The present disclosure relates to methods and systems for actively monitoring a latency in a network fabric comprising one or more data centres. The method begins with identifying a path between a pinger node and a responder node. A custom packet is then generated to be routed from the pinger node to the responder node via the path. Thereafter, the custom packet is encapsulated with one or more IP headers and deterministically routed from the pinger node to the responder node, subsequent to which a reverse custom packet is generated to be routed from the responder node to the pinger node. Next, the reverse custom packet is encapsulated with one or more IP headers. The method then includes deterministically routing the encapsulated reverse custom packet from the responder node to the pinger node and monitoring the latency between the pinger node and the responder node.

A network device and a packet replication method are provided. The network device includes a classification engine, a forwarding engine, and a packet replication device. The packet replication device includes an interface circuit, a replication control circuit, and a storage unit. The interface circuit retrieves a packet of a flow from the forwarding engine and correspondingly outputs a replicated packet to the replication control circuit. The replication control circuit calculates a current rate corresponding to the replicated packet, checks a flow table for a cumulative number of replicated packets of the flow, and determines, according to the current rate and the cumulative number of replicated packets, to forward the replicated packet. The storage unit stores the flow table. The replication control circuit transmits the replicated packet to at least one application engine through at least one communication port for security inspection.

A communication device includes a storage unit that stores a conversion table; a receiving unit that receives a packet addressed to a user terminal from a server, and an address conversion unit that converts a destination address of the packet into a multicast address in accordance with the conversion table, adds, to the packet, an identification ID for identifying a group to which the user terminal belongs, and transmits the packet to which the identification ID is added.

A packet advertisement method is implemented by a first network device. The packet advertisement method includes the first network device sending a first packet to a second network device advertising a route to the second network device. The first network device receives a second packet from the second network device in response to a first packet error. The second packet includes first indication information indicating the first packet error. The first network device determines, based on the first indication information, a route advertisement policy of a feature included in the first packet.

A packet is received via a first network interface of a first network device in an underlay network, the packet having been originated by a first endpoint device and including a first network address indicating a destination of the first packet. The first network device, without analyzing the first network address in the first packet, adds, to the first packet, a second network address corresponding to a cloud edge network device implemented at the cloud edge and information identifying the first network interface via which the first packet was received by the first network device. The first network device transmits the packet, via an overlay network layered over the underlay network, to the cloud edge network device to enable forwarding of the packet to the destination of the packet, based on the first network address included in the packet, by the cloud edge network device

Examples described herein relate to a network interface device that includes circuitry to cause transmission of a packet following transmission of one or more data packets to a receiver, wherein the packet comprises one or more of: a count of transmitted data, a timestamp of transmission of the packet, and/or an index value to one or more of a count of transmitted data and a timestamp of transmission of the packet. In some examples, the network interface device includes circuitry to receive, from the receiver, a second packet that includes a copy of the count of transmitted data and the timestamp of transmission of the packet or the index from the packet. In some examples, the network interface device includes circuitry to perform congestion control based on the received copy of the count of transmitted data and the timestamp of transmission of the packet.

Various example embodiments for supporting an in-band control plane are presented. Various example embodiments for supporting an in-band control plane may be configured to support an in-band control plane in a Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) network. Various example embodiments for supporting an in-band control plane in an MPLS network may be configured to support an in-band control plane in an MPLS network by supporting exchange of control protocol packets of control protocols as MPLS packets, such that the control protocol messaging is in-band along the MPLS data plane itself. Various example embodiments for supporting an in-band control plane in an MPLS network may be configured to support an in-band control plane in an MPLS network by supporting communication of MPLS packets that encapsulate control protocol messages of control protocols with an MPLS label which indicates that the payloads of the MPLS packets carry the control protocol messages of the control protocols.

Embodiments relate to a routing information processing method and apparatus. The method implemented by a first network device includes: obtaining a local route corresponding to a second network device, where the local route includes a first identifier; allocating a first segment identifier based on the fact that the first identifier exists only in the local route; obtaining a local route and a remote route that correspond to a third network device, where each of the local route and the remote route includes a second identifier; allocating a second segment identifier based on the fact that the second identifier exists at least in the local route and the remote route; and sending routing information including the first segment identifier and the second segment identifier. This avoids traffic interruption of a failure-free single-homed network device in a scenario in which single-homing and multi-homing coexist.

A packet transmission method and an electronic device. In the packet transmission method, a response packet request field is set in a service packet, and a sending device can set a value of a response packet request field in a sent service packet. When the sending device needs a receiving device to send a response packet, the sending device changes a value of a response packet request field in a subsequently sent service packet, to trigger the receiving device to send the response packet to the sending device.

An operation method of a boundary IAB node between a first topology and a second topology in a communication system may include: receiving, from a first IAB donor node included in the first topology, a first address of a first node included in the second topology; receiving, from a node connected to the boundary IAB node, data including a relay request using a second address as a destination address; rewriting the destination address of the data with the first address indicated by the second address in a mapping table; and routing the data towards the first node.