LPLB: A Novel Approach for Loop Prevention and Load Balancing in Ethernet Ring Networks

Abstract

Ethernet networks using rapid spanning tree protocol (RSTP) to ensure a loop-free topology and provide redundant links as backup paths in case an active link has failed. However, when a failure occurs, RSTP requires a significant amount of reconfiguration time in order to find an alternative path. RSTP is also limited by the number of nodes in a ring network, and its performance degrades when the number of nodes increases. In this paper, we introduce a new approach, called loop prevention and load balancing (LPLB), which can be applied to Ethernet ring networks. If failure occurs, LPLB only requires a very short amount of time to switch to an alternative path and in most cases; LPLB needs zero recovery time for that switching. In addition, under most situations, no data frames are lost when a node switches to an alternative path. Unlike RSTP and the media redundancy protocol (MRP), LPLB also provides load balancing among network links that in turn improves the network performance and reduces the probability of bottleneck occurrence.