data plane.

2. The network element of claim 1, wherein the selecting multi-domain reset controller is configured to transmit one or more control plane reset signals to a set of control plane components of the one or more control planes, and wherein each of the one or more control plane reset signals indicates that one of the set of control plane components is to be reset.

3. The network element of claim 1, further comprising: cross plane processor control logic coupled to the data plane and the one or more of the control planes, comprising cross plane processor control interface control domain reset logic and cross plane processor control interface data domain reset logic, configured to selectively reset the cross plane processor control interface control domain reset logic in response a control plane reset signal.

4. The network element of claim 1, further comprising: cross plane data control logic coupled to the data plane and the one or more of the control planes, comprising cross plane data control interface control domain reset logic and cross plane data control interface data domain reset logic, configured to selectively reset the cross plane data control interface control domain reset logic in response a control plane reset signal.

5. The network element of claim 1, wherein the multi-domain reset controller further comprises reset type decision logic configured to output the one or more control plane reset signals in response to receiving a reset condition.

6. The network element of claim 5, wherein the reset condition is one of an external reset condition and an internal reset condition.

7. The network element of claim 6, wherein the external reset condition is one of power on, system hard reset via software, watchdog, and control plane reset via software.

8. The network element of claim 1, wherein the data plane further comprises a packet processor.

9. The network element of claim 1, wherein the control plane further comprises a central processing unit.

10. A computerized method, comprising: receiving a control plane reset condition, wherein the control plane reset condition indicates that one or more control planes of a network element is to be reset, and wherein the network element comprises the one or more control planes and a data plane and the control pane comprises a set of control plane components;generating a set of control plane signals; andresetting the respective control plane components from the set of control plane components in response to the generated set of control plane signals without an interruption of data traffic processing by the data plane; andreturning the one or more control planes to a state able to reassert control over the data plane.

11. The computerized method of claim 4, further comprising: transmitting the set of control plane signals to the respective control plane components.

12. The computerized method of claim 1, further comprising: selectively resetting a control plane component responsible for the cross plane processor control.

13. The computerized method of claim 1, further comprising: selectively resetting a control plane component responsible for the cross plane data control.

14. The computerized method of claim 1, wherein the reset condition is one of an external reset condition and an internal reset condition.

15. A machine-readable medium that stores instructions, which when executed by a set of one or more processors, cause said set of processors to perform operations comprising: receiving a control plane reset condition, wherein the control plane reset condition indicates that one or more control planes of a network element is to be reset, wherein the network element comprises the one or more control planes and a data plane and the control pane comprises a set of control plane components;generating a set of control plane signals; andresetting the respective control plane components from the set of control plane components in response to the generated set of control plane signals without an interruption of data traffic processing by the data plane; andreturning the one or more control planes to a state able to reassert control over the data plane.

16. The computerized machine-readable medium of claim 15, further comprising: transmitting the set of control plane signals to the respective control plane components.

17. The computerized machine-readable medium of claim 15, further comprising: selectively resetting a control plane component responsible for the cross plane processor control.

18. The computerized machine-readable medium of claim 15, further comprising: selectively resetting a control plane component responsible for the cross plane data control.

19. An apparatus comprising: a data plane module that processes data traffic;a control plane that controls the data traffic processing comprising, a selecting multi-domain reset control module that selectively resets the control plane module without resetting the data plane module, wherein to selectively reset the control plane module comprises resetting the control plane module without an interruption of data traffic processing by the data plane module and returning the control plane module to a state able to reassert control over the data plane module; anda cross plane interface module comprising a control plane interface and a data plane interface, wherein the cross plane interface selectively resets the control plane interface in response to the control plane module resetting.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein selecting multi-domain reset control module transmits one or more control plane reset signals to a set of control plane components of the control plane, wherein each of the one or more control plane reset signals indicates that one of the set of control plane components is to be reset.