US 11,996,984 B2
Software defined network specification
Carla Di Cairano-Gilfedder, London (GB); Anthony Conway, London (GB); Samuel Gaffney, London (GB); and Gilbert Owusu, London (GB)
Assigned to British Telecommunications Public Limited Company, (GB)
Appl. No. 17/906,370
Filed by BRITISH TELECOMMUNICATIONS PUBLIC LIMITED COMPANY, London (GB)
PCT Filed Mar. 5, 2021, PCT No. PCT/EP2021/055638
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Sep. 15, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/185603, PCT Pub. Date Sep. 23, 2021.
Claims priority of application No. 20163461 (EP), filed on Mar. 16, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2023/0188428 A1, Jun. 15, 2023
Int. Cl. H04L 41/22 (2022.01); H04L 41/122 (2022.01); H04L 41/40 (2022.01)
CPC H04L 41/122 (2022.05) [H04L 41/40 (2022.05)] 8 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A computer implemented method to specify a software defined network (SDN) for deployment by an SDN controller, the SDN controller being adapted to configure a plurality of physical network components to deliver communication services, the method comprising:
generating a model of the physical network components by:
accessing each of a plurality of data sources, each of the plurality of data sources including records each storing information on at least a subset of the plurality of physical network components including a location and a type of each physical network component in the subset and interconnections between the physical network components, wherein each record has associated an indication of a degree of confidence of an accuracy of the record,
defining the model including an indication of the location, the type and the interconnections of the physical network components based on the plurality of data sources, wherein the records of the data sources having a common location and a common type are aggregated for indication in the model,
associating each indication in the model with a degree of confidence of an accuracy of the indication based on the degree of confidence of the accuracy of the record,
accessing a set of rules defining relationships between types of physical components, and
refining the model based on the rules including adjusting the degree of confidence of the accuracy of indications in the model based on satisfaction of the rules; and
selecting a subset of physical network components in the refined model for inclusion in the SDN specification.