PPCU: Proportional Per-packet Consistent Updates for Software Defined Networks - A Technical Report
Radhika Sukapuram, Gautam Barua

TL;DR
This paper introduces PPCU, a novel algorithm for consistent network updates in Software Defined Networks that ensures per-packet consistency, confinement of changes, and all-or-nothing semantics using data plane timestamps.
Contribution
PPCU is the first algorithm that confines updates to affected switches, preserves per-packet consistency, and guarantees atomic updates regardless of network speeds.
Findings
PPCU maintains per-packet consistency during updates.
The algorithm confines changes to only affected switches.
PPCU guarantees atomic updates with line-rate performance.
Abstract
In Software Defined Networks, where the network control plane can be programmed by updating switch rules, consistently updating switches is a challenging problem. In a per-packet consistent update (PPC), a packet either matches the new rules added or the old rules to be deleted, throughout the network, but not a combination of both. PPC must be preserved during an update to prevent packet drops and loops, provide waypoint invariance and to apply policies consistently. No algorithm exists today that confines changes required during an update to only the affected switches, yet preserves PPC and does not restrict applicable scenarios. We propose a general update algorithm called PPCU that preserves PPC, is concurrent and provides an all-or-nothing semantics for an update, irrespective of the execution speeds of switches and links, while confining changes to only the affected switches and…
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Taxonomy
TopicsSoftware-Defined Networks and 5G · Software System Performance and Reliability · Interconnection Networks and Systems
