WO2001090843A2 - A network device for supporting multiple upper layer network protocols over a single network connection - Google Patents
A network device for supporting multiple upper layer network protocols over a single network connection Download PDFInfo
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- WO2001090843A2 WO2001090843A2 PCT/US2001/015867 US0115867W WO0190843A2 WO 2001090843 A2 WO2001090843 A2 WO 2001090843A2 US 0115867 W US0115867 W US 0115867W WO 0190843 A2 WO0190843 A2 WO 0190843A2
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Definitions
- network packets including both data and control information, are transferred between network devices over a physical attachment or connection, for example, a coaxial or twisted wire cable or an optical fiber, in accordance with a particular physical layer protocol, for example, Ethernet or Synchronous Optical NETwork (SONET).
- the data within each network packet may be further organized in accordance with an upper layer protocol, including, for example, Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), Internet Protocol (IP), Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS), Frame Relay, Voice, Circuit Emulation or Optical User Network Interfaces (UNI), including Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) and Optical Domain Service Interconnect (ODSI).
- ATM Asynchronous Transfer Mode
- IP Internet Protocol
- MPLS Multi-Protocol Label Switching
- UNI Voice, Circuit Emulation or Optical User Network Interfaces
- OFI Optical Internetworking Forum
- ODSI Optical Domain Service Interconnect
- One physical attachment may be used to transfer network packets having data organized in accordance with multiple upper layer protocols, and the network may employ network devices, such as Digital Access and Cross-connect Systems (DACS), to separate the network packets in accordance with each upper layer protocol — often referred to as "grooming".
- DAS Digital Access and Cross-connect Systems
- network packets are transferred to separate physical interfaces ⁇ corresponding to the different upper layer protocols — on one or more separate network devices.
- network packets may be sent in accordance with the SONET protocol but include data organized in accordance with ATM (i.e., ATM over SONET) and MPLS (i.e., MPLS over SONET), and the DACS transfers the network packets including data organized in accordance with ATM to one or more physical interfaces and the network packets including data organized in accordance with MPLS to one or more other physical interfaces.
- the physical interfaces may be on one or more network devices, such as switches, routers and hybrid switch-routers, where hardware subsystems within the network device(s) and connected to each physical interface are capable of operating on network packet data in accordance with a particular upper layer protocol.
- the DACS and the switches/routers may be owned by different parties, in which case, the owner of the DACS generally charges a "grooming" fee to the owner(s) of the switches/routers to which it is connected.
- the present invention provides a network device with at least one physical interface or port that is capable of transferring network packets including data organized into one or more upper layer network protocols (e.g., ATM, MPLS, IP, Frame Relay, Voice, Circuit Emulation, Optical UNI, including OIF and ODSI).
- the network device provides increased efficiency over prior network devices by allowing the network administrator to add only the necessary number and types of forwarding subsystems required to respond to the network service subscribed for each upper layer network protocol.
- a cross-connection subsystem coupling a port subsystem to multiple forwarding subsystems may be dynamically programmed to provide the necessary upper layer network protocol bandwidth.
- the network device may reduce the number of necessary physical interfaces over those required by prior network devices, and eliminates the need for a separate DACS and any grooming fees.
- the present invention provides a central switch fabric timing subsystem and distributed switch fabric timing subsystems.
- Distributed switch fabric subsystems reduce the cost of a minimally configured network device by providing a network device that separates the switch fabric functionality into a central switch fabric provided with a minimally configured network device and distributed switch fabrics that may be added to the network device as services are needed. Locating certain switch fabric components onto each forwarding card or other cards reduces the cost of a minimally configured network device. Additional costs may be achieved by providing 1 :N redundancy for the distributed switch fabric subsystems as opposed to 1 :1 redundancy.
- the present invention provides a network device including redundant, synchronous central timing subsystems (CTSs) and local timing subsystems (LTSs) including control circuits for automatically selecting between reference signals from both central timing subsystems.
- CTSs synchronous central timing subsystems
- LTSs local timing subsystems
- Automatically selecting between reference timing signals allows each LTS to quickly switchover from a failing or failed reference timing signal to a good reference timing signal.
- Quick switchovers prevent data corruption errors that may result during slow switchovers where a failing or failed reference signal is used for a longer period of time prior to the switch over.
- each LTS independently monitors its received reference timing signals, a problem on one reference timing signal is quickly detected by the LTS and the LTS switches over to the good reference timing signal regardless of whether any other LTSs detect a problem with their received reference timing signals.
- the present invention provides a network device including redundant, synchronous central timing subsystems (CTSs) each having a voltage controlled timing circuit for receiving a constant master voltage signal and variable slave voltage signal.
- CTSs synchronous central timing subsystems
- Each CTS also includes a control logic circuit for selecting the constant master voltage signal for use by the voltage controlled timing circuit when the CTS is master and for selecting the variable slave voltage signal when the CTS is slave.
- Using a constant master voltage signal eliminates the need for a separate master oscillator in each CTS. Oscillators are typically expensive, consume significant space on the printed circuit board and have location restrictions on where they may be placed on the printed circuit board.
- the present invention provides a network device including redundant, synchronous central timing subsystems (CTSs) which each receive a source timing reference signal from the other CTS. When behaving as a slave, the CTS synchronizes its output timing reference signal to the source timing reference signal from the other CTS.
- CTSs synchronous central timing subsystems
- each CTS generally receives an output timing reference signal from the other CTS and the output timing reference signal is generally provided with a phase locked loop (PLL) circuit.
- PLL phase locked loop
- the CTS is a slave, it synchronizes its output timing reference signal to the output timing reference signal received from the other CTS, and synchronizing is generally accomplished with a PLL circuit.
- each CTS receives a source timing reference signal from the other CTS and when a slave, the CTS synchronizes its output timing reference signal to the source timing reference signal to reduce the introduction of jitter.
- the present invention provides an element/network management system (NMS) that allows users to create custom object collections.
- NMS element/network management system
- a network manager may create a new collection and add various configurable / manageable objects to that collection.
- the objects may be of a similar or different type and may correspond to the same or different network devices.
- the network manager may then add and remove objects from existing collections, create additional new collections and remove existing collections.
- the network manager may then view the various objects in each collection.
- GUI graphical user interface
- Custom object collection views provide scalability and flexibility.
- custom object collections may be tied to user profiles to limit access. For example, a customer may be limited to viewing only the objects related to their account. Similarly, a network manager may be limited to viewing only those objects for which they have authority to manage.
- the present invention provides a method and apparatus for accessing network device data through user profiles.
- User profiles may be created by network administrators, and the corresponding user profile data may be stored in a central network management system (NMS) database.
- NMS network management system
- the NMS utilizes the user profile data in the central database to access the network device and retrieve the required network device data. Since the user profile data is stored in a central database, the user may log into the NMS from any location and connect to any network device in the network. Further, the user profile data may be used to limit which network devices and which network device configured resources the user may access as well as the user's access level.
- the present invention provides a method and apparatus for granular management of network resources by accessing network device resources through associated references.
- the references are group names, and one or more resources (i.e., a resource collection) within each network device in a telecommunications network may be linked with one or more group names.
- Group names (or other types of references) may then be used to limit a user's access to particular network device resources. That is, a user may only have access to those resources associated with group names to which the user has access. Over time, network device resources may be associated or disassociated with particular group names.
- group names provide users with dynamic access to network device resources.
- the groups to which a user has access are defined within a user profile associated with the user.
- Grouping network device resources therefore, allows for a granular view of each network device in the network by limiting a user's access to those resources corresponding to group names listed in their user profile.
- grouping may allow for customer network management - that is a customer' s view is limited to only those network device resources for which they have subscribed.
- the present invention provides a method and apparatus for implementing distributed user management information in telecommunications networks. At least a portion of a user's management information is stored in a team session file that is accessible by a network management system (NMS) client.
- NMS network management system
- the team session file may be saved in memory that is local to the NMS client or, if a user logs in tlirough a remote system using a web browser, the team session file may be saved as a cookie in memory local to the remote system.
- the NMS client may then utilize the user management information in the team session file while the user is logged into the NMS client.
- the user management information stored within the team session file includes NMS server connection information.
- the NMS client uses the NMS server connection information to connect to an NMS server.
- the user management information stored within the team session file may be retrieved from user profile information corresponding to the user and stored in a central data repository, and since the user profile data is stored in a central repository, changes may be easily made to the user profile data and consequently pushed out to the team session files accessible by one or more NMS clients. Consequently, a user's management data may widely distributed for access by NMS clients located anywhere in the network.
- the present invention provides a method and apparatus for tiered network access to increase telecommunications network security.
- a user may log into the network management system (NMS) from any location using the same identification and the NMS validates the identification through data stored in a central data repository.
- the identification is a username and password. If the user then selects a particular network device to manage, the NMS connects to that network device using a different identification.
- Each network device in the network may have one or more identifications corresponding, for example, to group access levels. These identifications may be shared by network devices or, for increased security, these identifications may be unique to each network device. In any case, users need only remember one identification to gain access to any network device in the network.
- Having a tiered access also allows the one or more identifications for any network device to be changed once but dynamically updated for each user without having to notify each user.
- a rogue user may be quickly denied access to all network devices by changing or removing their identification from the central data repository.
- security may be increased by limiting access to network device identifications. For example, only certain network administrators may be given access to network device identifications.
- the present invention provides a high switching capacity network device in one telco rack including both physical layer switch/router subsystems and an upper layer switch/router subsystem. Instead of providing a single physical layer switch/router subsystem, multiple physical layer switch/router subsystems are provided.
- Segmenting the physical layer switch/router into multiple, for example, four, subsystems better utilizes routing resources by allowing etches for the physical layer subsystems to be moved away from the center of the mid-plane / back-plane of the network device. Moving the physical layer subsystem etches away from the center of the mid-plane enables the network device to include an upper layer/switch router subsystem with etches toward the center of the mid-plane.
- Providing a multi-layer network device in one telco rack allows for intelligent layer 1 switching (for example, dynamic network connection set up), allows for one network management system to run both layer 1 and upper layer networks and eliminates grooming fees. Compared with separate layer 1 and upper layer network devices or a multi-layer network device occupying multiple telco racks, a single network device saves valuable telco site space and reduces expenses by sharing overhead such as the chassis, power and cooling.
- a network device of the present invention includes separate universal port cards (i.e., printed circuit boards or modules) for interfacing to physical network connections or ports, separate forwarding cards for performing network data processing and separate cross-connection cards for interconnecting universal port cards and forwarding cards. Separating the universal port cards and forwarding cards enables any path on any port on a universal port card to be connected to any port on a forwarding card through one or more cross-connection cards.
- the present invention provides a method and apparatus for allowing multiple redundancy schemes in a single network device.
- the network manager may provide various redundancy schemes including 1:1, 1+1, 1:N, no redundancy or a combination of redundancy schemes for universal port cards (or ports) and forwarding cards, and the redundancy scheme or schemes for the universal port cards (or ports) may be the same as or different from the redundancy scheme or schemes for the forwarding cards. For example, a network manager may want to provide 1 : 1 or 1+1 redundancy for all universal port cards (or ports) but only 1 :N redundancy for each N group of forwarding cards.
- the network manager may provide certain customers with 1 : 1 or 1+1 redundancy on both the universal port cards (or ports) and forwarding cards to ensure that customer's network availability while providing other customers, with lower availability requirements, with various other combinations of redundancy schemes, for example, 1:1, 1+1, 1 :N or no redundancy for universal port cards (or ports) and 1 :N or no redundancy for forwarding cards.
- the present invention allows customers with different availability / redundancy needs to be serviced by same network device.
- the present invention provides an upper layer network device with one or more physical layer data test ports.
- the data supplied to the test ports reflects the data received by the network device with minimal modification and no upper layer translation or processing, and supplying the data to the test ports does not impact or disrupt the service provided by the network device. Only a small portion of the network device need be operable to send data to the test ports.
- the test ports are programmable while the network device is operating and without impacting the operation of the network device. Hence, the network device allows for trouble shooting without service disruption.
- the test ports are programmable - that is, they are not dedicated ⁇ they may be re-programmed for normal network device operation and, thus, not permanently consume any resources for testing.
- the test port may be re-programmed to be located on the redundant port card or another port card.
- the present invention provides a management system external to a network device that is independent of and asynchronous with an internal network device management system.
- the separation of the internal and external management systems avoids the problems encountered when these systems are synchronized. For example, data loss due to process synchronization problems are avoided since there is no synchronization, and the burden on the network device is reduced by not requiring the network device to maintain synchronization between the systems.
- the other management system if one or the other of the external or internal management systems go down or is busy for some time, the other management system continues working and when the unavailable management system is again available, it simply picks up where it left off.
- there is no data loss and the limited storage capacity within the network device is not strained by storing data until the unavailable management system is available.
- the present invention provides a method and apparatus for managing distributed statistical data retrieval in a network device.
- statistical data is gathered by processes on one or more remote cards in a network device and transferred to a central process.
- the statistical data may comprise, for example, management / historical data including accounting, performance, security and fault logging data (or some portion thereof).
- Current data samples may be gathered and sent to the central process on a frequent interval of, for example, every 15 minutes.
- each current data sample may be added to a data summary.
- the data summary may be cleared periodically, for example, every 24 hours, such that the data summary provides a cumulative summary of current data samples gathered over that 24 hour period of time.
- the data summary may only be transferred to the central process on a more infrequent interval of, for example, every 6 to 12 hours.
- the central process in the event that statistical data cannot be transferred out of the network device, the central process notifies the processes running on the remote cards, and the processes stop sending the central process the current data samples and instead begin sending the data summaries on the more frequent time interval (e.g., every 15 minutes).
- the present invention provides a method and apparatus for internal network device dynamic health monitoring.
- internal network device evaluations of resource attributes are conducted against threshold expressions and network managers are notified of any threshold events to allow them to address issues before failures occur. Flexibility is added by allowing users to select between various predefined threshold expressions, and flexibility is further increased by allowing users to input new threshold expressions.
- the user provided threshold expressions are dynamically incorporated into the network device's threshold evaluations while the network device is running. Thus, network managers may change threshold expressions at any time in accordance with their needs.
- the types of threshold expressions that may be used are practically limitless and may include any operand and multiple variables, including the time of day. hi addition, multiple threshold expressions may be cascaded together. Network managers may be notified of threshold events in multiple manners as well.
- the types of resource attributes that may be evaluated is extended by assigning unique identifiers to network device resources and allowing threshold evaluations for any identifiable resource and associated attributes.
- the present invention provides a logical system model of a network device including both network device hardware (i.e., hardware model) and network data objects (i.e., software model) used by processes executable within the network device.
- the logical system model is layered on the physical network device to add a layer of abstraction between the network device hardware and the software applications executed by the network device.
- Each model within the logical system model contains metadata defining an object / entity, attributes for the object and the object's relationships with other objects. Upgrading / modifying an object is, therefore, much simpler than in current systems, since the relationship between objects and attributes required for each object are clearly defined in one location. When changes are made, the logical system model clearly shows what other models / objects are affected and, therefore, may also need to be changed.
- Modeling provides a clean separation of function and form and enables sophisticated dynamic software modularity.
- links between the hardware model and software model are minimal, either may be changed (e.g., upgraded or modified) and easily integrated with the other.
- Multiple models may be created for many different types of managed devices.
- the software model may be the same or similar for each different type of managed device even if the hardware - and hardware models - corresponding to the different managed devices are very different.
- the hardware model may be the same or similar for different managed devices but the software models may be different for each.
- the different software models may reflect different customer needs.
- the present invention provides a method and apparatus for improving network management system (NMS) server scalability within a telecommunications network by utilizing memory local to each NMS client to store proxies corresponding to network device managed objects.
- the proxies reduce the load on the network and NMS servers by allowing the NMS clients to respond to certain user requests without having to access the NMS servers.
- the proxies correspond to physical components within network devices.
- the proxies also correspond to logical components within network devices, for example, logical network protocol nodes corresponding to physical layer (e.g., SONET, Ethernet) and/or upper layer (e.g., ATM, IP, MPLS, Frame Relay) network protocol nodes.
- physical layer e.g., SONET, Ethernet
- upper layer e.g., ATM, IP, MPLS, Frame Relay
- the NMS servers may, if necessary, overwrite managed objects within their local memory without disrupting the ability of NMS clients to display information to users from proxies and issue function calls from proxies to the NMS servers.
- the present invention provides a method of managing telecommunications networks through an Operations Support Services (OSS) client and templates.
- OSS Operations Support Services
- a network manager may interactively provision network services in one or more network devices, in one or more networks, through one or more network management systems.
- a network manager may interactively establish connections between an OSS client and an NMS server and network device, or the network manager may employ a control template to non- interactively establish these connections.
- the client / server architecture allows network managers to access multiple different network management servers through multiple OSS clients, and an OSS client may be downloaded from a web accessible server to provide "manage anywhere" flexibility.
- multiple control and provisioning templates may be ordered and sequenced within a batch template to non-interactively complete multiple provisioning tasks on multiple different network devices managed by multiple different network management systems.
- templates and an OSS client therefore, one or more network management systems may be integrated with a telecommunication network carrier's OSS to simplify the network device provisioning process.
- the present invention automatically generates integration interfaces for both embedded network device processes and network management system processes using a logical model of a network device and a code generation system. Automatically generating integration interfaces ensures the processes are synchronized. This enables simplified process upgrades/modifications and new process releases by minimizing / eliminating undocumented interdependencies, software incompatibilities and lengthy release notes.
- the logical model (or models) is extensible to represent one or more network devices including all the network devices in a network. Hence process synchronization may be extended across an entire network to provide a strong scalable architecture that facilitates network availability.
- Configuration data may be received from network managers through multiple network management system (NMS) clients, and each NMS client validates received configuration data.
- the data may be validated against physical layer (e.g., SONET, Ethernet) and/or upper layer (e.g., ATM, MPLS, IP, Frame Relay) network protocol constraints, network device constraints and/or other limitations, for example customer subscription constraints.
- NMS network management system
- each NMS client sends the configuration data to an NMS server.
- each NMS server re- validates received configuration data.
- each NMS server sends the configuration data to a network device.
- each network device again re- validates received configuration data.
- configuration data is validated at various hierarchical tiers to allow for scalability and still provide reliability.
- the present invention provides a method and apparatus for managing distributed statistical data retrieval in a network device.
- statistical data is gathered by processes on one or more remote cards in a network device and transferred to a central process.
- the statistical data may comprise, for example, management / historical data including accounting, performance, security and fault logging data (or some portion thereof).
- the central process may notify each process as to when gathered statistical data may be reported. This allows the central process to throttle the amount of data sent to the central process in accordance with any existing backlog of data to be processed by the central process.
- the present invention provides a method and apparatus for tracking distributed statistical data retrieval in a network device. Periodically, statistical data is gathered by processes on one or more remote cards in a network device and transferred to a central process.
- the distributed processes register each different type of statistical data to be gathered with the central process allowing the central process to maintain an accurate inventory of distributed processes expected to send particular statistical data.
- Tracking statistical data gathering processes allows the central process to consistently report data while allowing each process to remain modular.
- tracking increases a network device's scalability. For example, new processes may be added to a network device without affecting existing processes.
- tracking increases a network device's availability. For instance, tracking provides fault tolerance, such that if one statistical data gathering process fails the other statistical data gathering processes are not affected and data continues to be reported. Importantly, data not reported by a registered process may be quickly detected and, where necessary, reported to a network management system. Tracking also provides for auto de-registration, for example, when hot swapping of cards out of a network device, tracking de-registers processes as necessary.
- the present invention provides a method and apparatus for improving data request response times in telecommunications networks by utilizing memory local to each network management system (NMS) client to store identifiers corresponding to network device managed objects.
- NMS clients include at least one managed object identifier with each data request sent to an NMS server to allow the NMS server to quickly locate and return required data to the NMS client.
- the NMS server may first quickly search its local memory using the identifier and/or the NMS server may quickly retrieve the required data from a network device using the identifier.
- data is stored in a database within the network device and the identifier is used as a primary key to provide absolute context within the database.
- the NMS server is able to use the identifier as a primary key to directly retrieve the specific data needed.
- Providing the identifier from the NMS client to the NMS server ensures that for each data request the primary key is available to the NMS server even if the corresponding data has been overwritten in or deleted from the NMS server's local memory.
- the present invention provides a telecommunications network device including at least one power distribution unit capable of connecting to multiple, unregulated DC power feeds.
- the network device may also include a redundant power distribution unit. Both power distribution units are independently removable from the network device.
- Each power distribution unit may also include an on/off switch, which when in an "on” position allows the power distribution unit to supply power from each connected power feed to the network device and when in an "off position prevents the power distribution unit from supplying power from any power feed to the network device.
- the on/off switch may be moved to the "off position.
- the present invention reduces the cost of a minimally configured network device by providing a network device that separates the switch fabric functionality into a central switch fabric provided with a minimally configured network device and distributed switch fabrics that may be added to the network device as services are needed. Locating certain switch fabric components onto each forwarding card or other cards reduces the cost of a minimally configured network device. Additional costs may be achieved by providing 1:N redundancy for the distributed switch fabric subsystems as opposed to 1:1 redundancy.
- the present invention provides a network device with multiple modules or printed circuit boards where certain of the modules are reverse orientated with respect to the other modules.
- Reverse orientating certain modules better utilizes routing resources and enables a high switching capacity network device, including both physical layer switch router subsystems and upper layer switch/router subsystems, to be fit in one telco rack.
- Providing a multi-layer network device in one telco rack allows for intelligent layer 1 switching (for example, dynamic network connection set up), allows for one network management system to control both layer 1 and upper layer networks and eliminates grooming fees.
- a single network device saves valuable telco site space and reduces expenses by sharing overhead such as the chassis, power and cooling.
- the present invention provides a method and apparatus for addressing distributed network device processors coupled together through an isolated control plane.
- each processor is associated with an identifier unique within the network device and the identifiers are used as Media Access Control (MAC) addresses.
- MAC Media Access Control
- each processor is associated with an identifier unique across the connected network devices and the identifiers are used as control plane addresses.
- Using identifiers as addresses in isolated control planes avoids the need to assign and track globally unique addresses.
- the present invention provides a method and apparatus for improving transmission of control information within a network device and between multiple connected network devices. Specifically, a control path is included within a network device that is independent of the data path and dedicates control path resources to each distributed processor within the network device.
- Dedicating resources insures that each processor has sufficient bandwidth on the control plane to transmit control information at high frequencies. This may prevent starvation of data transmissions during periods of high control information transfers and may also reduce the likelihood or further spreading of control information storms when one or more network devices in a network experiences a failure.
- the present invention provides a method for operating a computer system, e.g., a network device.
- the method calls for executing a plurality of modular processes, and providing a data file for use by the plurality of the processes.
- a view identification is incorporated within each of the plurality of processes to define data accessible by each process within the data file.
- the data file can be, for example, a metadata file used by the plurality of processes to customize execution behavior of each of the plurality of processes.
- the data file can include data stored within a database process.
- the present invention provides a network device with multiple internal configuration data repositories to improve network device availability.
- a primary copy of the network device configuration data may be stored in a first database while a backup copy of the network device configuration data may be stored in a second database. If a failure affects the first database, then the network configuration data stored in the second database may be used as the primary copy of this data.
- changes to the network device configuration data stored in the first and second databases may be written to persistent memory such that if a power failure occurs within the network device, on power-up, the network device configuration data stored within persistent memory may be copied into the first and second databases.
- the present invention provides a network management system including a central relational database that is automatically updated by local relational databases embedded within each of a multiple of network devices.
- the local databases are, therefore, master data repositories for each network device.
- the local database may update the central database.
- the updates may be completed immediately or, perhaps, periodically.
- Mirroring changes made to the local databases to any secondary databases ensures that the secondary databases are quickly updated and remain in lockstep synchronization with each of the local databases.
- the present invention provides a method for upgrading embedded configuration databases while a network device is operating and with minimal disruption to network device operation. While a network device is operating and using an embedded primary configuration database, an embedded backup configuration database stops performing as a backup database and is upgraded.
- the upgraded configuration database is then switched over to become the primary configuration database.
- the original primary configuration database may immediately become the backup configuration database, or the original primary configuration database may remain unchanged until the upgrade is committed. If the upgrade is not committed, for example, due to errors, then the original primary configuration database may be quickly switched over to again become the primary configuration database.
- embedded configuration databases may be upgraded while a network device is operating and with minimal disruption to network device operation.
- the present invention provides a method and apparatus for authenticating the identities of network devices within a telecommunications network.
- multiple identifiers associated with a network device are retrieved from and used to identify the network device. Use of multiple identifiers provides fault tolerance and supports full modularity of hardware within a network device.
- Authenticating the identity of a network device through multiple identifiers allows for the possibility that hardware associated with one or more of the identifiers may be removed from the network device. For example, a network device may still be automatically authenticated even if more than one card within the device are removed as long as at least one card corresponding to an identifier being used for authentication is within the device during authentication.
- the present invention allows for dynamic authentication, that is, the NMS is able to update its records, including the identifiers, over time as cards (or other hardware) within network devices are removed and replaced.
- the present invention provides a method for fault isolation in a computer system which includes the steps of providing a plurality of modular processes, and forming groups, based on hardware in the computer system, of one or more of the plurality of modular processes.
- Hierarchical descriptors define levels of fault management in order to intelligently monitor hardware and software and proactively take action in accordance with a defined fault policy.
- hierarchical levels of fault management or more generally "event” management
- event management are provided in accordance with a defined fault policy.
- Hierarchical levels of fault management (or more generally "event” management) are provided that intelligently monitor hardware and software and proactively take action in accordance with a defined fault policy.
- a fault policy based on a defined hierarchy ensures that for each particular type of failure the most appropriate action is taken. This is important because over-reacting to a failure, for example, re-booting an entire computer system or re-starting an entire line card, can severely and unnecessarily impact service to customers not affected by the failure, and under-reacting to failures. On the other hand, restarting only one process, may not completely resolve the fault and lead to additional, larger failures.
- Monitoring and proactively responding to events also allows the computer system and network operators to address issues before they become failures. For example, additional memory may be assigned to programs or added to the computer system before a lack of memory causes a failure.
- the present invention provides a method of operating a computer system including the steps of upgrading a process in the computer system, detecting an event caused by the upgraded process and downgrading the process automatically.
- the detected event may be a fault, and multiple processes may be upgraded and downgraded simultaneously.
- the method may also include the steps of providing a first process, where upgrading a process includes providing a second process including modifications to the first process and where downgrading the process includes automatically reverting to the first process.
- the method may also include the steps of providing a first computer system configuration, where upgrading a process includes providing a second configuration including modifications to the first configuration and where downgrading the process includes automatically reverting to the first configuration.
- the second configuration may be stored in non-persistent memory, and the first configuration may also be stored in persistent memory and in non-persistent memory.
- the first and second configurations may be stored in databases.
- the method may also include the step of rebooting the computer system upon the detection of an event caused by the upgraded process which will cause the computer system to revert to the first configuration file stored in persistent memory.
- the computer system may be a network device capable of working with a separate network manager device and receiving from the network manager device periodic messages, where an event includes detecting a timeout when a periodic message is not received within a certain time period.
- the present invention provides a computer system having a modular control process, and a modular device driver process working in conjunction with the control process, where the device driver process is capable of continuing operation if the control process is terminated and the control process is capable of continuing operation if the device driver process is terminated.
- the present invention provides a computer system having a control process and a device driver process in communication with the control process.
- the computer system further includes a local back-up process for facilitating recovery of the device driver process if the device driver process is terminated.
- the local back-up is independent of both the device driver process and the control process.
- a distributed redundancy design is disclosed to minimize network outages and other problems associated with component/process failures by spreading software backup (in the so-called "hot state") across multiple elements.
- a 1 :N redundancy design can be implemented in which a single backup process is used to backup multiple (N) primary processes.
- the present invention provides a computer system including hardware resources, logical resources and a mapping process for creating a map associating the hardware resources with the logical resources.
- the computer system may be a network device and the mapping process may be a network management system process.
- the map may be a logical to physical card table or a logical to physical port table.
- the computer system may also include an assignment process for assigning one or more functional processes to a logical resource and an instantiating process for starting functional processes on hardware resources in accordance with the map and the logical resource assigned to each process.
- the assignment process may be a network management system process, and the instantiating process may be a system resiliency manager process.
- the hardware resources may include line cards or line card ports, and the functional processes may include device driver processes or network protocol applications, for example, Asynchronous Transfer Mode protocol applications.
- the present invention provides a computer system including multiple functional processes and a binding object manager process for managing a subscription process through which one or more of the functional processes request data associated with other functional processes and for managing a registration process through which one or more of the functional processes provide data associated with themselves, where the binding object manager process passes data from registered processes to subscribed processes.
- the data associated with the registered functional process may include a process identification number to allow the registered process to communicate with other processes that subscribe for access to the registered process.
- the data associated with the registered functional process may also include modifications to an application programming interface to enable subscribed processes to communicate with the registered process through the modified application programming interface.
- the data associated with the registered functional process may include a selection of an application programming interface to enable subscribed processes to communicate with the registered process through the selected application programming interface.
- the computer system may further include a distributed processing system including multiple functional subsystems each of which include a processor subsystem capable of executing one or more of the functional processes, where the binding object manager process is a distributed process.
- the present invention provides a computer system, such as a network device, having a modular control application utilizing a first memory block, and a modular device driver process corresponding to the control application utilizing a second memory block independent of the first memory block.
- the device driver process is independent of the control application.
- the present invention provides a network device employing a modular software architecture including kernel software, with substantially no data necessary to processes external to the kernel, and processes capable of dynamic instantiation while the network device is operating.
- the network device may also include a distributed processing system with many functional subsystems, each of which may include a processor subsystem capable of executing one or more of the processes and each of which may execute kernel software specific to the functional subsystem on which the processor subsystem is physically located.
- the processes participate in inter-process communications exclusively through messages passed in accordance with an application programming interface.
- Dynamic instantiation may include starting and stopping one of the processes while the kernel software and other processes continue executing, and dynamic instantiation may further include assigning a process identifier and a logical identifier to each instantiated process and registering the assigned process identifier and logical identifier with a name server process to permit inter-process communication using the logical identifier.
- the processes may include applications, device drivers and higher-order system services.
- the present invention provides a computer system including a hardware description file and a hardware management process for configuring hardware within the computer system using the hardware description file.
- the computer system may also include a plurality of hardware modules including a storage device for storing a hardware identifier, where the hardware description file includes configuration data associated with multiple hardware identifiers and the hardware management process configures each hardware module using configuration data from the hardware description file corresponding to the hardware identifier stored on the hardware module.
- the storage device may be an EPROM, and the hardware identifier may include a module type and a version number.
- the computer system may be a network device.
- the present invention provides a management system internal to a network device that sends various management data files and corresponding metadata files to a management system external to the network device.
- the external management system then uses the metadata files to process the management data files.
- the external management system dynamically learns how to manage a network device through the metadata files.
- new types of management data files - perhaps corresponding to new hardware within the network device — may be sent from the internal management system to the external management system along with corresponding new metadata files and the external management system will be able to process the new management files without having to be re-booted or restarted.
- multiple network devices coupled with the external management system may send various different types of management data to the external management system and using the metadata files from each network device, the external management system will be able to process the various management data types.
- the metadata files are JAVA class files.
- the present invention provides a method and apparatus for facilitating hot upgrades of software components within a telecommunications network device through the use of "signatures" generated by a signature generating program. After installation of a new software release within the network device, only those software components whose signatures do not match the signatures of corresponding and currently executing software components are upgraded. Signatures promote hot upgrades by identifying only those software components that need to be upgraded. Since signatures are automatically generated for each software component as part of putting together a new release a quick comparison of two signatures provides an accurate assurance that either the software component has changed or has not. Thus, signatures provide a quick, easy way to accurately determine the upgrade status of each software component.
- methods for establishing a path for data transmissions in a system having a plurality of possible paths by creating a configuration database and establishing internal connection paths based upon a configuration policy and the configuration database.
- the configuration policy can be based on available system resources and needs at a given time.
- methods for establishing a path for data transmissions in a system having a plurality of possible paths by a self-completing configuration method, which establishes internal connection paths based upon a configuration policy and a configuration database.
- the configuration policy can be based on available system resources and needs at a given time.
- the present invention provides a graphical user interface (GUI) that displays at least one indicator representing the status of a functional area of system management.
- System management may include network management, and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) defines five functional areas of network management: fault, configuration, accounting, performance and security (FCAPS).
- the GUI may display one indicator for each of these five functional areas. Categorizing status, including normal operation, errors or warnings, into one or more of the ISO five functional areas of network management - that is, FCAPS - helps network managers more efficiently detect and respond to problems.
- a visible characteristic of each of the indicators may be changed to indicate a change in status.
- each of the indicators may be color-coded according to status and displayed in a specific order to provide a "status bar code" allowing a network administrator to quickly detennine the category of an error or warning and quickly take action.
- the indicators may be enlarged or "stretched” to fill a large portion of the screen. Once stretched, network management areas can be easily monitored at a distance by looking at the bar-encoded indicator strip.
- the stretchy indicators provide instant status recognition at a distance.
- the present invention provides dynamic bulletin boards through which a network manager may customize the information they view.
- the network manager may drag and drop a variety of information (e.g., tabs, windows, data, dialog boxes, panels, device mimics, etc.) from a graphical user interface (GUI) onto one or more dynamic bulletin boards to consolidate particular GUI screens and/or dialog boxes into a single view.
- GUI graphical user interface
- the dynamic bulletin boards and the GUI are linked such that changes to one are dynamically updated in the other.
- a network manager may manage or configure network devices through either the screens in the GUI or the screens in the dynamic bulletin boards.
- the network manager may change the format of the data and, perhaps, view the same data in multiple formats simultaneously. Moreover, the network manager may add information to one dynamic bulletin board from multiple different network devices to allow the network manager to simultaneously manage and/or configure the multiple network devices. Network managers can, therefore, choose what they want to view, when they want to view it and how they want to view it.
- SONET path configuration wizard provides a network manager with available and valid SONET path configuration parameter options.
- the options are made consistent with constraints imposed by the SONET protocol and the network device itself, and the options may be further limited by other constraints, for example, customer subscription limitations. This reduces the expertise required of network managers to configure a SONET path while simultaneously preventing mis-configurations by only presenting the network manager with valid options.
- the network manager proceeds to use the SONET path configuration wizard, the network manager's choices are validated to prevent mis- configuration and the available / valid options list is changed in response to the network manager's choices. This further reduces the necessary expertise and minimizes the potential for mis-configurations.
- the SONET path configuration wizard may present the network manager with one or more short cuts that allow a network manager to quickly complete a typical SONET path configuration.
- the present invention provides a sequence of configuration tabs corresponding to at least one physical layer network protocol provisioning task and at least one upper layer network protocol provisioning task.
- the tabs are dialog chained or linked together to easily and quickly guide a network manager through the series of steps necessary to provision particular network device services.
- Each tab presents a network manager with valid configuration options and, thus, each tab has wizard-like properties to avoid mis-configuration errors.
- the present invention allows complete network device configuration data to be prepared in an off-line mode to allow for fast configuration once the network device is on-line. This provides the network manager with the ability to prepare for new network devices and quickly configure the new network devices as soon as they are connected to the network.
- the present invention provides a method for modifying configuration data corresponding to an operational network device in an off-line mode and without affecting the operation of the network device. This allows a network manager to select the best time to implement the configuration changes and then quickly implement the configuration changes at the selected time.
- the present invention provides drag and drop short-cuts to allow network managers to quickly replicate module configurations within a network device and entire network device configurations between different network devices.
- the present invention includes a custom navigator tool.
- a network manager may select various screen marks each of which causes the custom navigator tool to shortcut the configuration process by jumping forward past various configuration screens to a particular configuration screen corresponding to the screen mark.
- the screen marks may be default screen marks provided as a standard part of a network management system graphical user interface (GUI) and/or the screen marks may be custom screen marks created by the network manager.
- GUI network management system graphical user interface
- To create a custom screen mark the network manager simply accesses a desired GUI screen and selects a screen mark option.
- the custom navigator tool then requests a screen mark name from the network manager and, once provided, lists the custom screen mark name in an inventory of available screen mark names.
- the custom navigator tool When the network manager selects a screen mark name (custom or default), the custom navigator tool jumps to the corresponding GUI screen. As a result, the custom navigator tool allows a network manager to customize the GUI and, thus, make their provisioning tasks more efficient.
- the screen marks provide configuration short cuts that may simplify the configuration process and save the administrator configuration time.
- the present invention includes a custom wizard tool that allows a network manager to create custom configuration wizards reflecting common graphical user interface (GUI) screen sequences used by the network manager.
- GUI graphical user interface
- the network manager starts the custom wizard tool and then accesses a series of GUI screens that the network manager wants within a custom wizard.
- the network manager provides a custom wizard name, and the custom wizard tool displays the custom wizard name for the network manager to access.
- the custom wizard tool sequences the network manager through the particular series of GUI screens defined by the custom wizard name.
- the custom wizard tool allows a network manager to customize the GUI and, thus, make their provisioning tasks more efficient by defining preferred screen sequences for each task.
- Each configuration wizard may correspond to one or more configuration tasks, for example, one configuration wizard may correspond to SONET path configuration while another corresponds to Virtual Connection configuration.
- Each configuration wizard provides a network manager with available and valid configuration parameter options. The options are made consistent with constraints imposed by particular protocols and the network device itself, and the options may be further limited by other constraints, for example, customer subscription limitations. This reduces the expertise required of network managers to complete configuration tasks while simultaneously preventing mis- configurations by only presenting the user with valid options.
- the network manager proceeds to use the configuration wizard to complete a configuration task, the network manager's choices are validated to prevent mis-configuration and the available / valid options list is changed in response to the network manager's choices. This further reduces the necessary expertise and minimizes the potential for mis- configurations.
- one or more short cuts may be provided that allow a network manager to quickly complete a typical configuration.
- the present invention provides a virtual connection configuration wizard.
- the virtual connection configuration wizard provides a network manager with available and valid virtual connection configuration parameter options.
- the options are made consistent with constraints imposed by an upper layer network protocol and the network device itself, and the options may be further limited by other constraints, for example, customer subscription limitations. This reduces the expertise required of network managers to configure a virtual connection while simultaneously preventing mis-configurations by only presenting the network manager with valid options!
- the network manager's choices are validated to prevent mis-configuration and the available / valid options list is changed in response to the network manager's choices.
- the virtual connection wizard includes a source device navigation tree and at least one destination device navigation tree. These device trees provide for massive scalability as they allow the network manager to walk down a hierarchy of network devices and components within network devices.
- a common command interface (CCI) provides an interface abstraction allowing network device applications to maintain one set of code for each command regardless of which command interface (e.g., web, CLI, NMS, etc.) initiates the command. That is, the command code in each application may be shared across multiple command interfaces.
- the interface abstraction allows new applications including additional commands to be added to a network device and existing applications to be dynamically upgraded to include new and/or modified commands without having to modify the CCI.
- the network device may provide the increased flexibility of having multiple command interfaces while minimizing the complexity required to maintain commands across those interfaces.
- a community command interface may be used to connect the common command interfaces of multiple network devices.
- the present invention provides a method and apparatus for improving management and network availability by providing out-of-band management channels between network / element management system (NMS) clients and servers.
- High priority client requests and server notifications may be sent over the out-of-band management channels to ensure fast response times.
- periodic roll calls between NMS clients and NMS servers may be executed over the out-of-band management channels to allow for quick discovery of any disconnects and reclaiming associated client resources.
- periodic roll calls may be conducted between the NMS servers and the network devices to which they are connected, and if a server discovers that a network device has gone down, it may send a high priority notification to appropriate NMS clients over the out-of-band management channels to ensure a fast response by the clients. Sending high priority messages over out-of-band management channels maximizes client / server management availability and, hence, network availability.
- the present invention provides a method and apparatus for improving the configuration of virtual connections.
- virtual path identifier (VPI) and virtual channel identifier (VCI) Availability Indexes are made available to network administrators.
- the Availability Indexes present valid, available values. Thus, the potential for misconfigurations is reduced and even less experienced network administrators may easily configure virtual connections.
- the Availability Indexes provide administrators with control over exactly which paths and channels are allocated for each connection while eliminating the guesswork and tracking burden present in current network / element management systems. Availability Indexes also reduce the time and frustration required to configure virtual connections.
- the present invention provides a network device including a central timing subsystem for distributing one or more timing reference signals including a main timing signal and an embedded timing signal. Embedding one timing signal within another reduces the routing resources necessary to route the timing signal(s) within the network device.
- one central timing system as opposed to two or more, may be used to provide multiple different synchronous clock signals.
- the main timing signal is used for network data transfer while the embedded signal is used at least for processor synchronization. Consequently, a separate central timing subsystem is not required for generation and distribution of processor timing reference signals, and separate routing resources are not required for the processor timing reference signals.
- separate local timing subsystems for both the central timing and processor timing are not necessary.
- Embedding the processor timing reference signal within a highly accurate, redundant external timing reference signal also provides a highly accurate and redundant processor timing reference signal, and having a common local timing subsystem is more efficient resulting in less design time, less debug time, less risk, design re-use and simulation re-use.
- the present invention provides a method for managing telecommunications networks through user profiles that establish management capabilities and lists of network devices capable of being managed through each user profile.
- profiles users may be given controlled access to configure network devices, provision services or simply view the network devices, services or portions thereof. For example, customers may be enabled to view services dedicated to their particular networks while being simultaneously prevented from viewing services particular to other customer's networks. This provides security while enabling controlled customer network management.
- profiles may be used to limit the management capabilities of network managers to only those network devices and capabilities for which each network manager is responsible and authorized. This controlled access again provides security and may prevent network outages due to inexperienced network management errors as well as simplify network management for each level of network manager.
- the user profiles may also be used to customize the user interface each user accesses to improve efficiency and ease of network management. Profiles may also be used to establish local network connections and set up appropriate network communication channels to improve the efficiency of user access.
- NMS network management system
- Each network device in each NMS domain includes an embedded relational database that stores a master copy of the network device's configuration. The embedded database sends configuration data changes directly to the local NMS database.
- the local NMS database includes complete and updated configuration information for each network device within its domain, and selectively rolling up data from local NMS databases to the central data repository ensures that overall network management decisions are based on complete and updated configuration information across the entire network.
- This hierarchical arrangement of NMS domains facilitates scalable network management as the network itself continues to grow.
- the present invention provides a network device that fully utilizes the available space in a standard telco rack through the use of multiple mid-planes. Full utilization of available space allows a high switching capacity network device including both physical layer switch/router subsystems and upper layer switch/router subsystems to be fit in one telco rack.
- Inter-mid-plane connections may be provided by connecting switch fabric cards and/or control processor cards to each of the mid-planes.
- Providing a multi-layer network device in one telco rack allows for intelligent layer 1 switching (for example, dynamic network connection set up), allows for one network management system to control both layer 1 and upper layer networks and eliminates grooming fees.
- a single network device saves valuable telco site space and reduces expenses by sharing overhead such as the chassis, power and cooling.
- the present invention provides a network device having an internal configuration database process for managing configuration of internal resources within the network device in response to configuration input provided by an external Network Management System (NMS) process.
- NMS Network Management System
- Computer systems and methods of data processing are disclosed in which fault/event management is carried out in accordance with a configurable fault recovery policy.
- computer systems and methods of data processing are disclosed in which hierarchical levels of fault management (or more generally "event" management) are provided in accordance with the configurable fault policy.
- the present invention provides a method for customizing the execution behavior of a process within a computer system while the process and computer system are running and without changing the process and includes the steps of storing metadata within the computer system, providing the metadata to the process and employing the metadata within the process.
- the process may include multiple associated processes.
- the step of employing the metadata may include having the process pass the metadata to another process to customize the execution behavior of the other process which may enable the other process to respond to new data.
- the method may further include the step of modifying the metadata within the computer system, providing the modified metadata to the process and employing the modified data within the process.
- the computer system may be a network device.
- the method may further include the steps of upgrading the computer system, including adding new or modified hardware and/or software, and modifying the metadata to reflect changes made to the computer system.
- the present invention provides a method for configuring network devices including constructing a logical model of a network device and using that model to display a graphical user interface (GUI) to users.
- a network management system (NMS) server may be used to construct the logical model, and the NMS server may work with an NMS client to display the GUI to users. Through an NMS client, therefore, a user may select any network device within a telecommumcation network and have a GUI displayed showing the available hardware and services provided by that network device and the current state of configuration and provisioned services for that network device.
- NMS network management system
- the user may then use the GUI to configure the network device, that is, modify the configuration and/or provisioned services of the network device.
- the NMS client passes the user input to the NMS server which then changes data within a configuration database embedded within the network device to complete the configuration change.
- changes to the configuration database are executed as relational database transactions using structured query language (SQL) commands generated by the NMS server. If the SQL commands are only partially executed, then the configuration change is not committed, and the entire group of SQL commands is re-executed.
- SQL structured query language
- Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a computer system with a distributed processing system
- Figs. 2A-2B are block and flow diagrams of a distributed network management system
- Figs. 2C-2J are block and flow diagrams of distributed network management system clients and servers;
- Figs. 3 A & 3B is a block diagram of a logical system model
- Fig. 3C is a flow diagram illustrating a method for allowing applications to view data within a database
- Figs. 3D-3G are flow diagrams depicting a software build process using a logical system model
- Fig. 3H is a flow diagram depicting a configuration process
- Figs. 31 and 3L are flow diagrams depicting template driven network services provisioning processes
- Figs. 3J, 3K, 3M-3O are screen displays of an OSS client and various templates
- Figs. 4A-4Z, 5A-5Z, 6A-6P, 7A-7Y, 8A-8E, 9A-9N, 10A-10I, 11A-11M, 11P-11Q, 11U and 11Z are screen displays of graphical user interfaces;
- Figs. 11N-11O are tables representing data in a configuration database
- Figs. 11R-11T, 11V and 11W are tables representing data in a network management system (NMS) database;
- NMS network management system
- Fig. 1 IX is a block and flow diagram representing the creation of a user profile logical managed object including one or more groups;
- Fig. 11 Y is a block and flow diagram of a network management system implementing user profiles and groups across multiple databases
- Figs. 12A and 13A are block and flow diagrams of a computer system incorporating a modular system architecture and illustrating a method for accomplishing hardware inventory and setup;
- Figs. 12B-12C and 14A-14F are tables representing data in a configuration database
- Fig. 13B is a block and flow diagram of a computer system incorporating a modular system architecture and illustrating a method for configuring the computer system using a network management system;
- Figs. 13C and 13D are block and flow diagrams of an accounting subsystem for pushing network device statistics to network management system software
- Fig. 15 is a block and flow diagram of a line card and a method for executing multiple instances of processes
- Figs. 16A-16B are flow diagrams illustrating a method for assigning logical names for inter-process communications
- Fig. 16C is a block and flow diagram of a computer system incorporating a modular system architecture and illusfrating a method for using logical names for inter-process communications;
- Fig. 16D is a chart representing a message format;
- FIGs. 17-19 are block and flow diagrams of a computer system incorporating a modular system architecture and illustrating methods for making configuration changes;
- Fig. 20A is a block diagram of a packaging list
- Fig. 20B is a flow diagram of a software component signature generating process
- Figs. 20C and 20E are screen displays of graphical user interfaces
- Fig. 20D is a block and flow diagram of a network device incorporating a modular system architecture and illustrating a method for installing a new software release;
- Fig. 21 A is a block and flow diagram of a network device incorporating a modular system architecture and illustrating a method for upgrading software components
- Figs. 21B and 21G are tables representing data in a configuration database
- Figs. 21C-21F are screen displays of graphical user interfaces
- Fig. 22 is a block and flow diagram of a network device incorporating a modular system architecture and illustrating a method for upgrading a configuration database within the network device;
- Fig. 23 is a block and flow diagram of a network device incorporating a modular system architecture and illustrating a method for upgrading software components
- Fig. 24 is a block diagram representing processes within separate protected memory blocks
- Fig. 25 is a block and flow diagram of a line card and a method for accomplishing vertical fault isolation
- Fig. 26 is a block and flow diagram of a computer system incorporating a hierarchical and configurable fault management system and illustrating a method for accomplishing fault escalation.
- Fig. 27 is a block diagram of an application having multiple sub-processes
- Fig. 28 is a block diagram of a hierarchical fault descriptor
- Fig. 29 is a block and flow diagram of a computer system incorporating a distributed redundancy architecture and illustrating a method for accomplishing distributed software redundancy;
- Fig. 30 is a table representing data in a configuration database
- Figs. 31A-31C, 32A-32C, 33A-33D and 34A-34B are block and flow diagrams of a computer system incorporating a distributed redundancy architecture and illustrating methods for accomplishing distributed redundancy and recovery after a failure;
- Figs. 35A and 35B are block diagrams of a network device
- Figs. 36A and Fig. 36B are block diagrams of a portion of a data plane of a network device
- Fig. 37 is a block and flow diagram of a network device incorporating a policy provisioning manager
- Figs. 38 and 39 are tables representing data in a configuration database
- Fig. 40 is an isometric view of a network device
- Figs. 41 A-41C are front, back and side block diagrams, respectively, of components and modules within the network device of Fig. 40;
- Figs. 42A and 42B are block diagrams of dual mid-planes
- Fig. 43 is a block diagram of two distributed switch fabrics and a central switch fabric
- Fig. 44 is a block diagram of the interconnections between switch fabric central timing subsystems and switch fabric local timing subsystems;
- Figs. 45A and 45B are block diagrams of a switch fabric central timing subsystem
- Fig. 46 is a state diagram of master / slave selection for switch fabric central timing subsystems
- Figs. 47A and 47B are block diagrams of a switch fabric local timing subsystem
- Fig. 48 is a state diagram of reference signal selection for switch fabric local timing subsystems
- Fig. 49 is a block diagram of the interconnections between external central timing subsystems and external local timing subsystems;
- Figs. 50A-50C are block diagrams of an external central timing subsystem
- Fig. 51 is a timing diagram of a first timing reference signal with an embedded second timing signal
- Fig. 52 is a block diagram of an embeddor circuit
- Fig. 53 is a block diagram of an extractor circuit
- Figs. 54A and 54B are block diagrams of an external local timing subsystem
- Figs. 55A-55C are block diagrams of an external central timing subsystem
- Fig. 56 is a block diagram of a network device connected to test equipment through programmable physical layer test ports
- Fig. 57 is a block and flow diagram of a network device incorporating programmable physical layer test ports
- Fig. 58 is a block diagram of a test path table
- Fig. 59 is a block and flow diagram of a network management system incorporating proxies to improve NMS server scalability
- Figs. 60A-60N are tables representing data in a configuration database
- Fig. 61 A is a block diagram representing a physical managed object
- Fig. 6 IB is a block diagram representing a proxy
- Fig. 62 is a screen display of a dialog box
- Figs. 63 A and 63B are block diagrams of a network device connected to an NMS
- Fig. 64 is a table representing data in an NMS database
- Fig. 65 is a block and flow diagram of a threshold management system
- Figs. 66A-66E are screen displays of a graphical user interface
- Fig. 67 is a screen display of a threshold dialog box
- Figs. 68, 69A-69B, 70A-70B and 71 are tables representing data in a configuration database
- Fig. 72A is a front, isometric view of a power distribution unit
- Fig. 72B is a rear, isometric view of the power distribution unit of Fig. 72A without a cover;
- Fig. 73 A is a rear, isometric view of a network device chassis including dual midplanes;
- Figs. 73B-73C are enlarged views of portions of Fig. 73A;
- Fig. 74 is a block and schematic diagram of a portion of a module including a power supply circuit
- Figs. 75, 76 and 79 are screen displays of a Virtual Connection Wizard
- Fig. 77 is a screen display of a VPI dialog box
- Fig. 78 is a screen display of a VPIWCI dialog box
- Figs. 80 and 81 are block and flow diagrams of a common command interface
- Fig. 82 is a block and flow diagram of an application including a command API and a display API;
- Fig. 83 is a block and flow diagram of an extended common command interface
- Fig. 84 is a block and flow diagram of a switch control plane within a network device including a distributed architecture
- Fig. 85 is a block and flow diagram of a switch subsystem
- Fig. 86 is a block and flow diagram of a redundant switch control planes within a network device including a distributed architecture
- Fig. 87 is a block and flow diagram demonstrating distributed processors including multiple ports to each redundant switch control plane within a network device.
- a modular software architecture solves some of the more common scenarios seen in existing architectures when software is upgraded or new features are deployed.
- Software modularity involves functionally dividing a software system into individual modules or processes, which are then designed and implemented independently. Interprocess communication (IPC) between the processes is carried out tlirough message passing in accordance with well-defined application programming interfaces (APIs) generated from the same logical system model using the same code generation system.
- APIs application programming interfaces
- a database process is used to maintain a primary data repository within the computer system / network device, and APIs for the database process are also generated from the same logical system model and using the same code generation system ensuring that all the processes access the same data in the same way.
- Another database process is used to maintain a secondary data repository external to the computer system / network device; this database receives all of its data by exact database replication from the primary database.
- a protected memory feature also helps enforce the separation of modules. Modules are compiled and linked as separate programs, and each program runs in its own protected memory space. In addition, each program is addressed with an abstract communication handle, or logical name.
- the logical name is location-independent; it can live on any card in the system. The logical name is resolved to a physical card/process during communication. If, for example, a backup process takes over for a failed primary process, it assumes ownership of the logical name and registers its name to allow other processes to re-resolve the logical name to the new physical card/process. Once complete, the processes continue to communicate with the same logical name, unaware of the fact that a switchover just occurred.
- the modular software architecture dynamically loads applications as needed.
- the modular software architecture removes significant application dependent data from the kernel and minimizes the link between software and hardware. Instead, under the modular software architecture, the applications themselves gather necessary information (i.e., metadata and instance data) from a variety of sources, for example, text files, JAVA class files and database views, which may be provided at run time or through the logical system model.
- necessary information i.e., metadata and instance data
- Metadata facilitates customization of the execution behavior of software processes without modifying the operating system software image.
- a modular software architecture makes writing applications - especially distributed applications - more difficult, but metadata provides seamless extensibility allowing new software processes to be added and existing software processes to be upgraded or downgraded while the operating system is running (hot upgrades and downgrades).
- the kernel includes operating system software, standard system services software and modular system services software. Even portions of the kernel may be hot upgraded under certain circumstances.
- metadata include, customization text files used by software device drivers; JAVA class files that are dynamically instantiated using reflection; registration and deregistration protocols that enable the addition and deletion of software services without system disruption; and database view definitions that provide many varied views of the logical system model.
- the embodiment described below includes a network computer system with a loosely coupled distributed processing system. It should be understood, however, that the computer system could also be a central processing system or a combination of distributed and central processing and either loosely or tightly coupled.
- the computer system described below is a network switch for use in, for example, the Internet, wide area networks (WAN) or local area networks (LAN).
- WAN wide area networks
- LAN local area networks
- the modular software architecture can be implemented on any network device (including routers) or other types of computer systems and is not restricted to a network switch.
- a distributed processing system is a collection of independent computers that appear to the user of the system as a single computer. Referring to Fig.
- computer system 10 includes a centralized processor 12 with a control processor subsystem 14 that executes an instance of the kernel 20 including master control programs and server programs to actively control system operation by performing a major portion of the control functions (e.g., booting and system management) for the system.
- computer system 10 includes multiple line cards 16a-16n.
- Each line card includes a control processor subsystem 18a-18n, which runs an instance of the kernel 22a-22n including slave and client programs as well as line card specific software applications.
- Each control processor subsystem 14, 18a-18n operates in an autonomous fashion but the software presents computer system 10 to the user as a single computer.
- Each control processor subsystem includes a processor integrated circuit (chip) 24, 26a-26n, for example, a Motorola 8260 or an Intel Pentium processor.
- the control processor subsystem also includes a memory subsystem 28, 30a-30n including a combination of non- volatile or persistent (e.g., PROM and flash memory) and volatile (e.g., SRAM and DRAM) memory components.
- Computer system 10 also includes an internal communication bus 32 connected to each processor 24, 26a-26n.
- the communication bus is a switched Fast Ethernet providing 100Mb of dedicated bandwidth to each processor allowing the distributed processors to exchange control information at high frequencies.
- a backup or redundant Ethernet switch may also be connected to each board such that if the primary Ethernet switch fails, the boards can fail-over to the backup Ethernet switch.
- Ethernet 32 provides an out-of-band control path, meaning that control information passes over Ethernet 32 but the network data being switched by computer system 10 passes to and from external network connections 31a-31xx over a separate data path 34.
- External network control data is passed from the line cards to the central processor over Ethernet 32.
- This external network control data is also assigned a high priority when passed over the Ethernet to ensure that it is not dropped during periods of heavy traffic on the Ethernet.
- another bus 33 is provided for low level system service operations, including, for example, the detection of newly installed (or removed) hardware, reset and interrupt control and real time clock (RTC) synchronization across the system. In one embodiment, this is an Inter-IC communications (I 2 C) bus.
- the control and data may be passed over one common path (in- band).
- NMS Network/Element Management System
- the present invention provides a massively scalable, highly reliable comprehensive network management system, intended to scale up (and down) to meet varied customer needs.
- element management systems are designed to configure and manage a particular type of network device (e.g., switch, router, hybrid switch-router), and network management systems (NMSs) are used to configure and manage multiple heterogeneous and/or homogeneous network devices.
- EMSs element management systems
- NMSs network management systems
- the term "NMS” will be used for both element and network management systems unless otherwise noted.
- the network administrator uses the NMS to provision services. For example, the administrator may connect a cable to a port of a network device and then use the NMS to enable the port. If the network device supports multiple protocols and services, then the administrator uses the NMS to provision these as well.
- the NMS interprets data gathered by programs running on each network device relevant to network configuration, security, accounting, statistics, and fault logging and presents the interpretation of this data to the network administrator.
- the network adminisfrator may use this data to, for example, determine when to add new hardware and/or services to the network device, to determine when new network devices should be added to the network, and to determine the cause of errors.
- NMS programs and programs executing on network devices perform in expected ways (i.e., synchronously) and use the same data in the same way.
- a logical system model and associated code generation system are used to generate application programming interfaces (APIs) - that is integration interfaces / integration points ⁇ for programs running on the network device and programs running within the NMS.
- APIs application programming interfaces
- the APIs for the programs managing the data repositories (e.g., database programs) used by the network device and NMS programs are also generated from the same logical system model and associated code generation system to ensure that the programs use the data in the same way.
- the programs, including the NMS programs access a single data repository for configuration information, for example, a configuration database within the network device.
- the NMS 60 includes one or more NMS client programs 850a-850n and one or more NMS server programs 851a-851n.
- the NMS client programs provide interfaces for network administrators. Through the NMS clients, the administrator may configure multiple network devices (e.g., computer system 10, Fig. 1; network device 540, Figs. 35B and 35B).
- the NMS clients communicate with the NMS servers to provide the NMS servers with configuration requirements from the administrators.
- the NMS servers provide the NMS clients with network device management information, which the clients then make available to the administrators. "Pushing" data from a server to multiple clients synchronizes the clients with minimal polling. Reduced polling means less management traffic on the network and more device CPU cycles available for other management tasks. Communication between the NMS client and server is done via Remote Method Invocation (RMI) over Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), a reliable protocol that ensures no data loss.
- RMI Remote Method Invocation
- TCP Transmission Control Protocol
- the NMS client and server relationship prevents the network administrator from directly accessing the network device. Since several network administrators may be managing the network, this mitigates errors that may result if two administrators attempt to configure the same network device at the same time.
- the present invention also includes a configuration relational database 42 within each network device and an NMS relational database 61 external to the network device.
- the configuration database program may be executed by a centralized processor card or a processor on another card (e.g., 12, Fig. 1; 542, Fig. 35A) within the network device, and the NMS database program may be executed by a processor within a separate computer system (e.g., 62, Fig. 13B).
- the NMS server stores data directly in the configuration database via JAVA Database Connectivity (JDBC) over TCP, and using JDBC over TCP, the configuration database, through active queries, automatically replicates any changes to NMS database 61.
- JDBC JAVA Database Connectivity
- the NMS server is able to leverage database transactions, database views, database journaling and database backup technologies that help provide unprecedented system availability. Relational database technology also scales well as it has matured over many years.
- An active query is a mechanism that enables a client to post a blocked SQL query for asynchronous notification by the database when data changes are made after the blocked SQL query was made.
- any configuration changes made by the network administrator directly through console interface 852 are made to the configuration database and, through active queries, automatically replicated to the NMS database. Maintaining a primary or master repository of data within each network device ensures that the NMS and network device are always synchronized with respect to the state of the configuration. Replicating changes made to the primary database within the network device to any secondary data repositories, for example, NMS database 61, ensures that all secondary data sources are quickly updated and remain in lockstep synchronization.
- the network adminisfrator may configure periodic replication. For example, data from the master embedded database (i.e., the configuration database) can be uploaded daily or hourly. In addition to the periodic, scheduled uploads, backup may be done anytime at the request of the network administrator.
- the network device may include a backup configuration database 42' maintained by a separate, backup centralized processor card (e.g., 12, Fig. 1; 543, Fig. 35A). Any changes to configuration database 42 are replicated to backup configuration database 42'. If the primary centralized processor card experiences a failure or error, the backup centralized processor card may be switched over to become the primary processor and configuration database 42' may be used to keep the network device operational. In addition, any changes to configuration database 42 may be written immediately to flash persistent memory 853 which may also be located on the primary centralized processor card or on another card, and similarly, any changes to backup configuration database 42' may be written immediately to flash persistent memory 853' which may also be located on the backup centralized processor card or another card. These flash-based configuration files protect against loss of data during power failures. In the unlikely event that all copies of the database within the network device are unusable, the data stored in the NMS database may be downloaded to the network device.
- a separate, backup centralized processor card e.g. 12, Fig. 1; 543,
- the chassis may support internal control (IC) processor cards 542a and 543 a and external confrol (EC) processor cards 542b and 543b.
- IC internal control
- EC external confrol
- configuration database 42 may be maintained by a processor on internal control processor card 542a and configuration database 42' may be maintained by a processor on internal control processor card 543a, and persistent memory 853 may be located on external control processor card 542b and persistent memory 853' may be located on external control processor card 543b. This increases inter-card communication but also provides increased fault tolerance.
- the file transfer protocol may provide an efficient, reliable transport out of the network device for data intensive operations.
- Bulk data applications include accounting, historical statistics and logging.
- An FTP push (to reduce polling) may be used to send accounting, historical statistics and logging data to a data collector server 857, which may be a UNIX server.
- the data collector server may then generate network device and/or network status reports 858a-858n in, for example, American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) format and store the data into a database or generate Automatic Message Accounting Format (AMA/BAF) outputs.
- ASCII American Standard Code for Information Interchange
- AMA/BAF Automatic Message Accounting Format
- Selected data stored within NMS database 61 may also be replicated to one or more remote/central NMS databases 854a-854n, as described below.
- NMS servers may also access network device statistics and status information stored within the network device using SNMP (multiple versions) traps and standard Management Information Bases (MIBs and MIB-2).
- the NMS server augments SNMP traps by providing them over the conventional User Datagram Protocol (UDP) as well as over Transmission Confrol Protocol (TCP), which provides reliable traps.
- UDP User Datagram Protocol
- TCP Transmission Confrol Protocol
- Each event is generated with a sequence number and logged by the data collector server in a system log database for in place context with system log data. These measures significantly improve the likelihood of responding to all events in a timely manner reducing the chance of service disruption.
- the various NMS programs - clients, servers, NMS databases, data collector servers and remote NMS databases - are distributed programs and may be executed on the same computer or different computers.
- the computers may be within the same LAN or WAN or accessible through the Internet.
- Distribution and hierarchy are fundamental to making any software system scale to meet larger needs over time. Distribution reduces resource locality constraints and facilitates flexible deployment. Since day-today management is done in a distributed fashion, it makes sense that the management software should be distributed. Hierarchy provides natural boundaries of management responsibility and minimizes the number of entities that a management tool must be aware of. Both distribution and hierarchy are fundamental to any long-term management solution.
- the client server model allows for increased scalability as servers and clients may be added as the number of network managers increase and as the network grows.
- the various NMS programs may be written in the JAVA programming language to enable the programs to run on both Windows/NT and UNIX platforms, such as Sun Solaris. In fact the code for both platforms may be the same allowing consistent graphical interfaces to be displayed to the network administrator.
- RMI is attractive as the RMI architecture includes (RMI) over Internet Inter-Orb Protocol (HOP) which delivers Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) compliant distributed computing capabilities to JAVA.
- RMI over HOP uses HOP as its communication protocol. HOP eases legacy application and platform integration by allowing application components written in C++, SmallTalk, and other CORBA supported languages to communicate with components running on the JAVA platform.
- the various NMS programs may also run within a web browser.
- the NMS programs may integrate with Hewlett Packard's (HP's) Network Node Manager (NNMTM) to provide the convenience of a network map, event aggregation/filtering, and integration with other vendor's networking. From HP NNM a context-sensitive launch into an NMS server may be executed.
- HP NNM Hewlett Packard's
- NNMTM Network Node Manager
- the NMS server also keeps track of important statistics including average client/server response times and response times to each network device. By looking at these statistics over time, it is possible for network administrators to determine when it is time to grow the management system by adding another server.
- each NMS server gathers the name, IP address and status of other NMS servers in the telecommunication network, determines the number of NMS clients and network devices to which it is connected, tracks its own operation time, the number of fransactions it has handled since initialization, determines the "top talkers" (i.e., network devices associated with high numbers of transactions with the server), and the number of communications errors it has experienced. These statistics help the network administrator tune the NMS to provide better overall management service.
- NMS database 61 may be remote or local with respect to the network device(s) that it is managing.
- the NMS database may be maintained on a computer system outside the domain of the network device (i.e., remote) and communications between the network device and the computer system may occur over a wide area network (WAN) or the Internet.
- WAN wide area network
- the NMS database is maintained on a computer system within the same domain as the network device (i.e., local) and communications between the network device and the computer system may occur over a local area network (LAN). This reduces network management traffic over a WAN or the Internet.
- each domain may include an NMS database 61 and particular / selected data from each NMS database may be replicated (or "rolled up") to remote NMS databases 854a-854n that are in particular centralized locations.
- a telecommunications network may include at least three LAN domains 855a-855c where each domain includes multiple network devices 540 and an NMS database 61. Domain 855a may be located in the Boston,
- domain 855b may be located in the Chicago, Illinois area and domain 855c may be located in the San Francisco, California area.
- NMS servers 851a- 85 If may be located within each domain or in a separate domain.
- one or more NMS clients may be coupled to each NMS server and located in the same domain as the NMS server or in different domains.
- one NMS client may be coupled with multiple NMS servers.
- NMS servers 851a-851c and NMS clients 850a-850k may be located in domain 856a (e.g., Dallas, Texas) while NMS servers 851d-851f and NMS clients 850m-850u may be located in domain 856b (e.g., New York, New York).
- Each NMS server may be used to manage each domain 855a-855c or, preferably, one NMS server in each server domain 856a-856b is used to manage all of the network devices within one network device domain 855a-855c.
- a single domain may include network devices and NMS clients and servers.
- Network administrators use the NMS clients to configure network devices in each of the domains through the NMS servers.
- the network devices replicate changes made to their internal configuration databases (42, Fig. 2 A) to a local NMS database 61.
- the data collector server copies all logging data into NMS database 61 or a separate logging database (not shown).
- Each local NMS database may also replicate selected data to central NMS database(s) 854a-854n in accordance with instructions from the network administrator. Other programs may then access the central database to retrieve and combine data from multiple network devices in multiple domains and then present this data to the network administrator.
- network management traffic over WANs and the Internet are minimized since all data is not copied to the central NMS database.
- local logging data may only be stored in the local NMS databases 61 (or local logging database) and not replicated to one of the central NMS database.
- an NMS client typically communicates between an NMS client and server starts with the client connecting to the server through an application programming interface (API).
- API application programming interface
- the client generally provides a password and other user credentials
- the server provides the client with a handle.
- the client uses the handle in all subsequent asynchronous API calls to the server, and in each call, the client provides the server with a call back address.
- the server uses the call back address to respond to the client after executing the client request included in the call.
- Synchronous interfaces may also be provided by the server for operations that require the client to wait for a server response before proceeding.
- clients may register for traps with a server such that network devices connected to that server may asynchronously notify the server and, hence, clients of problems.
- the server For each client connected to a server, the server allocates certain resources such as the handle assigned to each client and memory space. In addition, the server maintains a queue of client requests. Server threads are used to execute the queued client requests, and the server may allocate one thread per device or the server may maintain a pool of worker threads across all clients or for each client.
- client requests are executed in the order in which they are queued, one disadvantage is that a client request to respond to a high priority situation will have to sit in the queue until all previous requests are executed. Moreover synchronous calls into the server often suspend the client until the server responds. During this period of time, the situation to be addressed by the client request may cause network errors or a complete network failure. As an example, if the control room containing the network device is on fire, the administrator would send a client request to cause the server to shut down the network device. If the request must wait in a queue, the network device may send out erroneous messages and/or cause the network to fail as it suffers damage in the fire before the server executes the client request to shut down the device.
- an NMS client may respond to the notifications in the order in which they were received. If a high priority notification is sent from a server to a client, for example, a notification that a network device has gone down, and the client is busy, network errors or a complete network failure may occur before the client can respond to the notification.
- an NMS client when an NMS client sends a request to an NMS server, the client typically waits for a timer to expire before acknowledging that the NMS server is experiencing difficulty and cannot respond. Moreover, once the timer expires, the NMS client has no information as to what problems the NMS server was experiencing. For example, the server may have been overloaded, the server may have crashed or the client may have lost connectivity. If an NMS server has gone down or the client has lost connectivity, during the time that the client is waiting for its timer to expire, the client will not be receiving server notifications and, thus, cannot monitor the five functional areas of network management as defined by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), specifically, Fault, Configuration, Accounting, Performance and Security (FCAPS). As a result, the network administrator through the NMS client will not be monitoring their network. Ultimately, delays in responding to high priority client requests and server notifications and disconnects between NMS clients and NMS servers affect management availability and possibly network availability.
- ISO International Organization for Standardization
- FCAPS Fault, Configuration
- one or more out-of-band management channels are provided between each NMS client and each NMS server.
- High priority client requests and server notifications may be sent over the out-of-band management channels to ensure fast response times.
- periodic roll calls between NMS clients and NMS servers may be executed over the out-of-band management channels to allow for quick discovery of any disconnects and reclaiming associated client resources.
- periodic roll calls may be conducted between the NMS servers and the network devices to which they are connected, and if a server discovers that a network device has gone down, it may send a high priority notification to appropriate NMS clients over the out- of-band management channels to insure a fast response by the clients.
- an NMS client for example, NMS client 850a
- NMS server 851a an NMS server
- the NMS client provides a password 1260 and other user credentials 1262, and if accepted, the NMS server sends the NMS client a handle 1264 to use for all future calls to the NMS server.
- the password may be encrypted.
- the NMS client in addition to providing a password and standard user credentials during the initial connection, the NMS client further registers a high priority API 1265 with the NMS server by providing a high priority call back address 1266.
- the server may then use the high priority call back address to establish a separate connection 1268 through the high priority API (i.e., client out-of-band management channel) and send a high priority server notification to the NMS client.
- the NMS server may send an emergency notification indicating that a network device has crashed.
- the connection may be established through RMI or another connection-oriented protocol such as RPC or CORBA.
- the client out-of-band management channel therefore, provides an immediate communication channel between the server and client for high priority server notifications.
- each NMS client may register a high priority channel via API 1274 with each NMS server (e.g., 851a, 851b, 851e) with which it connects.
- each NMS client may register a different high priority channel via APIs 1276a-1276c with each NMS server (e.g., 851a, 851b, 851e) with which it connects or, referring to Fig.
- the client may share them among the NMS servers (e.g., 851a, 851b, 851e) with which it connects.
- the NMS servers e.g., 851a, 851b, 851e
- each client may register multiple channels via multiple APIs with each server and each channel may have a different level of priority.
- the servers may periodically send roll call messages 1280a-1280e to each of the clients to which they are connected over the client out-of-band management channels to determine if the connections between each server and the clients are still valid. If a client does not respond 1282a-1282e, then a server knows the connection has been lost, and the server may take back all the resources it allocated to that client. Optionally the server may also notify one or more other clients of the lost connection.
- Each server may also send periodic roll call messages to the network devices to which they are connected. Again, if a network device does not respond, the server knows the connection has been lost or the network device has gone down. In either case, the server sends a high priority message to the clients that are managing that device over one or more client out-of-band management channels.
- the server may also register a high priority API by sending the client a high priority call back address 1270 when the server sends the client the handle.
- the client may then use the high priority call back address 1270 to establish a separate connection 1272 through the high priority API (i.e., server out-of-band management channel) and send high priority (e.g., emergency) client requests to the NMS server.
- the high priority API i.e., server out-of-band management channel
- high priority e.g., emergency
- the NMS client may send an emergency client request to shut down a particular network device over RMI connection 1272 using high priority call back address 1270.
- NMS client could then send the client request to set up the resources needed to handle the video conference through the server out-of-band management channel.
- each NMS server may register the same high priority API 1284 with each NMS client (e.g., 850a, 850d, 850g) with which it connects.
- each NMS server e.g., 85 la
- each NMS server may register a different high priority API 1286a-1286c with each NMS client (e.g., 850a, 850d, 850g) with which it connects or, referring to Fig.
- the server may share them among the NMS clients (e.g., 850a, 850d, 850g) with which it connects.
- the clients may periodically send roll call messages to each of the servers to which they are connected over the server out-of-band management channels to determine if the connections between each client and the servers are still valid. If a server does not respond, then a client knows the connection has been lost, and the client can immediately notify the system administrator. The administrator may then cause the client to connect with another server that can also connect with the same network devices with which the previous server had been connected. During this reconnection to a new server, the NMS client may continue to run.
- Sending high priority messages over out-of-band management channels maximizes client / server management availability and, hence, network availability.
- Periodic roll calls between distributed points of communication - clients to servers, servers to clients and servers to devices - ensure fast discovery of lost connections, and sending notifications of lost connections over the out-of-band management channels ensures fast responses to lost connections - all of which maximizes overall management availability.
- the APIs for both NMS and network device programs are generated using a code generation system from the same logical system model.
- the APIs for the data repository software used by the programs are also generated from the same logical system model to ensure that the programs use the data in the same way.
- Each model within the logical system model contains metadata defining an object / entity, attributes for the object and the object's relationships with other objects. Upgrading / modifying an object is, therefore, much simpler than in current systems, since the relationship between objects, including both hardware and software, and attributes required for each object are clearly defined in one location. When changes are made, the logical system model clearly shows what other programs are affected and, therefore, may also need to be changed. Modeling the hardware and software provides a clean separation of function and form and enables sophisticated dynamic software modularity.
- a code generation system uses the attributes and metadata within each model to generate the APIs for each program and ensure lockstep synchronization.
- the logical model and code generation system may also be used to create test code to test the network device programs and NMS programs.
- Use of the logical model and code generation system saves development, test and integration time and ensures that all relationships between programs are in lockstep synchronization.
- use of the logical model and code generation system facilitates hardware portability, seamless extensibility and unprecedented availability and modularity.
- a logical system model 280 is created using the object modeling notation and a model generation tool, for example, Rational Rose 2000 Modeler Edition available from Rational Software Corporation in Lexington,
- a managed device 282 represents the top level system connected to models representing both hardware 284 and data objects used by software applications 286.
- Hardware model 284 includes models representing specific pieces of hardware, for example, chassis 288, shelf 290, slot 292 and printed circuit board 294.
- the logical model is capable of showing containment, that is, typically, there are many shelves per chassis (1:N), many slots per shelf (1:N) and one board per slot (1:1).
- Shelf 290 is a parent class generalizing multiple shelf models, including various functional shelves 296a-296n as well as one or more system shelves, for example, for fans 298 and power 300.
- Board 294 is also a parent class having multiple board models, including various functional boards without external physical ports 302a-302n (e.g., central processor 12, Fig.
- Hardware model 284 also includes an external physical port model 308.
- Port model 308 is coupled to one or more specific port models, for example, synchronous optical network (SONET) protocol port 310, and a physical service endpoint model 312.
- SONET synchronous optical network
- Hardware model 284 includes models for all hardware that may be available on computer system 10 (Fig. 1) / network device 540 (Figs. 35 A & 35B) whether a particular computer system / network device uses all the available hardware or not.
- the model defines the metadata for the system whereas the presence of hardware in an actual network device is represented in instance data. All shelves and slots may not be populated. In addition, there may be multiple chassis.
- SONET port 310 is an example of one type of port that may be supported by computer system 10.
- a model is created for each type of port available on computer system 10, including, for example, Ethernet, Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) or Digital Signal, Level 3 (DS3).
- the NMS uses the hardware model and instance data to display a graphical picture of computer system 10 / network device 540 to a user.
- Service endpoint model 314 spans the software and hardware models within logical model 280. It is a parent class including a physical service endpoint model 312 and a logical service endpoint model 316. Since the links between the software model and hardware model are minimal, either may be changed (e.g., upgraded or modified) and easily integrated with the other. In addition, multiple models (e.g., 280) may be created for many different types of managed devices (e.g., 282). The software model may be the same or similar for each different type of managed device even if the hardware - and hardware models - corresponding to the different managed devices are very different. Similarly, the hardware model may be the same or similar for different managed devices but the software models may be different for each. The different software models may reflect different customer needs.
- Software model 286 includes models of data objects used by each of the software processes (e.g., applications, device drivers, system services) available on computer system 10 / network device 540. All applications and device drivers may not be used in each computer system / network device. As one example, ATM model 318 is shown. It should be understood that software model 286 may also include models for other applications, for example, Internet Protocol (IP) applications, Frame Relay and Multi- Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) applications. Models of other processes (e.g., device drivers and system services) are not shown for convenience.
- IP Internet Protocol
- MPLS Multi- Protocol Label Switching
- models of configurable objects managed by those processes are also created.
- models of ATM configurable objects are coupled to ATM model 318, including models for a soft permanent virtual path (SPVP) 320, a soft permanent virtual circuit (SPVC) 321, a switch address 322, a cross-connection 323, a permanent virtual path (PVP) cross-connection 324, a permanent virtual circuit (PVC) cross-connection 325, a virtual ATM interface 326, a virtual path link 327, a virtual circuit link 328, logging 329, an ILMI reference 330, PNNI 331, a traffic descriptor 332, an ATM interface 333 and logical service endpoint 316.
- SPVP soft permanent virtual path
- SPVC soft permanent virtual circuit
- PVP permanent virtual circuit
- PVC permanent virtual circuit
- the logical model is layered on the physical computer system to add a layer of abstraction between the physical system and the software applications. Adding or removing known (i.e., not new) hardware from the computer system will not require changes to the logical model or the software applications. However, changes to the physical system, for example, adding a new type of board, will require changes to the logical model.
- the logical model is modified when new or upgraded processes are created. Changes to an object model within the logical model may require changes to other object models within the logical model. It is possible for the logical model to simultaneously support multiple versions of the same software processes (e.g., upgraded and older). In essence, the logical model insulates software applications from changes to the hardware models and vice- versa.
- a view is a logical slice of the logical model and defines a particular set of data within the logical model to which an associated process has access.
- Version stamped views allow multiple versions of the same process to be supported by the same logical model since each version-stamped view limits the data that a corresponding process "views" or has access to, to the data relevant to the version of that process.
- views allow multiple different processes to use the same logical model.
- logical model 280 is used as input to a code generation system 336.
- the code generation system creates a view identification (id) and an application programming interface (API) 338 for each process that requires configuration data.
- a view id and an API may be created for each ATM application 339a-339n, each SONET application 340a-340n, each MPLS application 342a-342n and each IP application 341a-341n.
- a view id and API is also created for each device driver process, for example, device drivers 343a-343n, and for modular system services (MSS) 345a-345n (described below), for example, a Master Confrol Driver (MCD), a System Resiliency Manager (SRM), and a Software
- SMS System Management System
- the code generation system also creates a data definition language (DDL) file 344 including structured query language (SQL) commands used to construct the database schema, that is, the various tables and views within a configuration database 346, and a DDL file 348 including SQL commands used to construct various tables and SQL views within a network management (NMS) database 350 (described below).
- DDL data definition language
- SQL structured query language
- NMS network management
- the databases do not have to be generated from a logical model for views to work. Instead, database files can be supplied directly without having to generate them using the code generation system.
- a MIB "model” may be used instead of using a logical model as an input to the code generation system. For example, relationships between various MIBs and MLB objects may be written (i.e., coded) and then this "model" may be used as input to the code generation system.
- applications 352a-352n each have an associated view 354a-354n of configuration database 42.
- the views may be similar allowing each application to view similar data within configuration database 42.
- each application may be ATM version 1.0 and each view may be ATM view version 1.3.
- the applications and views may be different versions.
- application 352a may be ATM version 1.0 and view 354a may be ATM view version 1.3 while application 352b is ATM version 1.7 and view 354b is ATM view version 1.5.
- a later version, for example, ATM version 1.7, of the same application may represent an upgrade of that application and its corresponding view allows the upgraded application access only to data relevant to the upgraded version and not data relevant to the older version. If the upgraded version of the application uses the same configuration data as an older version, then the view version may be the same for both applications.
- application 352n may represent a completely different type of application, for example, MPLS, and view 354n allows it to have access to data relevant to MPLS and not ATM or any other application. Consequently, through the use of database views, different versions of the same software applications and different types of software applications may be executed on computer system 10 simultaneously.
- logical model 280 may be changed (280') to include models representing the new software and/or hardware.
- Code generation system 336 then uses new logical model 280' to re-generate view ids and APIs 338' for each application, including, for example, ATM version two 360 and device driver 362, and DDL files 344' and 348'.
- the new application(s) and/or device driver(s) processes then bind to the new view ids and APIs.
- a copy of the new application(s) and/or device driver process as well as the new DDL files and any new hardware are sent to the user of computer system 10.
- the user can then download the new software and plug the new hardware into computer system 10.
- the upgrade process is described in more detail below.
- the new logical model is provided to the code generation system which re-generates view ids and APIs for each process / program / application. Again, the new applications are linked with the new view ids and APIs and the new applications and/or hardware are provided to the user.
- the code generation system also creates NMS JAVA interfaces 347 and persistent layer metadata 349.
- the JAVA interfaces are JAVA class files including get and put methods corresponding to attributes within the logical model, and as described below, the NMS servers use the NMS JAVA interfaces to construct models of each particular network device to winch they are connected. Also described below, the NMS servers use the persistent layer metadata as well as run time configuration data to generate SQL configuration commands for use by the configuration database.
- a software build process Prior to shipping computer system 10 to customers, a software build process is initiated to establish the software architecture and processes.
- the code generation system is the first part of this process. Following the execution of the code generation system, each process when pulled into the build process links the associated view id and API into its image.
- source files for example, a main application file 859a, a performance monitoring file 859b and an alarm monitoring file 859c, written in, for example, the C programming language (.c) are compiled into object code files (.o) 859a', 859b' and 859c'.
- the source files may be written in other programming languages, for example, JAVA (.Java) or C++ (.cpp).
- the object files are then linked along with view ids and APIs from the code generation system corresponding to the SONET application, for example, SONET API 340a.
- SONET API may be a library (.a) of many object files. Linking these files generates the SONET Application executable file (.exe) 860.
- each of the executable files for use by the network device / computer system are then provided to a kit builder 861.
- kit builder 861 For example, several SONET executable files (e.g., 860, 863), ATM executable files (e.g., 864a-864n), MPLS executable files (e.g., 865a-865n), MSS executable files 866a-866n, MKI executable 873a-873n files for each board and a DDL configuration database executable file 867 may be provided to kit builder 861.
- the OSE operating system expects executable load modules to be in a format referred to as Executable & Linkable Format (.elf).
- the DDL configuration database executable file may be executed and some data placed in the database prior to supplying the DDL file to the kit builder.
- the kit builder creates a computer system / network device installation kit 862 that is shipped to the customer with the computer system / network device or, later, alone after modifications and upgrades are made.
- the kit builder may compress each of the files included in the Installation Kit (i.e., .exe.gz, .elf.gz), and when the files are later loaded in the network device, they are de-compressed.
- each of the executable files for the NMS is provided separately to the kit builder.
- kit builder 861 creates an NMS installation kit 871 that is shipped to the customer for installation on a separate computer 62 (Fig. 13B).
- new versions of the NMS installation kit may be sent to customers later after upgrades / modifications are made.
- the customer / network administrator may choose to distribute the various NMS processes as described above.
- one or more of the NMS programs may be part of the network device installation kit and later passed from the network device to the NMS server, or part of both the network device installation kit and the NMS installation kit.
- configuration database software uses DDL file 867 to create a configuration database 42 with the necessary configuration tables and active queries.
- the NMS database software uses DDL file 868 to create NMS database 61 with corresponding configuration tables. Memory and storage space within network devices is typically very limited. The configuration database software is robust and takes a considerable amount of these limited resources but provides many advantages as described below.
- logical model 280 (Fig. 3C) may be provided as an input to code generation system 336 in order to generate database views and APIs for NMS programs and network device programs to synchronize the integration interfaces between those programs.
- the same installation kit may be used to install software on each network device to provide synchronization across the network.
- networks include multiple different network devices as well as multiple similar network devices.
- a logical model may be created for each different type of network device and a different installation kit may be implemented on each different type of network device. Instead, of providing a logical model (e.g., 280, Fig.
- a logical model may be provided that represents multiple different managed devices - that is, multiple network devices and the relationship between the network devices.
- multiple logical models 280 and 887a-887n - representing multiple network devices — may be provided, including relationships with other logical models.
- providing multiple logical models or one logical model representing multiple network devices and their relationships as an input(s) to the code generation system allows for synchronization of NMS programs and network device programs (e.g., 901a-901n) across an entire network.
- the code generation system in combination with one or more logical models provides a powerful tool for synchronizing distributed telecommumcation network applications.
- the logical model or models may also be used for simulation of a network device and/or a network of many network devices, which may be useful for scalability testing.
- the code generation system may also provide code used to push data directly into a third party code API. For example, where an API of a third party program expects particular data, the code generation system may provide this data by retrieving the data from the central repository and calling the third- party programs API. In this situation, the code generation system is performing as a "data pump”.
- the network administrator may configure the network device / provision services within the network device.
- the term “configure” includes “provisioning services”.
- the NMS client displays a graphical user interface (GUI) 895 to the administrator including a navigation tree / menu 898.
- GUI graphical user interface
- Selecting a branch of the navigation tree causes the NMS client to display information corresponding to that branch. For example, selecting Devices branch 898a within the tree causes the NMS client to display a list 898b of IP addresses and/or domain name server (DNS) names corresponding to network devices that may be managed by the administrator. The list corresponds to a profile associated with the administrator's user name and password. Profiles are described in detail below. If the administrator's profile includes the appropriate authority, then the administrator may add new devices to list 898b. To add a new device, the administrator selects Devices branch 898a and clicks the right mouse button to cause a pop-up menu 898c (Fig. 4B) to appear.
- DNS domain name server
- the administrator selects the Add Devices option to cause a dialog box 898d (Fig. 4C) to appear.
- the administrator may then type in an IP address (e.g., 192.168.9.203) or a DNS name into field 898e and select an Add button 898f to add the device to Device list window 898g (Fig. 4D).
- the administrator may then add one or more other devices in a similar manner.
- the administrator may also delete a device from the Device list window by selecting the device and then selecting a Delete button 898h, or the administrator may cancel out of the dialog box without adding any new devices by selecting Cancel button 898i.
- the administrator may select an OK button 898j to add any new devices in Device list 898g to navigation free 898a (Fig. 4E).
- the adminisfrator begins by selecting (step 874, Fig. 3H) a particular network device to configure, for example, the network device corresponding to IP address 192.168.9.202 (Fig. 4F).
- the NMS client then informs (step 875, Fig. 3H) an NMS server of the particular network device to be configured. Since many NMS clients may connect to the same NMS server, the NMS server first checks its local cache to determine if it is already managing the network device for another NMS client. If so, the NMS server sends data from the cache to the NMS client.
- the NMS server using JDBC connects to the network device and reads the data / object structure for the physical aspects of the device from the configuration database within the network device into its local cache and uses that information with the JAVA interfaces to construct (step 876) a model of the network device.
- the server provides (step 877) this information to the client, which displays (step 878) a graphical representation 896a (Fig. 4F) of the network device to the administrator indicating the hardware and services-available in the selected network device and the current configuration and currently provisioned services.
- Configuration changes received by an NMS server - from either an NMS client or directly from the network device's configuration database when changes are made through the network device's CLI interface ⁇ are sent by the NMS server to any other NMS clients connected to that server and managing the same network device. This provides scalability, since the device is not burdened with multiple clients subscribing for traps, and ensures each NMS client provides an accurate view of the network device.
- graphical representation 896a (i.e., device view, device mimic) in graphic window 896b may include many views of the network device.
- device mimic 896a is shown in Fig. 4F displaying a front view of the components in the upper portion of network device 540 (Figs. 35A & B).
- the administrator may use scroll bar 926a to scroll down and view lower portions of the front of the network device as shown in Fig. 4G.
- the administrator may also use image scale button 926b to change the size of graphic 896a. For example, the administrator may shrink the network device image to allow more of the device image to be visible in graphic window 896b, as shown in Fig. 4H.
- FIG. 41 A This view corresponds to the block diagram of network device 540 shown in Fig. 41 A.
- upper fan tray 634 and middle fan trays 630 and 632 are shown.
- forwarding cards e.g., 546a and 548e
- cross-connection cards e.g., 562a, 562b, 564b, 566a, 568b
- external processor control cards e.g., 542b and 543b
- GUI 895 also includes several splitter bars 895a-895c (Fig. 4F) to allow the administrator to change the size of the various panels (e.g., 896b, 897 and 898).
- GUI 895 includes a status bar 895d.
- the status bar may include various fields such as a server field 895e, a Mode field 895f, a Profile field 895g and an active field 895h.
- the server filed may provide the IP address or DNS name of the NMS server, and the profile field may provide the username that the adminisfrator logged in under.
- the active field will provide updated status, for example, ready, or ask the adminisfrator to take particular steps.
- the mode field will indicate an on-line mode (i.e., typical operation) or an off-line mode (described in detail below).
- Device mimic 896a may also provide one or more visual indications as to whether a card is present in each slot or whether a slot is empty. For example, in one embodiment, the forwarding cards (e.g., 546a and 548e) in the upper portion of the network device are displayed in a dark color to indicate the cards are present while the lower slots (e.g., 928a and 929e) are shown in a lighter color to indicate that the slots are empty. Other visual indications may also be used.
- a graphical representation of the actual card faceplate may be added to device mimic 896a when a card is present and a blank faceplate may be added when the slot is empty.
- this may be done for any of the cards that may or may not be present in a working network device.
- the upper cross-connection cards may be displayed in a dark color to indicate they are present while the lower cross-connection card slots may be displayed in a lighter color to indicate the slots are empty.
- a back view and other views of the network device may also be shown.
- the adminisfrator may use a mouse to move a cursor into an empty portion of graphic window 896b and click the right mouse button to cause a pop-up menu to appear listing the various views available for the network device.
- the only other view is a back view and pop-up menu 927 is displayed.
- short cuts may be set up.
- double clicking the left mouse button may automatically cause graphic 896a to display the back view of the network device, and another double click may cause graphic 896a to again display the front view.
- a pull down menu may be provided to allow an adminisfrator to select between various views.
- Device mimic 896a is shown in Fig. 41 displaying a back view of the components in the upper portion of network device 540 (Figs. 35A & 35B). Again the administrator may use scroll bar 926a and/or image scale button 926b to view lower portions (Figs.
- FIG. 4J and 4K of the back of the network device or more of the network device by shrinking the graphic (Fig. 4L).
- FIG. 41B For example, upper fan fray 628 (Fig. 41), management interface (MI) card 621 (Fig. 41) and lower fan tray 626 (Fig. 4K) are shown.
- MI management interface
- Fig. 4K lower fan tray 626
- universal port cards e.g., 556h, 554a and 560h, Fig. 4L
- switch fabric cards e.g., 570a and 570b
- internal processor confrol cards e.g., 542a and 543a
- graphic 896a may use a visual indicator to clearly show whether a card is present in a slot or whether the slot is empty.
- the visual indicator for universal port cards is the display of the ports available on each card.
- universal port card 554a is present as indicated by the graphical representation of ports (e.g., 930, Fig. 4L) available on that card, while universal port card 558a (Fig. 41B) is not present as indicated by a blank slot 931. Since the GUI has limited screen real estate and the network device may be large and loaded with many different types of components (e.g., modules, ports, fan trays, power connections), in addition to the device mimic views described above, GUI 895 may also provide a system view menu option 954 (Fig. 4M).
- a separate pull away window 955 (Fig. 4N) is displayed for the administrator including both a front view 955a and a back view 955b of the network device corresponding to the front and back views displayed by the device mimic.
- the administrator may keep this separate pull away window up and visible while provisioning services through the GUI.
- the GUI remains linked with the pull away window such that if the admimstrator selects a component in the pull away window, the device mimic displays that portion of the device and highlights that component.
- the pull away window also highlights the selected component.
- the pull away window may further help the administrator navigate in the device mimic.
- Device mimic 896a may also indicate the status of components.
- ports and/or cards may be green for normal operation, red if there are errors and yellow if there are warnings.
- a port may be colored, for example, light green or gray if it is available but not yet configured and colored dark green after being configured. Other colors or graphical textures may also be used show visible status.
- the GUI may present pop-up windows or tool tips containing information about each card and/or port when the adminisfrator moves the cursor over the card or port. For example, when the administrator moves the cursor over universal port card 556f (Fig.
- pop-up window 932a may be displayed to tell the administrator that the card is a 16 Port OC3 Universal Port Module in Shelf 11 / Slot 3.
- pop-up window 932b appears indicating that the card is a 16 Port OC12 Universal Port Module in Shelf 11 / Slot 4
- pop-up windows 932c and 932d appear indicating the cards are 4 Port OC48 Universal Port Module in Shelf 11 / Slot 5 and 8 Port OC12 Universal Port Module in Shelf 11 / Slot 6, respectively.
- the GUI may also include a configuration / service status window 897 for displaying current configuration and service provisioning details. Again, these details are provided to the NMS client by the NMS server, which reads the data from the network device's configuration database.
- the status window may include many tabs / folders for displaying various data about the network device configuration. In one embodiment, the status window includes a System tab 934 (Fig. 4S), which is displayed when the server first accesses the network device.
- This tab provides system level data such as the system name 934a, System Description 934b, System Contact 934c, System Location 934d, System IP Address 934e (or DNS name), System Up Time 934f, System identification (ID) 934g and System Services 934h. Modifications to data displayed in 934a-934e may be made by the administrator and committed by selecting the Apply button 935.
- the NMS client then passes this information to the NMS server, which then writes a copy of the data in the network device's configuration database and broadcasts the changes to any other NMS clients managing the same network device.
- the adminisfrator may also reset the network device by selecting the Reset System button 935b and then refresh the System tab data by selecting the Refresh button 935c.
- the status window may also include a Modules tab 936 (Fig. 4T, which includes an inventory of the available modules in the network device and various details about those modules such as where they are located (e.g., shelf and slot, back or front).
- the inventory may also include a description of the type of module, version number, manufacturing date, part number, etc.
- the inventory may include run time data such as the operational status and temperature.
- the NMS server may continuously supply the NMS client(s) with the run time data by reading the network device configuration database or NMS database.
- Device mimic 896a is linked with status window 897, such that selecting a module in device mimic 896a causes the Module tab to highlight a line in the inventory corresponding to that card.
- device mimic 896a highlights that module and the Module tab highlights a line 937 in the inventory corresponding to the card in Shelf 11 / Slot 5.
- device mimic 896a highlights the corresponding module. Double clicking the left mouse button on a selected module may cause a dialog box to appear and the administrator may modify particular parameters such as an enable/disable parameter.
- the status window may also include a Ports tab 938 (Fig. 4U), which displays an inventory of the available ports in the network device and various details about each port such as where they are located (shelf, slot and port; back or front).
- the inventory may also include a description of the port name, type and speed as well as run time data such as administrative status, operational status and link status.
- device mimic 896a is linked with status window 897 such that selecting a port within device mimic 896a causes the Port tab to highlight a line in the inventory corresponding to that port. For example, if the administrator selects port 939a (port 1, slot 4) on card 556e, then the Port tab highlights a line 939b within the inventory corresponding to that port. Similarly, if the administrator selects a line from the inventory in the Port tab, device mimic 896a highlights the corresponding port. Again double clicking the left mouse button on a selected port may cause a dialog box to appear and the administrator may modify particular parameters such as an enable/disable parameter.
- FIG. 4V Another tab in the status window may be a SONET Interface tab 940 (Fig. 4V), which includes an inventory of SONET ports in the network device and various details about each port such as where they are located (shelf and slot; back or front).
- Medium type e.g., SONET, Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH)
- SDH Synchronous Digital Hierarchy
- device mimic 896a is lined with status window 897 such that selecting a port within device mimic 896a causes the SONET Interface tab to highlight a line in the inventory corresponding to that SONET port.
- the System tab data as well as the Modules tab, Ports tab and SONET Interface tab data all represent physical aspects of the network device.
- the remaining tabs including SONET Paths tab 942 (Fig. 4W), ATM Interfaces tab 946, Virtual ATM Interfaces tab 947 and Virtual Connections tab 948, display configuration details and, thus, display no data until the device is configured.
- these configuration tabs 942, 946-948 are dialog chained together with wizard-like properties to guide an administrator through configuration details. Through these tabs within the GUI (i.e., graphical context), therefore, the administrator then makes (step 879, Fig. 3H) configuration selections.
- the administrator may begin by selecting a port (e.g., 939a on card 556e, Fig. 5A) within device mimic 896a and clicking the right mouse button (i.e., context sensitive) to cause a pop-up menu 943 to be displayed listing available port configuration options.
- the administrator may then select the "Configure SONET Paths" option, which causes the GUI to display a SONET Path configuration wizard 944 (Fig. 5B).
- the SONET Path configuration wizard guides the administrator through the task of setting up a SONET Path by presenting the administrator with valid configuration options and inserting default parameter values.
- the SONET Path wizard allows the adminisfrator to configure multiple SONET Paths simultaneously, thereby eliminating the repetition of similar configuration process steps required by current network management systems and reducing the time required to configure many SONET Paths.
- the wizard validates configuration requests from the administrator to minimize the potential for mis-configuration.
- the SONET Path wizard displays SONET line data 944a
- the SONET Path wizard creates a single concatenated path, hi the current example, the selected port is an OC12, and the single concatenated path is an STS-12c.
- the wizard assigns and graphically displays the position 944e and width 944f of the STS-12c path and also displays a SONET Path table 944g including an inventory having an entry for the SONET STS-12c path and each of the default parameters assigned to that SONET path.
- each SONET path is chosen such that each path lines up on a valid boundary based on SONET protocol constraints.
- the SONET Path wizard creates one or more valid SONET paths that fully utilize the port capacity.
- the second configuration option 944c allows the adminisfrator to quickly create four STS-3c paths (Fig. 5D) or one concatenated STS-12c (Fig. 5E).
- the user may select the number of paths in window 944s or the type of path in window 944t. Windows 944s and 944t are linked and, thus, always present the user with consistent options.
- window 944t displays STS-3c and if the administrator selects STS-12c in window 944t, window 944s displays 1 path.
- the SONET path wizard graphically displays the position 944d and width 944f of the SONET paths created and also displays them in SONET Path table 944g along with the default parameters assigned to each SONET path.
- the third configuration option allows the adminisfrator to custom configure a port thereby providing the administrator with more flexibility.
- the SONET Path wizard displays a function window 944h.
- the function window provides a list of available SONET Path types 944i and also displays an allocated SONET path window 944j.
- the adminisfrator wishes to configure a single STS-12c path, then they need to select the first or second configuration option 944b or 944c.
- the administrator selects the STS-3c SONET path type and then selects ADD button 944k.
- the SONET Path wizard adds STS-3c path 9441 to the allocated SONET paths window and then displays the position 944e and width 944f of the SONET path and updates Path table 944g with a listing of that SONET path including the assigned parameters.
- two STS-3c paths 9441 and 944m are configured in this way on the selected port.
- the administrator may select an allocated path (e.g., 944m or 944n) in window 944j and then select the remove button 944n to delete a configured path, or the adminisfrator may select the clear button 944o to delete each of the configured paths from window 944j.
- the administrator may select an allocated path and use up arrow 944u and down arrow 944v to change the position 944e.
- the administrator may select a path in the SONET path table and double click on the left mouse button or select a modify button 944p to cause the GUI to display a dialog box through which the adminisfrator may modify the default parameters assigned to each path.
- the wizard validates each parameter change and prevents invalid values from being entered.
- the administrator may also select a cancel button 944q to exit the SONET path wizard without accepting any of the configured or modified paths. If, instead, the administrator wants to exit the SONET Path wizard and accept the configured SONET Paths, the administrator selects an OK button 944r.
- the NMS client validates the parameters as far as possible within the client's view of the device and passes (step 880, Fig. 3H) this run time / instance configuration data, including all configured SONET path parameters, to the NMS server.
- the NMS server validates (step 881) the data received based on its view of the world and if not correct, sends an error message to the NMS client, which notifies the administrator.
- the NMS server re-validates all data from the NMS clients to ensure that it is consistent with changes made by any other NMS client or by an administrator using the network device's CLI.
- the Persistent layer software within the server uses this data to generate (step 882) SQL commands, which the server sends to the configuration database software executing on the network device. This is referred to as "persisting" the configuration change. Receipt of the SQL commands triggers a validation of the data within the network device as well. If the validation is not successful, then the network device sends an error message to the NMS server, and the NMS server sends an error message to the NMS client, which displays the error to the administrator. If the validation is successful, the configuration database software then executes (step 883) the SQL commands to fill in or change the appropriate configuration tables.
- the configuration process provides a tiered approach to validation of configuration data.
- the NMS client validates configuration data received from an administrator according to its view of the network device. Since multiple clients may manage the same network device through the same NMS server, the NMS server re-validates received configuration data. Similarly, because the network device may be managed simultaneously by multiple NMS servers, the network device itself re- validates received configuration data. This tiered validation provides reliability and scalability to the NMS.
- the configuration database software then sends (step 884) active query notices, described in more detail below, to appropriate applications executing within the network device to complete the administrator's configuration request (step 885). Active query notices may also be used to update the NMS database with the changes made to the configuration database.
- a Configuration Synchronization process running in the network device may also be notified through active queries when any configuration changes are made or, perhaps, only when certain configuration changes are made.
- the network device may be connected to multiple NMS Servers.
- the Configuration Synchronization program broadcasts configuration changes to each attached NMS server. This may be accomplished by issuing reliable (i.e., over TCP) SNMP configuration change traps to each NMS server. Configuration change traps received by the NMS servers are then multicast / broadcast to all attached NMS clients. Thus, all NMS servers, NMS clients, and databases (both internal and external to the network device) remain synchronized.
- the configuration database executes groups of SQL commands representing one configuration change as a relational database transaction, such that none of the changes are committed to the configuration database until all commands are successfully executed.
- the configuration database then notifies the server as to the success or failure of the configuration change and the server notifies the client. If the server receives a communication failure notification, then the server re-sends the SQL commands to re-start the configuration changes. Upon the receipt of any other type of failure, the client notifies the user. If the administrator now selects the same port 939a (Fig.
- the SONET path wizard may be displayed as shown in Fig. 5F, or alternatively, a SONET Path Configuration dialog box 945 (Fig. 5G) may be displayed.
- the SONET Path dialog box is similar to the SONET Path wizard except that it does not include the three configuration options 944b-944d.
- dialog box 945 displays SONET line data 945a (e.g., slot 4, port 1, OC12), SONET Path table 945g and SONET path position 945e and width 945f.
- the administrator may modify parameters of a configured SONET path by selecting the path in the Path table and double clicking the right mouse button or selecting a Modify button 945p.
- the administrator may also add a SONET path by selecting an Add button 945k, which causes the SONET path dialog box to display another SONET path in the path table. Again, the administrator may modify the parameters by selecting the new SONET path and then the Modify button.
- the adminisfrator may also delete a SONET path by selecting it within the SONET Path table and then selecting a Delete button 945m. The adminisfrator may cancel any changes made by selecting a Cancel button 945n, or the administrator may commit any changes made by selecting an OK button 945r.
- the SONET path wizard provides the administrator with available and valid configuration options.
- the options are consistent with constraints imposed by the SONET protocol and the network device itself.
- the options may be further limited by other constraints, for example, customer subscription limitations. That is, ports or modules may be associated with particular customers and the SONET Path wizard may present the administrator with configuration options that match services to which the customer is entitled and no more. For example, a particular customer may have only purchased service on two STS-3c SONET paths on an OC12 SONET port, and the SONET Path wizard may prevent the administrator from configuring more than these two STS-3c SONET paths for that customer.
- the process of configuring SONET paths is made simpler and more efficient, the necessary expertise required to configure SONET paths is reduced and the potential for mis-configurations is reduced.
- the wizard validates the input and presents the administrator with configuration options consistent with both the original constraints and the administrator's configuration choices. This further reduces the necessary expertise required to configure SONET paths and further minimizes the potential for mis- configurations.
- short cuts presented to the adminisfrator may increase the speed and efficiency of configuring SONET paths.
- GUI 895 displays an inventory including the two STS-3c paths (942a and 942b) just configured.
- the SONET path tab includes information about each SONET path, such as SONET line information (e.g., shelf, slot and port), Path Position, Path Width, Ingress
- Path Type and Service e.g., Terminated ATM, Switched SONET
- Path Name e.g., Terminated ATM, Switched SONET
- the SONET Path configuration wizard may automatically assign the Path Name based on the shelf, slot and port. Parameters, such as Path Name, Path Width, Path Number and Path Type, may be changed by selecting a SONET path from the inventory and double clicking on that SONET path or selecting a Modify button (not shown) causing a dialog box to appear.
- the adminisfrator may type in different parameter values or select from a pulldown list of available options within the dialog box.
- GUI 895 displays an inventory including two ATM interfaces (946a and 946b) corresponding to the two STS-3c paths just configured.
- the SONET Path configuration wizard automatically assigns an ATM interface name based again on the shelf, slot and port.
- the SONET Path wizard also automatically assigns a minimum VPI bits and maximum VPI bits and a minimum and maximum VCI bits.
- the ATM Interfaces tab lists information such as the shelf, port and slot as well as the Path name and location of the card.
- the ATM Interfaces tab also lists the Virtual ATM (V-ATM) interfaces (IF) count.
- V-ATM Virtual ATM
- the adminisfrator may return to the SONET Paths tab to configure additional SONET paths by selecting a Back button 946h or by directly selecting the SONET Paths tab.
- a port e.g., 939a, Fig. 5A
- a Configure SONET Paths option from a pop-up menu
- the administrator may instead select a path from the inventory of paths in SONET Interfaces tab 940 and then select a Paths button 940a to cause SONET Path wizard 944 (Fig. 5K) to be displayed.
- the administrator may select line 949a corresponding to port 941a on card 556d and then select Paths button 940a to cause SONET Path wizard 944 to be displayed.
- SONET line data 944a indicates that this is port two in slot 5 and is an OC48 type port.
- the adminisfrator is presented with three configuration options 944b, 944c and 944d.
- the SONET Path Wizard creates a single STS-48c concatenated SONET Path and inventories the new path in Path table 944g and displays the path position 944e and path width 944f. If the adminisfrator instead selects option 944c (Figs. 5M-5O), the SONET Path wizard creates one or more valid SONET paths that fully utilize the port capacity. For example, as pull down window 944s (Fig. 5N) shows one single concatenated STS-48c path (Fig. 5N) may be created, four STS-12c paths (Fig. 5M), or sixteen STS-3c paths (Fig. 5O) may be created. Instead, the administrator may select option 944d (Fig.
- function window 944h is displayed including a list of Available SONET Path types 944i and a list of Allocated SONET Paths 944j.
- the port is an OC48
- both an STS-3c and STS-12c are listed as available SONET Path types.
- the administrator may select one and then select Add button 944k to add a path to the Allocated SONET Paths list and cause the wizard to display the path in Path Table 944g and to display the path position 944e and width 944f.
- two STS-3c paths are added in positions 1 and 4 and two STS-12c paths are added in positions 22 and 34.
- the inventory of paths includes the four new paths (942c-942f).
- the inventory of ATM interfaces includes four new interfaces (946c-946f) corresponding to the newly created SONET paths.
- the SONET Path wizard may be accessed by the administrator from any view in the GUI by simply selecting a Wizard menu button 951 and then selecting a SONET Path option 951a (Fig. 5Q) from a pulldown menu 951b.
- the SONET line data i.e., slot, port and type
- the administrator simply needs to provide this information to allow the SONET path wizard to select the appropriate port.
- the SONET wizard will appear with this information displayed as the SONET line data but the adminisfrator may modify this data to select a different port from the SONET wizard.
- the administrator first needs to create one or more virtual ATM interfaces for each ATM interface. At least two virtual ATM interfaces are required since two discrete virtual ATM interfaces are required for each virtual connection. In the case of a multipoint connection there will be one root ATM interface and many leafs.
- the adminisfrator may select an ATM interface (e.g., 946b) from the inventory in the ATM Interfaces tab and then select a Virtual Interfaces button 946g to cause Virtual Interfaces tab 947 (Fig. 5S) to appear and display an inventory of all virtual interfaces associated with the selected ATM interface. In this example, no virtual ATM interfaces have yet been created, thus, none are displayed.
- the Virtual ATM Interfaces tab also includes a device navigation tree 947a. The navigation tree is linked with the Virtual Interfaces button 946g (Fig. 5R) such that the device tree highlights the ATM interface (e.g., ATM-Path2_l 1/4, Fig. 5S) that was selected when the Virtual Interfaces button was selected.
- the NMS client When the Virtual Interfaces button is selected, the NMS client automatically requests virtual interface data corresponding to the selected ATM interface from the NMS server and then the NMS client displays this data in the Virtual ATM Interfaces tab. This saves memory space within the NMS client since only a small amount of data relevant to the virtual ATM interfaces associated with the selected ATM interface must be stored. In addition, since the amount of data is small, the data transfer is quick and reduces network traffic.
- the administrator may directly select Virtual ATM Interfaces tab 947 and then use the device tree 947a to locate the ATM interface they wish to configure with one or more virtual ATM interfaces.
- the NMS client may again automatically request virtual interface data from the NMS server, or instead, the NMS client may simply use data stored in cache.
- the administrator may select a Back button 947d or directly select the ATM Interfaces tab.
- the appropriate ATM interface e.g., ATM-Path2_l 1/4/1 in the Virtual ATM Interfaces tab device tree 947a
- the administrator may select an ADD button 947b to cause a virtual ATM (V- ATM) Interfaces dialog box 950 (Fig. 5T) to appear.
- V- ATM virtual ATM
- GUI 895 automatically fills in dialog box 950 with default values for Connection type 950a, Version 950b and Administration Status 950c.
- the administrator may provide a Name or Alias 950d and may modify the other three parameters by selecting from the options provided in pull down menus.
- This and other dialog boxes may also have wizard-like properties. For example, only valid connection types, versions and administrative status choices are made available in corresponding pull-down menus.
- Version may be UNI Network 3.1, UNI Network 4.0, IISP User 3.0, IISP User 3.1, PNNI, IISP Network 3.0 or IISP Network 3.1
- Administration Status may be Up or Down. When Down is selected, the virtual ATM interface is created but not enabled.
- connection type for the first virtual ATM interface created for a particular ATM interface, the connection type choices include Direct Link or Virtual Uni. However, for any additional virtual ATM interfaces for the same ATM interface the connection type choices include only Logical Link.
- the dialog box provides valid options to further assist the adminisfrator.
- the adminisfrator selects an OK button 950e to accept the values in the dialog box and cause the virtual ATM interface (e.g., 947c, Fig. 5U) to be inventoried in Virtual ATM tab 947.
- the administrator may then select ADD button 947b again to add another virtual ATM interface to the selected ATM interface (ATM-Path2_l 1/4/1). Instead, the administrator may use device tree 947a to select another ATM interface, for example, ATM path 946c (Fig. 5R) designated ATM-Pathl_l 1/5/2 (Fig. 5 V) in device free 947a.
- the administrator may again select the ADD button or the administrator may select port 941a on card 556d, click the right mouse button and select the "Add Virtual Connection" option from pop-up menu 943. This will again cause dialog box 950 (Fig. 5T) to appear, and the administrator may again modify parameters and then select OK button 950e to configure the virtual ATM interface.
- the administrator selects a virtual ATM interface (e.g., 947c, Fig. 5V) and then selects a Virtual Connections button 947d or a Virtual Connection option 951c (Fig. 5Q) from wizard pull-down menu 951b.
- a virtual Connection configuration wizard 952 Fig. 5W.
- the SONET Path configuration wizard guides the adminisfrator through the task of setting up a SONET Path
- the Virtual Connection configuration wizard guides the adminisfrator through the task of setting up a virtual connection. Again, the administrator is presented with valid configuration options and default parameter values are provided as a configuration starting point.
- the process of configuring virtual connections is simplified, and required administrator expertise is reduced since the adminisfrator does not need to know or remember to provide each parameter value.
- the wizard validates configuration requests from the adminisfrator to minimize the potential for mis-configuration.
- the Virtual Connection configuration wizard includes a Connection Topology panel 952a and a Connection Type panel 952b.
- the administrator Within the Connection Topology panel the administrator is asked whether they want a point-to-point or point-to-multipoint connection, and within the Connection Type panel, the adminisfrator is asked whether they want a Virtual Path Connection (VPC) or a Virtual Channel Connection (VCC). In addition, the administrator may indicate that they want the VPC or VCC made soft (SPVPC/SPVCC). Where the administrator chooses a point-to-point, VPC connection, the Virtual Connection wizard presents dialog box 953 (Fig. 5X).
- the source (e.g., testl in End Point 1 window 953a) for the point-to-point connection is automatically set to the virtual ATM interface (e.g., 947c, Fig. 5V) selected in Virtual ATM Interface tab 947 when the virtual connection button 947d was selected.
- the administrator may change the source simply by selecting another virtual ATM interface in device free 953b, for example, test2.
- the administrator selects a destination (e.g., test3 in End Point 2 window 953c) for the point-to-point connection by selecting a virtual ATM interface in device tree 953d, for example, test3. If the administrator had selected point-to-multipoint in Connection Topology panel 952a (Fig.
- the virtual Connection wizard also contains a Connections Parameters window 953e, an End Point 1 Parameters window 953f and an End Point 2 Parameters window 953g. Again for point-to-multipoint, there will be multiple End Point 2 Parameters windows.
- the administrator may provide a Connection name (e.g., test).
- the adminisfrator also determines whether the connection will be configured in an Up or Down Administration Status, and may provide a Customer Name (e.g., Walmart) or select one from a customer list, which may be displayed by selecting Customer List button 953h.
- the adminisfrator provides a Virtual Path Identifier (VPI) in window 953i, 953j or selects a Use Any VPI Value indicator 953k, 9531. If the administrator chooses a VCC connection in Connection Type window 952b (Fig. 5W), then the administrator must also provide a Virtual Channel Indicator (VCI) in window 953m, 953n or select a Use Any VCI Value indicator 953o, 953p.
- VPN Virtual Path Identifier
- VCI Virtual Channel Indicator
- the administrator also selects a Transmit and a Receive Traffic Descriptor (e.g., Variable Bit Rate (VBR)-high, VBR-low, Constant Bit Rate (CBR)- high, CBR-low) from a pull down menu or selects an Add Traffic Descriptor button 953q, 953r. If the administrator selects one of the Add Traffic Descriptor buttons, then a traffic descriptor window 956 (Fig. 5Y) is displayed and the administrator may add a new traffic descriptor by providing a name and selecting a quality of service (QoS) class and a traffic descriptor type from corresponding pull down menus.
- QoS quality of service
- CLP cell loss priority
- the traffic descriptors indicate the priority of the traffic to be sent over the connection thereby allowing parameterization of quality of service.
- the administrator may select a Use the same Traffic Descriptor for both Transmit and Receive indicator 953s, 953t (Fig. 5X).
- the administrator may select a Back button 953u (Fig. 5X) to return to screen 952 (Fig. 5W) or a Cancel button 953v to exit out of the wizard without creating a virtual connection.
- a Finish button 953 w The NMS client passes the parameters to the NMS server, which validates the data and then writes the data into the network device's configuration database. The data is validated again within the network device and then through active queries modular processes throughout the device are notified of the configuration change to cause these processes to implement the virtual connection.
- GUI 895 displays the newly created virtual connection 948a (Fig. 5Z) in a list within Virtual Connections tab 948.
- the administrator may then create multiple virtual connections between the various virtual ATM interfaces, each of which will be listed in the Virtual Connections tab 948.
- the administrator may also select a Back button 948b to return to the Virtual ATM Interfaces tab or select the Virtual ATM Interfaces tab directly.
- the Virtual Connections tab also includes a device navigation free 948c.
- the device free is linked with Virtual Connections button 947d such that the device tree highlights the virtual ATM interface that was selected in Virtual ATM Interfaces tab 947 when the Virtual Connections button was selected.
- the Virtual Connections tab then only displays data relevant to the highlighted portion of the device tree.
- the SONET Paths tab, ATM Interfaces tab, Virtual ATM Interfaces tab and Virtual Connections tabs are configuration tabs that are chained together providing wizard-like properties. Both the order of the tabs from right to left and the forward buttons (e.g., ATM Interfaces button 942c) and back buttons (e.g., Back button 946h) allow an administrator to easily and quickly sequence through the steps necessary to provision services.
- the forward buttons e.g., ATM Interfaces button 942c
- back buttons e.g., Back button 946h
- device navigation frees were shown in only the Virtual ATM Interface tab and the Virtual Connection tab, a device navigation tree may be included in each tab and only data relevant to the highlighted portion of the navigation tree may be displayed.
- the status window may include tabs for other physical layer protocols, for example, Ethernet.
- the status window may include tabs for other upper layer protocols, including MPLS, IP and Frame Relay.
- other configuration wizards in addition to the SONET Path configuration wizard and Virtual Connection configuration wizard may also be used to simplify service provisioning.
- a network administrator When configuring a Permanent Virtual Circuit (PVC) or a Soft Permanent Virtual Circuit (SPVC) on a virtual Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) interface, a network administrator must specify at least a Virtual Path Identifier (VPI) and, in many instances, both a VPI and a Virtual Channel Identifier (VCI). If the network device being configured is not the first end-point of the connection being established, then the network administrator will simply provide the VPI or VPI/VCI value supplied by the connection request. If, however, the network device being configured is the first end- point in the connection being established, the network adminisfrator must provide an unused (i.e., available) VPI or VPI/VCI value.
- VPN Virtual Path Identifier
- VPI Virtual Channel Identifier
- VPI Voice over IP
- NNI Network Node Interface
- allocated VPIs and VCIs are tracked manually. Thus, tracking each allocated VPI and VCI is cumbersome and error prone. Without accurate checking, however, the network administrator's task of assigning an unused VPI or VPLVCI to a first end-point in a connection becomes a frustrating and time consuming guessing game. The administrator inputs what they believe is an available value and waits to see if it is accepted or rejected. If it is rejected, they repeat the process of inputting another value they believe is available and again waiting to see if it is accepted or rejected. In a network where thousands and, perhaps, millions of virtual connections (PVCs) need to be configured, this guessing game is an unacceptable waste of time.
- PVCs virtual connections
- NMSs Newer network / element management systems
- VPI and VPLVCI values offer automatic selection of VPI and VPLVCI values. This eliminates the tracking burden and guess work frustration but the adminisfrator loses control over which values are selected. In addition, the administrator is often unaware of which value is selected.
- a network administrator may input an available VPI value in windows 953i and 953j or allow the wizard to automatically input an available VPI value by selecting Use Any VPI Value indicators 953k and 953L.
- a network administrator may input an available VCI value in windows 953m and 953n or allow the wizard to automatically input an available VCI value by selecting Use Any VCI Value indicators 953o and 953p.
- the automatic inputting of available VPIs and VCIs removes any requirement that network administrators frack allocated VPIs and VCIs and eliminates the frustrating guessing game that often occurs when the tracking is inaccurate. Automatic selection, however, removes the network administrator's control over which available VPI or VCI is chosen.
- a Virtual Connection Wizard may provide VPI Index buttons and VPI/VCI Index buttons. When selected the Index buttons provide the administrator with a list of available VPIs and VCIs from which the administrator may choose. For example, a Virtual Connection Wizard 1102 provides VPI Index buttons 1102a and 1102b (Fig. 75) if the network administrator selects the Virtual Path Connection option in Connection Type panel 952b (Fig. 5W) and provides VPI/VCI Index buttons 1102c and 1102d (Fig. 76) if the network adminisfrator selects the Virtual Channel Connection option in Connection Type panel 952b.
- VPI Index dialog box 1104 (Fig. 77) to appear.
- Dialog box 1104 includes a VPI window 1104a and backward and forward scroll buttons 1104b and 1104c, respectively.
- the VPI window lists the first available VPI (e.g., 10).
- the adminisfrator may then use forward scroll button 1104c to cause succeeding available VPI values (e.g., 14, 16, 25, etc.) to appear in dialog VPI window 1104a.
- the administrator may use backward scroll button 1104b to cause previous available VPI values (e.g., 16, 14, 10) to appear in dialog VPI window 1104a.
- the administrator may click on cancel button 1104d and type the value into wizard VPI windows 1102e and 1102f (Fig. 75) or, if the administrator has the desired value showing in dialog VPI window 1104a, the adminisfrator need only select OK button 1104e and the Virtual Connection Wizard will automatically add that value to wizard VPI windows 1102e and 1102f.
- VPI/VCI Index dialog box 1106 (Fig. 78) to appear.
- Dialog box 1106 includes a VPI window 1106a and a VCI window 1106b and backward and forward scroll buttons 1106c-l 106f.
- the VPI window lists the first available VPI (e.g., 10) and the VCI window lists the first available VCI (e.g., 4).
- the administrator may then use forward scroll button 1106d to cause succeeding available VPI values (e.g., 14, 16, 25, etc.) to appear in dialog VPI window 1106a and forward scroll button 1106f to cause succeeding available VCI values (e.g., 8, 9, 15, 22, etc.) to appear in dialog VCI window 1106b.
- the administrator may use backward scroll button 1106c to cause previous available VPI values (e.g., 16, 14, 10) to appear in dialog VPI window 1106a and backward scroll button 1106e to cause previous available VCI values (e.g., 15, 9, 8, 4) to appear in dialog VCI window 1106b.
- the administrator may click on cancel button 1106g and type the desired VPI number into wizard VPI windows 1102e and 1102f (Fig. 76) and type the desired VCI number into wizard VCI windows 1102g and 1102h or, if the administrator has the desired VPI/VCI values showing in dialog VPI and VCI windows 1106a and 1106b, the adminisfrator need only select OK button 1106h and the Virtual Connection Wizard will automatically add those values to wizard VPI and VCI windows 1102e-l 102h.
- the wizard VPI windows 1102e and 1102f and the VCI windows 1102g and 1102h may be "spin boxes" including up and down arrows 1102i and 1102j, respectively. Using the up and down arrows, preceding and succeeding values may be scrolled through the corresponding window, and the administrator would simply stop scrolling when the desired values were displayed.
- the indexes of available VPIs and VCIs may be displayed to an administrator in a variety of ways, each such way will be referred to hereinafter as an Availability Index.
- Availability Indexes present administrators with valid, available values. Thus, the guesswork and tracking burden are removed from the VPI / VCI selection process and less time and frustration is required to configure connections. Yet, the administrator retains control over exactly which paths and channels are allocated for each connection. Consequently, an administrator may choose to keep all connections for a particular customer on a particular path or set of paths. Similarly, the administrator may designate a certain set of paths for virtual path connections and a different set of paths for virtual channel connections. Since only valid, available values are presented to the administrator, less experienced administrators may easily configure connections without fear of misconfiguration errors.
- GUI 895 may also include a custom navigator tool that facilitates "dynamic menus".
- a popup menu 958a displays a list of available "screen marks".
- the list of screen marks may include default screen marks (e.g., Virtual ATM IF 958b and Virtual Connection 958c) and/or administrator created screen marks (e.g., test 958d).
- the custom navigator shortcuts the configuration process by jumping forward past various configuration screens to a particular configuration screen corresponding to the screen mark. For example, if the administrator selects a Virtual ATM IF screen mark 958b, the custom navigator presents the Virtual ATM Interface tab (Fig. 5U). The administrator may then select an ATM interface from device free 947a and select Add button 947b to add a virtual ATM interface. Similarly, the administrator may select a Virtual Connection screen mark 958c, and the custom navigator automatically presents Virtual Connection wizard 952 (Fig. 5W).
- the custom navigator allows the adminisfrator to create unique screen marks.
- the administrator may provision SONET paths and ATM interfaces as described above, then select an ATM interface (e.g., 946b, Fig. 5R) in ATM interfaces tab 946 and select Virtual Interfaces button 946g to display Virtual ATM Interfaces tab 947 (Fig. 5S), and as described above, the devices free 947a will highlight the selected ATM interface. If the administrator believes they may want to return to the Virtual Interfaces tab multiple times to provision multiple virtual ATM interfaces for the selected ATM interface or other ATM interfaces near the selected ATM interface in device free 947a, then the administrator would select a screen mark button 959 to create a screen mark for this configuration position.
- an ATM interface e.g., 946b, Fig. 5R
- Virtual Interfaces button 946g to display Virtual ATM Interfaces tab 947 (Fig. 5S)
- the devices free 947a will highlight the selected ATM interface. If the administrator believes they may want to return to the Virtual Interfaces tab multiple times to provision multiple virtual ATM
- a dialog box would appear in which the adminisfrator enters the name of the new screen mark (e.g., test 958d, Fig. 4X) and this new screen mark name is added to the list of screen marks 958a.
- the custom navigator then takes a "snap shot" of the metadata necessary to recreate the screen and the current configuration position (i.e., highlight ATM-Path2_l 1/4/1). If the adminisfrator now selects this screen mark while another tab is displayed, the custom navigator uses the metadata associated with the screen mark to present the screen shot displayed in Fig. 5S to the administrator updated with any other configuration changes made subsequent to the creation of the screen mark.
- the administrator is provided with configuration short cuts, both default short cuts and ones created by the administrator himself.
- Many other screen marks may be created through GUI 895, and in each case, the screen marks may simplify the configuration process and save the administrator configuration time.
- an administrator may use a custom wizard tool to create unique custom wizards to reflect common screen sequences used by the administrator.
- the administrator begins by selecting a Custom Wizard menu button 960 (Fig. 4Y) to cause a pull-down menu 960a to appear and then selecting a Create Wizard 960b option from the pull-down menu.
- the adminisfrator then begins using the particular sequence of screens that they wish to turn into a custom wizard and the custom wizard tool records this sequence of screens. For example, the administrator may begin by selecting a port within device mimic 896a, clicking the right mouse button and selecting the Configure SONET Paths option to cause the SONET Path configuration wizard 94 ⁇ >(Fig. 5B) to appear.
- the custom wizard tool records the first screen to be included in the new custom wizard as the SONET Path configuration wizard screen 944. After filling in the appropriate data for the current port configuration, the administrator presses the OK button and the SONET Paths tab 942 (Fig. 5H) appears. The custom wizard records the SONET Paths tab screen as the next screen in the new custom wizard. The administrator may then select Virtual ATM interfaces tab 947 (Fig. 5S) to cause this tab to be displayed. Again, the custom navigator records this screen as the next screen in the new custom wizard. The administrator may continue to select further screens to add to the new custom wizard (for example, by selecting an ATM interface from device tree 947a and then selecting the Add button 947b to cause the Add V-ATM Interface dialog box 950 (Fig.
- Custom Wizard menu button 960 (Fig. 4Y) and then selects a Finish Wizard option 960c.
- the administrator again selects Custom Wizard 960 menu button and then selects a Select Wizard option 960e to cause an inventory 960f of custom wizards to be displayed.
- the administrator selects a custom wizard (e.g., test), and the custom wizard automatically presents the administrator with the first screen of that wizard.
- the custom navigator presents SONET Path configuration wizard screen 961 (Fig. 4Z). Since the administrator may start a custom wizard from any screen within GUI 895, SONET Path wizard screen 961 is different from the screen 944 displayed in Fig. 5B because SONET line data 961a (i.e., slot, port, type) is not provided. That is, the administrator may not have selected a particular SONET Path to configure prior to selecting the custom wizard. Hence, the SONET line data is blank and the adminisfrator must fill this in. After the administrator enters and/or modifies the SONET line data and any other data within the first screen, the administrator selects a Next button 961b (or an OK button) to move to the next screen in the sequence of screens defined by the custom wizard. In the next and subsequent screens, the administrator may also select a Back button to return to a previous screen within the custom wizard screen sequence.
- the custom wizard tool allows an administrator to make their provisioning tasks more efficient by defining preferred screen sequences for each task.
- a network manager / administrator wishes to jump- start initial configuration of a new network device before the network device is connected into the network.
- a new network device may have been purchased and be in the process of being delivered to a particular site.
- a network manager will aheady know how they plan to use the network device to meet customer needs and, therefore, how they would like to configure the network device. Because configuring an entire network device may take considerable time once the device arrives and because the network manager may need to get the network device configured as soon as possible to meet network customer needs, many network managers would like the ability to perform preparatory configuration work prior to the network device being connected into the network.
- network device configuration data is stored in a configuration database within the network device and all changes to the configuration database are copied in the same format to an external NMS database. Since the data in both databases (i.e., configuration and NMS) is in the same format, the present invention allows a network device to be completely configured "off-line" by entering all configuration data into an NMS database using GUI 895 in an off-line mode.
- the data from the NMS database is reliably downloaded to the network device as a group of SQL commands using a relational database transaction.
- the network device executes the SQL commands to enter the data into the internal configuration database, and through the active query process (described below), the network device may be completely and reliably configured.
- the network manager begins by selecting Devices branch
- the network manager selects Add button 898f to cause dialog box 898d to add the IP address to window 898g (Fig. 6C).
- box 898m is blank indicating the network device is to be configured off-line.
- the new network device e.g., 192.168.9.201
- the icon includes a visual indicator 898n (e.g., red "X") indicating the off-line status of the device.
- the network manager selects the new device. Since the NMS client and NMS server are not connected to the actual network device, no configuration data may be read from the network device's configuration database.
- the network manager must, therefore, populate a device mimic with modules representing the physical inventory that the network device will include. To do this, the network manager begins by clicking on the right mouse button to display pop-up menu 898o, and selects the Add Chassis option to cause a device mimic 896a (Fig. 6E) to be displayed in window 896b including only a chassis. All slots in the chassis may be empty and visually displayed, for example, in a gray or light color. Alternatively, particular modules that are required for proper network device operation may be automatically included in the chassis. If more than one chassis type is available, a dialog box would appear and allow the network manager to select a particular chassis. In the current example, only one chassis is available and is automatically displayed when the network manager selects the Add Chassis option.
- the cursor provides context sensitive pop-up windows.
- the network manager may move the cursor over a particular slot (e.g., 896c, Fig. 6E) to cause a pop-up window (e.g., 896d) to appear and describe the slot (e.g., Empty Forwarding Processor Slot Shelf 3/Slot 1).
- the network manager may then select an empty slot (e.g., 896c, Fig. 6F) to cause the device mimic to highlight that slot, click the right mouse button to cause a pop-up menu (e.g., 896e) to appear and select the Add Module option.
- an empty slot e.g., 896c, Fig. 6F
- a pop-up menu e.g., 896e
- Add Module option In this example, only one type of forwarding card is available. Thus, it is automatically added (visually indicated in dark green, Fig.
- the network manager may also remove a module by selecting the module (e.g., 546a), clicking the right mouse button to cause a pop-up menu 896t to appear and then selecting the Remove Module option.
- a dialog box will appear after the network manager selects the Add Module option and the network manager will select the particular module that the network device will include in this slot upon delivery. For example, while viewing the back of the chassis (Fig. 6H), the manager may select an empty universal port card slot (e.g., 896f), click the right mouse button causing pop-up menu 896g (Fig. 61) to appear and select the Add Module option. Since multiple universal port cards are available, selecting the Add Module option causes a dialog box 896h (Fig. 6J) to appear. The network manager may then select the type of universal port card to be added into the empty slot from an inventory provided in pull-down menu 896i (Fig. 6K). Once the network manager selects the appropriate card and an OK button 896j, the device mimic adds a representation of this card (e.g., 556h, Fig. 6L and see also Fig. 41B).
- an empty universal port card slot e.g., 896f
- click the right mouse button causing pop-up menu 896g
- a network device may include many similar modules, for example, many 16 port OC3 universal port cards and many forwarding cards.
- the network manager may simply select an inserted module (e.g., 16 port OC3 universal port card 556h, Fig. 6L) by pressing down on the left mouse button, dragging an icon to an empty slot (e.g., 556i) also requiring a similar module and releasing the left mouse button to drop a similar module (e.g., 16 port OC3 universal port card 556g, Fig. 6M) into that empty slot.
- the network manager may drag and drop a forwarding card module to an empty forwarding card slot and other inserted modules into other empty slots.
- the network manager may use the drag and drop method to quickly populate the entire network device with the appropriate number of similar modules.
- the network manager will again select the empty slot, click on the right mouse button, select the Add Module button from the pop-up menu and then select the appropriate type of universal port card from the dialog box.
- the network manager may configure / provision services within the network device.
- Off-line configuration is the same as on-line configuration, however, instead of sending the configuration data to the configuration database within the network device, the NMS server stores the configuration data in an external NMS database.
- the network manager selects the device (e.g., 192.168.9.201, Fig. 6N), clicks the right mouse button to cause pop-up menu 868o to appear and selects the Manage On-line option.
- the NMS client notifies the NMS server that the device is now to be managed on-line.
- the NMS server first reconciles the physical configuration created by the network manager and stored in the NMS database against the physical configuration of the actual network device and stored in the internal configuration database. If there are any mis-matches, the NMS server notifies the NMS client, which then displays any discrepancies to the network manager. After the network manager fixes any discrepancies, the network manager may again select the Manage On-Line option in pop-up menu 898o. If there are no mis-matches between the physical device tables in the NMS database and the configuration database, then the NMS server reconciles all service provisioning data in the NMS database against the service provisiomng data in the configuration database. In this example, the network device is new and thus, the configuration database has no service provisioning data. Thus, the reconciliation will be successful.
- the NMS server then instructs the network device to stop replication between the primary configuration database within the network device and the backup configuration database within the network device.
- the NMS server then pushes the NMS database data into the backup configuration database, and then instructs the network device to switchover from the primary configuration database to the backup configuration database. If any errors occur after the switchover, the network device may automatically switch back to the original primary configuration database. If there are no errors, then the network device is quickly and completely configured to work properly within the network while maximizing network device availability.
- the network manager configured one new network device off-line. However, a network manager may configure many new network devices off-line. For example, a network manager may be expecting the receipt of five or more new network devices. Referring to Fig.
- a network manager may select an on-line device (e.g., 192.168.9.202) or off-line device (e.g., 192.168.9.201) by pressing and holding the left mouse button down, dragging an icon over to a newly added off-line device (e.g., 192.168.203) and dropping the icon over the newly added off-line device by releasing the left mouse button.
- the NMS client notifies the NMS server to copy the configuration data from the NMS database associated with the first network device (e.g., 192.168.9.202 or 192.168.9.201) to a new NMS database associated with the new network device and to change the data in the new NMS database to correspond to the new network device.
- the network manager may then select the new network device and modify any of the configuration data, as described above, to reflect the current network device requirements. As a result, off-line mode configuration is also made more efficient.
- a network manager may also choose to re-configure an operational device in offline mode without affecting the operation of the network device. For example, the network manager may want to add one or more new modules or provision services in a network device during a time when the network sees the least amount of activity, for example, midnight. Through the off-line mode, the network manager may prepare the configuration data ahead of time.
- the network manager may select an operational network device (e.g., 192.168.9.202), click on the right mouse button to cause pop-up menu 898o to appear and select the Manage On-Line option, which de-selects the current on-line mode and causes the GUI to enter an off-line mode for this device. Although the GUI has entered the off-line mode, the network device is still operating normally. The network manager may then add one or more modules and/or provision services as described above just as if the GUI were still in on-line mode, however, all configuration changes are stored by the NMS server in the NMS database corresponding to the network device instead of the network device's configuration database.
- an operational network device e.g., 192.168.9.202
- click on the right mouse button to cause pop-up menu 898o to appear and select the Manage On-Line option, which de-selects the current on-line mode and causes the GUI to enter an off-line mode for this device.
- the GUI has entered the off-line mode
- the network manager may then
- the NMS server may copy the NMS database data to a temporary NMS database and store all off-line configuration changes there.
- the network manager is ready (i.e., at the appropriate time and/or after adding any new modules to the network device) to download the configuration changes to the operational network device, the network manager again selects the network device (e.g., 192.168.9.202), clicks on the right mouse button to cause pop-up menu 898a to appear and selects the Manage On-Line option.
- the network device e.g., 192.168.9.202
- the NMS client notifies the NMS server that the device is now to be managed on-line.
- the NMS server first reconciles the physical configuration stored in the NMS database (or the temporary NMS database) against the physical configuration of the actual network device stored in the internal configuration database. If there are any mismatches, the NMS server notifies the NMS client, which then displays any discrepancies to the network manager. After the network manager fixes any discrepancies, the network manager may again select the Manage On-Line option in pop-up menu 898o. If there are no mis-matches between the physical device tables in the NMS database and the configuration database, then the NMS server reconciles all service provisioning data in the NMS database (or the temporary NMS database) against the service provisioning data in the configuration database. If any conflicts are discovered, the NMS server notifies the NMS client, which displays the discrepancies to the network manager. After fixing any discrepancies, the network manager may again select the Manage On-Line option in pop-up menu 898o.
- the NMS server instructs the network device to stop replication between the primary configuration database within the network device and the backup configuration database within the network device.
- the NMS server then pushes the NMS database data into the backup configuration database, and then instructs the network device to switchover from the primary configuration database to the backup configuration database. If any errors occur after the switchover, the network device may automatically switch back to the original primary configuration database. If there are no errors, then the network device is quickly re-configured to work properly within the network.
- Off-line configuration therefore, provides a powerful tool to allow network managers to prepare configuration data prior to actually implementing any configuration changes. Such preparation, allows a network manager to carefully configure a network device when they have time to consider all their options and requirements, and once the network manager is ready, the configuration changes are implemented quickly and efficiently.
- FCAPS Fault, Configuration, Accounting, Performance and Security
- ISO International Organization for Standardization
- Fault management is for detecting and resolving network faults
- configuration management is for configuring and upgrading the network
- accounting management is for accounting and billing for network usage
- performance management is for overseeing and tuning network performance
- security management is for ensuring network security.
- GUI 895 provides a status button 899a-899e for each of the five FCAPS. By clicking on one of the status buttons, a status window appears and displays the status associated with the selected FCAPS button to the network administrator. For example, if the network administrator clicks on the F status button 899a, a fault event summary window 900 (Fig. 7B) appears and displays the status of any faults.
- Each FCAP button may be colored according to a hierarchical color code where, for example, green means normal operation, red indicates a serious error and yellow indicates a warning status.
- Green means normal operation
- red indicates a serious error
- yellow indicates a warning status.
- the color-coding and order of the FCAPS buttons provide a "status bar code" allowing a network administrator to quickly determine the category of error or warning and quickly take action to address the error or warning.
- FCAPS buttons may be enlarged or "stretched" to fill a large portion of the screen, as shown in Fig. 7C.
- the FCAPS buttons may be stretched in a variety of ways, for example, a stretch option in a pull down menu may be selected or a mouse may be used to drag and drop the boarders of the FCAPS buttons. Stretching the FCAPS buttons allows a network administrator to view the status of each FCAP button from a distance of 40 feet or more. Once stretched, each of the five OSI management areas can be easily monitored at a distance by looking at the bar-encoded FCAPS strip.
- the "stretchy FCAPS" provide instant status recognition at a distance.
- the network administrator may set the FCAPS buttons to represent a single network device or multiple network devices or all the network devices in a particular network.
- the network administrator may have the GUI display two or more FCAPS status bars each of which represents one or more network devices.
- FCAPS buttons have been described as a string of multiple stretched bars, many different types of graphics may be used to display FCAPS status. For example, different colors may be used to represent normal operation, warnings and errors, and additional colors may be added to represent particular warnings and/or errors.
- each letter e.g., F
- each FCAPS button may repeatedly flash or strobe a color.
- green FCAPS buttons may remain solid (i.e., not flashing) while red errors and yellow warnings are displayed as a flashing FCAPS button to quickly catch a network administrator's attention.
- green / normal operation FCAPS buttons may be a different size relative to yellow / warnings and red / errors FCAPS buttons.
- an FCAPS button may be automatically enlarged if status changes from good operation to a warning status or an error status.
- the FCAPS buttons may be different sizes to allow the network administrator to distinguish between each FCAPS button from a further distance.
- the buttons may have a graduated scale where the F button is the largest and each button is smaller down to the S button, which is the smallest.
- the F button may be the smallest while the S button is the largest, or the A button in the middle is the largest, the C and P buttons are smaller and the F and S buttons are smallest.
- Many variations are possible for quickly alerting a network administrator of the status of each functional area.
- the network administrator may double click the left mouse button on a particular network device (e.g., 192.168.9.201) to cause device navigation tree 898 to expand and display FCAPS branches, for example, Fault branch 898p, Configuration branch 898q, Accounting branch 898r, Performance branch 898s and Security branch 898t.
- the administrator may then select one of these branches to cause status window 897 to display tabs / folders of data corresponding to the selected branch.
- Fault branch 898p is selected (Fig. 7E)
- an Events tab 957a is displayed in status window 897 as well as tab holders for other tabs (e.g., System Log tab 957b (Fig.
- Fig. 7F Trap Destinations 957c
- device tree 898 displays a list 958a of the available fault tabs. The administrator may then select a tab by selecting the tab holder from status window 897 or device free 898.
- Events tab 957a (Fig. 7E) displays an event number, date, time, source, category and description of each fault associated with a module or port selected in device mimic 896a.
- System Log tab 957b (Fig. 7F) displays an event number, date, time, source, category and description of each fault associated with the entire network device (e.g., 192.168.9.201), and Trap Destination tab 957c (Fig. 7G) displays a system / network device IP address or DNS name, port and status corresponding to each detected frap destination.
- Various other tabs and formats for displaying fault information may also be provided.
- Configuration branch 898q if the administrator double clicks the left mouse button on Configuration branch 898q, then device free 898 expands to display a list 958b of available configuration sub-branches, for example, ATM protocol sub-branch 958c, System sub-branch 958d and Virtual Connections sub-branch 958e.
- Configuration branch 898q or System branch 958d is selected, System tab 934, Module tab 936, Ports tab 938, SONET Interface tab 940, SONET Paths tab 942, ATM Interfaces tab 946, Virtual ATM Interfaces tab 947 and Virtual Connections tab 948 are displayed.
- Configuration branch 898q or System branch 958d is selected, System tab 934, Module tab 936, Ports tab 938, SONET Interface tab 940, SONET Paths tab 942, ATM Interfaces tab 946, Virtual ATM Interfaces tab 947 and Virtual Connections tab 948 are displayed.
- the PNNI tab may display PNNI cache information such as maximum path (per node), maximum entries (nodes), timer frequency (seconds), age out (seconds) and recently referenced (seconds) data.
- the PNNI tab may also display PNNI node information for each PNNI node such as domain name, administrative status, ATM address and node level.
- the PNNI cache and PNNI node information may be for a particular ATM interface, all ATM interfaces in the network device or ATM interfaces corresponding to a port or module selected by the administrator in device mimic 896a.
- Various other tabs displaying ATM information may also be provided.
- various other upper layer network protocol branches may be included in list 958b, for example, MuliProtocol Label Switching (MPLS) protocol, Frame Relay protocol or Internet Protocol (IP) branches, depending upon the capabilities of the selected network device.
- MPLS MuliProtocol Label Switching
- IP Internet Protocol
- various physical layer network protocol branches may also be included, for example, Synchronous Optical NETwork (SONET) protocol and/or Ethernet protocol branches, depending upon the capabilities of the selected network device.
- SONET Synchronous Optical NETwork
- Soft Permanent Virtual Circuit (PVC) tab 960a (Fig. 7J) and Switched Virtual Circuits tab 960b (Fig. 7K).
- Soft PVC tab 960a may display information relating to source interface, Virtual Path Identifier (VPI), Virtual Channel Identifier (VCI), status, date and time.
- Switched Virtual Circuits tab 960b may display information relating to interface, VPI, VCI, address format, address, status, date and time. The information in either tab may be for a particular virtual connection, all virtual connections in the network device or only those virtual connections corresponding to a port or module selected by the admimstrator in device mimic 896a.
- Various other tabs displaying virtual connection information may also be provided, depending upon the capabilities of the selected network device.
- the adminisfrator may select Accounting branch 898r (Fig. 7L). This will cause one or more tabs / folders to be displayed which contain accounting data.
- a Collection Setup tab 961 may be displayed that provides details on a primary and a backup archive host - that is, the system executing the Data Collection Server (described above).
- the Collection Setup tab may also provide statistics timer data and backup file storage data.
- Various other tabs displaying accounting information may also be provided. For example, a tab may be created for each particular customer to track the details of each account.
- Performance branch 898s (Fig. 7M) and double click the left mouse button to review a list 958f of available sub-branches, for example, ATM sub-branch 958g, Connections sub-branch 958h, Interfaces sub-branch 958i, System sub-branch 958j, and SONET sub-branch 958k. Selecting Performance branch 898s or System sub-branch 958j provides general performance tabs in stats window 897, for example, System tab 962a and Fans tab 962b (Fig. 7N).
- System tab 962a may provide graphical representations of various system performance parameters, for example, an odometer style graphic may be used to display CPU Utilization 962c and power supply voltage level 962e and 962f and a temperature gauge may be used to show Chassis Temperature 962d.
- Fans tab 962b may provide graphical representations of the status of the network device's fans. For example, fans may be colored green and shown spinning for normal operation, yellow and spinning for a warning status and red and not spinning for a failure status.
- Various other graphical representations may be used, for example, bar graphs or pie charts, and instead of graphical representations, the data may be provided in a table or other type of format.
- the data in the other tabs displayed in status window 897 may also be displayed in various formats including graphical representations.
- ATM sub-branch 958g (Fig. 70)
- various tabs are displayed containing ATM related performance information, for example, ATM Stats In tab 963 a, ATM Stats out tab 963b (Fig. 7P), Operations Administration Maintenance (OAM) Performance tab 963c (Fig. 7Q), OAM Loopback tab 963d (Fig. 7R), ATM Switched Virtual Circuit (SVC) In tab 963e (Fig. 7S), ATM SVC Out tab 963f (Fig. 7T), ATM Signaling ATM Adaptation Layer (SAAL) In tab 963g (Fig. 7U) and ATM SAAL Out tab 963h (Fig. 7V).
- ATM Stats In tab 963 a Fig. 7P
- Operations Administration Maintenance (OAM) Performance tab 963c (Fig. 7Q)
- OAM Loopback tab 963d (Fig. 7R)
- SVC Switched Virtual Circuit
- SVC ATM Switched Virtual Circuit
- SAAL ATM Signaling ATM Adaptation Layer
- SAAL ATM Adaptation Layer
- the data displayed in each of these tabs may correspond to a particular ATM path (e.g., ATM-Pathl_l 1/2/1), to all ATM paths corresponding to a particular port or module selected by the administrator in device mimic 896a or to all the ATM paths in the network device.
- ATM Stats In tab 963 a (Fig. 7O) and ATM Stats Out tab 963b (Fig. 7P) may display, for example, the type, description, cells, cells per second and bits per second for each ATM path.
- OAM Performance tab 963c (Fig. 7Q) may display, for example, VPI, VCI, status, session type, sink source, block size and end point statistics for each ATM path, while OAM Loopback tab 963d (Fig.
- ATM SVC In tab 963e (Fig. 7S) and ATM SVC Out tab 963f (Fig. 7T) may display, for example, type, description, total, connected, failures, last cause and setup Protocol Data Unit (PDU) data for each path
- ATM SAAL In tab 963g (Fig. 7U) and ATM SAAL Out tab 963h (Fig. 7V) may display, for example, type, description, errors, discards, begin PDUs, begin acknowledge, PDU begin and End PDUs for each ATM path.
- Various other upper layer network protocol sub-branches may also be displayed in list 958f, including a sub-branch for MPLS, Frame Relay and/or IP, depending upon the capabilities of the selected network device.
- Connections sub-branch 958h (Fig. 7W)
- various tabs are displayed containing connection related performance information, for example,
- ATM Connection tab 964a and Priority tab 964b may include, for example, connection name, transmit, receive cell loss ratio, cell discard total and throughput data for particular ATM connections.
- Priority tab 964b may include, for example, connection name, Cell Loss Priority (CLP) 0 transmit, CLPl receive, transmit total, CLPO receive, CLPl receive and receive total data for particular ATM connections.
- CLP Cell Loss Priority
- the data in either tab may be for a particular selected ATM connection, each ATM connection in the network device or only those ATM connections corresponding to a particular port or module selected by the administrator in device mimic 896a. If the administrator selects Interfaces sub-branch 958i (Fig.
- Interfaces tab 965 may include, for example, slot and port location, description, type, speed, in octets, out octets, in errors, out errors, in discards and out discards data for particular ATM interfaces.
- the data in the tab may be for a particular selected ATM interface, each ATM interface in the network device or only those ATM interfaces corresponding to a particular port or module selected by the administrator in device mimic 896a.
- Fig. 8 A if the administrator selects SONET sub-branch 958k, various tabs are displayed containing SONET related performance information, for example, Section tab 966a, Line tab 966b (Fig. 8B) and Synchronous Transport Signal (STS) Path tab 966c (Fig. 8C).
- Each of the three tabs displays a shelf/slot/port location, port descriptor, status, errored seconds, severely errored seconds and coding violation data for each port.
- the data may correspond to a particular port selected by the administrator, all ports in a selected module or all ports in the entire network device.
- Various other physical layer network protocol sub-branches may also be displayed in list 958f, including a sub-branch for Ethernet, depending upon the capabilities of the selected network device.
- SNMP tab 967a may display, for example, read and read/write community strings and a command line interpreter (CLI) adminisfrator password for the network device.
- Configuration Changes tab 967b may display configuration changes made to the network device including event, time, configurer and workstation identification from where the change was made.
- Various other security tabs may also be provided.
- GUI 895 Graphical User Interface 895 described in detail above provides a great deal of information to a network administrator to assist the adminisfrator in managing each network device in a telecommunications network. As shown, however, this information is contained in a large number of GUI screens / tabs. There may be many instances when a network adminisfrator may want to simultaneously view multiple screens / tabs.
- PBBs personal application bulletin boards
- GUI screens / tabs e.g., windows, table entries, dialog boxes, panels, device mimics, etc.
- the information in the dynamic bulletin board remains linked to the GUI such that both the GUI and the bulletin boards are dynamically updated if the screens in either the GUI or in the bulletin boards are changed.
- the administrator may manage and/or configure network devices through the GUI screens or the dynamic bulletin board.
- the administrator may change the format of the data and, perhaps, view the same data in multiple formats simultaneously.
- the administrator may add information to one dynamic bulletin board from multiple different network devices to allow the administrator to simultaneously manage and/or configure the multiple network devices.
- the dynamic bulletin boards provide an alternative viewing environment, and administrators can, therefore, choose what they want to view, when they want to view it and how they want to view it.
- a network administrator selects a Bulletin Bd option 968a from a view pull-down menu 968b.
- a bulletin board 970a (Fig. 9B) is then displayed for the adminisfrator. Instead, a bulletin board may automatically be opened whenever an administrator logs into an NMS client to access GUI 895.
- the adminisfrator may use a mouse to move a cursor over a desired GUI screen, press and hold down a left mouse button and drag the selected item onto the bulletin board (i.e., "drag and drop").
- GUI screen is capable of being dragged and dropped (i.e., posted) to the bulletin board - that is, the bulletin board supports / recognizes the GUI object — , a drag and drop icon appears as the administrator drags the cursor over to the bulletin board. If no icon appears, then the selected item is not supported by the bulletin board. Thus, the administrator is provided with visual feedback as to whether or not an item is supported by the PABB.
- an administrator may select ATM Stats In tab 963a corresponding to a particular network device (e.g., system 192.168.9.201) and drag and drop (indicated by arrow 969a) that tab onto bulletin board 970a. Since this is the first item dropped into the bulletin board, the ATM Stats In tab is sized and positioned to use the entire space (or a large portion of the space) dedicated to the bulletin board. Instead of selecting the entire ATM Stats In tab, the administrator may drag and drop only one or only a few entries from the tab, for example, entry 963i, and only those entries would then be displayed in the bulletin board. An item in bulletin board 970a may be removed by clicking on delete button 971a.
- a particular network device e.g., system 192.168.9.201
- the size of the bulletin board may be increased or decreased by clicking on expand button 971b or by selecting, dragging and dropping a bulletin board boarder (e.g., 971c-971f), and the bulletin board may be minimized by clicking on minimize button 971 g.
- the adminisfrator may then select other GUI data to drag and drop onto bulletin board 970a.
- the administrator may select ATM Stats Out tab 963b also corresponding to the same network device and drag and drop (indicated by arrow 969b) that tab onto bulletin board 970a.
- the bulletin board automatically splits the screen to include both the ATM Stats In tab 963a and the ATM Stats Out tab 963b.
- the administrator may view both of these screens simultaneously, and since the bulletin board and the screens it displays are linked to GUI 895, the ATM Stats hi and Out tabs are automatically updated with information as the GUI itself is updated with information.
- the GUI is automatically updated and if any data in the GUI is changed, then any corresponding screens in the bulletin board are also updated.
- the administrator may select one or more entries in a tab and drag and drop those entries onto the bulletin board. Also, the administrator may delete any bulletin board entry by clicking on the corresponding delete button 971a, and change the size of any bulletin board entry using expand button 971b or minimize button 97 lg.
- the administrator may then select other GUI data from the same network device (e.g., system 192.168.9.201) to drag and drop to the bulletin board or the administrator may select a different network device (e.g., system 192.168.9.202, Fig. 9D) in navigation free 898 and drag and drop various GUI screens corresponding to that network device to bulletin board 970a.
- the administrator may select ATM Stats In tab 972a and drag and drop (indicated by arrow 969c) that tab to bulletin board 970a, and the adminisfrator may then select ATM Stats Out tab 972b (Fig.
- bulletin board Many more items may be added to a bulletin board, for example eight to ten items. However, instead of continuing to add items to the same bulletin board, the administrator may choose to open multiple bulletin boards (e.g., 970a-970n, Fig. 9F).
- An administrator may wish to view an item dragged to a bulletin board in a different format than that displayed in the GUI.
- the different format may, for example, have more meaning to them or provide more clarity to the task at hand.
- the administrator may then move the cursor over the ATM Stats hi tab and double click the right mouse button to cause a pull-down menu 973 displaying various format options to appear.
- a normal format option 973a may cause the item to appear as it did in the GUI - that is, ATM Stats In tab 963a will appear as shown in Fig. 9G.
- a list format option 973b may cause the data in ATM Stats In tab 963a to be displayed as an ordered list
- a graph option 973c may cause the data in ATM Stats In tab 963 a to be displayed as a pie chart 974b (Fig. 91), a bar graph 974c (Fig. 9J) or any other type of graph or graphical representation.
- a config option 973 d may cause the data in the ATM Stats In tab 963 a to be displayed as a dialog box 974d (Fig. 9K) displaying configuration data corresponding to a selected one of the ATM paths within the ATM Stats In tab.
- the data in a bulletin board entry may be displayed in a variety of different ways to make the administrator's tasks simpler and more efficient.
- an administrator may wish to view an item dragged to a bulletin board in multiple different formats simultaneously.
- the administrator may move the cursor over ATM Stats In tab 963 a in the bulletin board, press down and hold the left mouse button and drag the cursor (indicated by arrow 969e) over a blank area of the bulletin board (i.e., drag and drop) to add a second copy of ATM Stats In tab 963a to the bulletin board.
- the administrator may then move the cursor over the copied ATM Stats In tab, double click the right mouse button to cause pull-down menu 973 to appear and select a different format in which to display the copied ATM Stats In tab.
- the administrator is able to simultaneously view the normal format while also viewing another format, for example, a pie chart.
- a pie chart for example, a pie chart.
- any of the tabs or entries within tabs in status window 897 may be capable of being dragged and dropped into one or more dynamic bulletin boards.
- an administrator may drag and drop one or more of the FCAPS buttons 899a- 899e (Fig. 7A) to a bulletin board.
- an adminisfrator may drag and drop (indicated by arrow 969f) device mimic 896a onto bulletin board 970a.
- the administrator has dragged and dropped the device mimic corresponding to network device 192.168.9.201.
- the device mimic may display ports and modules in different colors to indicate status for those components, for example, green for normal operation, yellow for warning status and red for failure status.
- the administrator may then monitor the device mimic in the bulletin board while continuing to use GUI 895 for other configuration and management operations. Instead, the administrator may only select, drag and drop portions of the device mimic, for example, only one or more universal port cards or one or more forwarding cards.
- the administrator may also select a different network device in navigation tree 898 and then drag and drop (indicated by arrow 969g) a device mimic 975 corresponding to that device onto bulletin board 970a.
- the administrator may simultaneously view the device mimics of both network devices (or more than two network devices).
- the administrator may drag and drop both a front and a back view of a device mimic such that all of a network device's modules may be visible.
- the adminisfrator may drag and drop a front and back view 955a, 955b (Fig. 4N) from a separate pull away window 955.
- a network administrator may save one or more dynamic bulletin boards before exiting out of the NMS client, and the NMS client may persist this data in the administrator's profile (described below).
- the administrator logs in to the same or a different NMS client and selects Bulletin Bd option 968a (Fig. 9A)
- their profile may automatically open up any saved dynamic bulletin boards or present the administrator with a list of saved dynamic bulletin boards that the adminisfrator may select to have opened.
- saved dynamic bulletin boards are re-opened, the NMS client updates any items posted in those bulletin boards such that the posted items are synchronized with the GUI. Instead, the NMS client may automatically open any saved dynamic bulletin boards as soon as the administrator logs on - that is, without requiring the administrator to select Bulletin Bd option 968.
- a senior adminisfrator may guide and instruct junior administrators through various tasks. For example, a senior administrator may drag and drop a sequence of GUI screens onto one or more bulletin boards where the sequence of GUI screens represent a series of steps that the senior administrator wants the junior administrator to take to complete a particular task (e.g., provisioning a SONET path). In addition to providing the series of steps, the senior administrator may fill in various parameters (e.g., traffic descriptors) to indicate to junior administrators the default parameters the senior administrator wants them to use.
- the saved bulletin board may then be added to the junior administrator's profile or put in a master profile accessible by multiple users.
- the junior administrator may then use a saved bulletin board to interactively complete provisioning tasks similar to the task shown in the saved bulletin board.
- the junior administrator may use the saved SONET path bulletin board to provision one or more different SONET paths.
- saved bulletin boards behave as custom wizards.
- the dynamic bulletin boards allow a network administrator to actively monitor - simultaneously — specific information about one or more operational network devices. This provides a powerful customization tool for the administrator of large, complex network devices in large, complex telecommunications networks. By customizing views of one or more devices, the administrator may view only the data they need to see and in a format that best meets their needs.
- a network device may include a large number (e.g., millions) of configurable / manageable objects such as modules, ports, paths, connections, etc.
- the network management system allows users to create custom object collections.
- a network manager may create a collection and add only objects of interest to that collection.
- the objects may be of a similar or different type and may correspond to the same or different network devices.
- the network manager may also add and remove objects from existing collections, create additional new collections and remove existing collections.
- the network manager may then view the various objects in each collection.
- the collections are linked to the NMS graphical user interface (GUI), such that changes to objects in either are updated in the other.
- GUI graphical user interface
- Custom object collections provide scalability and flexibility.
- custom object collections may be tied to user profiles to limit access. For example, a customer may be limited to viewing only the collections of objects related to their account. Similarly, a network manager may be limited to viewing only those collections of objects for which they have authority.
- a list of network devices e.g., 192.168.9.201 and 192.168.9.202
- a list of collections that correspond with the user's profile may also be provided.
- navigation tree 898 may include a network branch 976a, and if the user double clicks the left mouse button on the network branch a Collections branch 976b is displayed.
- a list 976c is provided of available collections (e.g., Testl, Newl, Walmart, Kmart).
- the user may select a Collections option 977a from a view pull-down menu 977b to display list 976c of available collections.
- List 976c may include collections pre-defined by other users (e.g., senior network administrator) and/or custom collections previously created by the user. Referring to Fig. 10B, to view collections that include objects corresponding to only one network device, the user may select a network device (e.g., 192.168.9.201) and select a Collections option 958m.
- a network device e.g., 192.168.9.201
- Collections option 958m a list 958n (e.g., Testl and Newl) of available collections corresponding to the selected network device is displayed.
- Collection Testl Fig. 10C
- navigation tree 947a may include objects selected from Virtual ATM Interfaces tab 947 and is therefore displayed when the Virtual ATM Interfaces tab is selected.
- a network manager to add an object to an existing or new collection, a network manager first selects the object (e.g., Module object 978a) and then selects a Collection button 979a to cause an Add to Collection option 979b and a New Collection option 979c to appear. If the network manager selects New Collection option 979c, then a dialog box 979d (Fig. 10E) appears and the network manager inputs the name of the new collection. After inputting the name of the new collection, the network manager selects OK button 979e and the object is automatically added to the collection and dialog box 979d is closed. If the network manager selects Add to Collection option 979b, a dialog box 979f (Fig. 10F) appears listing the available collections. The user may then select one of the listed collections and then select OK button 979g to add the object to the collection and close dialog box 979f.
- the object e.g., Module object 978a
- a Collection button 979a to cause an Add to Collection option 979b and a New Collection option
- the network manager may add an object to a collection by dragging and dropping an object from an FCAPs tab onto a collection branch in a navigation tree.
- a network manager may select an object 978b by pressing down on the left mouse button, dragging (indicated by arrows 980a and 980b) the object to a collection and dropping the object on the collection (i.e., drag and drop).
- object 978b may be dragged and dropped on collection Testl in either navigation tree 947a or 898.
- An object may also be dragged and dropped into a named collection in a pull down menu or dialog box.
- the tabs in service status window 897 are changed to include only objects in the selected collection. For instance, if the collection includes only SONET path objects, then only the SONET Paths tab will include objects once the collection is selected and all other tabs will not include any objects. Alternatively, the other tabs in service status window 897 may include objects corresponding to or related to the objects in the selected collection.
- a large number of SONET paths may be displayed.
- the SONET Paths Tab is changed to display only those SONET path objects within the Newl collection. As a result, the user need only view the objects in which they are interested.
- the network manager selects an object and then selects a Remove button 982.
- the network manager may also select an object and double click the left mouse button to cause a dialog box to appear.
- the network manager may edit certain parameters and then exit from the dialog box. Any changes made to an object in a collection are automatically updated in GUI 895. Similarly, any changes made to an object in GUI 895 are automatically updated in any and all collections including that object.
- Custom object collections allow a user to view only those objects that are of interest. These may be a few objects from an otherwise very large object list in the same FCAPS tab (that is, the collection acts as a filter), and these may be a few objects from different FCAPS tabs (that is, the collection acts as an aggregator). Consequently, both flexibility and scalability are provided through custom object collections.
- Custom object collections may also be used to restrict access to network objects. For example, a senior network administrator may establish a collection of objects and provide access to that collection to a junior network manager through the junior network manager's profile. In one embodiment, the junior network manager may not be provided with the full navigation free 898 (Fig. 10A) after logging in. Instead, only a list of available collections may be provided. Thus, the junior network manager's access to the network is limited to the objects contained in the available collections and the FCAPS tabs will similarly only include those same objects.
- collections may be created that include objects corresponding to a particular customer, for example, Walmart or Kmart.
- a customer profile may be established for each customer and one or more collections containing only objects relevant to each customer may be assigned to the relevant customer profile. Consequently, each customer is limited to viewing only those objects corresponding to their own accounts and not the accounts of any other customers. This permits Customer Network Management (CNM) without breaching the security provided to each customer account.
- CCM Customer Network Management
- Profiles may be used by the NMS client to provide individual users (e.g., network managers and customers) with customized graphical user interfaces (GUIs) or views of their network and with defined management capabilities. For example, some network managers are only responsible for a certain set of devices in the network. Displaying all network devices makes their management tasks more difficult and may inadvertently provide them with management capabilities over network devices for which they are not responsible or authorized to perform. With respect to customers, profiles limit access to only those network device resources in a particular customer's network - that is, only those network device resources for winch the customer has subscribed / paid. This is crucial to protecting the proprietary nature of each customer's network.
- GUIs graphical user interfaces
- Profiles also allow each network manager and customer to customize the GUI into a presentation format that is most efficient or easy for them to use. For example, even two users with access to the same network devices and having the same management capabilities may have different GUI customizations through their profiles.
- profiles may be used to provide other important information, for example, SNMP community strings to allow an NMS server to communicate with a network device over SNMP, SNMP retry and timeout values, and which NMS servers to use, for example, primary and secondary servers may be identified.
- a network administrator is typically someone who powers up a network device for the first time, installs necessary software on the new network device as well as installs any NMS software on an NMS computer system, and adds any additional hardware and/or software to a network device.
- the network adminisfrator is also the person that attaches physical network cables to network device ports.
- the first time GUI 895 is displayed to a network adminisfrator, an NMS client application uses a default profile including a set of default values.
- the adminisfrator may change the default values in his profile by selecting (e.g., clicking on) a profile selection 902 in a navigation tree / menu 898.
- This causes the NMS client to display a profiles tab 903 (Fig. 11 A) on the screen.
- the profile tab displays any existing profiles 904.
- the first time the profile tab appears only the network administrator's profile is displayed as no other profiles yet exist.
- the profiles tab may also include a copy button 906.
- a copy button 906 By selecting a profile 904 and clicking on the copy button, an existing profile is copied. The network manager may then change the parameters within the copied profile. This is helpful where two user profiles are to include the same or similar parameters.
- the user double clicks on one of the profiles 904.
- the NMS client displays a profile dialog box 907 (Fig. 1 IB) on the screen.
- a user's user name 908a, password 908b and confirmed password 908c may be added or changed.
- the confirm password field is used to assure that the password was entered properly in the password field.
- the password and confirmed password may be encrypted strings used for user authentication. These fields will be displayed as asterisks on the screen.
- a group level access field 908d enables/disables various management capabilities (i.e., functionality available through the NMS client). Clicking on the group level access field may provide a list of available access levels.
- access levels may include administrator, provisioner and viewer (e.g., customer), with administrator having the highest level of management capabilities and viewer having the lowest level of management capabilities (described in more detail below).
- users can create profiles for other users at or below their own group access level. For example, a user at the provisioner access level can create user profiles for users at either the provisioner or viewer level but cannot create an adminisfrator user profile.
- a description may be added in a description field 908e, including, for example, a description of the user, phone number, fax number and/or e-mail address.
- a group name may be added to group field 908f, and a list of network device IP addresses may be provided in a device list field 908g.
- DNS domain name server
- a host look up may be used to access the IP address of the corresponding device.
- the list of network devices is associated with the group such that if the same group name is assigned to multiple user profiles, the users will be presented with the same view - that is, the same list of network devices in device list field 908g.
- a wildcard feature is available for the group field. For example, perhaps an * or ALL may be used as a wildcard to indicate that a particular user is authorized to see all network devices. In most instances, the wildcard feature will only be used for a high-level network administrator.
- the list of devices indicates which network devices the user may manage or view, for example, configuration status and statistics data may be viewed.
- a flag 908h may be set to indicate that the user is not allowed to change his/her password
- an account disable flag 908i may be set to disable a particular profile / account.
- a flag 908j may be set to allow the user to add network device IP addresses to device list field 908g, and a number may be added to a timeout field 908k to specify a number of minutes after which a user will be automatically logged out due to inactivity. A zero in this field or no value in this field may be used to indicate unlimited activity, that is, the user will never be automatically logged out.
- the profile may also be used to indicate with which NMS servers the NMS client should communicate.
- An IP address or DNS name may be added to a primary server field 9081 and a secondary server field 908m. If the primary server fails, the client will access the secondary server.
- a port number may be added to primary server port field 908n and to secondary server port field 908o to indicate the particular ports that should be used for RMI connectivity to the primary and secondary NMS servers.
- the information provided in a user profile is stored in tables within the NMS database, and when a user logs onto the network through an NMS client, the NMS client connects to an NMS server that retrieves the user's profile information and sends the information to the NMS client.
- the NMS client automatically saves the NMS server primary and secondary IP addresses and port numbers from the user's profile to a team session file associated with the user's username and password in a memory 986 (Fig. 11 Y) local to the NMS client. If the user logs into an NMS client through a web browser, then the NMS client may save the NMS server primary and secondary IP addresses and port numbers to a cookie that is then stored in the user's local hard drive.
- the NMS client uses the IP addresses and port numbers stored in the team session file or cookie to connect to the appropriate NMS server.
- the first time a user accesses an NMS client no team session file or cookie will be available. Consequently, during the initial access of the NMS client, the NMS client may use a default IP address to com ect with an NMS server or a pop-up menu 1034 (Fig. 11Z) may be displayed in which the user may type in the IP address in a field 1034a of the NMS server they want the NMS client to use or select an IP address from a pop-up menu that appears when a dropdown button 1034b is selected.
- User profiles and team session files / cookies allow a network administrator or provisioner to push down new NMS server IP addresses, port numbers and other information to users simply by changing those values in the user profiles. For example, an NMS server may be over loaded and a network administrator may wish to move some users from this NMS server to another less utilized NMS server. The administrator need only change the NMS server IP addresses and port numbers in the users' profiles to affect the switch.
- the NMS server sends the new IP addresses and port numbers to the one or more NMS clients through which the users are logged in, and the NMS clients save the new IP addresses and port numbers in each user's team session file or cookie.
- the NMS client(s) use the new IP addresses and port numbers in the team session files or cookies to access the appropriate NMS server.
- the users selected by the administrator are automatically moved to a different NMS server without the need to notify those users or take additional steps.
- other information from the user profile may also be saved in team session files / cookies and changes to that information may be pushed down by the administrator simply by changing a user profile.
- a read field 908p may be used to indicate the SNMP community string to be used to allow the NMS server to communicate with the network device over SNMP.
- the SNMP connection may be used to retrieve statistical data and device status from the network device.
- a read/write field 908q may be used to indicate an SNMP community string to allow the NMS server to configure the network device and/or provision services.
- the profile may also include a retry field 908r and a timeout field 908s to provide SNMP retry and timeout values. Many different fields may be provided in a profile. - Ill -
- Figs. 1 lC-11G may be separated into a variety of a tabbed dialog boxes (Figs. 1 lC-11G).
- the tabbed dialog boxes may provide better scalability and flexibility for future needs.
- an administrator level user has both read and write access to the physical and logical objects of the NMS client.
- all screens and functionality are available to an administrator level user, and an administrator after physically attaching an external network attachment to a particular network device port may then enable that port and provision SONET paths on that port. All screens are available to a provisioner level user, however, they do not have access to all functionality as they are limited to read-only access of physical objects.
- a provisioner can see SONET ports available on a device and can provision SONET paths on a port, but the provisioner cannot enable/disable a SONET port.
- a provisioner's power begins at the start of logical objects (not physical objects), for example, SONET paths, ATM interfaces, virtual ATM interfaces, and PVCs, and continues through all the configuration aspects of any object or entity that can be stacked on top of either a SONET path or ATM interface.
- a viewer e.g., customer level user has read-only access to logical entities and only those logical entities corresponding to their group name or listed in the device list field.
- a viewer may or may not have access to Fault, Configuration, Accounting, and Security categories of FCAPS relative to their devices.
- a customer may install an NMS client at a customer site or, preferably, the customer will use a web browser to access the NMS client.
- a service provider gives the customer an IP address corresponding to the service provider's site. The customer supplies the IP address to their web browser and while at the service provider site, the customer logs in with their username and password. The NMS client then displays the customer level GUI corresponding to that username and password.
- a user preference dialog box 909 may be used to customize the GUI into a presentation format that is most efficient or easy for a user to work with. For example, show flags (i.e., attributes) may be used to add tool tips (flag 910a), add horizontal grid lines on tables (flag 910b), add vertical grid lines on tables (flag 910c) and add bookmarks / short cuts (e.g., create a short cut to a PVC dialog box). Look and feel flags may also be used to make the GUI appear as a JAVA GUI would appear (flag 911a) or as a native application, for example, Windows, Windows/NT or Motif, GUI would appear (flag 911b).
- a profile when a profile is created or changed the administrator or provisioner may double click the left mouse button on a network device (e.g., 192.168.9.202, Figs. 1 IB or 11 J) in the device list to cause a pop-up menu 1000 (Fig. 11 J) to be displayed.
- the pop-up menu provides a list 1000a of available groups corresponding to the selected network device, and the administrator or provisioner may select one or more groups (e.g., Walmart-East, Walmart- West) from the list for which the user corresponding to profile will be authorized to access.
- Each group may include one or more configured resources (e.g., SONET paths, VATM interfaces, ATM PVCs) within the network device, and the resources in each group may be related in some way.
- a group may include resources configured by a particular provisioner.
- a group may include configured resources purchased by a particular customer. For instance, Walmart
- the network service provider may be a customer of a network service provider and each network device resource paid for / subscribed to by Walmart may be included in a Walmart group.
- the network service provider may create several groups within the same network device for Walmart, for example, Walmart-East may include network device resources associated with Walmart activities in the eastern half of the United States and Walmart- West may include network device resources associated with Walmart activities in the western half of the United States.
- the network service provider may create a Wahnart- Total group including all configured resources within the network device paid for by Walmart.
- Various users may be given access to one or more groups.
- a Walmart employee responsible for network service in the eastern half of the United States may be given access to only the Walmart-East group while another higher level Walmart employee is given access to both the Walmart-East and Walmart- West groups.
- the same group name may be used in multiple network devices to simplify fracking.
- multiple users may be given access to the same or different groups of configured resources within each network device, and users may be given access to multiple groups of configured resources in different network devices.
- an administrator or a provisioner configures a network device resource, they may assign that resource to a particular group.
- an administrator or provisioner configures one or more SONET paths, they may assign each SONET path to a particular group. Referring to Fig. 11K-11M, within a SONET Path configuration wizard 1002, an administrator or provisioner may select a SONET Path within the
- SONET path table 1002a and type in a group name in field 1002b or select a group name from a pop-up menu displayed when dropdown button 1002c is selected.
- the NMS client sends the SONET path data to the NMS server.
- the NMS server uses this data to fill in a SONET path table (e.g., 600', Figs. 1 lw and 60g) in configuration database 42.
- a new row is added to the SONET path table for each newly configured SONET path, and data in existing rows are modified for modified SONET paths.
- the NMS server searches a Managed Resource Group table 1008 (Figs. 11L and 1 lw) within the configuration database for a match with each assigned group name. If no match is found for a group name, indicating the group name represents a new group, then the NMS server adds a row to the Managed Resource Group table, and the NMS server assigns the group an LID (e.g., 1145) and inserts the LED into an LID column 1008a.
- the NMS server also inserts the Managed Device PID (e.g., 1) from column 983b in Managed Device table 983 (Figs. 11 Y and 60a) in the configuration database into a column 1008b and inserts the group name in column 1008c.
- the NMS server also uses the SONET path data from the NMS client to add a row in a Managed Resource Table 1007 (Figs. 11O and 11 Y) in configuration database 42 for each newly configured SONET path or to modify data in existing rows for modified SONET paths.
- the NMS server assigns an LID (e.g., 4443) to each row and inserts the assigned LID into a column 1007a.
- the NMS server then inserts the assigned SONET path LID (e.g., 901) from Path LID column 600a (Fig. 60G) in the SONET path table into a Resource LID column 1007b.
- the NMS server also inserts the assigned group LID (e.g., 1145) from column 1008a in Managed Resource Group table 1008 (Fig.
- each SONET path may be assigned to a group
- each other type of configured resource / manageable entity within the network device may be assigned to a group.
- VATM virtual ATM
- an administrator or provisioner may also assign the VATM interface to a group.
- an administrator or provisioner may type in a group name in a field 1004a or select a group name from a pop-up menu displayed when expansion button 1004b is selected.
- an adminisfrator or provisioner configures an ATM PVC, they may assign the ATM PVC to a particular group. Referring to Fig.
- a virtual connection wizard 1006 the administrator or provisioner may assign an ATM PVC to a group by typing in a group name in a field 1006a or by selecting a group name from a pop-up menu displayed when expansion button (e.g., Group List) 1006b is selected.
- expansion button e.g., Group List
- the administrator or provisioner selects OK button 1004c (Fig. 1 IP) or Finish button 1006c (Fig. 11Q)
- the NMS client sends the relevant data to the NMS server.
- the NMS server updates Virtual ATM Interface table 993 (Fig. 60J), a Virtual Connection table 994 ' (Fig. 60K), Virtual Link table 995 (Fig. 60L) and Cross-Connect table 996 (Fig.
- the NMS server adds a row to Managed Resource Group table 1008 (Fig. 1 IN) for each new group and a row to Managed Resource table 1007 (Fig. 110) for each new managed resource - that is, for each new VATM interface and for each new ATM PVC. This same process may be used to add any manageable entity to a group.
- the configured network device resource tables could include a group name field.
- the Managed Resource Group adds a layer of abstraction, which may allow each configured resource to belong to multiple groups.
- the Managed Resource table provides scalability and modularity by not being tied to a particular resource type. That is, the Managed Resource table will include a row for each different type of configured resource and if the network device is upgraded to include new types of configurable resources, they too may be added to the Managed Resource table without having to upgrade other processes. If each configurable resource is limited to belonging to only one group, then the Managed Resource Table 1007 (Fig. 110) may include only Resource LID 1007b and not LID 1007a.
- the administrator or provisioner selects OK button 908t.
- Selection of the OK button causes the NMS client (e.g., NMS client 850a, Fig. 11 Y) to send the information provided in the dialog box (or boxes) to an NMS server (e.g., NMS server 851a), and the NMS server uses the received information to update various tables in NMS database 61.
- the NMS server assigns a unique logical identification number (LID) to the user and adds a new row in a User table 1010 (Figs.
- the NMS server may add a new row lOlOe including an assigned user LID of 2012, a username of Dave, a password of Marble and a group access level of provisioner.
- the NMS server also adds a row to a User Managed Device table 1012 (Figs.
- the NMS server assigns a user managed device LID (e.g., 7892) and inserts it in an LID column 1012a.
- the NMS server also inserts a user LID 1012b, a host LID 1012c, a retry value 1012d and a timeout value 1012e.
- the inserted retry and timeout values are from the user profile information sent from the NMS client.
- the user LID 1012b includes the previously assigned user LID (e.g., 2012) from column 1010a of User Table 1010.
- the host LID is retrieved from an Administration Managed Device table 1014 (Figs. 1 IT and 11Y).
- the Administration Managed Device table includes a row for each network device (i.e., managed device) in the telecommunications network.
- an administrator selects an Add Device option in a pop-up menu 898c (Fig. 6A) in GUI 895 to cause dialog box 1013 (Fig. llU) to be displayed.
- the adminisfrator enters the intended IP address or DNS name (e.g., 192.168.9.202) of the new network device into a device host field 1013a and may also enter a device port (e.g., 1521) into a device port field 1013b.
- the administrator also adds SNMP retry 1013c and timeout 1013d values, which may be overridden later by values supplied within each user profile.
- the administrator adds a password for each user access level.
- the administrator adds an administrator password 1013e, a provisioner password 1013f and a viewer password 1013g for the managed device.
- the Administration Managed Device table therefore, provides a centralized set of device records shared by all NMS servers, and since the records are centralized, the Administration Managed Device table facilitates centralized changes to the devices in the network. For example, a network device may be added to the network by adding a record and removed from the network by deleting a record. As another example, a network device's parameters (e.g., IP address) may be changed by modifying data in a record. Because the changes are made to cenfralized records accessed by all NMS servers, no change notifications need to be sent and the NMS servers may automatically receive the changed data during the next access of the table. Alternatively, the NMS server that makes a change to the central database may send notices out to each connected NMS client and other NMS servers in the network.
- IP address e.g., IP address
- the administrator selects an Add button 1013h causing the NMS client to send the data from the dialog box to the NMS server.
- the administrator selects an OK button 1013i to cause the NMS client to send the data from the dialog box to the NMS server.
- the NMS server uses the received information to add a row to Administration Managed Device table 1014 in NMS database 61, and for existing devices, the NMS server uses the received information to update a previously entered row in the Adminisfration Managed Device table. For each managed device / row, the NMS server assigns a host LID (e.g., 9046) and inserts it in LID column 1014a.
- a host LID e.g., 9046
- the NMS server When the NMS server adds a new row to the User Managed Device table 1012 (Fig. 1 IS), corresponding to a managed device in a user profile, the NMS server searches column 1014b in the Administration Managed Device table 1014 for a host address matching the IP address (e.g., 192.168.9.202) provided in the user profile information sent from the NMS client. When a match is found, the NMS server retrieves the host LID (e.g., 9046) from column 1014a and inserts it in host LTD column 1012c in the User Managed Device table. After receiving user profile information from an NMS client, the NMS server also updates a User Resource Group Map table 1016 (Figs. 1 IV and 11 Y) in NMS database 61.
- the host LID e.g., 9046
- the NMS server For each group identified in the user profile information - one or more groups may be selected in each Group List dialog box 1000 associated with each network device in the user profile - the NMS server adds a row to the User Resource Group Map table.
- the NMS server assigns an LID (e.g., 8086) for each row and inserts the LTD in a column 1016a.
- the NMS server then inserts the User LID (e.g., 2012) into User LID column 1016b from User table 1010 column 1010a corresponding to the user profile.
- the NMS server inserts a User Resource Group LID into column 1016c.
- the NMS server For each group name received by the NMS server, the NMS server searches a User Resource Group table 1018 (Figs. 11W and 11Y), group name column 1018c, for a match. If a match is not found, then the group is a new group, and the NMS server adds a row to the User Resource Group table. The NMS server assigns an LU) (e.g., 1024) to each row and inserts the assigned LID into an LID column 1018a. This User Resource Group LED is also added to column 1016c in the User Resource Group Map table 1016 (Fig. 1 IV). Within the User Resource Group table 1018 (Fig.
- the NMS server also inserts the network device's host LID in a column 1018b from Administration Managed Device table 1014 (Fig. 11T), column 1014a, and the NMS server inserts the group name (e.g., Walmart-East) in column 1018c.
- the group name e.g., Walmart-East
- the User Resource Group table in the NMS database provides for dynamic binding with the Managed Resource Group table 1008 (Fig. UN) in the configuration database, as described below.
- the user may log in through an NMS client (e.g., 850a, Fig. 11 Y) by typing in their username and password.
- the NMS client then sends the username and password to an NMS server (e.g., 851a), and in response, the NMS server sends a query to NMS database 61 to search User table 1010 (Fig. 1 IR) column 1010b for a username matching the username provided by the NMS client. If the username is not found, then the user is denied access. If the username is found, then, for additional security, the NMS server may compare the password provided by the NMS client to the password stored in column 1010c of the User table. If the passwords do not match, then the user is denied access. If the passwords match, then the NMS server creates a user profile logical managed object (LMO).
- LMO user profile logical managed object
- the user profile LMO is a JAVA object and a JAVA persistence layer within the NMS server creates the user profile LMO.
- metadata is stored in a class table 1020 (Fig. 11 Y) within the NMS database.
- the JAVA persistence layer within the NMS server begins by retrieving metadata from the class table in the NMS database corresponding to the user profile LMO.
- the metadata may include simple attributes and association attributes. Referring to Fig. 1 IX, the metadata for a user profile LMO 1022 includes three simple attributes - username 1022a, password 1022b and group access level 1022c - and two association attributes - resource group maps 1022d and managed devices 1022e.
- the NMS server inserts the username (e.g., Dave), password (e.g., Marble) and group access level (e.g., provisioner) retrieved from the User table 1010 into the user profile LMO 1024 (Fig. 11Y) being created.
- the managed devices association attribute 1022e causes the NMS server to create a user managed device properties LMO 1026 for each network device in the user's profile.
- the NMS server first retrieves metadata from class table 1020 associated with the user managed device properties LMO 1026.
- the metadata includes two simple attributes (retry 1026b and timeout 1026c) and one association attribute (managed device 1026a).
- the metadata causes the NMS server to search User Managed Device table 1012 (Fig. US) column 1012b for a user LID (e.g., 2012) corresponding to the user LID in column 1010a (Fig. 1 IR) of User table 1010 in a row lOlOe associated with the username and password received from the NMS client.
- a user LID e.g., 2012
- the NMS server For each row in the User Managed Device table having the matching user LID (e.g., 2012), the NMS server creates a user managed device properties LMO 1026 and inserts the retry value from column 1012d as the retry simple attribute 1026b and the timeout value from column 1012e as the timeout simple attribute 1026c.
- the NMS server retrieves metadata from class table 1020 associated with administration managed device properties LMO 1028.
- the metadata includes a list of simple attributes including host address 1028a, port address 1028b, SNMP retry value 1028c, SNMP timeout value 1028d and a database port address 1028e for connecting to the configuration database within the network device.
- the metadata also includes simple attributes corresponding to passwords for each of the possible group access levels, for example, an adminisfrator password 1028f, a provisioner password 1028g and a viewer password 1028h.
- the NMS server uses the host LID (e.g., 9046) from column 1012c in the User Managed Device table (Fig. 1 IS) as a primary key to locate the row (e.g., 1014c, Fig. 1 IT) in the Administration Managed Device table 1014 corresponding to the network device.
- the NMS server uses the data in this table row to insert values for the simple attributes in the Administration Managed Device LMO 1028. For example, a host address of 192.168.9.202 and a port address of 1521 may be inserted.
- the NMS server also selects a password corresponding to the user's group access level. For instance, if the user's group access level is provisioner, then the NMS server inserts the provisioner password of, for example, team2, from column 1014d into the Administration Managed Device LMO.
- the NMS server then inserts the newly created Adminisfration Managed Device LMO 1028 into the corresponding User Managed Device Properties LMO 1026, and the NMS server also inserts each newly created User Managed Devices Properties LMO 1026 into User Profile LMO 1022.
- the resource group maps association attribute 1022d (Fig. 1 IX) within user LMO 1022 causes the NMS server to create a user resource group map LMO 1030 for each group in the user's profile.
- the user resource group map LMO 1030 includes one simple attribute ⁇ user profile 1030a ⁇ and one association attribute - user resource group 1030b.
- the NMS server inserts the user LID (e.g., 2012) corresponding to the user LID in column 1010a (Fig. 1 IR) in User table 1010 associated with the username, password and group access level received from the NMS client.
- the NMS server creates a User Resource Group LMO 1032.
- the NMS server begins by retrieving metadata from class table 1020 corresponding to the User Resource Group LMO.
- the metadata includes three simple attributes: host address 1032a, port address 1032b and group name 1032c.
- the NMS server searches User Resource Group Map table 1016 (Fig. 1 IV) for the user LID (e.g., 2012) corresponding to the username and password received from the NMS client.
- the NMS server uses the corresponding user resource group LID (e.g., 1024) from column 1016c as a primary key to locate a row (e.g., 1018d, Fig. 11W) in User Resource Group table 1018.
- the NMS server inserts the group name (e.g., Walmart-East) from the located row in User Resource Group table 1018 as simple attribute 1032c in user resource group LMO 1032.
- the NMS server uses the host LID (e.g., 9046) from the located row to search column 1014a in the Administration Managed Device table 1014 (Fig. 1 IT) for a match.
- the NMS server uses data in the located row (e.g., 1014c) to insert the host address (e.g., 192.168.9.202) from column 1014b as simple attribute 1032a and the port address (e.g., 1521) from column 1014e as simple attribute 1032b in user resource group LMO 1032.
- the NMS server then inserts the user resource group LMO 1032 into the user resource group map LMO 1030, and the NMS server inserts each of the user resource group map LMOs 1030 into the user profile LMO 1022.
- the data e.g., host and port address and group name
- the NMS server sends data from the user profile LMO to the NMS client to allow the NMS client to present the user with a graphical user interface such as GUI 895 shown in Fig. 4A.
- the NMS server retrieves the group level access (e.g., provisioner) and the password (e.g., team2) corresponding to that group level access from the user profile LMO and then connects to the selected network device.
- the NMS server then retrieves the network device's physical data as described below under the heading "NMS Server Scalability.”
- a more robust set of data may be sent from the NMS server to the NMS client such that for each transaction issued by the NMS client, the data provided with the transaction eliminates the need for the NMS server to access the user profile LMO in its local memory. This reduces the workload of the NMS server, which will likely be sent transactions from many NMS clients.
- the NMS server may send the NMS client the entire user profile LMO. Instead, the server may create a separate client user profile LMO that may present the data in a format expected by the NMS client and perhaps include only some of the data from the user profile LMO stored locally to the NMS server.
- the client user profile LMO includes at least data corresponding to each device in the user profile and each group selected within the user profile for each device. If the user selects one of the network devices listed in navigation tree 898, the NMS client includes the selected network device's IP address, the password corresponding to the user's group access level and the database port number in the "Get Network Device" transaction sent to the NMS server. The NMS server uses this information to connect to the network device and return the network device's physical data to the NMS client.
- the NMS server searches the user profile LMO for group names corresponding to the selected network device or the NMS client provides the group names in the transaction. The NMS server then retrieves data from the selected network device for configured resources corresponding to each group name and the selected tab. If no group names are listed, the NMS server may retrieve data for all configured resources corresponding to the selected tab.
- SONET Paths tab 942 Fig. 5Q
- ATM Interfaces tab 946 Fig. 5R
- Virtual ATM Interfaces tab 947 Fig. 5S
- Virtual Connections tab 948 Fig. 5Z
- the NMS server searches the user profile LMO for all group names corresponding to the selected network device (e.g., Walmart-East) or the NMS client provides all group names (e.g., Walmart-East) corresponding to the selected network device to the NMS server as part of the "Get SONET paths" transaction.
- the NMS server then dynamically issues a where clause such as "where SONET path is in group Walmart-East". This causes group name column 1008c in the Managed Resource Group table 1008 (Fig. 1 IN) in the network device's configuration database 42 to be searched for a match with the group name of Walmart-East.
- Additional where clauses may be dynamically issued corresponding to other group names found in the user profile LMO. If no match is found for a group name in column 1008c, then the NMS server simply returns an empty set to the NMS client. If a match is found for a group name (e.g., Walmart-East), then the NMS server retrieves the managed resource group LID (e.g., 1145) from column 1008a in the same row (e.g., row 1008d) as the matching group name. The NMS server then searches column 1007c in the Managed Resource table
- the Managed Resource Table includes one row for each configured network device resource in a particular group.
- the NMS server uses the resource LID (e.g., 901) from column 1007b as a primary key to a row in a table including the data corresponding to the configured resource.
- a resource LID of 901 corresponds to a row in SONET Path Table 600' (Fig. 60G). Since the user selected the SONET Paths tab, the NMS server retrieves the data in the corresponding row and sends it to the NMS client.
- the NMS client uses the data to update graphical user interface (GUI) tables 985 in local memory 986, which causes GUI 895 to display the SONET path to the user.
- GUI graphical user interface
- Other SONET paths may also be included in the group Walmart-East, and those would be similarly located and retrieved by the NMS server and sent to the NMS client for display to the user.
- the NMS server may locate configured resources other than SONET paths, for example, VATMs or ATM PVCs, in Managed Resource table 1007. If configured resources are found that do not correspond to the tab selected by the user, the NMS server does not retrieve the associated data or send it to the NMS client.
- the NMS server follows a similar process if the user selects another tab including logical data, for example, ATM Interfaces tab 946 (Fig. 5R), Virtual ATM Interfaces tab 947 (Fig. 5S) or Virtual Connections tab 948 (Fig. 5Z).
- configurable resources may be included in a group
- other configurable resources may also be included, for example, configurable resources corresponding to different layer one or upper layer network protocols (e.g., Ethernet, MPLS, Frame Relay, IP).
- layer one or upper layer network protocols e.g., Ethernet, MPLS, Frame Relay, IP
- references from one table to another may provide a direct binding and referential integrity may be maintained by only deleting the upper most record - that is, not leaving any dangling records.
- Referential integrity prevents references from being orphaned, which may lead to data loss or other more severe problems, such as a system crash.
- tables are stored across multiple databases. Certain tables are stored in NMS database 61 and certain other tables are stored in the configuration database within each network device in the network. Direct binding between tables cannot be maintained since a database may be removed or a record deleted without maintaining referential integrity. To address this issue, group names are used to provide a "dynamic binding" between the User Resource Group table 1018 (Fig.
- a user may log-on to the network with a single, secure username and password through any NMS client, access any network device in their user profile and access configured resources corresponding to groups in their user profile. Since the tables including the data necessary for the creation of user profile LMOs are stored in the NMS database, any NMS server capable of connecting to the NMS database - that is, any NMS server in the network ⁇ may access the tables and generate a user LMO. As a result, users may log-on with a single, secure username and password through any NMS client that may be connected to an NMS server capable of connecting to the NMS database. Essentially, users may log on through any computer system / workstation (e.g., 984, Fig.
- any computer system / workstation e.g. 984, Fig.
- user profiles provide a level of indirection to better protect the passwords used to access each network device.
- access to the passwords may be limited to only those users capable of adding network devices to the network, for example, users with the adminisfrator group access level. Other users would not see the passwords since they are automatically added to their user profile LMO, which is not accessible by users.
- the level of indirection provided by user profiles also allows network device passwords to be easily changed across the entire network. Periodically the passwords for access to the network devices in a network may be changed for security. The network device passwords may be quickly changed in the Administration Managed Device table 1014 (Fig. 1 IT), and due to the use of profiles, each user does not need to be notified of the password changes.
- the new passwords will be utilized automatically each time users log in. This provides for increased scalability since thousands of users will not need to be notified of the new passwords. Moreover, if a rogue user is identified, they can be quickly prevented from further access to the network through any NMS client by simply changing the user's username and/or password in the user's profile or by deleting the user's profile. Changing the username and/or password in the user profile would cause the NMS server to change the data in user table 1010 (Fig. 1 IR), and deleting a user profile would cause the NMS server to remove the corresponding row in the User table. In either case, the user would no longer be able to log in.
- User profiles and group names also simplify network management tasks. For example, if an adminisfrator adds a newly configured resource to a group, all users having access to that group will automatically be able to access the newly configured resource. The adminisfrator need not send out a notice or take other steps to update each user.
- Group names in a user profile define what the user can view. For instance, one customer may not view the configured resources subscribed for by another customer if their resources are assigned to different groups. Thus, groups allow for a granular way to "slice" up each network device according to its resources.
- the user access level in a user profile determines how the NMS server behaves and affects what the user can do. For example, the viewer user access level provides the user with read-only capability and, thus, prevents the NMS server from modifying data in tables. In addition, the user access level may be used to restrict access - even read access — to certain tables or columns in certain tables.
- Kernel software 20 includes operating system (OS), system services (SS) and modular system services (MSS).
- the operating system software and system services software are the OSE operating system and system services from Enea OSE Systems, Inc. in Dallas, Texas.
- the OSE operating system is a pre-emptive multi-tasking operating system that provides a set of services that together support the development of distributed applications (i.e., dynamic loading).
- the OSE approach uses a layered architecture that builds a high level set of services around kernel primitives.
- the operating system, system services, and modular system services provide support for the creation and management of processes; inter-process communication (EPC) through a process-to-process messaging model; standard semaphore creation and manipulation services; the ability to locate and communicate with a process regardless of its location in the system; the ability to determine when another process has terminated; and the ability to locate the provider of a service by name.
- EPC inter-process communication
- These services support the construction of a distributed system wherein applications can be located by name and processes can use a single fonn of communication regardless of their location. By using these services, distributed applications may be designed to allow services to transparently move from one location to another such as during a fail over.
- the OSE operating system and system services provide a single inter-process communications mechanism that allows processes to communicate regardless of their location in the system.
- OSE JJPC differs from the traditional IPC model in that there are no explicit IPC queues to be managed by the application. Instead each process is assigned a unique process identification that all IPC messages use. Because OSE IPC supports inter-board communication the process identification includes a path component. Processes locate each other by performing an OSE Hunt call on the process identification. The Hunt call will return the Process ID of the process that maps to the specified path/name. Inter-board communication is carried over some number of communication links. Each link interface is assigned to an OSE Link Handler. The path component of a process path/name is the concatenation of the Link Handler names that one must transverse in order to reach the process. In addition, the OSE operating system includes memory management that supports a "protected memory model".
- the protected memory model dedicates a memory block (i.e., defined memory space) to each process and erects "walls" around each memory block to prevent access by processes outside the "wall". This prevents one process from corrupting the memory space used by another process. For example, a corrupt software memory pointer in a first process may incorrectly point to the memory space of a second processor and cause the first process to corrupt the second processor's memory space.
- the protected memory model prevents the first process with the corrupted memory pointer from corrupting the memory space or block assigned to the second process. As a result, if a process fails, only the memory block assigned to that process is assumed corrupted while the remaining memory space is considered uncorrupted.
- the modular software architecture takes advantage of the isolation provided to each process (e.g., device driver or application) by the protected memory model. Because each process is assigned a unique or separate protected memory block, processes may be started, upgraded or restarted independently of other processes.
- the main modular system service that controls the operation of computer system 10 is a System Resiliency Manager (SRM).
- SRM System Resiliency Manager
- MCD Master Control Driver
- the MCD and the SRM are distributed applications.
- a master SRM 36 and a master MCD 38 are executed by central processor 12 while slave SRMs 37a-37n and slave MCDs 39a-39n are executed on each board (cenfral processor 12 and each line card 16a-16n).
- the SRM and MCD work together and use their assigned view ids and APIs to load the appropriate software drivers on each board and to configure computer system 10.
- configuration database 42 is a Polyhedra database from Polyhedra, Inc. in the United Kingdom. Hardware Inventory and Set-Up:
- a mission kernel image executable file (MKI.exe) 50 for central processor card 12 is bootstrap loaded from persistent storage, for example, an EPROM, located on the central processor card.
- MKI 50 starts MCD Master 38 and a local MCD slave 39a.
- MCD slave 39a reads a card type and version number out of local persistent storage, for example, EPROM 42, and passes this information to Master MCD 38.
- Master MCD 38 begins by taking a physical inventory of computer system 10 (over the I 2 C bus) and assigning a unique physical identification number (PED) to each item. Despite the name, the PID is a logical number unrelated to any physical aspect of the component being numbered. In one embodiment, pull-down/pull-up resistors on the chassis mid-plane provide the number space of Slot Identifiers. The master MCD may read a register for each slot, including the slot for central processor card 12, that allows it to get the bit pattern produced by these resistors.
- MCD 38 assigns a unique PID to the chassis, each shelf in the chassis, each slot in each shelf, each card (e.g., central processor 12, line cards 16a-16n) inserted in each slot, and, for certain line cards, each port on each line card. (Other items or components may also be inventoried.)
- each card e.g., central processor 12, line cards 16a-16n
- MCD 38 assigns a PID even to the chassis, shelves and slots to allow the modular software architecture to be ported to another computer system with a different physical construction (i.e., multiple chassis and / or a different number of shelves and slots) without having to change the PED numbering scheme.
- MCD 38 communicates with a diagnostic program (DP) 40a-40n being executed by the card's processor to learn each card's type and version.
- the diagnostic program reads a card type and version number out of persistent storage, for example, EPROM 42a-42n, and passes this information to the MCD.
- line cards 16a and 16b could be cards that implement Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) protocol over Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) protocol as indicated by a particular card type, e.g., 0XF002, and line card 16e could be a card that implements Internet Protocol (IP) over SONET as indicated by a different card type, e.g., 0XE002.
- ATM Asynchronous Transfer Mode
- SONET Synchronous Optical Network
- IP Internet Protocol
- line card 16a could be a version three ATM over SONET card meaning that it includes four SONET ports 44a-44d each of which may be connected to an external SONET optical fiber that carries an OC-48 stream, as indicated by a particular port type 00620
- line card 16b may be a version four ATM over SONET card meaning that it includes sixteen SONET ports 46a- 46f each of which carries an OC-3 stream as indicated by a particular port type, e.g., 00820.
- Other information is also passed to the MCD by the DP, for example, diagnostic test pass / fail status. With this information and the card type and version number provided by slave MCD 39a, MCD 38 creates card table (CT) 47 and port table (PT) 49 in configuration database 42.
- CT card table
- PT port table
- the configuration database copies all changes to an NMS database. If the MCD cannot communicate with the diagnostic program to learn the card type and version number, then the MCD assumes the slot is empty. Even after initial power-up, master MCD 38 will continue to take physical inventories to determine if hardware has been added or removed from computer system 10. For example, cards may be added to empty slots or removed from slots. When changes are detected, master MCD 38 will update CT 47 and PT 49 accordingly. For each card except the central processor card, master MCD 38 searches a physical module description (PMD) file 48 in memory 40 for a record that matches the card type and version number retrieved from that card. The PMD file may include multiple files.
- PMD physical module description
- the PMD file includes a table that corresponds card type and version number with the name of the mission kernel image executable file (MKI.exe) that needs to be loaded on that card.
- master MCD 38 passes the name of each MKI executable file to master SRM 36.
- Master SRM 36 requests a bootserver (not shown) to download the MKI executable files 50a-50n from persistent storage 21 into memory 40 (i.e., dynamic loading) and passes each MKI executable file 50a-50n to a bootloader (not shown) running on each board (central processor and each line card).
- the bootloaders execute the received MKI executable file. Instead of having a single central processor card (e.g., 12, Fig.
- the chassis may support primary and backup internal control (IC) processor cards 542a and 543 a and primary and backup external control (EC) processor cards 542b and 543b.
- IC internal control
- EC external control
- Master MCD 38 is a primary Master MCD and is executed on one of the processor cards, for example, IC processor card 542a
- a backup Master MCD is executed on the backup processor card, for example, IC processor card 543 a.
- the Master MCD 38 detects and treats the other processor cards, for example, EC processor cards 542b and 543b, the same as the other cards (e.g., port cards 554a-554h, 556a-556h, 558a-558h, 560a-560h, forwarding cards 546a-546e, 548a-548e, 550a-550e, 552a-552e, switch fabric cards 570a-570b, cross connection cards 562a-562b, 564a-564b, 566a- 566b, 568a-568b). That is, the Master MCD reads the card type and version out of an EPROM located on each external processor card.
- the other processor cards e.g., port cards 554a-554h, 556a-556h, 558a-558h, 560a-560h, forwarding cards 546a-546e, 548a-548e, 550a-550e, 552a-552e, switch fabric cards 570a-570b, cross
- the Master MCD then enters this information in CT 47 and uses the PMD file to determine the name of the MKI.exe corresponding to that card type and version. Again the Master MCD passes this name to the Master SRM which causes the bootserver to download the MKI and pass the MKI to bootloaders running on each external processor card.
- each card start slave MCDs (e.g., 39a-39n) on each card.
- the slave MCDs may also read the card type and version from their local EPROMs and send the information to the Master MCD.
- the Master MCD can then confirm this information against the information it previously loaded in CT 47 and PT 49.
- slave MCDs e.g., 39a- 39n
- slave SRMs e.g., 37a-37n
- the slave MCDs search PMD file 48 in memory 40 on central processor 12 for a match with their line card type and version number.
- the master MCD 38 found the name of the MKI executable file for each line card in the PMD file
- each slave MCD reads the PMD file to learn the process names of all the executable files (e.g., device drivers, SONET, ATM, MPLS, etc.) associated with each card type and version.
- the slave MCDs provide these names to the slave SRMs on their cards.
- Slave SRMs 37a-37n then download and execute the executable files (e.g., device drivers, DD.exe 56a-56n) from memory 40.
- executable files e.g., device drivers, DD.exe 56a-56n
- one port device driver 43a-43d may be started for each port 44a-44d on line card 16a.
- the port driver and port are linked together through the assigned port PID number.
- Unique process names are listed in the PMD file for each port driver to be started on line card 16a.
- the MCD software does not have knowledge of card types built into it.
- the MCD parameterizes its operations on a particular card by looking up the card type and version number in the PMD file and acting accordingly. Consequently, the MCD software does not need to be modified, rebuilt, tested and distributed with new hardware.
- the changes required in the software system infrastructure to support new hardware are simpler, modify logical model 280 (Fig. 3A) to include: a new entry in the PMD file (or a new PMD file) and, where necessary, new device drivers and applications. Because the MCD software, which resides in the kernel, will not need to be modified, the new applications and device drivers and the new DDL files (reflecting the new PMD file) for the configuration database and NMS database are downloaded and upgraded (as described below) without re-booting the computer system (hot upgrade).
- NMS Network Management System
- a user / network adminisfrator of computer system 10 works with network management system (NMS) software 60 to configure computer system 10.
- NMS 60 runs on a personal computer or workstation 62 and communicates with central processor 12 over Ethernet network 41 (out-of-band). Instead, the NMS may communicate with central processor 12 over data path 34 (Fig. 1, in-band).
- a user may communicate with computer system 10 through a console interface / terminal (852, Fig. 2A) connected to a serial line 66 connecting to the data or confrol path using a command line interface (CLI) protocol.
- CLI command line interface
- NMS 60 could run directly on computer system 10 provided computer system 10 has an input mechanism for the user.
- an NMS database 61 is established on, for example, workstation 62 using a DDL executable file corresponding to the NMS database.
- the DDL file may be downloaded from persistent storage 21 in computer system 10 or supplied separately with other NMS programs as part of an NMS installation kit.
- the NMS database mirrors the configuration database through an active query feature (described below).
- the NMS database is an Oracle database from Oracle Corporation in Boston, Massachusetts.
- the NMS and central processor 12 pass confrol and data over Ethernet 41 using, for example, the Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) protocol.
- JDBC Java Database Connectivity
- work-station 62 (Fig. 13B) is coupled to many network computer systems, and NMS 60 is used to configure and manage each of these systems.
- the NMS also interprets management data gathered by each system relevant to each system's network accounting data, statistics, security and fault logging (or some portion thereof) and presents this to the user.
- two distributed carefully synchronized processes are used to move data from a network system/device to the NMS.
- the processes are synchronized with each other by having one or both processes maintain the state of the other process.
- internal network device management subsystem processes are made asynchronous with external management processes. That is, neither the internal nor external processes maintain each other's state and all processes operate independently of the other processes. This also minimizes or prevents data loss (i.e., lossless system), which is especially important for revenue generating accounting systems.
- each system sends the NMS (e.g., data collector server 857, Fig. 2A) class files 410 including compiled source code indicating how its management data should be interpreted.
- the NMS effectively "learns" how to process (and perhaps display) management data from the network device via the class file.
- FTP File Transfer Protocol
- management subsystem processes 412 Fig. 13B
- central processor 12 push data summary files 414 and binary data files 416 to the NMS.
- Each data summary file indicates the name of the class file the NMS should use to interpret a corresponding binary data file.
- the management subsystem processes, class files and NMS processes are JAVA programs, and JAVA Reflection is used to dynamically load the data-specific application class file and process the data in the binary data file.
- JAVA Reflection is used to dynamically load the data-specific application class file and process the data in the binary data file.
- a new class file can be added or updated on a network device without having to reboot or upgrade the network device or the NMS.
- the computer system simply pushes the new class file to the NMS.
- the NMS can use different class files for each network device such that the data gathered on each device can be particularized to each device.
- the management subsystem 412 (Fig. 13B) is broken into two pieces: a usage data server (UDS) 412a and a file transfer protocol (FTP) client 412b.
- the UDS is executed on internal processor confrol card 542a (see also Fig. 41B) while the FTP client is executed on external processor confrol card 542b (see also Fig. 41 A).
- both the UDS and FTP client may be executed on that one card.
- SONET driver 415a- 415n and ATM driver 417a-417n (only SONET driver 415a and ATM driver 417a are shown for convenience and it is to be understood that multiple drivers may be present on each card)
- SONET driver 415a- 415n and ATM driver 417a-417n (only SONET driver 415a and ATM driver 417a are shown for convenience and it is to be understood that multiple drivers may be present on each card)
- UDML usage data monitoring library
- the device driver When device drivers are first started, upgraded or re-booted, the device driver makes a call into the UDML to notify the UDML as to which statistical data the device driver is able to gather. For example, an ATM device driver may be able to gather virtual circuit (VC) accounting statistics and Virtual ATM (VATM) interface statistics while a SONET device driver may be able to gather SONET statistics.
- the device driver then makes a call into the UDML to notify the UDML as to each interface (including virtual circuits) for which the device driver will be gathering data and the types of data the device driver will provide for each interface.
- the UDML sends a registration packet to the UDS providing one or more string names corresponding to the types of data that the UDML will send to the UDS.
- the UDML may register "AcctJPVC” to frack permanent virtual circuit statistics, "Acct_SVC” to track soft permanent virtual circuit statistics, "Vir_Intf to track quality of service (QoS) statistics corresponding to virtual interfaces, and "Bw_Util” to frack bandwidth utilization.
- the UDML may register "Section" to track section statistics, "Line” to frack line statistics and "Path” to track path statistics.
- the UDML need only register each string name with the UDS once, for example, for the first interface registered, and not for each interface since the UDML will package up the data from multiple interfaces corresponding to the same string name before sending the data with the appropriate string name to the UDS.
- the UDML includes a polling timer to cause each driver to periodically poll its hardware for "current" statistical/accounting data samples 41 la.
- the current data samples are typically gathered on a frequent interval of, for example, 15 minutes, as specified by the polling timer.
- the UDML also causes each driver to put the binary data in a particular format, time stamp the data and store the current data sample locally.
- the UDML When a current data sample for each interface managed by the device driver and corresponding to a particular string name is stored locally, the UDML packages all of the current data samples corresponding to the same string name into one or more packets containing binary data and sends the packets to the UDS with the registered string name. In addition, the UDML adds each gathered current data sample 41 la to a local data summary 41 lb. The UDML clears the data summary periodically, for example, every twenty-four hours, and then adds newly gathered current data samples to the cleared data summary. Thus, the data summary represents an accumulation of current data samples gathered over the period (e.g., 24 hours).
- the UDS maintains a list of UDMLs expected to send current data samples and data summaries corresponding to each string name. For each poll, the UDS combines the data sent from each UDML with the same string name into a common binary data file (e.g., binary data files 416a-416n) associated with that string name in non- volatile memory, for example, a hard drive 421 located on internal control processor 542a.
- a common binary data file e.g., binary data files 416a-416n
- the UDS closes the common data file, thus ending the data collecting period.
- the data is maintained in binary form to keep the data files smaller than translating it into other forms such as ASCII. Smaller binary files require less space to store and less bandwidth to transfer.
- the UDS closes the common data file, ending the data collecting period.
- the UDS then sends a notice to the non-responsive UDML(s).
- the UDS will repeat this sequence a predetermined number of times, for example, three, and if no binary data with the corresponding string name is received, the UDS will delete the UDML(s) from the list and send a trap to the NMS indicating which specific UDML is not responsive.
- maintaining the list of UDMLs that will be sending data corresponding to each string name allows the UDS to know when to close each common data file and also allows the UDS to notify the NMS when a UDML becomes non-responsive.
- This provides for increased availability including fault tolerance - that is, a fault on one card or in one application cannot interrupt the statistics gathering from each of the other cards or other applications on one card ⁇ and also including hot swapping where a card and its local UDMLs may no longer be inserted within the network device. Since a large number of UDMLs may be sending data to the UDS, the potential exists for the data transfer rate to the UDS to be larger than the amount of data that the UDS can process and larger than local buffering can support.
- the UDML is allowed to send up to a maximum number of packets to the UDS before the UDML must wait for an acknowledge (ACK) packet from the UDS.
- ACK acknowledge
- the UDML may be allowed to send three packets of data to the UDS and in the third packet the UDML must include an acknowledge request.
- the UDML may follow the third packet with a separate packet including an acknowledge request. Once the third packet is sent, the UDML must delay sending any additional packets to the UDS until an acknowledge packet is received from the
- the UDML may negotiate the maximum number of packets that can be sent in its initial registration with the UDS. Otherwise, a default value may be used.
- the UDML may again send up to the maximum number (e.g., 3) of packets to the UDS again including an acknowledge request in the last packet. Requiring the UDML to wait for an acknowledge packet from the UDS, allows the UDS to throttle back the data received from UDMLs when the UDS has a large backlog of data to process.
- a simple mechanism to accomplish this throttling is to have the UDS send an acknowledge packet each time it processes a packet containing an acknowledge request. Since the UDS is processing the packet that is a good indication that it is steadily processing packets. If the number of packets received by the UDS is large, it will take longer to process the packets and, thus, longer to process packets containing acknowledge requests. Thus, the UDMLs must wait longer to send more packets. On the other hand, if the number of packets is small, the UDS will quickly process each packet received and more quickly send back the acknowledge request and the UDMLs will not have to wait as long to send more packets.
- the UDS may first compare the number of packets waiting to be processed against a predetermined threshold. If the number of packets waiting to be processed is less than the predetermined threshold, then the UDS immediately sends the acknowledge packet to the UDML. If the number of packets waiting to be processed is more than the predetermined threshold, then the UDS may delay sending the acknowledge packet until enough packets have been processed that the number of packets waiting to be processed is reduced to less than the predetermined threshold.
- the UDS may estimate the amount of time that it will need to process enough packets to reduce the number of packets waiting to be processed to less than the threshold and send an acknowledge packet to the UDML including a future time at which the UDML may again send packets.
- the UDS does not wait until the backlog is diminished to notify the UDMLs but instead notifies the UDMLs prior to reducing the backlog and based on an estimate of when the backlog will be diminished.
- Another embodiment for a throttling mechanism requires polls for different statistical data to be scheduled at different times to load balance the amount of statistical traffic across the control plane.
- the UDML for each ATM driver polls and sends data to the UDS corresponding to PVC accounting statistics (i.e., Acct PVC) at a first time
- the UDML for each ATM driver polls and sends data to the UDS corresponding to SPVC accounting statistics (i.e., Acct_SPVC) at a second time
- the UDML for each ATM driver and each SONET driver polls and sends data to the UDS corresponding to other statistics at other times.
- This may be accomplished by having multiple polling timers within the UDML corresponding to the type of data being gathered.
- Load balancing and staggered reporting provides distributed data throttling which may smooth out confrol plane bandwidth utilization (i.e., prevent large data bursts) and reduce data buffering and data loss.
- a separate, low priority packaging program (PP) 413a-413n may be resident on each card and responsible for packaging the binary statistical management data from each device driver and sending it to the UDS.
- Running the PP as a lower priority program ensures that processor cycles are not taken away from time-critical processes. Load balancing and staggered reporting may still be accomplished by having each PP send acknowledge requests in the last of a predetermined number of packets and wait for the UDS to send an acknowledge packet as described above.
- the UDML causes the device driver to periodically gather the current statistical management data samples for each interface and corresponding to each string name.
- the period may be relatively frequent, for example, every 15 minutes.
- the UDML causes the device driver or separate packaging program to add the current data sample to a data summary corresponding to the same string name each time a current data sample is gathered.
- the UDML clears the data summary periodically, for example, every twenty-four hours.
- the data summary and corresponding string name is sent to the UDS periodically but with an infrequent time period of, for example, every 6 to 12 hours.
- the data summary provides resiliency such that if any of the current data samples are lost in any of the various transfers, the data summary is still available. Local resiliency may be provided by storing a backlog of both current data sample files and summary data files in hard drive 421.
- the four most recent current data sample files and the two most recent summary data files corresponding to each string name may be stored. If FTP client 412b cannot send data from hard drive 421 to file system 425 for a predetermined period of time, for example, 15 minutes, the FTP client may notify the UDS and the UDS may notify each UDML. Each UDML then continues to cause the device driver to gather current statistical management data samples and add them to the data summaries at the same periodic interval (i.e., current data interval, e.g., 15 minutes), however, the UDML stops sending the current data samples to the UDS.
- current data interval i.e., current data interval
- the UDML sends only the data summaries to the UDS but at the more frequent current data interval (e.g., 15 minutes) instead of the longer time period (e.g., 6 to 12 hours).
- the UDS may then update the data summaries stored in hard drive 421 and cease collecting and storing current data samples. This will save space in the hard drive and minimize any data loss.
- a network manager may selectively configure only certain of the applications (e.g., device drivers) and certain of the interfaces to provide this data. As each UDML registers with the UDS, the UDS may then inform each UDML with respect to each interface as to whether or not statistical management data should be gathered and sent to the UDS. There may be many circumstances in which gathering this data is unnecessary. For example, each ATM device driver may manage multiple virtual interfaces (VATMs) and within each VATM there may be several virtual circuits.
- VATMs virtual interfaces
- a network manager may choose not to receive statistics for virtual circuits on which a customer has ordered only Variable Bit Rate (VBR) real time (VBR-rt) and VBR non- real time (VBR-nrt) service.
- VBR Variable Bit Rate
- VBR-rt real time
- VBR-nrt VBR non- real time
- the network service provider may provide the customer only with available / exfra bandwidth and charge a simple flat fee per month.
- a network manager may need to receive statistics for virtual circuits on which a customer has ordered a high quality of service such as Constant Bit Rate (CBR) to ensure that the customer is getting the appropriate level of service and to appropriately charge the customer.
- CBR Constant Bit Rate
- a network manager may want to receive statistics for virtual circuits on which a customer has ordered Unspecified Bit Rate (UBR) service to police the customer's usage and ensure they are not receiving more network bandwidth than what they are paying for. Allowing a network manager to indicate that certain applications or certain interfaces managed by an application (e.g., a VATM) need not provide statistical management data or some portion of that data to the UDS reduces the amount of data transferred to the UDS - that is, reduces internal bandwidth utilization -, reduces the amount of storage space required in the hard drive, and reduces the processing power required to transfer the statistical management data from remote cards to external file system 425.
- UDR Unspecified Bit Rate
- the UDS For each binary data file, the UDS creates a data summary file (e.g., data summary files 414a-414n) and stores it in, for example, hard drive 421.
- the data summary file defines the binary file format, including the type based on the string name, the length, the number of records and the version number.
- the UDS does not need to understand the binary data sent to it by each of the device drivers.
- the UDS need only combine data corresponding to similar string names into the same file and create a summary file based on the string name and the amount of data in the binary data file.
- the version number is passed to the UDS by the device driver, and the UDS includes the version number in the data summary file.
- FTP client 412b Periodically, FTP client 412b asynchronously reads each binary data file and corresponding data summary file from hard drive 421.
- the FTP client reads these files from the hard drive through an out-of-band Ethernet connection, for example, Ethernet 32 (Fig. 1).
- the FTP client may read these files through an in- band data path 34 (Fig. 1).
- the FTP client then uses an FTP push to send the binary data file to a file system 425 accessible by the data collector server and, preferably local to the data collector server.
- the FTP client then uses another FTP push to send the data summary file to the local file system.
- the data collector server may periodically search the local file system for data summary files. The data collector server may then attempt to open a discovered data summary file. If the data collector server is able to open the file, then that indicates that the FTP push of the data summary file is complete, and since the data summary file is pushed after the binary data file, the data collector server's ability to open the data summary file may be used as an indication that a new binary data file has been completely received. Since data summary files are much smaller than binary data files, having the data collector server look for and attempt to open data summary files instead of binary data files minimizes the thread wait within the data collector server.
- the data collector server is a JAVA program, and each different type of binary data file has a corresponding JAVA class file (e.g., class file 410a) that defines how the data collector server should process the binary data file.
- a corresponding JAVA class file is also loaded and stored in hard drive 421.
- the FTP client periodically polls the hard drive for new JAVA class files and uses an FTP push to send them to file system 425.
- the data collector server uses the binary file type in the data summary file to determine which JAVA class file it should use to interpret the binary data file.
- the data collector server then converts the binary data into ASCII or AMA/BAF format and stores the ASCII or AMA/BAF files in the file system.
- the data collector server may use a set of worker threads for concurrency.
- the data collector server is completely independent of and asynchronous with the FTP client, which is also independent and asynchronous of the UDS.
- the separation of the data collector server and FTP client avoids data loss due to process synchronization problems, since there is no synchronization, and reduces the burden on the network device by not requiring the network device to maintain synchronization between the processes, hi addition, if the data collector server goes down or is busy for some time, the FTP client and UDS continue working and continue sending binary data files and data summary files to the file system.
- the data collector server When the data collector server is again available, it simply accesses the data summary files and processes the binary files as described above. Thus, there is no data loss and the limited storage capacity within the network device is not strained by storing data until the data collector server is available. In addition, if the FTP client or UDS goes down, the data collector server may continue working.
- An NMS server (e.g., NMS server 851a), which may or may not be executing on the same computer system 62 as the data collector server, may periodically retrieve the ASCII or AMA/BAF files from the file system.
- the files may represent accounting, statistics, security, logging and/or other types of data gathered from hardware within the network device.
- the NMS server may also access the corresponding class files from the file system to learn how the data should be presented to a user, for example, how a graphical user interface (GUI) should be displayed, what data and format to display, or perhaps which one of many GUIs should be used.
- the NMS server may use the data to, for example, monitor network device performance, including quality of service guarantees and service level agreements, as well as bill customers for network usage.
- a separate billing server 423a or statistics server 423b which may or may not be executing on the same computer system 62 as the data collector server and/or the NMS server, may periodically retrieve the ASCII or AMA/BAF files from the file system in order to monitor network device performance, including quality of service guarantees and service level agreements, and/or bill customers for network usage.
- One or more of the data collector server, the NMS server, the billing server and the statistics server may be combined into one server.
- management files created by the data collector server may be combined with data from the configuration or NMS databases to generate billing records for each of the network provider's customers.
- the data collector server may convert the ASCII or AMA/BAF files into other data formats, for example, Excel spread sheets, for use by the NMS server, billing server and/or statistics server.
- the application class file for each data type may be modified to go beyond conversion, including direct integration into a database or an OSS system.
- many OSS systems use a Portal billing system available from Portal Software, Inc. in Cupertino, CA.
- the JAVA class file associated with a particular binary data file and data summary file may cause the data collector server to convert the binary data file into ASCII data and then issue a Portal API call to give the ASCII data directly to the Portal billing system.
- accounting, statistics, logging and/or security data may be directly integrated into any other process, including third party processes, tlirough JAVA class files.
- new device drivers may be added to a network device without having to change UDS 412a or FTP client 412b and without having to re-boot the network device and without having to upgrade/modify external processes.
- a new forwarding card e.g., forwarding card 552a
- This new forwarding card may support MPLS.
- An MPLS device driver 419, linked within the UDML, is downloaded to the network device as well as a corresponding class file (e.g., class file 410e).
- the FTP client discovers the new class file in hard drive 421, it uses an FTP push to send it to file system 425.
- the FTP client does not need to understand the data within the class file it simply needs to push it to the file system.
- the UDML causes the MPLS driver to register appropriate string names with the UDS and poll and send data to the UDS with a registered string name.
- the UDS stores binary data files (e.g., binary data file 416e) and corresponding data summary files (e.g., data summary file 414e) in the hard drive without having to understand the data within the binary data file.
- the FTP client then pushes these files to the file system again without having to understand the data.
- the data collector server uses the binary file type in the data summary file to locate the new
- MPLS class file 410e in the file system and then uses the class file to convert the binary data in the corresponding binary data file into ASCII format and perhaps other data formats.
- a new device driver is added and statistical information may be gathered without having to change any of the other software and without having to re-boot the network device.
- having the data collector server be completely independent of and asynchronous with the FTP client avoids the typical problems encountered when internal and external management programs are synchronized.
- modularity of device drivers and internal management programs is maintained by providing metadata through class files that instruct the external management programs as to how the management data should be processed. Consequently, device drivers may be modified, upgraded and added to an operating network device without disrupting the operation of any of the other device drivers or the management programs.
- a modular software architecture includes independent applications that are significantly decoupled from the hardware through the use of a logical model of the computer system.
- a view id and API are generated for each application to define each application's access to particular data in a configuration database and programming interfaces between the different applications.
- the configuration database is established using a data definition language (DDL) file also generated by the code generation system from the logical model.
- DDL data definition language
- NMS 60 reads card table 47 and port table
- the NMS assigns a logical identification number (LID) 98 (Figs. 14B and 14C) to each card and port and inserts these numbers in an LED to PID Card table (LPCT) 100 and an LID to PID Port table (LPPT) 101 in configuration database 42.
- LID logical identification number
- the NMS could use the PID previously assigned to each board by the MCD.
- the NMS assigns an LID and may associate the LID with at least two PEDs, a primary PID 102 and a backup PID 104.
- LPCT 100 may include multiple backup PID fields to allow more than one backup PID to be assigned to each primary PED.
- the user chooses the desired redundancy structure and instructs the NMS as to which boards are primary boards and which boards are backup boards.
- the NMS may assign LED 30 to line card 16a - previously assigned PED 500 by the MCD - as a user defined primary card, and the NMS may assign LED 30 to line card 16n - previously assigned PID 513 by the MCD - as a user defined back-up card (see row 106, Fig. 14B).
- the NMS may also assign LID 40 to port 44a — previously assigned PED 1500 by the MCD ⁇ as a primary port, and the NMS may assign LID 40 to port 68a - previously assigned PED 1600 by the MCD - as a back-up port (see row 107, Fig. 14C).
- each backup line card backs-up only one other line card and the NMS assigns a unique primary PED and a unique backup PID to each LED (no LEDs share the same PEDs).
- each backup line card backs-up at least two other line cards and the NMS assigns a different primary PID to each LED and the same backup PID to at least two LEDs.
- one line card for example, line card 16n, serves as the hardware backup card for at least two other line cards, for example, line cards 16a and 16b.
- the NMS assigns an LID of 31 to line card 16b, then in logical to physical card table 100 (see row 109, Fig. 14B), the NMS associates LID 31 with primary PED 501 (line card 16b) and backup PED 513 (line card 16n). As a result, backup PED 513 (line card 16n) is associated with both LED 30 and 31.
- the logical to physical card table provides the user with maximum flexibility in choosing a redundancy structure.
- the user may provide full redundancy (1:1), partial redundancy (1:N), no redundancy or a combination of these redundancy structures.
- a network manager user
- the user may have certain customers that are willing to pay more to ensure their network availability, and the user may provide a backup line card for each of that customer's primary line cards (1:1).
- Other customers may be willing to pay for some redundancy but not full redundancy, and the user may provide one backup line card for all of that customer's primary line cards (1 :N).
- Still other customers may not need any redundancy, and the user will not provide any backup line cards for that customer's primary line cards.
- the NMS would leave the backup PID field in the logical to physical table blank.
- Each of these customers may be serviced by separate computer systems or the same computer system. Redundancy is discussed in more detail below.
- the NMS and MCD use the same numbering space for LIDs, PEDs and other assigned numbers to ensure that the numbers are different (no collisions).
- the configuration database for example, a Polyhedra relational database, supports an "active query" feature. Through the active query feature, other software applications can be notified of changes to configuration database records in which they are interested.
- the NMS database establishes an active query for all configuration database records to insure it is updated with all changes.
- the master SRM establishes an active query with configuration database 42 for LPCT 100 and LPPT 101. Consequently, when the NMS adds to or changes these tables, configuration database 42 sends a notification to the master SRM and includes the change.
- configuration database 42 notifies master SRM 36 that LED 30 has been assigned to PID 500 and 513 and LED 31 has been assigned to PED 501 and 513.
- the master SRM then uses card table 47 to determine the physical location of boards associated with new or changed LEDs and then tells the corresponding slave SRM of its assigned LED(s).
- master SRM reads CT 47 to learn that PED 500 is line card 16a, PED 501 is line card 16b and PED 513 is line card 16n.
- the master SRM then notifies slave SRM 37b on line card 16a that it has been assigned LID 30 and is a primary line card, SRM 37c on line card 16b that it has been assigned LED 31 and is a primary line card and SRM 37o on line card 16n that it has been assigned LEDs 30 and 31 and is a backup line card. All three slave SRMs 37b, 37c and 37o then set up active queries with configuration database 42 to insure that they are notified of any software load records (SLRs) created for their LEDs. A similar process is followed for the LIDs assigned to each port.
- SLRs software load records
- the NMS informs the user of the hardware available in computer system 10. This information may be provided as a text list, as a logical picture in a graphical user interface (GUI), or in a variety of other formats. The user then uses the GUI to tell the NMS (e.g., NMS client 850a, Fig. 2A) how they want the system configured.
- GUI graphical user interface
- the user will select which ports (e.g., 44a-44d, 46a-46f, 68a-68n) the NMS should enable. There may be instances where some ports are not currently needed and, therefore, not enabled.
- the user also needs to provide the NMS with information about the type of network connection (e.g., connection 70a-70d, 72a-72f, 74a-74n). For example, the user may want all ports 44a-44d on line card 16a enabled to run ATM over SONET.
- the NMS may start one ATM application to control all four ports, or, for resiliency, the NMS may start one ATM application for each port.
- each port may be enabled to run a different protocol (e.g., MPLS, IP, Frame Relay).
- the user must also indicate the type of SONET fiber they have connected to each port and what paths to expect. For example, the user may indicate that each port 44a-44d is connected to a SONET optical fiber carrying an OC- 48 stream.
- a channelized OC-48 sfream is capable of carrying forty-eight STS-1 paths, sixteen STS-3c paths, four STS-12c paths or a combination of STS-1, STS-3c and STS- 12c paths.
- a clear channel OC-48c stream carries one concatenated STS-48 path.
- the user may indicate that the network connection to port 44a is a clear channel OC-48 SONET stream having one STS-48 path, the network connection to port 44b is a channelized OC-48 SONET stream having three STS-12c paths (i.e., the SONET fiber is not at full capacity - more paths may be added later), the network connection to port 44c is a channelized OC-48 SONET sfream having two STS-3c paths (not at full capacity) and the network connection to port 44d is a channelized OC-48 SONET stream having three STS-12c paths (not at full capacity).
- all paths within each stream carry data transmitted according to the ATM protocol.
- each path within a stream may carry data transmitted according to a different protocol.
- the NMS uses the information received from the user (through the GUI / NMS client) to create records in several tables in the configuration database, which are then copied to the NMS database. These tables are accessed by other applications to configure computer system 10.
- One table, the service endpoint table (SET) 76 (see also Fig. 14A), is created when the NMS assigns a unique service endpoint number (SE) to each path on each enabled port and corresponds each service endpoint number with the physical identification number (PED) previously assigned to each port by the MCD.
- SE service endpoint number
- PED physical identification number
- LPPT logical to physical port table
- the service endpoint number also corresponds to the logical identification number (LED) of the port.
- the NMS assigns one service endpoint number (e.g. SE 1, see row 78, Fig. 14A). Similarly, the NMS assigns three service endpoint numbers (e.g., SE 2, 3, 4, see rows 80-84) to port 44b (PED 1501), two service endpoint numbers (e.g., SE 5, 6, see rows 86, 88) to port 44c (PED 1502) and three service endpoint numbers (e.g., SE 7, 8, 9, see rows 90, 92, 94) to port 44d.
- service endpoint number e.g. SE 1, see row 78, Fig. 14A
- the NMS assigns three service endpoint numbers (e.g., SE 2, 3, 4, see rows 80-84) to port 44b (PED 1501), two service endpoint numbers (e.g., SE 5, 6, see rows 86, 88) to port 44c (PED 1502) and three service endpoint numbers (e.g., SE 7, 8, 9, see rows 90, 92, 94) to port 44d.
- Service endpoint managers within the modular system services of the kernel software running on each line card use the service endpoint numbers assigned by the NMS to enable ports and to link instances of applications, for example, ATM, running on the line cards with the correct port.
- the kernel may start one SEM to handle all ports on one line card, or, for resiliency, the kernel may start one SEM for each particular port. For example, SEMs 96a-96d are spawned to independently control ports 44a-44d.
- the service endpoint managers (SEMs) running on each board establish active queries with the configuration database for SET 76.
- the configuration database sends the service endpoint manager associated with the port PED in the SET a change notification including information on the change that was made.
- configuration database 42 notifies SEM 96a that SET 76 has been changed and that SE 1 was assigned to port 44a (PID 1500).
- Configuration database 42 notifies SEM 96b that SE 2, 3, and 4 were assigned to port 44b (PED 1501), SEM 96c that SE 5 and 6 were assigned to port 44c (PID 1502) and SEM 96d that SE 7, 8, and 9 were assigned to port 44d (PED 1503).
- the NMS creates software load records (SLR) 128a-128n in configuration database 42.
- the SLR includes the name 130 (Fig. 14F) of a confrol shim executable file and an LID 132 for cards on which the application must be spawned.
- NMS 60 creates SLR 128a including the executable name atm_cntrl.exe and card LID 30 (row 134).
- the configuration database detects LID 30 in SLR 128a and sends slave SRMs 37b (line card 16a) and 37o (line card 16n) a change notification including the name of the executable file (e.g., atm_cntrl.exe) to be loaded.
- the primary slave SRMs then download and execute a copy ofatm_cntrl.exe 135 from memory 40 to spawn the ATM controllers (e.g., ATM controller 136 on line card 16a). Since slave SRM 37o is on backup line card 16n, it may or may not spawn an ATM controller in backup mode. Software backup is described in more detail below.
- a slave SRM may download it from another line card that already downloaded a copy from memory 40. There may be instances when downloading from a line card is quicker than downloading from central processor 12.
- the control shims e.g., atm_cntrl.exe 135) interpret the next layer of the application (e.g., ATM) configuration.
- ATM group table 108 indicates that four instances of ATM (i.e., group number 1, 2, 3, 4) - corresponding to four enabled ports 44a-44n — are to be started on line card 16a (LID 30). If other instances of ATM are started on other line cards, they would also be listed in ATM group table 108 but associated with the appropriate line card LID.
- ATM group table 108 may also include additional information needed to execute ATM applications on each particular line card. (See description of software backup below.)
- one instance of ATM was started for each port on the line card. This provides resiliency and fault isolation should one instance of ATM fail or should one port suffer a failure.
- An even more resilient scheme would include multiple instances of ATM for each port. For example, one instance of ATM may be started for each path received by a port.
- configuration database 42 sends ATM controller 136 records from ATM group table 108 that correspond to LED 30 (line card 16a). With these records, ATM controller 136 learns that there are four ATM groups associated with LED 30 meaning ATM must be instantiated four times on line card 16a. ATM controller 136 asks slave SRM 37b to download and execute four instances (ATM 110-113, Fig. 15) of atm.exe 138.
- each instantiation of ATM 110-113 sends an active database query to search ATM interface table 114 for its corresponding group number and to retrieve associated records.
- the data in the records indicates how many ATM interfaces each instantiation of ATM needs to spawn.
- a master ATM application (not shown) running on cenfral processor 12 may perform active queries of the configuration database and pass information to each slave ATM application running on the various line cards regarding the number of ATM interfaces each slave ATM application needs to spawn.
- ATM interface table 114 For each instance of ATM 110-113 there may be one or more ATM interfaces.
- the NMS creates an ATM interface table 114. There may be one ATM interface 115-122 per path / service endpoint or multiple virtual ATM interfaces 123-125 per path. This flexibility is left up to the user and NMS, and the ATM interface table allows the NMS to communicate this configuration information to each instance of each application running on the different line cards.
- ATM interface table 114 indicates that for ATM group 1, service endpoint 1, there are three virtual ATM interfaces (ATM-FF 1-3) and for ATM group 2, there is one ATM interface for each service endpoint: ATM-EF 4 and SE 2; ATM-EF 5 and SE 3; and ATM-EF 6 and SE 4.
- Computer system 10 is now ready to operate as a network switch using line card 16a and ports 44a-44d.
- the user will likely provide the NMS with further instructions to configure more of computer system 10.
- instances of other software applications such as an IP application, and additional instances of ATM may be spawned (as described above) on line cards 16a or other boards in computer system 10.
- all application dependent data resides in memory 40 and not in kernel software. Consequently, changes may be made to applications and configuration data in memory 40 to allow hot (while computer system 10 is running) upgrades of software and hardware and configuration changes.
- a user may provision services on one or more network devices in one or more networks controlled by one or more network management systems (NMSs) interactively and non-interactively using an Operations Support Services (OSS) client and templates.
- NMSs network management systems
- OSS Operations Support Services
- NMSs network management systems
- OSS Operations Support Services
- the OSS provides the overall network management infrastructure and the main user interface for network managers / administrators.
- the OSS is responsible for consolidating a diverse set of element/network management systems and third-party applications into a single system that is used, for example, to detect and resolve network faults (Fault Management), configure and upgrade the network (Configuration Management), account and bill for network usage (Accounting Management), oversee and tune network performance (Performance Management), and ensure ironclad network security (Security Management).
- FCAPS are the five functional areas of network management as defined by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Through templates one or more NMSs may be integrated with a telecommunication network carrier's OSS.
- Templates are metadata and include scripts of instructions and parameters.
- instructions within templates are written in ASCII text to be human readable.
- a user may interactively connect the OSS client with a particular NMS server and then cause the NMS server to connect to a particular device. Instead, the user may create a control template that non-interactively establishes these connections. Once the connections are established, whether interactively or non- interactively, provisioning templates may be used to complete particular provisioning tasks.
- the instructions within a provisioning template cause the OSS client to issue appropriate calls to the NMS server which cause the NMS server to complete the provisioning task, for example, by writing / modifying data within the network device's configuration database.
- Batch templates may be used to concatenate a series of templates and template modifications (i.e., one or more control and provisioning templates) to provision one or more network devices.
- template modifications i.e., one or more control and provisioning templates
- multiple OSS clients may work with one or more NMS servers.
- Database view ids and APIs for the OSS client may be generated using the logical model and code generation system (Fig. 3C) to synchronize the integration interfaces between the OSS clients and the NMS servers.
- a network manager may have an OSS client execute many provisioning templates to complete many provisioning tasks. Instead, the network manager may order and sequence the execution of many provisioning templates within a batch template to non-interactively complete the many provisioning tasks and build custom services.
- execution commands followed by control template names may be included within batch templates to non-interactively cause an OSS client to establish connections with particular NMS servers and network devices.
- a first confrol template may designate a network device to which the current OSS client and NMS server are not connected. Including an execution command followed by the first control template name in a batch template will cause the OSS client to issue calls to the NMS server to cause the NMS server to access the different network device.
- a second control template may designate an NMS server and a network device to which the OSS client is not currently connected. Including an execution command followed by the second control template name will cause the OSS client to set up connections to both the different NMS server and the different network device.
- batch templates may include execution commands followed by provisioning template names after each execution command and confrol template to provision services witliin the network devices designated by the confrol templates. Through batch templates, therefore, multiple confrol templates and provisioning templates may be ordered and sequenced to provision services within multiple network devices in multiple networks controlled by multiple NMSs.
- Calls issued by the OSS client to the NMS server may cause the NMS server to immediately provision services or delay provisioning services until a predetermined time, for example, a time when the network device is less likely to be busy. Templates may be written to apply to different types of network devices.
- a "command line" interactive interpreter within the OSS client may be used by a network manager to select and modify existing templates or to create new templates. Templates may be generated for many various provisioning tasks, for example, setting up a permanent virtual circuit (PVC), a switched virtual circuit (SVC), a SONET path (SPATH), a traffic descriptor (TD) or a virtual ATM interface (VAEF).
- PVC permanent virtual circuit
- SVC switched virtual circuit
- SPATH SONET path
- TD traffic descriptor
- VAEF virtual ATM interface
- a network adminisfrator may provision services by selecting (step 888) a template and using the default parameters within that template or copying and renaming (step 889) a particular provisioning template corresponding to a particular provisioning task and either accepting default parameter values provided by the template or changing (step 890) those default values to meet the administrator's needs.
- the network adminisfrator may also change parameters and instructions within a copy of a template to create a new template.
- the modified provisioning templates are sent to or loaded into (step 891) the OSS client, which executes the instructions within the template and issues the appropriate calls (step 892) to the NMS server to satisfy the provisioning need.
- the OSS client may be written in JAVA and employ script technology.
- the NMS server may execute (step 894) the provisioning requests defined by a template immediately or in a "batch-mode" (step 893), perhaps with other calls received from the OSS client or other clients, at a time when network transactions are typically low (e.g., late at night).
- a network manager may type in "help” and be provided with a list (e.g., list 913) of commands that are available.
- available commands may include bye, close, execute, help, load, manage, open, quit, showCurrent, showTemplate, set, status, writeCurrent, and writeTemplate.
- the bye command allows the network manager to exit the interactive interpreter
- the close command allows the network manager to close a connection between the OSS client and that NMS server
- the execute command followed by a template type causes the OSS client to execute the instructions within the loaded template corresponding to that template type.
- the help command alone causes the interactive interpreter to display the list of commands.
- the help command followed by another command provides help information about that command.
- the load command followed by a template type and a named template loads the named template into the OSS client such that any commands followed by the template type will use the named/loaded template.
- the manage command followed by an FP address of a network device causes the OSS client to issue a call to an NMS server to establish a connection between the NMS server and that network device. Alternatively, a username and password may also need to be supplied.
- the open command followed by an NMS server IP address causes the OSS client to open a connection with that NMS server, and again, the network manager may also need to supply a username and password.
- a domain name server (DNS) name may be provided and a host look up may be used to determine the EP address and access the corresponding device.
- the showCurrent command followed by a template type will cause the interactive interpreter to display current parameter values for the loaded template corresponding to that template type.
- showCurrent SPATH 914 displays a list 915 of parameters and current parameter values for the loaded template corresponding to the SPATH template type.
- the showTemplate command followed by a template type will cause the OSS client to display available parameters and acceptable parameter values for each parameter within the loaded template.
- showTemplate SPATH 916 causes the interactive interpreter to display the available parameters 917 within the loaded template corresponding to the SPATH template type.
- the set command followed by a template type, a parameter name and a value will change the named parameter to the designated value within the loaded template, and a subsequent showCurrent command followed by that template type will show the new parameter value within the loaded.
- the status command 918 will cause the interactive interpreter to display a status of the current interactive interpreter session.
- the interactive interpreter may display the name 919 of an NMS server to which the OSS client is currently connected (as shown in Fig. 3 J, the OSS client is currently not connected to an NMS server) and the interactive interpreter may display the names 920 of available template types.
- the writeCurrent command followed by a template type and a new template name will cause the interactive interpreter to make a copy of the loaded template, including current parameter values, with the new template name.
- the writeTemplate command followed by a template type and a new template name will cause the interactive interpreter to make a copy of the template with the new template name with placeholders values (i.e., ⁇ String>) that indicate the network manager needs to fill in the template with the required datatypes as parameter values.
- the network manager may then use the load command followed by the new template name to load the new template into the OSS client.
- a network manager may interactively provision services on a network device.
- the network manager begins by typing an open command 921a followed by the EP address of an NMS server to cause the OSS client to open a connection 921b with that NMS server.
- the network manager may then issue a manage command 921c followed by the EP address of a particular network device to cause the OSS client to issue a call 921d to the NMS server to cause the NMS server to open a connection 92 le with that network device.
- the network manager may now provision services within that network device by typing in an execute command 92 If followed by a template type. For example, the network manager may type "execute SPATH" at the Enetcli> prompt to cause the OSS client to execute the instructions 92 lg within the loaded SPATH template using the parameter values within the loaded SPATH template. Executing the instructions causes the OSS client to issue calls to the NMS server, and these calls cause the NMS server to complete the provisioning task 92 lh. For example, following an execute SPATH command, the NMS server will set up a SONET path in the network device using the parameter values passed to the NMS server by the OSS client from the template.
- a network manager may change the parameter values within a template. Again, the network manager may use showCurrent followed by a template type to see the current parameter values within the loaded template or showTemplate to see the available parameters within the loaded template. The network manager may then use the set command followed by the template type, parameter name and new parameter value to change a parameter value within the loaded template. For example, after the network manager sets up a SONET path within the network device, the network manager may change one or more parameter values within the loaded SPATH template and re-execute the SPATH template to set up a different SONET path within the same network device. Once a connection to a network device is open, the network manager may interactively execute any template any number of times to provision services within that network device. The network manager may also create new templates and execute those. The network manager may simply write a new template or use the writeCurrent or writeTemplate commands to copy an existing template into a new template name and then edit the instructions within the new template.
- the network manager may open a connection with a second network device to provision services within that second network device. If the NMS server currently connected to the OSS client is capable of establishing a connection with the second network device, then the network manager may simply open a connection to the second network device. If the NMS server currently connected to the OSS client is not capable of establishing a connection with the second network device, then the network manager closes the connections with the NMS server and then opens connections with a second NMS server and the second network device.
- a network manager may easily manage / provision services within multiple network devices within multiple networks even if they are managed by different NMS servers.
- other network managers may provision services on the same network devices through the same NMS servers using other OSS clients that are perhaps running on other computer systems. That is, multiple OSS clients may be connected to multiple NMS servers.
- control templates may be used to non-interactively establish these connections.
- a showCurrent command 922 followed by CONTROL causes the interactive interpreter to display parameters available in the loaded CONTROL template.
- an execute control command will automatically cause the OSS client to execute instructions within the loaded CONTROL template and open a connection to an NMS server designated within the CONTROL template. Since the OSS client automatically opens a connection with the designated NMS server, the open command may but need not be included within the CONTROL template.
- the CONTROL template includes "localhost" 923 a as the DNS name of the NMS server with which the OSS client should open a connection.
- "localhosf” refers to the same system as the OSS client.
- a username 923b and password 923c may also need to be used to open the connection with the localhost NMS server.
- the CONTROL template also includes the manage command 923d and a network device EP address 923e of 192.168.9.202. With this information (and perhaps the username and password or another username and password), the OSS client issues calls to the localhost NMS server to cause the server to set up a connection with that network device.
- the template may also include an output file name 923 f where any output / status information generated in response to the execution of the CONTROL template will be sent.
- the template may also include a version number 923g. Version numbers allow a new template to be created with the same name as an old template but with a new version number, and the new template may include additional/different parameters and/or instructions. Using version numbers, both old (e.g., not upgraded) and new OSS clients may use the templates but only access those templates having particular version numbers that correspond to the functionality of each OSS client.
- a batch template type named BATCH 924 includes an ordered list of tasks, including execute commands followed by provisioning template types.
- the OSS client will carry out each of the tasks within the loaded BATCH template.
- taskl 924a includes "execute SPATH” which causes the OSS client to establish a SONET path within the network device to which a connection is open
- task2 924b includes “execute PVC” to cause the OSS client to set up a permanent virtual circuit within the network device
- task3 924c includes "execute SPVC" to cause the OSS client to set up a soft permanent virtual circuit within the network device.
- the network manager may use writeCurrent or writeTemplate to create multiple similar templates (i.e., same template type with different template names), change or add parameter values within these multiple similar templates using the set command, and sequentially load and execute each of the different named templates.
- SPVC is the template type and task3 causes the OSS to execute instructions within the previously loaded named template.
- Spvcl and spvc2 are two different named templates (or template instantiations) corresponding to the SPVC template type for setting up soft permanent virtual circuits having different parameters from each other and the loaded template to set up different SPVCs.
- the BATCH template then includes task4 924d including "load SPVC spvcl” to load the spvcl template and then task5 924e "execute SPVC" to cause the OSS client to execute the loaded spvcl template and set up a different SPVC.
- task6 924f includes “load SPVC spvc2”
- task7 924e includes “execute SPVC” to cause the OSS client to execute the loaded spvc2 template and set up yet another different SPVC.
- the batch template may include commands for altering an existing template such that multiple similar templates are not necessary.
- the loaded BATCH template may include task50 924g "set SPATH PortID 3" to cause the OSS client to change the PortED parameter within the SPATH template to 3.
- the BATCH template then includes task51 924h "execute SPATH” 924g to cause the OSS client to execute the SPATH template including the new parameter value which sets up a different SONET path.
- a BATCH template may include many set commands to change parameter values followed by execute commands to provision multiple similar services within the same network device.
- the BATCH template may further include task52 924i "set SPATH SlotED 2" followed by task53 924j "execute SPATH” to set up yet another different SONET path. Using this combination of set and execute commands eliminates the need to write, store and keep frack of multiple similar templates.
- Batch templates may also be used to non-interactively provision services within multiple different network devices by ordering and sequencing tasks including execute commands followed by confrol template types and then execute commands followed by provisioning template types.
- a batch template instead of non-interactively establishing connections with an NMS server and a network device using a control template, a batch template may be used.
- the first task in a loaded BATCH template 925 may be taskl 925a "execute CONTROL". This will cause the OSS client to execute the loaded CONTROL template to establish connections with the NMS server and the network device designated within the loaded CONTROL template (e.g., localhost and 192.168.9.202).
- the BATCH template then includes provisioning tasks, for example, task2925b includes “execute SPATH” to set up a SONET path, and task3 925c includes “set SPATH PortED 3" and task4 925d includes “execute SPATH” to set up a different SONET path. Many additional provisioning tasks for this network device may be completed in this way.
- the BATCH template may then have a task including a set command to modify one or more parameters within a control template to cause the OSS client to set up a connection with a different network device and perhaps a different NMS server.
- the BATCH template need only have task ⁇ l 925e including "set CONTROL System” followed by the EP address of the different network device, for example, 192.168.9.201.
- the BATCH template then has a task62 925f including "execute CONTROL", which causes the OSS client to issue calls to the localhost NMS server to establish a connection with the different network device.
- the BATCH template may then have tasks including execute commands followed by provisioning templates, for example, task63 925g including "execute SPATH", to provision services within the different network device.
- the BATCH template includes, for example, taskl 08 925h including "close” to drop the connection between the OSS client and localhost NMS server.
- the BATCH template may then have, for example, taskl 09 925i including "set CONTROL Server Serverl” to change the server parameter within the loaded CONTROL template to Serverl and taskl 10 925j including "set CONTROL System 192.168.8.200" to change the network device parameter within the loaded CONTROL template to the EP address of the new network device.
- the BATCH template may then have taskl 11 925k including "execute CONTROL" to cause the OSS client to set up connections to the Serverl NMS server and to network device 192.168.8.200.
- the BATCH template may then include tasks with execute commands followed by provisioning template types to provision services within the network device, for example, taskl 12 925L includes "execute SPATH".
- the templates and interactive interpreter / OSS client may be loaded and executed on a cenfral OSS computer system(s) and used to provision services in one or more network devices in one or more network domains.
- a network administrator may install an OSS client at various locations and/or for "manage anywhere" purposes, web technology may be used to allow a network manager to download an OSS client program from a web accessible server onto a computer at any location. The network manager may then use the OSS client in the same manner as when it is loaded onto a central OSS computer system. Thus, the network manager may provision services from any computer at any location.
- Provisioning templates may be written to apply to different types of network devices.
- the network administrator does not need to know details of the network device being provisioned as the parameters required and available for modification are listed in the various templates. Consequently, the templates allow for multifaceted integration of different network management systems (NMS) into existing OSS infrastructures.
- NMS network management systems
- OSS client application programming interface API
- library of compiled code is a subset of the compiled code used to create the OSS client, with built-in templates including provisioning, control, batch and other types of templates.
- the OSS software then uses the supported templates as documentation of the necessary parameters needed for each provisioning task and presents template streams (null terminated arrays of arguments that serialize the totality of arguments required to construct a supported template) via the single API for potential alteration through the OSS standard interface.
- OSS software is written in C or C++ programming language.
- the OSS client and templates are written in JAVA, and JAVA Native Interface (JNI) is used by the OSS software to access the JAVA OSS client API and templates.
- JNI JAVA Native Interface
- the operating system assigns a unique process identification number (proc_id) to each spawned process.
- Each process has a name, and each process knows the names of other processes with which it needs to communicate.
- the operating system keeps a list of process names and the assigned process identification numbers.
- Processes send messages to other processes using the assigned process identification numbers without regard to what board is executing each process (i.e., process location).
- Application Programming Interfaces APIs
- the modular software architecture configuration model requires a single software process to support multiple configurable objects. For example, as described above, an ATM application may support configurations requiring multiple ATM interfaces and thousands of permanent virtual connections per ATM interface. The number of processes and configurable objects in a modular software architecture can quickly grow especially in a distributed processing system. If the operating system assigns a new process for each configurable object, the operating system's capabilities may be quickly exceeded.
- the operating system may be unable to assign a process for each ATM interface, each service endpoint, each permanent virtual circuit, etc.. hi some instances, the process identification numbering scheme itself may not be large enough. Where protected memory is supported, the system may have insufficient memory to assign each process and configurable object a separate memory block. In addition, supporting a large number of independent processes may reduce the operating system's efficiency and slow the operation of the entire computer system.
- One alternative is to assign a unique process identification number to only certain high level processes. Referring to Fig.
- process identification numbers may only be assigned to each ATM process (e.g., ATMs 240, 241) and not to each ATM interface (e.g., ATM EFs 242-247) and process identification numbers may only be assigned to each port device driver (e.g., device drivers 248, 250, 252) and not to each service endpoint (e.g., SE 253-261).
- a disadvantage to this approach is that objects within one high level process will likely need to communicate with objects within other high level processes.
- ATM interface 242 within ATM 240 may need to communicate with SE 253 within device driver 248.
- ATM IF 242 needs to know if SE 253 is active and perhaps certain other information about SE 253. Since SE 253 was not assigned a process identification number, however, neither ATM 240 nor ATM FF 242 knows if it exists.
- ATM EF 242 knows it needs to communicate with SE 253 but does not know that device driver 248 controls SE 253.
- each high level process must periodically poll other high level processes to determine whether objects within them are still active (i.e., not terminated) and whether new objects have been started. If the object status has not changed between polls, then the poll wasted resources. If the status did change, then communications have been stalled for the length of time between polls. In addition, if a new device driver is added (e.g., device driver 262), then ATM 240 and 241 cannot communicate with it or any of the service endpoints within it until they have been upgraded to include the new device driver' s name.
- a new device driver e.g., device driver 262
- computer system 10 implements a name server process and a flexible naming procedure.
- the name server process allows high level processes to register information about the objects within them and to subscribe for information about the objects with which they need to communicate.
- the flexible naming procedure is used instead of hard coding names in processes.
- Each process for example, applications and device drivers, use tables in the configuration database to derive the names of other configurable objects with which they need to communicate.
- both an ATM application and a device driver process may use an assigned service endpoint number from the service endpoint table (SET) to derive the name of the service endpoint that is registered by the device driver and subscribed for by the ATM application. Since the service endpoint numbers are assigned by the NMS during configuration, stored in SET 76 and passed to local SEMs, they will not be changed if device drivers or applications are upgraded or restarted.
- SET service endpoint table
- Fig. 16B when device drivers 248, 250 and 252 are started they each register with name server (NS) 264. Each device driver provides a name, a process identification number and the name of each of its service endpoints. Each device driver also updates the name server as service endpoints are started, terminated or restarted. Similarly, each instantiation of ATM 240, 241 subscribes with name server 264 and provides its name, process identification number and the name of each of the service endpoints in which it is interested. The name server then notifies ATM 240 and 241 as to the process identification of the device driver with which they should communicate to reach a desired service endpoint. The name server updates ATM 240 and 241 in accordance with updates from the device drivers.
- N name server
- DD 222 uses the SE number to generate a device driver name.
- the device driver name may be for example, atm.sel.
- DD 222 publishes this name to NS 220b along with the process identification assigned by the operating system and the name of its service endpoints.
- ATM 224 also use SE numbers to generate the names of device drivers with which they need to communicate and subscribe to NS 220b for those device driver names, for example, atm.sel . If the device driver has published its name and process identification with NS 220b, then NS 220b notifies ATM 224 of the process identification number associated with atm.sel and the name of its service endpoints. ATM 224 can then use the process identification to communicate with DD 222 and, hence, any objects within DD 222. If device driver 222 is restarted or upgraded, SEM 96a will again notify DD 222 that its associated service endpoint is SE 1 which will cause DD 222 to generate the same name of atm.sel .
- DD 222 will then re- publish with NS 220b and include the newly assigned process identification number.
- NS 220b will provide the new process identification number to ATM 224 to allow the processes to continue to communicate.
- ATM 224 is restarted or upgraded, it will use the service endpoint numbers from ATM interface table 114 and, as a result, derive the same name of atm.sel for DD 222.
- ATM 224 will then re-subscribe with NS 220b.
- Computer system 10 includes a distributed name server (NS) application including a name server process 220a-220n on each board (central processor and line card). Each name server process handles the registration and subscription for the processes on its corresponding board. For distributed applications, after each application (e.g., ATM 224a-224n) registers with its local name server (e.g., 220b-220n), the name server registers the application with each of the other name servers. In this way, only distributed applications are registered / subscribed system wide which avoids wasting system resources by registering local processes system wide.
- NS distributed name server
- the operating system allows for inter-process communication (EPC) regardless of the location of the processes within the computer system.
- the flexible naming process allows applications to use data in the configuration database to determine the names of other applications and configurable objects, thus, alleviating the need for hard coded process names.
- the name server notifies individual processes of the existence of the processes and objects with which they need to communicate and the process identification numbers needed for that communication.
- the termination, re-start or upgrade of an object or process is, therefore, transparent to other processes, with the exception of being notified of new process identification numbers.
- service endpoint 253 (Fig. 16B)
- Fig. 16B may be terminated within device driver 248 and started instead within device driver 250.
- This movement of the location of object 253 is transparent to both ATM 240 and 241.
- Name server 264 simply notifies whichever processes have subscribed for SE 253 of the newly assigned process identification number corresponding to device driver 250.
- the name server or a separate binding object manager (BOM) process may allow processes and configurable objects to pass additional information adding further flexibility to inter-process communications. For example, flexibility may be added to the application programming interfaces (APIs) used between processes. As discussed above, once a process is given a process identification number by the name server corresponding to an object with which it needs to communicate, the process can then send messages to the other process in accordance with a predefined application programming interface (API). Instead of having a predefined API, the API could have variables defined by data passed through the name server or BOM, and instead of having a single API, multiple APIs may be available and the selection of the API may be dependent upon information passed by the name server or BOM to the subscribed application.
- APIs application programming interfaces
- a typical API will have a predefined message format 270 including, for example, a message type 272 and a value 274 of a fixed number of bits (e.g., 32). Processes that use this API must use the predefined message format. If a process is upgraded, it will be forced to use the same message format or change the API / message format which would require that all processes that use this API also be similarly upgraded to use the new API. Instead, the message format can be made more flexible by passing information through the name server or BOM. For example, instead of having the value field 274 be a fixed number of bits, when an application registers a name and process identification number it may also register the number of bits it plans on using for the value field (or any other field).
- 16B may register SE 258 with NS 264 and provide the name of SE 258, device driver 250' s process identification number and a version number one, and device driver 252 may register SE 261 with NS 264 and provide the name of SE 261, device driver 252's process identification number and a version number (e.g., version number two). If ATM 240 has subscribed for either SE 258 or SE 261, then NS 264 notifies ATM 240 that SE 258 and SE 261 exist and provides the process identification numbers and version numbers. The version number tells ATM 240 what message format and information SE 258 and SE 261 expect.
- the different message formats for each version may be hard coded into ATM 240 or ATM 240 may access system memory or the configuration database for the message formats corresponding to service endpoint version one and version two.
- the same application may communicate with different versions of the same configurable object using a different API.
- the name server / BOM eliminates the need for polling. As described above, the name server notifies subscriber applications each time a subscribed for process is terminated. Instead, the name server / BOM may not send such a notification unless the System Resiliency Manager (SRM) tells the name server / BOM to send such a notification.
- SRM System Resiliency Manager
- a particular software fault may simply require that a process be restarted.
- the name server / BOM may not notify subscriber applications of the termination of the failed process and instead simply notify the subscriber applications of the newly assigned process identification number after the failed process has been restarted.
- Data that is sent by the subscriber processes after the termination of the failed process and prior to the notification of the new process identification number may be lost but the recovery of this data (if any) may be less problematic than notifying the subscriber processes of the failure and having them hold all transmissions.
- the SRM may then require the name server / BOM to notify all subscriber processes of the termination of the failed process.
- the name server / BOM may then notify all subscriber processes of the termination of the failed process.
- the user will likely make hardware changes to the computer system that require configuration changes. For example, the user may plug a fiber or cable (i.e., network connection) into an as yet unused port, in which case, the port must be enabled and, if not already enabled, then the port's line card must also be enabled. As other examples, the user may add another path to an aheady enabled port that was not fully utilized, and the user may add another line card to the computer system.
- Configuration changes may be automatically copied to persistent storage as they are made so that if the computer system is shut down and rebooted, the memory and configuration database will reflect the last known state of the hardware.
- the user informs the NMS (e.g., NMS client 850a, Fig. 2A) of the particular change, and similar to the process for initial configuration, the NMS (e.g., NMS server 851a, Fig. 2A) changes the appropriate tables in the configuration database (copied to the NMS database) to implement the change.
- the NMS e.g., NMS client 850a, Fig. 2A
- the user notifies the NMS that an additional path will be carried by SONET fiber 70c connected to port 44c.
- a new service endpoint (SE) 164 and a new ATM interface 166 are needed to handle the new path.
- the NMS adds a new record (row 168, Fig. 14A) to service endpoint table (SET) 76 to include service endpoint 10 corresponding to port physical identification number (PID) 1502 (port 44c).
- the NMS also adds a new record (row 170, Fig. 14E) to ATM instance table 114 to include ATM interface (EF) 12 corresponding to ATM group 3 and SE 10.
- Configuration database 42 may automatically copy the changes made to SET 76 and ATM instance table 114 to persistent storage 21 such that if the computer system is shut down and rebooted, the changes to the configuration database will be maintained.
- Configuration database 42 also notifies (through the active query process) SEM 96c that a new service endpoint (SE 10) was added to the SET corresponding to its port (PED 1502), and configuration database 42 also notifies ATM instantiation 112 that a new ATM interface (ATM-EF 166) was added to the ATM interface table corresponding to ATM group 3.
- ATM 112 establishes ATM interface 166 and SEM 96c notifies port driver 142 that it has been assigned SE10.
- a communication link is established through NS 220b.
- Device driver 142 generates a service endpoint name using the assigned SE number and publishes this name and its process identification number with NS 220b.
- ATM interface 166 generates the same service endpoint name and subscribes to NS 220b for that service endpoint name.
- NS 220b provides ATM interface 166 with the process identification assigned to DD 142 allowing ATM interface 166 to communicate with device driver 142.
- Certain board changes to computer system 10 are also configuration changes. After power-up and configuration, a user may plug another board into an empty computer system slot or remove an enabled board and replace it with a different board. In the case where applications and drivers for a line card added to computer system 10 are already loaded, the configuration change is similar to initial configuration.
- the additional line card may be identical to an aheady enabled line card, for example, line card 16a or if the additional line card requires different drivers (for different components) or different applications (e.g., EP), the different drivers and applications are aheady loaded because computer system 10 expects such cards to be inserted.
- master MCD 38 detects the insertion and communicates with a diagnostic program 170 being executed by the line card's processor 172 to learn the card's type and version number. MCD 38 uses the information it retrieves to update card table 47 and port table 49. MCD 38 then searches physical module description (PMD) file 48 in memory 40 for a record that matches the retrieved card type and version number and retrieves the name of the mission kernel image executable file (MKI.exe) that needs to be loaded on line card 168. Once determined, master MCD 38 passes the name of the MKI executable file to master SRM 36.
- PMD physical module description
- SRM 36 downloads MKI executable file 174 from persistent storage 21 and passes it to a slave SRM 176 running on line card 168.
- the slave SRM executes the received MKI executable file.
- slave MCD 178 searches PMD file 48 in memory 40 on cenfral processor 12 for a match with its line card's type and version number to find the names of all the device driver executable files needed by its line card.
- Slave MCD 178 provides these names to slave SRM 176 which then downloads and executes the device driver executable files (DD.exe) 180 from memory 40.
- configuration database 42 updated NMS database 61 which sends NMS 60 (e.g., NMS Server 851a, Fig. 2A) a notification of the change including card type and version number, the slot number into which the card was inserted and the physical identification (PID) assigned to the card by the master MCD.
- NMS 60 e.g., NMS Server 851a, Fig. 2A
- PID physical identification assigned to the card by the master MCD.
- the NMS is updated, assigns an LED and updates the logical to physical table and notifies the user of the new hardware. The user then tells the NMS how to configure the new hardware, and the NMS implements the configuration change as described above for initial configuration.
- a new hardware module e.g., a line card
- logical model 280 Figs. 3A-3C
- Software model 286 is changed to include models of the new or upgraded software
- hardware model 284 is changed to include models of any new hardware.
- New logical model 280' is then used by code generation system 336 to re-generate view ids and APIs for any changed software components, including any new applications, for example, ATM version two 360, or device drivers, for example, device driver 362, and, where necessary, to re-generate DDL files 344' and 348' including new SQL commands and data relevant to the new hardware and/or software.
- the new logical model is also used to generate, where necessary, new NMS JAVA interface files 347' and new persistent layer metadata files 349'.
- Each executable software component is then built. As described above with reference to Fig. 3E, the build process involves compiling one or more source code files for the software component and then linking the resulting object code with the object code of associated libraries, a view id, an API, etc. to form an executable file.
- Each of the executable files and data files for example, persistent layer metadata files and DDL files, are then provided to Kit Builder (861, Fig. 3F), which combines the components into a Network Device Installation Kit.
- Kit Builder may compress each of the software components to save space.
- Each Installation Kit is assigned a Global release version number to distinguish between different Installation Kits.
- the Kit Builder also creates a packaging list 1200 (Fig. 20A) and includes tins in the Installation Kit.
- the packaging list includes a list of the software components in the Installation Kit and a list of "signatures" 1200a - 1200n associated with the software components.
- Fig. 10 Fig. 1; 540, Figs. 35A & 35B
- a "signature" is generated for each software component.
- After installation within the network device of a new Installation Kit, only those software components whose signatures do not match the signatures of corresponding and currently executing software components will be upgraded. For example, different signatures associated with two ATM components represent different versions of those two ATM components.
- a simple program such as a checksum or cyclic redundancy checking (CRC) program may be used to generate the signature.
- CRC cyclic redundancy checking
- the concern with such a simple program is that it may generate the same signature for a current software component and an upgrade of that component if the upgrade changes are not significant. Instead, a more robust program, such as a strong cryptographic program, may be used to generate the signatures for each software component.
- the signatures are generated using the "Sha-1" cryptography utility (often called the "shalsum").
- Sha-1 which is herein incorporated by reference, and a copy of Sha-1 may be located by citizens or permanent residents of the United States and Canada from the North American Cryptography Archives at www, cryptography, org.
- the Sha-1 utility is a secure hash algorithm that uses the contents of a software component to generate a signature that is 20 bytes in length.
- the Sha-1 utility is robust enough to detect even small changes to a software component and, thus, generate a different signature. Due to the sensitivity of the Sha-1 utility, the signature may also be referred to as a "finger print" or a "digest". Using the Sha-1 utility or another signature generating program, eliminates the errors often caused when humans generate version numbers.
- hash functions such as MD2, MD4, MD5 or Ripemdl28 or Ripemdl60 may be used or a keyed hash function, such as HMAC, may be used with any of these hash functions.
- MD5 will produce a 128-bit "fingerprint” or "message digest” for each software component.
- Information regarding MD5, which is herein incorporated by reference, may be gotten from the following web site: http://use ⁇ ages.umbc.edu/ ⁇ mabzugl/cs/md5/md5.html .
- Ripemdl28 produces a 16 byte digest
- Ripemdl69 produces a 20 byte digest.
- Ripemdl28 or Ripemdl ⁇ O which is herein incorporated by reference, may be found at the following web site: http://www.esat.kuleuven.ac.be/ ⁇ bosselae/ripemdl60.html#What Referring to Fig. 20B, once a software component 1202 is built, it is passed to the signature generating program 1204, for example, the Sha-1 utility. The number generated by the signature generating program is the signature 1206 for that software component and it is appended to the built software component 1208. These steps are repeated for each software component added to the packaging list, and as Kit Builder 861 (Fig. 3F) adds each software component to the packaging list, it retrieves the signature appended to each software component and inserts it in the packaging list corresponding to the appropriate software component.
- Kit Builder 861 Kit Builder 861
- PMD file 48 (Fig. 12A). These software components are also passed to the signature generating program, and the generated signature is appended to the file. Similar to the built software components, the Kit Builder adds these software components to the packaging list, retrieves the signature appended to each software component and inserts it in the packaging list corresponding to the appropriate software component.
- the signatures within the packaging list are used after installation of the new Installation Kit within the network device to determine which software components need to be upgraded. Since each new Installation Kit may include all software components required by the network device, including unchanged and changed software components, a hot upgrade is only practical if the changed software components may be easily and accurately identified. For example, an Installation Kit may include a large number of software components, such as 50-60 load modules, 2-3 kernels and 10-15 meta data files. If changed software components cannot be identified, then the network device will need to be rebooted in order to implement all the software components in the new Installation Kit. Signatures allow for a quick and accurate determination as to winch components changed and, thus, need to be upgraded.
- a customer / user may receive a new Installation Kit on a CD, or the customer / user may be given access to a web site where the new Installation Kit may be accessed.
- an Install icon 1210 will be displayed on the screen of the user's computer 1212.
- Computer 1212 may be the same computer (e.g., 62) that is running the NMS or a different computer.
- the user double clicks their mouse on the Install icon to cause, for example, a JAVA application 1216 (Fig. 20D), to perform the installation.
- the JAVA application causes a dialog box 1214 to appear to welcome the user and ask for an internet (EP) address 1213a of the network device into which the new Installation Kit is to be installed.
- the dialog box may also request a username 1213b and a password 1213c.
- the JAVA application uses the supplied EP address to download the new Installation Kit, for example, release 1.1 1218, including the packaging list, to a new sub-directory 1220 within an installation directory 1222 in configuration database 42. Any previously loaded Installation Kits, which have not been deleted, may be found in different sub-directories, for example, release 1.0 may be loaded in sub- directoryl224.
- the JAVA application also causes a dialog box 1215 (Fig. 20E) to appear. Dialog box 1215 prompts the user for an NMS database system ID 1215a, a database port address 1215b and a database password 1215c.
- the JAVA application then uploads the existing meta data (used by the NMS) and user data 1221a from the network device's configuration database into a work area 1254 within the NMS database 61.
- the JAVA application then performs the conversion in accordance with the new meta data provided in the new release and then downloads a DDL script 1221b into new sub-directory 1220 within the network device.
- the network device may then be rebooted (cold upgrade), in which case, once rebooted the network device will use all the software components, including the DDL script for the converted configuration database, of release 1.1 in sub-directory 1220. Instead, the DDL script for the converted configuration database may reside in subdirectory 1220 until the user elects to make the upgrade, as described below.
- Upgrades are managed by a software management system (SMS) service. Upgrades may be implemented while the network device is running (hot upgrades), or upgrades may be implemented by re-booting the network device (cold upgrades). Hot upgrades are preferred to limit any disruption in service provided by the network device. In addition, certain upgrades may only affect certain services, and a hot upgrade may be implemented such that the unaffected services experience no disruption while the affected services experience only minimal disruption.
- the SMS is one of the modular system services, and like the MCD and the SRM, the SMS is a distributed application. Referring to Fig. 21 A, a master SMS 184 is executed by cenfral processor 12 while slave SMSs 186a-186n are executed on each board (e.g., 12 and 16a-16n).
- Master SMS 184 periodically polls installation directory 1222 for new sub- directories including new releases, for example, release 1.1 1218 in sub-directory 1220.
- the master SMS detects a new release, it opens (and decompresses, if necessary) the packaging list in the new sub-directory and verifies that each software component listed in the packaging list is also stored in the new sub-directory.
- the master SMS then performs a checksum on each software component and compares the generated checksum to the checksum appended to the software component.
- the master SMS opens (and decompresses, if necessary) an upgrade instruction file also included as one of the software components loaded into sub-directory 1220 from the Installation Kit.
- the upgrade instruction file indicates the scope of the upgrade (i.e., upgrade mode). For instance, the upgrade instruction file may indicate that the upgrade may be hot or cold or must only be cold.
- the upgrade instruction file may also indicate that the upgrade may be done only across the entire chassis - that is, all applications to be upgraded must be upgraded simultaneously across the entire chassis - or that the upgrade may be done on a board-by-board basis or a path-by-path basis or some other partial chassis upgrade.
- a board-by-board upgrade may allow a network device administrator to chose certain boards on which to upgrade applications and allow older versions of the same applications to continue running on other boards.
- path-by-path or other service related upgrades may allow the network administrator to chose to upgrade only the applications controlling particular services for particular customers, for example, a single path, while allowing older versions of the applications to continue to control the other services.
- the upgrade instructions file may also include more detailed instructions such as the order in which each software component should be upgraded. That is, if several applications are to be upgraded, certain ones may need to be upgraded before certain other ones. Similarly, certain software components may need to be upgraded simultaneously.
- certain boards may need to be upgraded prior to other boards. For example, control processor card 12 may need to be upgraded prior to upgrading any line cards.
- the master SMS then creates a record 1227 (Fig. 21B) in an SMS table 192, which may also be termed an "image control table.”
- the record includes at least a logical identification number (LID) field 1226, a verification status field and an upgrade mode field. Similar to other LEDs described above, LED field 1226 is filled in with a unique LED (e.g., 9623) corresponding to the new release. If the SMS verification of the new release's software components completed successfully, then the verification status field indicates that verification passed, otherwise an error code is input into the verification status field.
- the SMS then enters a code in the upgrade mode field from the upgrade instructions file indicating the scope of the upgrade.
- the SMS table may include a field for each possible type of upgrade mode and the master SMS would input an indication in the field or fields corresponding to possible types of upgrades for the new release.
- the master SMS may then send a trap to the NMS or the NMS may periodically poll the SMS table to detect new records.
- the NMS creates a new record 1230 (Fig. 21C) in an Available Release window 1232.
- Fig. 21C For security, only certain users, such as administrators, will have access to the Available Release window.
- Fig. 21D to view this window, an administrator accesses a pull down menu, for example, the view pull down menu, and selects an Installation option 1234.
- the administrator may select any entry in the Available Release window to cause an Image Control dialog box 1236 (Fig. 2 IE) to appear. If the user selects a release (old or new) that is not currently running, the user may select a Delete option 1238, a Re- Verify option 1239 or an Install option 1240 in the Image Control dialog box. Other options may also be available.
- an Upgrade Mode dialog box 1242 (Fig. 21F) will be displayed.
- the Upgrade Mode dialog box may present only those options available for the chosen release, or the Upgrade Mode dialog box may present all upgrade options but only allow the user to chose the options available for the chosen release. For example, the dialog box may present a Hot option 1243 and a Cold option 1244. If the upgrade for the chosen release can only be completed as a cold upgrade, then the dialog box may not allow the user to select the Hot option.
- the Upgrade Mode dialog box may also present other options such as entire chassis 1245, board-by-board 1246, path-by-path 1247 or various other upgrade options. If the user selects the board-by-board option or the path-by-path option, other dialog boxes will appear to accept the administrator's input of which board(s) or path(s) to upgrade. The user may also select a Time for Installation option 1249 and input a particular time for the installation. If the Time for Installation option is not selected, then the default may be to initiate the installation immediately.
- the NMS creates a new record 1251 in an Upgrade Confrol table 1248 (Fig. 21G).
- the NMS inputs the Image LID (e.g., 9623) in Image LED field 1250 of the record in the SMS table corresponding to the release selected by the adminisfrator (e.g., release 1.1) in the Available Release window.
- the NMS then inputs a code (e.g., x2344) in a Command field 1252 corresponding to the action requested by the administrator.
- the code may represent a Delete command indicating that the release selected by the adminisfrator should be deleted from both the Install sub-directory and the corresponding record removed from the SMS table.
- the code may represent a re- verify command indicating that the software components in the Install sub-directory corresponding to the release should be re-verified.
- the code may represent an upgrade command and, specifically, a particular type of upgrade according to the upgrade mode chosen by the user.
- the Upgrade Confrol table could include fields for each command and each upgrade mode and the NMS would fill in the appropriate field(s). The NMS also fills in a Time for Installation field 1253 with a future time or indicates that the installation should proceed immediately.
- SMS clients include, for example, the Master Control Driver (MCD) and the program supervisor module (PSM) within the mission kernel image (MKI) on each board, which the slave SRM on each board may ask to load upgraded software components.
- MCD Master Control Driver
- PSM program supervisor module
- MKI mission kernel image
- the master SMS then opens up the packing list from the sub-directory (e.g., 1224) of the currently running release (e.g., release 1.0) and the sub-directory (e.g., 1220) of the new release (e.g., release 1.1) and compares the signatures of each software component to determine which software components have changed and, thus, need to be upgraded, and to determine if there are any new software components to be installed.
- signatures promote hot upgrades by allowing the SMS to quickly locate only those software components that need to be upgraded.
- signatures are automatically generated for each software component as part of putting together a new release and since a robust signature generating program is used, a quick comparison of two signatures provides an accurate assurance that either the software component has changed or has not. Instead of comparing signatures, a full compare of each running software component against each corresponding software component in the new release may be run, however, since many software components may be quite long (e.g., 50-60 megabytes) this will likely take a considerable amount of time and processor power. Instead, the signatures provide a quick, easy way to accurately determine the upgrade status of each software component.
- the master SMS will find a script for converted configuration database file 42' in the new release subdirectory.
- the master SMS may terminate the currently executing configuration database 42 and instantiate converted configuration database 42'.
- a backup configuration database 420 on a backup central processor 13 may be upgraded first.
- computer system 10 includes central processor 12.
- Computer system 10 may also include a redundant or backup central processor 13 that mirrors or replicates the active state of central processor 12.
- Backup cenfral processor 13 is generally in stand-by mode unless central processor 12 fails at which point a fail-over to backup central processor 13 is initiated to allow the backup central processor to be substituted for central processor 12.
- backup central processor 13 may be used for software and hardware upgrades that require changes to the configuration database. Through backup central processor 13, upgrades can be made to backup configuration database 420 instead of to configuration database 42.
- Master SMS 184 tells slave SMS 186e to cause backup processor 13 to change from backup mode to upgrade mode.
- Slave SMS 186e then works with slave SRM 37e to cause backup processor 13 to change from backup mode to upgrade mode. In upgrade mode, backup processor 13 stops replicating the active state of central processor 12.
- Slave SMS 186e then copies over the script for new configuration database file 42' from sub-directory 1220, executes the script to generate new configuration database 42', directs slave SRM 37e to terminate backup configuration database 420 and execute the new configuration database 42'. Once configuration database 42' is upgraded, a fail-over or switch-over from central processor 12 to backup central processor 13 is initiated.
- Cenfral processor 13 then begins acting as the primary central processor and applications running on central processor 13 and other boards throughout computer system 10 begin using upgraded configuration database 42'.
- Central processor 12 may not become the backup central processor right away. Instead, central processor 12 with its older copy of configuration database 42 may stay dormant in case an automatic downgrade is necessary (described below). If the upgrade goes smoothly and is committed (described below), then cenfral processor 12 will begin operating in backup mode and replace old configuration database 42 with new configuration database 42'.
- the master SMS determines whether any meta data files, such as the PMD file, have been upgraded - that is the signature of a meta data file in the currently running release does not match the signature of the same meta data file in the new release. If yes, then the master SMS overwrites the current meta data files with any changed, new meta data files. New meta data files may also be loaded from the new release sub-directory.
- master SMS 184 first needs to determine where the software components corresponding to the changed software components are currently executing. Since each slave SRM maintains information about which software components are loaded on their local board, the master SMS may call master SRM 36, which will ask each of the slave SRMs 37a- 37n, or the master SMS may ask each of the slave SMSs 186a-186n, which will ask their local slave SRMs 37a-37n.
- the master SMS upgrades the software components in accordance with the upgrade instructions. Thus, if the upgrade instructions indicate that all instantiations of ATM across the entire chassis should be simultaneously upgraded, then the master SMS initiates and controls a lock step upgrade.
- master SMS 184 tells the appropriate slave SMSs, which tell their local slave SRMs (which tell their local PSM within their local MKI, not shown in Fig. 23 for clarity), to load the changed software components and the control shims for each of the changed software components from new release sub-directory 1220 onto the appropriate boards.
- the master SMS tells slave SMSs 186b-186n, which tell slave SRMs 37b-37n, to load ATM confrol shim (e.g., ATM_V2_Cnfrl.exe 204a-204n) and, for example, an ATM version 2 file (e.g., ATM_V2.exe 206a-206b) from the new release 1.1.
- ATM confrol shim e.g., ATM_V2_Cnfrl.exe 204a-204n
- an ATM version 2 file e.g., ATM_V2.exe 206a-206b
- each control shim sends a message to the slave SMS on its board including a list of upgrade instructions.
- ATM confrol shim 204a loaded on line card 16a sends a message to slave SMS 186b with a list of upgrade instructions.
- a lock step upgrade is initiated. That is, when each slave SMS receives the upgrade instructions message from the local control shim, it sends a notice to the master SMS.
- the master SMS When the master SMS receives notifications from each of the appropriate slave SMSs, the master SMS sends each slave SMS a command to execute the first instruction. Each slave SMS then sends its local control shim the first upgrade instruction from the upgrade instructions message. After executing the first step, each confrol shim notifies its local slave SMS, which sends a notice to the master SMS that the first step is complete.
- the master SMS sends each slave SMS a command to execute the next step. Again, each slave SMS sends its local control shim the next upgrade instruction from the upgrade instructions message, and again, when each confrol shim has executed the next step it notifies its local slave SMS, which sends a message to the master SMS indicating the step is complete. This process is repeated until all steps in the upgrade instructions message have been executed.
- the control shim When the last upgrade instruction is completed, the control shim notifies the slave SMSs, which sends a message to the master SMS indicating that the upgrade of that software component is complete. If other software components need to be upgraded, the master SMS then begins a similar upgrade process for those additional software components. Once all the software components are upgraded, the master SMS writes a complete indication in status field 1255 (Fig. 21G) of Upgrade Confrol table 1248. The master SMS may then send a trap to the NMS to indicate that the upgrade is complete or the NMS may poll the status field of the Upgrade Confrol table waiting for a complete status.
- the first step in the upgrade instructions may be to stall the currently executing software component.
- each line card is shown implementing one instance of ATM, but as explained below, multiple instances of ATM may be executed on each line card.
- Another upgrade instruction may cause the upgraded versions of ATM 204a-204n to retrieve active state from the current versions of ATM 188a-188n. The retrieval of active state can be accomplished in the same manner that a redundant or backup instantiation of ATM retrieves active state from the primary instantiation of ATM.
- the next upgrade instruction may be to switchover to the upgraded version and terminate the version that was executing.
- a "lock step upgrade” indicates that each line card executing a particular software component, such as ATM, is switched over to the software component simultaneously. There may be upgrades that require changes to multiple applications and to the
- a new feature may be added to ATM that also requires additional functionality to be added to the Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) application.
- the additional functionality may change the peer-to-peer API for ATM, the peer-to-peer API for MPLS and the API between ATM and MPLS.
- the upgrade operation must avoid allowing the "new" version of ATM to communicate with "old" version of ATM or the "old” version of MPLS and vice versa.
- the master SMS will use the upgrade instructions file to determine the requirements for the individual upgrade. Again, the SMS would implement the upgrade in a lock step fashion. All instances of ATM and MPLS would be upgraded together. The simultaneous switchover to new versions of both MPLS and ATM eliminate any API compatibility errors.
- the upgrade of an ATM software component described above is by way of example, and it should be understood that the upgrade of other software components, such as device drivers, would be accomplished in the same manner.
- the master SMS could open the packaging list in the currently executing release and c ⁇ npare the signatures of the components in that packaging list to the signatures of the software components in the packaging list for the new release and remove any software components that had not changed. If all the software components of a new release are not saved in the new sub-directory and if an old release is deleted, however, those software components that had not been upgraded would need to be copied from the old release sub-directory into the new release sub-directory prior to the deletion.
- the full signatures may be converted into simple easy to read version numbers.
- a conversion database would need to be maintained which would associate each signature with a version number. This could be an automatic process, such that each time a software component signature is generated, the signature could be compared with all those in the conversion database. If it is aheady listed, then the software component did not change and the version number associated with the signature in the conversion database would be appended to the software component instead of the full signature. If the signature is not listed, a new version number would be automatically generated, added to the conversion database along with the new signature and then appended to the new software component. Since software components may be changed quite often, the conversion database may become quite large.
- a conversion database may need to be kept for each software component to insure that in the unlikely event that two signatures from different software components matched, the same version number isn't assigned to two different software components.
- the SMS is capable of an automatic downgrade on the detection of an error.
- the SRMs pass error information to the SMS.
- the SMS may cause the system to revert to the old configuration database and applications in the old release (i.e., automatic downgrade) on any error or only for particular errors.
- automatic downgrade often upgrades to one application may cause unexpected faults or errors in other software. If the problem causes a system shut down and the configuration upgrade was stored in persistent storage, then the system, when powered back up, will experience the error again and shut down again.
- the upgrade changes to the configuration database are not copied to persistent storage 21 until the upgrade is committed, if the computer system is shut down, when it is powered back up, it will use the original version of the configuration database and the original executable files, that is, the computer system will experience an automatic downgrade. Additionally, a fault induced by an upgrade may cause the system to hang, that is, the computer system will not shut down but will also become inaccessible by the NMS and inoperable.
- the NMS and the master SMS periodically send messages to each other indicating they are executing appropriately. If the SMS does not receive one of these messages in a predetermined period of time, then the SMS knows the system has hung.
- the master SMS may then tell the slave SMSs to revert to the old configuration (i.e., previously executing copies of ATM 188a-l 88n) and if that does not work, the master SMS may re-start / re-boot computer system 10. Again, because the configuration changes were not saved in persistent storage, when the computer system powers back up, the old configuration will be the one implemented.
- an evaluation mode allows the SMS to implement the change in only a portion of the computer system. If the evaluation mode is successful, then the SMS may fully implement the change system wide. If the evaluation mode is unsuccessful, then service interruption is limited to only that portion of the computer system on which the upgrade was deployed, and the SMS can further minimize the disruption by automatically downgrading the configuration on the detection of an error. If no error is detected during the evaluation mode, then the upgrade can be implemented over the entire computer system.
- Upgrades are made permanent by saving the new application software and new configuration database and DDL file in persistent storage and removing the old configuration data from memory 40 as well as persistent storage.
- changes may be automatically saved in persistent storage as they are made in non- persistent memory (no automatic downgrade), or the user may choose to automatically commit an upgrade after a successful time interval lapses (evaluation mode).
- the time interval from upgrade to commitment may be significant.
- configuration changes may be made to the system. Since these changes are typically made in non-persistent memory, they will be lost if the system is rebooted prior to upgrade commitment. Instead, to maintain the changes, the user may request that certain configuration changes made prior to upgrade commitment be copied into the old configuration database in persistent memory. Alternatively, the user may choose to manually commit the upgrade at his or her leisure. In the manual mode, the user would ask the NMS to commit the upgrade and the NMS would inform the master SMS, for example, through a record in the SMS table.
- the failure of an application or device driver may not immediately cause an automatic downgrade during an upgrade process.
- the failure of an application or device driver during normal operation may not immediately cause the fail over to a backup or redundant board. Instead, the slave SRM running on the board may simply restart the failing process.
- the fault policy may cause the SRM to take more aggressive measures such as automatic downgrade or fail-over.
- an application for example, ATM application 230 fails
- the slave SRM on the same board as ATM 230 may simply restart it without having to reboot the entire system. As described above, under the protected memory model, a failing process cannot corrupt the memory blocks used by other processes.
- an application and its corresponding device drivers would be part of the same memory block or even part of the same software program, such that if the application failed, both the application and device drivers would need to be restarted.
- applications for example ATM application 230
- DD Device Drivers
- this separation of the confrol plane and data plane means that the connections previously established by the ATM application are not lost when ATM fails and hardware controlled by the device drivers continue to pass data through connections previously established by the ATM application. Until the ATM application is restarted and re-synchronized (e.g., tlirough an audit process, described below) with the active state of the device drivers, no new network connections may be established but the device drivers continue to pass data through the previously established connections to allow the network device to minimize disruption and maintain high availability.
- a device driver for example, device driver 234. fails instead of an application, for example, ATM 230, then data cannot be passed.
- an application for example, ATM 230
- data cannot be passed.
- the failed device driver must be brought back up (i.e., recovered) as soon as possible.
- the failing device driver may have corrupted the hardware it controls, therefore, that hardware must be reset and reinitialized. The hardware may be reset as soon as the device driver terminates or the hardware may be reset later when the device driver is restarted.
- Resetting the hardware stops data flow. In some instances, therefore, resetting the hardware will be delayed until the device driver is restarted to minimize the time period during which data is not flowing. Alternatively, the failing device driver may have corrupted the hardware, thus, resetting the hardware as soon as the device driver is terminated may be important to prevent data corruption. In either case, the device driver re-initializes the hardware during its recovery.
- restoring the data plane i.e., device drivers
- restoring the confrol plane i.e., applications
- device driver recovery may simply require that critical state data be copied into place in a few large blocks, as opposed to application recovery which requires the successive application of individual configuration elements and considerable parsing, checking and analyzing.
- the application may require data stored in the configuration database on the cenfral processor or data stored in the memory of other boards. The configuration database may be slow to access especially since many other applications also access this database.
- the application may also need time to access a management information base (MEB) interface.
- MEB management information base
- the restarted device driver program accesses local backup 236.
- local backup is a simple storage/retrieval process that maintains the data in simple lists in physical memory (e.g., random access memory, RAM) for quick access.
- local backup may be a database process, for example, a Polyhedra database, similar to the configuration database.
- Local backup 236 stores the last snap shot of critical state information used by the original device driver before it failed.
- the data in local backup 236 is in the format required by the device driver.
- local back up data may include path information, for example, service endpoint, path width and path location.
- Local back up data may also include virtual interface information, for example, which virtual interfaces were configured on which paths and virtual circuit (VC) information, for example, whether each VC is switched or passed through segmentation and reassembly (SAR), whether each VC is a virtual channel or virtual path and whether each VC is multicast or merge.
- the data may also include traffic parameters for each VC, for example, service class, bandwidth and/or delay requirements.
- Using the data in the local backup allows the device driver to quickly recover.
- An Audit process resynchronizes the restarted device driver with associated applications and other device drivers such that the data plane can again transfer network data. Having the backup be local reduces recovery time.
- the backup could be stored remotely on another board but the recovery time would be increased by the amount of time required to download the information from the remote location.
- an ATM application may have set up or torn down a connection with a device driver but the device driver failed before it updated corresponding backup data.
- the device driver When the device driver is restarted, it will have a different list of established connections than the corresponding ATM application (i.e., out of synchronization).
- the audit process allows processes like device drivers and ATM applications to compare information, for example, connection tables, and resolve differences. For instance, connections included in the driver's connection table and not in the ATM connection table were likely torn down by ATM prior to the device driver crash and are, therefore, deleted from the device driver connection table.
- Connections that exist in the ATM connection table and not in the device driver connection table were likely set up prior to the device driver failure and may be copied into the device driver connection table or deleted from the ATM connection table and re-set up later. If an ATM application fails and is restarted, it must execute an audit procedure with its corresponding device driver or drivers as well as with other ATM applications since this is a distributed application.
- a single instance of an application executes on a single card or in a system. Fault isolation, therefore, occurs at the card level or the system level, and if a fault occurs, an entire card — and all the ports on that card - or the entire system - and all the ports in the system — is affected. In a large communications platform, thousands of customers may experience service outages due to a single process failure. For resiliency and fault isolation one or more instances of an application and/or device driver may be started per port on each line card. Multiple instances of applications and device drivers are more difficult to manage and require more processor cycles than a single instance of each but if an application or device driver fails, only the port those processes are associated with is affected. Other applications and associated ports - as well as the customers serviced by those ports — will not experience service outages. Similarly, a hardware failure associated with only one port will only affect the processes associated with that port. This is referred to as vertical fault isolation.
- line card 16a is shown to include four vertical stacks 400, 402, 404, and 406.
- Vertical stack 400 includes one instance of ATM 110 and one device driver 43a and is associated with port 44a.
- vertical stacks 402, 404 and 406 include one instance of ATM 111, 112, 113 and one device driver 43b, 43c, 43d, respectively and each vertical stack is associated with a separate port 44b, 44c, 44d, respectively. If ATM 112 fails, then only vertical stack 404 and its associated port 44c are affected. Service is not disrupted on the other ports (ports 44a, 44b, 44d) since vertical stacks 400, 402, and 406 are unaffected and the applications and drivers within those stacks continue to execute and transmit data. Similarly, if device driver 43b fails, then only vertical stack 402 and its associated port 44b are affected.
- Vertical fault isolation allows processes to be deployed in a fashion supportive of the underlying hardware architecture and allows processes associated with particular hardware (e.g., a port) to be isolated from processes associated with other hardware (e.g., other ports) on the same or a different line card. Any single hardware or software failure will affect only those customers serviced by the same vertical stack. Vertical fault isolation provides a fine grain of fault isolation and containment. In addition, recovery time is reduced to only the time required to re-start a particular application or driver instead of the time required to re-start all the processes associated with a line card or the entire system.
- a fault policy based on hierarchical scopes ensures that for each particular type of failure the most appropriate action is taken. This is important because over-reacting to a failure, for example, re-booting an entire computer system or re-starting an entire line card, may severely and unnecessarily impact service to customers not affected by the failure, and under-reacting to failures, for example, restarting only one process, may not completely resolve the fault and lead to additional, larger failures.
- Monitoring and proactively responding to events may also allow the computer system and network operators to address issues before they become failures. For example, additional memory may be assigned to programs or added to the computer system before a lack of memory causes a failure.
- master SRM 36 serves as the top hierarchical level fault/event manager
- each slave SRM 37a-37n serves as the next hierarchical level fault/event manager
- software applications resident on each board, for example, ATM 110-113 and device drivers 43a-43d on line card 16a include sub- processes that serve as the lowest hierarchical level fault/event managers (i.e., local resiliency managers, LRM).
- Master SRM 36 downloads default fault policy (DFP) files (metadata) 430a-430n from persistent storage to memory 40.
- DFP fault policy
- Master SRM 36 reads a master default fault policy file (e.g., DFP 430a) to understand its fault policy, and each slave SRM 37a-37n downloads a default fault policy file (e.g., DFP 430b-430n) corresponding to the board on which the slave SRM is running. Each slave SRM then passes to each LRM a fault policy specific to each local process.
- a master default fault policy file e.g., DFP 430a
- each slave SRM 37a-37n downloads a default fault policy file (e.g., DFP 430b-430n) corresponding to the board on which the slave SRM is running.
- Each slave SRM then passes to each LRM a fault policy specific to each local process.
- a master logging entity 431 also runs on cenfral processor 12 and slave logging entities 433a-433n run on each board. Notifications of failures and other events are sent by the master SRM, slave SRMs and LRMs to their local logging entity which then notifies the master logging entity.
- the master logging entity enters the event in a master event log file 435.
- Each local logging entity may also log local events in a local event log file 435a-435n.
- a fault policy table 429 may be created in configuration database 42 by the NMS when the user wishes to over-ride some or all of the default fault policy (see configurable fault policy below), and the master and slave SRMs are notified of the fault policies through the active query process.
- ATM application 110 includes many sub- processes including, for example, an LRM program 436, a Private Network-to-Network Interface (PNNI) program 437, an Interim Link Management Interface (ILMI) program 438, a Service Specific Connection Oriented Protocol (SSCOP) program 439, and an ATM signaling (SIG) program 440.
- LRM program 436 a Private Network-to-Network Interface (PNNI) program 437
- ILMI Interim Link Management Interface
- SSCOP Service Specific Connection Oriented Protocol
- SIG ATM signaling
- ATM application 110 may include many other subprograms only a few have been shown for convenience.
- Each sub-process may also include sub-processes, for example, ILMI sub-processes 438a-438n.
- the upper level application e.g., ATM 110
- the upper level application is assigned a process memory block that is shared by all its sub-processes.
- LRM 436 If, for example, SSCOP 439 detects a fault, it notifies LRM 436.
- LRM 436 passes the fault to local slave SRM 37b, which catalogs the fault in the ATM application's fault history and sends a notice to local slave logging entity 433b.
- the slave logging entity sends a notice to master logging entity 431, which may log the event in master log event file 435.
- the local logging entity may also log the failure in local event log 435a.
- LRM 436 also determines, based on the type of failure, whether it can fully resolve the error and do so without affecting other processes outside its scope, for example, ATM 111-113, device drivers 43a-43d and their sub-processes and processes running on other boards. If yes, then the LRM takes corrective action in accordance with its fault policy. Corrective action may include restarting SSCOP 439 or resetting it to a known state.
- the sub-processes may notify the LRM of events that may require action. For example, the LRM may be notified that the PNNI message queue is growing quickly.
- the LRM's fault policy may direct it to request more memory from the operating system.
- the LRM will also pass the event to the local slave SRM as a non-fatal fault.
- the local slave SRM will catalog the event and log it with the local logging entity, which may also log it with the master logging entity.
- the local slave SRM may take more severe action to recover from an excessive number of these non-fatal faults that result in memory requests.
- the LRM notifies slave SRM 37b of the event or failure.
- the LRM may escalate the failure or event to the next hierarchical scope by notifying slave SRM 37b.
- the slave SRM may use the fault history for the application instance to determine when a threshold is exceeded and automatically execute its fault policy.
- slave SRM 37b When slave SRM 37b detects or is notified of a failure or event, it notifies slave logging entity 435b.
- the slave logging entity notifies master logging entity 431, which may log the failure or event in master event log 435, and the slave logging entity may also log the failure or event in local event log 435b.
- Slave SRM 37b also determines, based on the type of failure or event, whether it can handle the error without affecting other processes outside its scope, for example, processes running on other boards. If yes, then slave SRM 37b takes corrective action in accordance with its fault policy and logs the fault. Corrective action may include re-starting one or more applications on line card 16a.
- the slave SRM notifies master SRM 36.
- the slave SRM may escalate the failure to the next hierarchical scope by notifying master SRM 36 of the failure.
- the master SRM may use its fault history for a particular line card to determine when a threshold is exceeded and automatically execute its fault policy.
- master SRM 36 detects or receives notice of a failure or event, it notifies slave logging entity 433a, which notifies master logging entity 431.
- the master logging entity 431 may log the failure or event in master log file 435 and the slave logging entity may log the failure or event in local event log 435 a.
- Master SRM 36 also determines the appropriate corrective action based on the type of failure or event and its fault policy. Corrective action may require failing-over one or more line cards 16a-16n or other boards, including central processor 12, to redundant backup boards or, where backup boards are not available, simply shutting particular boards down. Some failures may require the master SRM to re-boot the entire computer system. An example of a common error is a memory access error. As described above, when the slave SRM starts a new instance of an application, it requests a protected memory block from the local operating system.
- the local operating systems assign each instance of an application one block of local memory and then program the local memory management unit (MMU) hardware with which processes have access (read and/or write) to each block of memory.
- MMU memory management unit
- An MMU detects a memory access error when a process attempts to access a memory block not assigned to that process. This type of error may result when the process generates an invalid memory pointer.
- the MMU prevents the failing process from corrupting memory blocks used by other processes (i.e., protected memory model) and sends a hardware exception to the local processor.
- a local operating system fault handler detects the hardware exception and determines which process attempted the invalid memory access. The fault handler then notifies the local slave SRM of the hardware exception and the process that caused it.
- the slave SRM determines the application instance within which the fault occurred and then goes through the process described above to determine whether to take corrective action, such as restarting the application, or escalate the fault to the master SRM.
- a device driver for example, device driver 43 a may determine that the hardware associated with its port, for example, port 44a, is in a bad state. Since the failure may require the hardware to be swapped out or failed-over to redundant hardware or the device driver itself to be re-started, the device driver notifies slave SRM 37b. The slave SRM then goes through the process described above to determine whether to take corrective action or escalate the fault to the master SRM. As a third example, if a particular application instance repeatedly experiences the same software error but other similar application instances running on different ports do not experience the same error, the slave SRM may determine that it is likely a hardware error.
- the slave SRM would then notify the master SRM which may initiate a fail-over to a backup board or, if no backup board exists, simply shut down that board or only the failing port on that board.
- the master SRM may determine that the Ethernet hardware is the problem and initiate a fail-over to backup Ethernet hardware. Consequently, the failure type and the failure policy determine at what scope recovery action will be taken. The higher the scope of the recovery action, the larger the temporary loss of services.
- Speed of recovery is one of the primary considerations when establishing a fault policy. Restarting a single software process is much faster than switching over an entire board to a redundant board or re-booting the entire computer system. When a single process is restarted, only a fraction of a card's services are affected. Allowing failures to be handled at appropriate hierarchical levels avoids unnecessary recovery actions while ensuring that sufficient recovery actions are taken, both of which minimize service disruption to customers.
- Hierarchical Descriptors may be used to provide information specific to each failure or event.
- the hierarchical descriptors provide granularity with which to report faults, take action based on fault history and apply fault recovery policies.
- the descriptors can be stored in master event log file 435 or local event log files 435a-435n through which faults and events may be tracked and displayed to the user and allow for fault detection at a fine granular level and proactive response to events.
- the descriptors can be matched with descriptors in the fault policy to determine the recovery action to be taken.
- a descriptor 441 includes a top hierarchical class field 442, a next hierarchical level sub-class field 444, a lower hierarchical level type field 446 and a lowest level instance field 448.
- the class field indicates whether the failure or event is related (or suspected to relate) to hardware or software.
- the subclass field categorizes events and failures into particular hardware or software groups. For example, under the hardware class, subclass indications may include whether the fault or event is related to memory, Ethernet, switch fabric or network data transfer hardware. Under the software class, subclass indications may include whether the fault or event is a system fault, an exception or related to a specific application, for example, ATM.
- the type field more specifically defines the subclass failure or event. For example, if a hardware class, Ethernet subclass failure has occurred, the type field may indicate a more specific type of Ethernet failure, for instance, a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) error or a runt packet error. Similarly, if a software class, ATM failure or event has occurred, the type field may indicate a more specific type of ATM failure or event, for instance, a private network-to-network interface (PNNI) error or a growing message queue event.
- the instance field identifies the actual hardware or software that failed or generated the event. For example, with regard to a hardware class, Ethernet subclass, CRC type failure, the instance indicates the actual Ethernet port that experienced the failure. Similarly, with regard to a software class, ATM subclass, PNNI type, the instance indicates the actual PNNI sub-program that experienced the failure or generated the event.
- the hierarchical scope that first detects the failure or event creates a descriptor by filling in the fields described above. In some cases, however, the Instance field is not applicable.
- the descriptor is sent to the local logging entity, which may log it in the local event log file before notifying the master logging entity, which may log it in the master event log file 435.
- the descriptor may also be sent to the local slave SRM, which tracks fault history based on the descriptor contents per application instance. If the fault or event is escalated, then the descriptor is passed to the next higher hierarchical scope.
- slave SRM 37b When slave SRM 37b receives the fault / event notification and the descriptor, it compares it to descriptors in the fault policy for the particular scope in which the fault occurred looking for a match or a best case match which will indicate the recovery procedure to follow.
- Fault descriptors within the fault policy can either be complete descriptors or have wildcards in one or more fields. Since the descriptors are hierarchical from left to right, wildcards in descriptor fields only make sense from right to left. The fewer the fields with wildcards, the more specific the descriptor.
- a particular fault policy may apply to all software faults and would, therefore, include a fault descriptor having the class field set to "software" and the remaining fields - subclass, type, and instance - set to wildcard or "match all.”
- the slave SRM searches the fault policy for the best match (i.e., the most fields matched) with the descriptor to determine the recovery action to be taken.
- a configurable fault policy allows the default fault policy to be modified to address behavior specific to a particular upgrade or release or to address behavior that was learned after the implementation was released.
- a configurable fault policy allows users to perform manual overrides to suit their specific requirements and to tailor their policies based on the individual failure scenarios that they are experiencing.
- the modification may cause the hierarchical scope to react more or less aggressively to particular known faults or events, and the modification may add recovery actions to handle newly learned faults or events.
- the modification may also provide a temporary patch while a software or hardware upgrade is developed to fix a particular error.
- an application runs out of memory space, it notifies the operating system and asks for more memory. For certain applications, this is standard operating procedure. As an example, an ATM application may have set up a large number of virtual circuits and to continue setting up more, additional memory is needed. For other applications, a request for more memory indicates a memory leak error. The fault policy may require that the application be re-started causing some service disruption. It may be that restarting the application eventually leads to the same error due to a bug in the software.
- a temporary patch to the fault policy may be necessary to allow the memory leak to continue and prevent repeated application re-starts that may escalate to line card re-start or fail-over and eventually to a re-boot of the entire computer system.
- a temporary patch to the default fault policy may simply allow the hierarchical scope, for example, the local resiliency manager or the slave SRM, to assign additional memory to the application.
- the hierarchical scope for example, the local resiliency manager or the slave SRM
- a temporary patch may also be needed while a hardware upgrade or fix is developed for a particular hardware fault.
- the recovery policy may be to fail-over to a backup board. If the backup board includes the same hardware with the same hardware bug, for example, a particular semiconductor chip, then the same error will occur on the backup board.
- the temporary patch to the default fault policy may be to restart the device driver associated with the particular hardware instead of failing-over to the backup board.
- a configurable fault policy also allows purchasers of computer system 10 (e.g., network service providers) to define their own policies.
- a network service provider may have a high priority customer on a particular port and may want all errors and events (even minor ones) to be reported to the NMS and displayed to the network manager. Watching all errors and events might give the network manager early notice of growing resource consumption and the need to plan to dedicate additional resources to this customer.
- a user of computer system 10 may want to be notified when any process requests more memory. This may give the user early notice of the need to add more memory to their system or to move some customers to different line cards.
- a configuration fault policy file 429 is created by the NMS in the configuration database.
- An active query notification is sent by the configuration database to the master SRM indicating the changes to the default fault policy.
- the master SRM notifies any slave SRMs of any changes to the default fault policies specific to the boards on which they are executing, and the slave SRMs notify any LRMs of any changes to the default fault policies specific to their process. Going forward, the default fault policies - as modified by the configuration fault policy - are used to detect, frack and respond to events or failures.
- active queries may be established with the configuration database for configuration fault policies specific to each board type such that the slave SRMs are notified directly of changes to their default fault policies.
- a fault policy (whether default or configured) is specific to a particular scope and descriptor and indicates a particular recovery action to take.
- a temporary patch may be required to handle hardware faults specific to a known bug in an integrated circuit chip.
- the configured fault policy therefore, may indicate a scope of all line cards, if the component is on all line cards, or only a specific type of line card that includes that component.
- the configured fault policy may also indicate that it is to be applied to all hardware faults with that scope, for example, the class will indicate hardware (HW) and all other fields will include wildcards (e.g., HW ⁇ *.*).
- the configured fault policy may only indicate a particular type of hardware failure, for example, CRC errors on transmitted Ethernet packets (e.g., HW.Ethernet.TxCRC.*).
- redundancy architecture allows the computer system to continue operating in the face of a fault with minimal service disruption, for example, in a manner transparent to the service provider's customer.
- redundancy designs come in two forms: 1 : 1 and 1 :N. In a so-called
- a backup element exists for every active or primary element (i.e., hardware backup). In the event that a fault affects a primary element, a corresponding backup element is substituted for the primary element. If the backup element has not been in a "hot” state (i.e., software backup), then the backup element must be booted, configured to operate as a substitute for the failing element, and also provided with the "active state” of the failing element to allow the backup element to take over where the failed primary element left off. The time required to bring the software on the backup element to an "active state” is referred to as synchronization time. A long synchronization time can significantly disrupt system service, and in the case of a computer network device, if synchronization is not done quickly enough, then hundreds or thousands of network connections may be lost which directly impacts the service provider's availability statistics and angers network customers.
- a single backup element or spare is used to backup multiple (N) primary elements.
- N multiple
- the 1:N design is generally less expensive to manufacture, offers greater service density and better mean time between failures than the 1:1 design and requires a smaller chassis / less space than a 1:1 design.
- One disadvantage of such a system is that once a primary element fails over to the backup element, the system is no longer redundant (i.e., no available backup element for any primary element).
- Another disadvantage relates to hot state backup. Because one backup element must support multiple primary elements, the typical 1 :N design provides no hot state on the backup element leading to long synchronization times and, for network devices, the likelihood that connections will be dropped and availability reduced.
- the backup element Even where the backup element provides some level of hot state backup it generally lacks the processing power and memory to provide a full hot state backup (i.e., 1+N) for all primary elements.
- the backup element is generally a "mega spare" equipped with a more powerful processor and additional memory. This requires customers to stock more hardware than in a design with identical backup and primary elements. For instance, users typically maintain exfra hardware in the case of a failure. If a primary fails over to the backup, the failed primary may be replaced with a new primary. If the primary and backup elements are identical, then users need only stock that one type of board, that is, a failed backup is also replaced with the same hardware used to replace the failed primary. If they are different, then the user must stock each type of board, thereby increasing the user's cost.
- a distributed redundancy architecture spreads software backup (hot state) across multiple elements. Each element may provide software backup for one or more other elements. For software backup alone, therefore, the distributed redundancy architecture eliminates the need for hardware backup elements (i.e., spare hardware). Where hardware backup is also provided, spreading resource demands across multiple elements makes it possible to have significant (perhaps full) hot state backup without the need for a mega spare.
- Identical backup (spare) and primary hardware provides manufacturing advantages and customer inventory advantages.
- a distributed redundancy design is less expensive than many 1 : 1 designs and a distributed redundancy architecture also permits the location of the hardware backup element to float, that is, if a primary element fails over to the backup element, when the failed primary element is replaced, that new hardware may serve as the hardware backup.
- a distributed redundancy system provides software redundancy (i.e., backup) with or without redundant (i.e., backup) hardware, for example, with or without using backup line card 16n as discussed earlier with reference to the logical to physical card table (Fig. 14B).
- computer system 10 includes primary line cards 16a, 16b and 16c.
- Computer system 10 will likely include additional primary line cards; only three are discussed herein (and shown in Fig. 29) for convenience.
- the NMS creates software load records (SLR) 128a-128n in configuration database 42.
- the SLR includes the name of a confrol shim executable file and a logical identification (LED) associated with a primary line card on which the application is to be spawned.
- LED logical identification
- NMS 60 creates SLR 128a including the executable name atm_cntrl.exe and card LED 30 (line card 16a), SLR 128b including atm_cntrl.exe and LED 31 (line card 16b) and SLR 128c including atm_cnfrl.exe and LID 32 (line card 16c).
- the configuration database detects LID 30, 31 and 32 in SLRs 128a, 128b and 128c, respectively, and sends slave SRMs 37b, 37c and 37d (line cards 16a, 16b, and 16c) notifications including the name of the executable file (e.g., atm_cntrl.exe) to be loaded.
- the slave SRMs then download and execute a copy of atm_cntrl.exe 135 from memory 40 to spawn ATM controllers 136a, 136b and 136c.
- the ATM controllers are sent records from group table (GT) 108' (Fig. 30) indicating how many instances of ATM each must start on their associated line cards.
- Group table 108' includes a primary line card LID field 447 and a backup line card LID field 449 such that, in addition to starting primary instances of ATM, each primary line card also executes backup instances of ATM.
- ATM controller 136a receives records 450-453 and 458-461 from group table 108' including LED 30 (line card 16a).
- Records 450-453 indicate that ATM controller 136a is to start four primary instantiations of ATM 464-467 (Fig. 29), and records 458- 461 indicate that ATM controller 136a is to start four backup instantiations of ATM 468-471 as backup for four primary instantiations on LED 32 (line card 16c).
- ATM controller 136b receives records 450-457 from group table 108' including LED 31 (line card 16b). Records 454-457 indicate that ATM controller 136b is to start four primary instantiations of ATM 472-475, and records 450-453 indicate that ATM controller 136b is to start four backup instantiations of ATM 476-479 as backup for four primary instantiations on LID 30 (line card 16a).
- ATM controller 136c receives records 454-461 from group table 108' including LED 32 (line card 16c). Records 458-461 indicate that ATM controller 136c is to start four primary instantiations of ATM 480- 483, and records 454-457 indicate that ATM controller 136c is to start four backup instantiations of ATM 484-487 as backup for four primary instantiations on LED 31 (line card 16b).
- ATM controllers 136a, 136b and 136c then download atm.exe 138 and generate the appropriate number of ATM instantiations and also indicate to each instantiation whether it is a primary or backup instantiation. Alternatively, the ATM controllers may download atm.exe and generate the appropriate number of primary ATM instantiations and download a separate backup_atm.exe and generate the appropriate number of backup ATM instantiations.
- Each primary instantiation registers with its local name server 220b-220d, as described above, and each backup instantiation subscribes to its local name server 220b- 220d for information about its corresponding primary instantiation.
- the name server passes each backup instantiation at least the process identification number assigned to its corresponding primary instantiation, and with this, the backup instantiation sends a message to the primary instantiation to set up a dynamic state check-pointing procedure.
- the primary instantiation passes dynamic state information to the backup instantiation (i.e., check-pointing).
- a Redundancy Manager Service available from Harris and Jefferies of Dedham, Massachusetts may be used to allow backup and primary instantiations to pass dynamic state information.
- the primary instantiation fails, it can be re-started, retrieve its last known dynamic state from the backup instantiation and then initiate an audit procedure (as described above) to resynchronize with other processes.
- the retrieval and audit process will normally be completed very quickly, resulting in no discernable service disruption.
- each line card in the example above is instructed by the group table to start four instantiations of ATM, this is by way of example only.
- the user could instruct the NMS to set up the group table to have each line card start one or more instantiations and to have each line card start a different number of instantiations.
- Figs. 31A-31C if one or more of the primary processes on element 16a (ATM 464-467) experiences a software fault (Fig. 3 IB), the processor on line card 16a may terminate and restart the failing process or processes. Once the process or processes are restarted (ATM 464'-467', Fig. 31C), they retrieve a copy of the last known dynamic state (i.e., backup state) from corresponding backup processes (ATM 476-479) executing on line card 16b and initiate an audit process to synchronize retrieved state with the dynamic state of associated other processes.
- ATM 464'-467', Fig. 31C retrieve a copy of the last known dynamic state (i.e., backup state) from corresponding backup processes (ATM 476-479) executing on line card 16b and initiate an audit process to synchronize retrieved state with the dynamic state of associated other processes.
- the backup state represents the last known active or dynamic state of the process or processes prior to termination, and retrieving this state from line card 16b allows the restarted processes on line card 16a to quickly resynchronize and continue operating.
- the retrieval and audit process will normally be completed very quickly, and in the case of a network device, quick resynchronization may avoid losing network connections, resulting in no discernable service disruption.
- the restarted backup processes on line card 16a again initiate the checkpointing procedure with primary ATM processes 480-483 executing on line card 16c to again serve as backup processes for these primary processes.
- the primary processes executing on one line card may be backed-up by backup processes running on one or more other line cards.
- each primary process may be backed-up by one or more backup processes executing on one or more of the other line cards.
- each primary process may be backed-up by a backup process running on the same line card. This would minimize the time required to retrieve backup state and resynchronize if a primary process fails and is restarted.
- the backup state is best saved on another line card such that in the event of a hardware fault, the backup state is not lost and can be copied from the other line card.
- backup processes may run simultaneously on the same line card as the primary process and on another line card such that software faults are recovered from using local backup state and hardware faults are recovered from using remote backup state.
- backup state may include critical information that allows the primary process to quickly re-synchronize.
- Critical information for a network device may include connection data relevant to established network connections (e.g., call set up information and virtual circuit information). For example, after primary ATM applications 464-467, executing on line card 16a, establish network connections, those applications send critical state information relevant to those connections to backup ATM applications 479-476 executing on line card 16b. Retrieving connection data allows the hardware (i.e., line card 16a) to send and receive network data over the previously established network connections preventing these connections from being terminated / dropped.
- ATM applications were used in the examples above, this is by way of example only. Any application (e.g., EP or MPLS), process (e.g., MCD or NS) or device driver (e.g., port driver) may have a backup process started on another line card to store backup state through a check-pointing procedure.
- the distributed redundancy architecture provides both hardware and software backup.
- Software backup may be spread across all of the line cards or only some of the line cards. For example, software backup may be spread only across the primary line cards, only on one or more backup line cards or on a combination of both primary and backup line cards.
- line cards 16a, 16b and 16c are primary hardware elements and line card 16n is a spare or backup hardware element.
- software backup is spread across only the primary line cards.
- backup line card 16n may also execute backup processes to provide software backup.
- Backup line card 16n may execute all backup processes such that the primary elements need not execute any backup processes or line card 16n may execute only some of the backup processes. Regardless of whether backup line card 16n executes any backup processes, it is preferred that line card 16n be at least partially operational and ready to use the backup processes to quickly begin performing as if it was a failed primary line card.
- a backup line card may be partially operational.
- the backup line card's hardware may be configured and device driver processes 490 loaded and ready to execute, hi addition, the active state of the device drivers 492, 494, and 496 on each of the primary line cards may be stored as backup device driver state (DDS) 498, 500, 502 on backup line card 16n such that after a primary line card fails, the backup device driver state corresponding to that primary element is used by device driver processes 490 to quickly synchronize the hardware on backup line card 16n.
- DDS backup device driver state
- data reflecting the network connections established by each primary process may be stored within each of the backup processes or independently on backup line card 16n, for example, connection data (CD) 504, 506, 508.
- CD connection data
- connection data on the backup line card allows the hardware to quickly begin transmitting network data over previously established connections to avoid the loss of these connections and minimize service disruption.
- the more operational (i.e., hotter) backup line card 16n is the faster it will be able to transfer data over network connections previously established by the failed primary line card and resynchronize with the rest of the system.
- the backup or spare line card takes the place of the failed primary line card.
- the backup line card starts new primary processes that register with the name server on the backup line card and begin retrieving active state from backup processes associated with the original primary processes.
- the slave SRM executing on backup line card 16n may start new primary processes 464'-467' corresponding to the original primary processes 464-467.
- the new primary processes register with the name server process executing on line card 16n and begin retrieving active state from backup processes 476-479 on line card 16b. This is referred to as a "fail-over" from failed primary line card 16a to backup line card 16n.
- backup line card 16n is partially operational. While active state is being retrieved from backup processes on line card 16b, device driver processes 490 use device driver state 502 and connection data 508 corresponding to failed primary line card 16a to quickly continue passing network data over previously established connections. Once the active state is retrieved then the ATM applications resynchronize and may begin establishing new connections and tearing down old connections.
- diagnostic tests may be run to determine if the error was caused by software or hardware. If the fault is a software error, then line card 16a may again be used as a primary line card. If the fault is a hardware error, then line card 16a is replaced with a new line card 16a' that is booted and configured and again ready to be used as a primary element.
- a fail- over is initiated from line card 16n to line card 16a or 16a' as described above, including starting new primary processes 464' '-467' ' and retrieving active state from primary processes 464'-467' on line card 16n (or backup processes 476-479 on line card 16b).
- Backup processes 468" -471" are also started, and those backup processes initiate a check-pointing procedure with primary processes 480-483 on line card 16c. This fail- over may cause the same level of service interruption as an actual failure.
- line card 16a or 16a' may serve as the new backup line card with line card 16n serving as the primary line card. If line cards 16b, 16c or 16n experience a fault, a fail-over to line card 16a is initiated as discussed above and the primary line card that failed (or a replacement of that line card) serves as the new backup line card. This is referred to as a "floating" backup element. Referring to Fig. 33D, if, for example, line card 16c experiences a fault, primary processes 480'-483' are started on backup line card 16a and active state is retrieved from backup processes 464'- 467' on line card 16n. After line card 16c is rebooted or replaced and rebooted, it serves as the new backup line card for primary line cards 16a, 16b and 16n.
- computer system 10 may be physically configured to only allow a line card in a particular chassis slot, for example, line card 16n, to serve as the backup line card. This may be the case where physically, the slot line card 16n is inserted within is wired to provide the necessary connections to allow line card 16n to communicate with each of the other fine cards but no other slot provides these connections.
- the computer system is capable of allowing line cards in other chassis slots to act as the backup line card, the person acting as network manager, may prefer to have the backup line card in each of his computer systems in the same slot.
- each primary line card 16a, 16b, 16c executes four applications. Due to physical limitations (e.g., memory space, processor power), each primary line card may not be capable of fully backing up four applications executing on another primary line card.
- the distributed redundancy architecture allows backup processes to be spread across multiple line cards, including any backup line cards, to more efficiently use all system resources.
- primary line card 16a executes backup processes 510 and 512 corresponding to primary processes 474 and 475 executing on primary line card 16b.
- Primary line card 16b executes backup processes 514 and 516 corresponding to primary processes 482 and 483 executing on primary line card 16c
- primary line card 16c executes backup processes 518 and 520 co ⁇ esponding to primary processes 466 and 467 executing on primary line card 16a.
- Backup line card 16n executes backup processes 520, 522, 524, 526, 528 and 530 corresponding to primary processes 464, 465, 472, 473, 480 and 481 executing on each of the primary line cards.
- backup line card 16n Having each primary line card execute backup processes for only two primary processes executing on another primary line card reduces the primary line card resources required for backup. Since backup line card 16n is not executing primary processes, more resources are available for backup. Hence, backup line card 16n executes six backup processes corresponding to six primary processes executing on primary line cards. In addition, backup line card 16n is partially operational and is executing device driver processes 490 and storing device driver backup state 498, 500 and 502 corresponding to the device drivers on each of the primary elements and network connection data 504, 506 and 508 corresponding to the network connections established by each of the primary line cards.
- each primary line card could execute more or less than two backup processes.
- each primary line card could execute no backup processes and backup line card 16n could execute all backup processes.
- backup processes need not be spread evenly across all primary line cards or all primary line cards and the backup line card.
- device drivers 490 on backup line card 16n begins using the device driver state, for example, DDS 498, corresponding to the device drivers on primary line card 16b and the network connection data, for example, CD 506, corresponding to the connections established by primary line card 16b to continue transferring network data.
- backup line card 16n starts substitute primary processes 510' and 512' corresponding to the primary processes 474 and 475 on failed primary line card 16b.
- Substitute primary processes 510' and 512' retrieve active state from backup processes 510 and 512 executing on primary line card 16a.
- the slave SRM on backup line card 16n informs backup processes 526 and 524 corresponding to primary processes 472 and 473 on failed primary line card 16b that they are now primary processes.
- the new primary applications then synchronize with the rest of the system such that new network connections may be established and old network connections torn down. That is, backup line card 16n begins operating as if it were primary line card 16b.
- a backup line card is shown.
- multiple backup line cards may be provided in a computer system.
- a computer system includes multiple different primary line cards.
- some primary line cards may support the Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) protocol while others support the Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) protocol, and one backup line card may be provided for the ATM primary line cards and another backup line card may be provided for the MPLS primary line cards.
- some primary line cards may support four ports while others support eight ports and one backup line card may be provided for the four port primaries and another backup line card may be provided for the eight port primaries.
- One or more backup line cards may be provided for each different type of primary line card.
- a network device 540 includes a central processor
- network device 540 includes forwarding cards (FC) 546a-546e, 548a-548e, 550a-550e and 552a-552e that are similar to line cards 16a-16n discussed above with respect to computer system 10.
- FC forwarding cards
- Network device 540 also includes (and computer system 10 may also include) universal port (UP) cards 554a-554h, 556a-556h, 558a-558h, and 560a-560h, cross-connection (XC) cards 562a-562b, 564a-564b, 566a- 566b, and 568a-568b, and switch fabric (SF) cards 570a-570b.
- network device 540 includes four quadrants where each quadrant includes five forwarding cards (e.g., 546a-546e), two cross connection cards (e.g., 562a-562b) and eight universal port cards (e.g., 554a-554h).
- Network device 540 is a distributed processing system. Each of the cards includes a processor and is connected to the Ethernet control bus. In addition, each of the cards are configured as described above with respect to line cards.
- the forwarding cards have a 1 :4 hardware redundancy structure and distributed software redundancy as described above.
- forwarding card 546e is the hardware backup for primary forwarding cards 546a-546d and each of the forwarding cards provide software backup.
- the cross-connection cards are 1:1 redundant.
- cross-connection card 562b provides both hardware and software backup for cross-connection card 562a.
- Each port on the universal port cards may be 1 : 1, 1+1, 1 :N redundant or not redundant at all depending upon the quality of service paid for by the customer associated with that port.
- port cards 554e-554h may be the hardware and software backup cards for port cards 554a-554d in which case the port cards are 1:1 or 1+1 redundant.
- one or more ports on port card 554a may be backed-up by separate ports on one or more port cards (e.g., port cards 554b and 554c) such that each port is 1:1 or 1+1 redundant, one or more ports on port card 554a may not be backed-up at all (i.e., not redundant) and two or more ports on 554a may be backed-up by one port on another port card (e.g., port card 554b) such that those ports are 1 :N redundant.
- Many redundancy structures are possible using the LED to PED Card table (LPCT) 100 (Fig. 14B) and LED to PID Port table (LPPT) as described above.
- Each port card includes one or more ports for connecting to external network connections.
- An OC-48 SONET sfream may include connections to one or more end points using one or more paths.
- a SONET fiber carries a time division multiplexed (TDM) byte stream of aggregated time slots (TS).
- TDM time division multiplexed
- TS aggregated time slots
- a time slot has a bandwidth of 51 Mbps and is the fundamental unit of bandwidth for SONET.
- An STS-1 path has one time slot within the byte sfream dedicated to it, while an STS-3c path (i.e., three concatenated STS-1 s) has three time slots within the byte stream dedicated to it.
- the same or different protocols may be carried over different paths within the same TDM byte stream.
- ATM over SONET may be carried on an STS-1 path within a TDM byte sfream that also includes IP over SONET on another STS-1 path or on an STS-3c path.
- network management system 60 on workstation 62 after a user connects an external network connection to a port, the user may enable that port and one or more paths within that port (described below).
- Data received on a port card path is passed to the cross-connection card in the same quadrant as the port card, and the cross- connection card passes the path data to one of the five forwarding cards or eight port cards also within the same quadrant.
- the forwarding card determines whether the payload (e.g., packets, frames or cells) it is receiving includes user payload data or network confrol information.
- the forwarding card itself processes certain network confrol information and sends certain other network control information to the central processor over the Fast Ethernet confrol bus.
- the forwarding card also generates network control payloads and receives network control payloads from the central processor.
- the forwarding card sends any user data payloads from the cross-connection card or control information from itself or the cenfral processor as path data to the switch fabric card.
- the switch fabric card then passes the path data to one of the forwarding cards in any quadrant, including the forwarding card that just sent the data to the switch fabric card. That forwarding card then sends the path data to the cross-connection card within its quadrant, which passes the path data to one of the port cards within its quadrant.
- a universal port card 554a includes one or more ports 571a-571n connected to one or more transceivers 572a-572n.
- the user may connect an external network connection to each port.
- port 571a is connected to an ingress optical fiber 576a carrying an OC-48 SONET stream and an egress optical fiber 576b carrying an OC-48 SONET stream.
- Port 571a passes optical data from the SONET stream on fiber 576a to transceiver 572a.
- Transceiver 572a converts the optical data into electrical signals that it sends to a SONET framer 574a.
- the SONET framer organizes the data it receives from the transceiver into SONET frames.
- SONET framer 574a sends data over a telecoinmunications bus 578a to a serializer-deserializer (SERDES) 580a that serializes the data into four serial lines with twelve STS-1 time slots each and transmits the four serial lines to cross-connect card 562a.
- SERDES serializer-deserializer
- Each cross-connection card is a switch that provides connections between port cards and forwarding cards within its quadrant.
- Each cross-connection card is programmed to transfer each serial line on each port card within its quadrant to a forwarding card within its quadrant or to serial line on a port card, including the port card that transmitted the data to the cross-connection card.
- the programming of the cross-connect card is discussed in more detail below under Policy Based Provisioning.
- Each forwarding card (e.g., forwarding card 546c) receives SONET frames over serial lines from the cross-connection card in its quadrant through a payload extractor chip (e.g., payload exfractor 582a).
- each forwarding card includes four payload exfractor chips where each payload extractor chip represents a "slice" and each serial line input represents a forwarding card "port".
- Each payload extractor chip receives four serial line inputs, and since each serial line includes twelve STS-1 time slots, the payload extractor chips combine and separate time slots where necessary to output data paths with the appropriate number of time slots.
- Each STS-1 time slot may represent a separate data path, or multiple STS-1 time slots may need to be combined to form a data path. For example, an STS-3c path requires the combination of three STS-1 time slots to form a data path while an STS-48c path requires the combination of all forty-eight STS-1 time slots.
- Each path represents a separate network connection, for example, an ATM cell sfream.
- the payload extractor chip also strips off all vestigial SONET frame information and transfers the data path to an ingress interface chip.
- the ingress interface chip will be specific to the protocol of the data within the path. As one example, the data may be formatted in accordance with the ATM protocol and the ingress interface chip is an ATM interface chip (e.g., ATM EF 584a).
- Other protocols can also be implemented including, for example, Internet Protocol (EP), Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) protocol or Frame Relay.
- the ingress ATM IF chip performs many functions including determining connection information (e.g., virtual circuit or virtual path information) from the ATM header in the payload.
- the ATM EF chip uses the connection information as well as a forwarding table to perform an address franslation from the external address to an internal address.
- the ATM EF chip passes ATM cells to an ingress bridge chip (e.g., BG 586a-586b) which serves as an interface to an ingress traffic management chip or chip set (e.g., TM 588a-588n).
- the fraffic management chips ensure that high priority fraffic, for example, voice data, is passed to switch fabric card 570a faster than lower priority fraffic, for example, e-mail data.
- the traffic management chips may buffer lower priority fraffic while higher priority traffic is transmitted, and in times of fraffic congestion, the fraffic management chips will ensure that low priority traffic is dropped prior to any high priority fraffic.
- the fraffic management chips also perform an address franslation to add the address of the fraffic management chip to which the data is going to be sent by the switch fabric card. The address corresponds to internal virtual circuits set up between forwarding cards by the software and available to the fraffic management chips in tables.
- the fraffic management chips send the modified ATM cells to switch fabric interface chips (SFEF) 589a-589n that then transfer the ATM cells to switch fabric card 570a.
- the switch fabric card uses the address provided by the ingress fraffic management chips to pass ATM cells to the appropriate egress traffic management chips (e.g., TM 590a-590n) on the various forwarding cards.
- the switch fabric card 570a is a 320 Gbps, non-blocking fabric. Since each forwarding card serves as both an ingress and egress, the switching fabric card provides a high degree of flexibility in directing the data between any of the forwarding cards, including the forwarding card that sent the data to the switch fabric card.
- a forwarding card e.g., forwarding card 546c
- the egress fraffic management chips re-translate the address of each cell and pass the cells to egress bridge chips (e.g., BG 592a-592b).
- the bridge chips pass the cells to egress ATM interface chips (e.g., ATM IF 594a-594n), and the ATM interface chips add a re-translated address to the payload representing an ATM virtual circuit.
- the ATM interface chips then send the data to the payload extractor chips (e.g., payload extractor 582a-582n) that separate, where necessary, the path data into STS-1 time slots and combine twelve STS-1 time slots into four serial lines and send the serial lines back through the cross-connection card to the appropriate port card.
- the port card SERDES chips receive the serial lines from the cross-connection card and de-serialize the data and send it to SONET framer chips 574a-574n.
- the Framers properly format the SONET overhead and send the data back through the transceivers that change the data from electrical to optical before sending it to the appropriate port and SONET fiber.
- the port card ports above were described as connected to a SONET fiber carrying an OC-48 sfream, other SONET fibers carrying other streams (e.g., OC- 12) and other types of fibers and cables, for example, Ethernet, may be used instead.
- the transceivers are standard parts available from many companies, including Hewlett Packard Company and Sumitomo Corporation.
- the SONET framer may be a Spectra chip available from PMC-Sierra, Inc. in British Columbia.
- a Spectra 2488 has a maximum bandwidth of 2488 Mbps and may be coupled with a lxOC48 transceiver coupled with a port connected to a SONET optical fiber carrying an OC-48 sfream also having a maximum bandwidth of 2488 Mbps.
- four SONET optical fibers carrying OC-12 streams each having a maximum bandwidth of 622Mbps may be connected to four lxOC12 transceivers and coupled with one Spectra 2488.
- Spectra 4x155 may be coupled with four OC-3 transceivers that are coupled with ports connected to four SONET fibers carrying OC-3 streams each having a maximum bandwidth of 155 Mbps.
- Many variables are possible.
- the SERDES chip may be a Telecommunications Bus Serializer (TBS) chip from PMC-Sierra, and each cross-comiection card may include a Time Switch Element (TSE) from PMC-Sierra, Inc.
- TBS Telecommunications Bus Serializer
- TSE Time Switch Element
- the payload extractor chips may be MACH 48 chips and the ATM interface chips may be ATLAS chips both of which are available from PMC-Sierra.
- EPD Extreme Packet Devices
- DPE Data Path Element
- the switch fabric interface chips may include a Switch Fabric Interface (SEF) chip also from EPD.
- SEF Switch Fabric Interface
- switch fabric interface chips are available from Abrizio, also a subsidiary of PMC-Sierra, including a data slice chip and an enhanced port processor (EPP) chip.
- the switch fabric card may also include chips from Abrizio, including a cross-bar chip and a scheduler chip.
- port cards cross-connection cards and forwarding cards have been shown as separate cards, this is by way of example only and they may be combined into one or more different cards.
- Coupling universal port cards to forwarding cards through a cross-connection card provides flexibility in data transmission by allowing data to be transmitted from any path on any port to any port on any forwarding card, hi addition, decoupling the universal port cards and the forwarding cards enables redundancy schemes (e.g., 1:1, 1+1, 1:N, no redundancy) to be set up separately for the forwarding cards and universal port cards. The same redundancy scheme may be set up for both or they may be different. As described above, the LED to PID card and port tables are used to setup the various redundancy schemes for the line cards (forwarding or universal port cards) and ports. Network devices often implement industry standard redundancy schemes, such as those defined by the Automatic Protection Switching (APS) standard. In network device 540 (Figs. 35A & 35B), an APS standard redundancy scheme may be implemented for the universal port cards while another redundancy scheme is implemented for the forwarding cards.
- APS Automatic Protection Switching
- FIG. 35A & 35B further data transmission flexibility may be provided by connecting (i.e., connections 565) each cross-connection card 562a-562b, 564a-564b, 566a-566b and 568a-568b to each of the other cross-connection cards.
- a cross-connection card (e.g., cross-connection card 562a) may transmit data between any port or any path on any port on a universal port card (e.g., universal port cards 554a-554h) in its quadrant to a cross-connection card (e.g., cross-connection card 568a) in any other quadrant, and that cross-connection card (e.g., cross-connection card 568a) may transmit the data to any forwarding card (e.g., forwarding cards 552a-552e) or universal port card (e.g., universal port cards 560a- 560h) in its quadrant.
- any cross-connection card may transmit data received from any forwarding card in its quadrant to any other cross-connection card and that cross-connection card may transmit the data to any universal port card port in its quadrant.
- the cross-connection cards in each quadrant may be coupled only with cross-connection cards in one other quadrant.
- cross-connection cards in quadrants 1 and 2 may be connected and cross-connection cards in quadrants 3 and 4 may be connected.
- the cross-connection cards in each quadrant may be coupled with cross-connection cards in only two other quadrants, or only the cross- connection cards in one quadrant (e.g., quadrant 1) may be connected to cross- connection cards in another quadrant (e.g., quadrant 2) while the cross-connection cards in the other quadrants (e.g., quadrants 3 and 4) are not connected to other cross- connection cards or are connected only to cross-connection cards in one quadrant (e.g., quadrant 2).
- quadrants e.g., quadrant 1
- quadrant 2 may be connected to cross- connection cards in another quadrant
- the cross-connection cards in the other quadrants e.g., quadrants 3 and 4
- these connections do not provide the flexibility of having all cross-connection cards inter
- inter-connecting one or more cross- connection cards may be used to optimize the efficiency of network device 540.
- a redundant forwarding card in one quadrant may be used as a backup for primary forwarding cards in other quadrants thereby reducing the number of backup modules and increasing the network device's service density.
- a redundant universal port card or a redundant port on a universal port card in one quadrant may be used as a backup for primary universal port cards or ports in other quadrants.
- each primary forwarding card may support a different protocol (e.g., ATM, MPLS, EP, Frame Relay).
- each universal port card may support a different protocol (e.g., SONET, Ethernet).
- a backup or spare forwarding card or universal port card must support the same protocol as the primary card or cards. If forwarding or universal port cards in one quadrant support multiple protocols and the cross-connection cards are not interconnected, then each quadrant may need multiple backup forwarding and universal port cards (i.e., one for each protocol supported). If each of the quadrants includes forwarding and universal port cards that support different protocols then each quadrant may include multiple backup forwarding and universal port cards further decreasing the network device's service density. By inter-connecting the cross-connection cards, a forwarding card in one quadrant may serve as a backup for primary forwarding cards in its own quadrant and in other quadrants.
- a universal port card or port in one quadrant may serve as a backup for a primary universal port card or port in its own quadrant and in other quadrants.
- forwarding card 546e in quadrant 1 that supports a particular protocol (e.g., the ATM protocol) may serve as the backup forwarding card for primary forwarding cards supporting ATM in its own quadrant (e.g., forwarding cards 546a- 546b) as well as for primary forwarding cards supporting ATM in quadrant 2 (e.g., forwarding cards 548b-548c) or all quadrants (e.g., forwarding card 550c in quadrant 3 and forwarding cards 552b-552d in quadrant 4).
- a particular protocol e.g., the ATM protocol
- primary forwarding cards supporting ATM in its own quadrant e.g., forwarding cards 546a- 546b
- primary forwarding cards supporting ATM in quadrant 2 e.g., forwarding cards 548b-548c
- all quadrants e.g., forwarding
- forwarding card 548e in quadrant 2 that supports a different protocol (e.g., the MPLS protocol) may serve as the backup forwarding card for primary forwarding cards supporting MPLS in its own quadrant (e.g., forwarding cards 548a and 548d) as well as for primary forwarding cards supporting MPLS in quadrant 1 (e.g., forwarding card 546c) or all quadrants (e.g., forwarding card 550a in quadrant 3 and forwarding card 552a in quadrant 4).
- multiple backup modules supporting the same protocol may be used, especially where a large number of primary modules support one protocol.
- each port on a universal port card may be connected to an external network connection, for example, an optical fiber transmitting data according to the SONET protocol.
- Each external network connection may provide multiple streams or paths and each sfream or path may include data being transmitted according to a different protocol over SONET.
- one path may include data being transmitted according to ATM over SONET while another path may include data being transmitted according to MPLS over SONET.
- the cross-connection cards may be programmed (as described below) to fransmit protocol specific data (e.g., ATM, MPLS, IP, Frame Relay) from ports on universal port cards within their quadrants to forwarding cards within any quadrant that support the specific protocol.
- the switch fabric cards may fransmit data between any of the forwarding cards regardless of the underlying protocol.
- the network manager may dedicate each quadrant to a specific protocol by putting forwarding cards in each quadrant according to the protocol they support. Within each quadrant then, one forwarding card may be a backup card for each of the other forwarding cards (1:N, for network device 540, 1:4). Protocol specific data received from ports or paths on ports on universal port cards within any quadrant may then be forwarded by one or more cross-connection cards to forwarding cards within the protocol specific quadrant.
- quadrant 1 may include forwarding cards for processing data transmissions using the ATM protocol
- quadrant 2 may include forwarding cards for processing data transmissions using the EP protocol
- quadrant 3 may include forwarding cards for processing data transmissions using the MPLS protocol
- quadrant 4 may be used for processing data transmissions using the Frame Relay protocol.
- ATM data received on a port path is then transmitted by one or more cross-connection cards to a forwarding card in quadrant 1, while MPLS data received on another path on that same port or on a path in another port is transmitted by one or more cross-connection cards to a forwarding card in quadrant 3.
- the cross-connection card does not examine header information in a payload to determine where to send the data. Instead, the cross- connection card is programmed to fransmit payloads, for example, SONET frames, between a particular serial line on a universal port card port and a particular serial line on a forwarding card port regardless of the information in the payload. As a result, one port card serial line and one forwarding card serial line will fransmit data to each other through the cross-connection card until that programmed connection is changed.
- connections established through a path table and service endpoint table (SET) in a configuration database are passed to path managers on port cards and service endpoint managers (SEMs) on forwarding cards, respectively.
- SET path table and service endpoint table
- SEMs service endpoint managers
- the path managers and service endpoint managers then communicate with a cross-connect manager (CCM) on the cross-connection card in their quadrant to provide connection information.
- CCM uses the connection information to generate a connection program table that is used by one or more components (e.g., a TSE chip 563) to program internal connection paths through the cross-connection card.
- connections are fixed or are generated according to a predetermined map with a fixed set of rules.
- a fixed set of rules may not provide flexibility for future network device changes or the different needs of different users / customers.
- a Policy Provisioning Manager each time a user wishes to enable / configure a path on a port on a universal port card.
- PPM provisioning policy 599 (Fig. 37) executing on cenfral processor 542 selects the forwarding card port to which the port card port will be connected based on a configurable provisioning policy (PP) 603 in configuration database 42.
- the configurable provisioning policy may take into consideration many factors such as available system resources, balancing those resources and quality of service. Similar to other programs and files stored within the configuration database of computer system 10 described above, the provisioning policy may be modified while network device 540 is running to allow to policy to be changed according to a user's changing needs or changing network device system requirements.
- the NMS When a user connects an external network connection to a particular port on a universal port card, the user notifies the NMS as to which port on which universal port card should be enabled, which path or paths should be enabled, and the number of time slots in each path. The user may also notify the NMS as to a new path and its number of time slots on an aheady enabled port that was not fully utilized or the user may notify the NMS of a modification to one or more paths on already enabled ports and the number of time slots required for that path or paths. With this information, the NMS fills in a Path table 600 (Figs. 37 and 38) and partially fills in a Service Endpoint Table (SET) 76' (Figs. 37 and 39).
- SET Service Endpoint Table
- the configuration database sends an active query notification to a path manager (e.g., path manager 597) executing on a universal port card (e.g., port card 554a) corresponding to the universal port card port LED (e.g., port 1231, Fig. 38) in the path table record (e.g., record 602).
- a path manager e.g., path manager 597
- a universal port card e.g., port card 554a
- the universal port card port LED e.g., port 1231, Fig. 38
- the PPM determines - using provisioning policy 603 - which forwarding card (FC) port or ports to assign to the new path or paths. For example, the PPM may first compare the new path's requirements, including its protocol (e.g., ATM over SONET), the number of time slots, the number of virtual circuits and virtual circuit scheduling restrictions, to the available forwarding card resources in the quadrant containing the universal port card port and path. The PPM also takes other factors into consideration including quality of service, for example, redundancy requirements or dedicated resource requirements, and balancing resource usage (i.e., load balancing) evenly within a quadrant.
- quality of service for example, redundancy requirements or dedicated resource requirements, and balancing resource usage (i.e., load balancing) evenly within a quadrant.
- a user connects SONET optical fiber 576a (Fig. 36) to port 571a on universal port card 554a and wants to enable a path with three time slots (i.e., STS- 3c).
- the NMS assigns a path LED number (e.g., path LED 1666) and fills in a record (e.g., row 602) in Path Table 600 to include path LED 1666, a universal port card port LED (e.g., UP port LED 1231) previously assigned by the NMS and retrieved from the Logical to Physical Port Table, the first time slot (e.g., time slot 4) in the SONET stream corresponding with the path and the total number of time slots - in this example, 3 ⁇ in the path.
- Other information may also be filled into Path Table 600.
- the NMS also partially fills in a record (e.g., row 604) in SET 76' by filling in the quadrant number - in this example, 1 - and the assigned path LID 1666 and by assigning a service endpoint number 878.
- the SET table also includes other fields, for example, a forwarding card LED field 606, a forwarding card slice 608 (i.e., port) and a forwarding card serial line 610.
- the NMS fills in these fields with a particular value (e.g., zero), and in another embodiment, the NMS leaves these fields blank.
- the particular value or a blank field causes the configuration database to send an active query notice to the PPM indicating a new path LID, quadrant number and service endpoint number. It is up to the PPM to decide which forwarding card, slice (i.e., payload extractor chip) and time slot (i.e., port) to assign to the new universal port card path. Once decided, the PPM fills in the SET Table fields. Since the user and NMS do not completely fill in the SET record, this may be referred to as a "self-completing configuration record.” Self-completing configuration records reduce the administrative workload of provisioning a network.
- the SET and path table records may be automatically copied to persistent storage 21 to insure that if network device 540 is re-booted these configuration records are maintained. If the network device shuts down prior to the PPM filling in the SET record fields and having those fields saved in persistent storage, when the network device is rebooted, the SET will still include blank fields or fields with particular values which will cause the configuration database to again send an active query to the PPM.
- the configuration database sends an active query notification to an SEM (e.g., SEM 96i) executing on that forwarding card and corresponding to the assigned slice and/or time slots.
- SEM e.g., SEM 96i
- the active query notifies the SEM of the newly assigned service endpoint number (e.g., SE 878) and the forwarding card slice (e.g., payload extractor 582a) and time slots (i.e., 3 time slots from one of the serial line inputs to payload exfractor 582a) dedicated to the new path.
- Path manager 597 and SEM 96i both send connection information to a cross- connection manager 605 executing on cross-connection card 562a - the cross- connection card within their quadrant.
- the CCM uses the connection information to generate a connection program table 601 and uses this table to program internal connections through one or more components (e.g., a TSE chip 563) on the cross- connection card.
- cross-connection card 562a transmits data between new path LED 1666 on SONET fiber 576a connected to port 571a on universal port card 554a and the serial line input to payload exfractor 582a on forwarding card 546c.
- An active query notification is also sent to NMS database 61, and the NMS then displays the new system configuration to the user.
- the user may choose which forwarding card to assign to the new path and notify the NMS.
- the NMS would then fill in the forwarding card LED in the SET, and the PPM would only determine which time slots and slice within the forwarding card to assign.
- the PPM when the PPM is notified of a new path, it compares the requirements of the new path to the available / unused forwarding card resources. If the necessary resources are not available, the PPM may signal an error. Alternatively, the PPM could move existing forwarding card resources to make the necessary forwarding card resources available for the new path.
- the one path assigned to payload extractor chip 582a may be moved to another payload exfractor chip, for example, payload exfractor chip 582b that has at least one time slot available and the new path may be assigned all of the time slots on payload extractor chip 582a.
- Moving the existing path is accomplished by having the PPM modify an existing SET record. The new path is configured as described above.
- the provisioning policy may include certain guidelines to hypothesize about future growth. For example, the policy may require small paths - for example, three or less time slots - to be assigned to payload exfractor chips that aheady have some paths assigned instead of to completely unassigned payload exfractor chips to provide a higher likelihood that forwarding card resources will be available for large paths - for example, sixteen or more time slots — added in the future.
- each port card includes one port capable of being connected to an OC-192 SONET fiber. Since OC-192 SONET fibers are capable of transferring data at 10 Gbps, a fully redundant network device 540 is again capable of transferring 160 Gbps.
- each port card may include one hundred and ninety-two logical DS3 connections using sub-rate data multiplexing (SDRM).
- SDRM sub-rate data multiplexing
- each port card may differ in its number and type of ports to provide more or less data through put.
- ports other than SONET ports may be provided, for example, Ethernet ports, Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy ports (i.e., DSO, DS1, DS3, E0, El, E3, JO, Jl, J3) and Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) ports (i.e., STM1, STM4, STM16, STM64).
- each cross-connect card 562a-562b, 564a-564b, 566a-566b and 568a-568b is essentially a switch fabric or mesh allowing switching between any path on any universal port card to any serial input line on any forwarding card in its quadrant and each switch fabric card 570a-570b allows switching between any paths on any forwarding cards.
- mid-planes To fit network device 540 into a single telco rack, dual mid-planes are used. All of the functional printed circuit boards connect to at least one of the mid-planes, and the switch fabric cards and certain control cards connect to both mid-planes thereby providing connections between the two mid-planes.
- the cross- connection functionality is separated into four cross-connection cards — one for each quadrant - (as shown in Figs. 35A & 35B). Further, routing through the lower mid- plane is improved by flipping the forwarding cards and cross-connection cards in the bottom half of the front of the chassis upside down to be the mirror image of the forwarding cards and cross-connection cards in the top of the front half of the chassis.
- a network device 540 is packaged in a box 619 conforming to the telco standard rack of seven feet in height, nineteen inches in width and 24 inches in depth.
- a chassis 620 within box 619 provides support for forwarding cards 546a-546e, 548a-548e, 550a-550e and 552a-552e, universal port cards 554a-554h, 556a-556h, 558a-558h and 560a-560h, and cross- connection cards 562a-562b, 564a-564b, 566a-566b and 568a-568b.
- the forwarding cards are located in the front portion of the chassis where network administrators may easily add and remove these cards from the box, and the universal port cards (UP) are located in the back portion of the chassis where external network attachments / cables may be easily connected.
- the chassis also supports switch fabric cards 570a and 570b. As shown, each switch fabric card may include multiple switch fabric (SF) cards and a switch scheduler (SS) card.
- the chassis supports multiple central processor cards (542 and 543, Figs. 35A & 35B). Instead of having a single central processor card, the external confrol functions and the internal control functions may be separated onto different cards as described in U.S.
- the chassis may support internal confrol (IC) processor cards 542a and 543a and external confrol (EC) processor cards 542b and 543b.
- IC internal confrol
- EC external confrol
- AP auxiliary processor
- MI management interface
- MI management interface
- the chassis also support two mid-plane printed circuit boards 622a and 622b (Fig. 41C) located toward the middle of chassis 620.
- Mid-plane 622a is located in the top portion of chassis 620 and is connected to quadrant 1 and 2 forwarding cards 546a- 546e and 548a-548e, universal port cards 554a-554h and 556a-556h, and cross- connection cards 562a-562b and 564a-564b.
- mid-plane 622b is located in the bottom portion of chassis 620 and is connected to quadrant 3 and 4 forwarding cards 550a-550e and 552a-552e, universal port cards 558a-558h and 560a-560h, and cross- connection cards 566a-566b and 568a-568b.
- the cross- connection card in each quadrant may fransfer network packets between any of the universal port cards in its quadrant and any of the forwarding cards in its quadrant.
- the cross-connection cards in quadrants 1 and 2 may be connected to allow for fransfer of network packets between any forwarding cards and port cards in quadrants 1 and 2
- the cross-connection cards in quadrants 3 and 4 may be connected to allow for transfer of network packets between any forwarding cards and port cards in quadrants 3 and 4.
- Mid-plane 622a is also connected to external control processor cards 542b and 543b and management interface card 621.
- Mid-plane 622b is also connected to auxiliary processor cards 542c and 543c.
- Switch fabric cards 570a and 570b are located in the back portion of chassis 620, approximately mid- way between the top and bottom of the chassis.
- the switch fabric cards are connected to both mid-planes 622a and 622b to allow the switch fabric cards to transfer signals between any of the forwarding cards in any quadrant.
- the , cross-connection cards in quadrants 1 and 2 may be connected through the mid-planes and switch fabric cards to the cross-connection cards in quadrants 3 and 4 to enable network packets to be transferred between any universal port card and any forwarding card.
- airflow for cooling a network device is brought in at the bottom of the device and released at the top of the device.
- a fan tray (FT) 626 pulls air into the device from the bottom portion of the device and a fan tray 628 blows air out of the top portion of the device.
- fan frays 630 and 632 pull air into the middle portion of the device and then fan frays 634 and 636 pull the air upwards and downwards, respectively, and blow the heated air out the top and bottom of the device, respectively.
- the quadrant 3 and 4 universal port cards 558a-558h and 560a-560h may also be flipped over to orient the port card's cross-connection interface nearest the cross- connection cards and more efficiently use the routing resources. It is preferred, however, not to flip the universal port cards for serviceability reasons and airflow issues.
- the network managers at the telco site expect network attachments / cables to be in a certain pattern. Reversing this pattern could cause confusion in a large telco site with many different types of network devices.
- flipping the port cards will change the airflow and cooling pattern and require a similar airflow pattern and fan fray configuration as implemented in the front of the chassis. However, with the switch fabric and internal control processor cards in the middle of the back portion of the chassis, it may be impossible to implement this fan tray configuration.
- mid-plane 622a includes connectors 638 mounted on the back side of the mid-plane ("back mounted") for the management interface card, connectors 640a-640d mounted on the front side of the mid-plane ("front mounted") for the quadrant 1 and 2 cross-connection cards, and front mounted connectors 642a-642b for the external control processor cards. Multiple connectors may be used for each card.
- Mid-plane 622a also includes back mounted connectors 644a-644p for the quadrant 1 and 2 universal port cards and front mounted connectors 646a-646j for the quadrant 1 and 2 forwarding cards.
- Both mid-planes 622a and 622b include back mounted connectors 648a-648d for the switch fabric cards and back mounted connectors 650a-650d for the internal confrol cards.
- Mid-plane 622b further includes front, reverse mounted connectors 652a-652j for the quadrant 3 and 4 forwarding cards and back mounted connectors 654a-654p for the quadrant 3 and 4 universal port cards.
- mid-plane 622b also includes front, reverse mounted connectors 656a-656d for the quadrant 3 and 4 cross-connection cards and front mounted connectors 658a-658b for the auxiliary processor cards.
- Combining both physical layer switch/router subsystems and upper layer switch/router subsystems in one network device allows for intelligent layer 1 switching.
- the network device may be used to establish dynamic network connections on the layer 1 network to better utilize resources as service subscriptions change.
- network management is greatly simplified since the layer 1 and multiple upper layer networks may be managed by the same network management system and grooming fees are eliminated.
- Combining the physical layer switch/router and upper layer switch/routers into a network device that fits into one telco rack provides a less expensive network device and saves valuable telco site space.
- splitting the cross-connection function into four separate cards / quadrants enables the cross-connection routing requirements to be spread between the two midplanes and alleviates the need to route cross-connection signals through the center of the device where the switch fabric is routed.
- segmenting the cross-connection function into multiple, independent subsystems allows customers / network managers to add functionality to network device 540 in pieces and in accordance with network service subscriptions. When a network device is first installed, a network manager may need only a few port cards and forwarding cards to service network customers.
- the modularity of network device 540 allows the network manager to purchase and install only one cross-connection card and the required number of port and forwarding cards.
- the network manager may add forwarding cards and port cards and eventually additional cross-connection cards. Since network devices are often very expensive, this modularity allows network managers to spread the cost of the system out in accordance with new service requests. The fees paid by customers to the network manager for the new services can then be applied to the cost of the new cards.
- the embodiment describes the use of two mid-planes, it should be understood that more than two mid-planes may be used.
- the embodiment described flipped / reversed the forwarding cards and cross-connection cards in the lower half of the chassis, alternatively, the forwarding cards and cross- connection cards in the upper half of the chassis could be flipped.
- a network device having a distributed switch fabric locates a portion of the switch fabric functionality on cards separate from the remaining / central switch fabric functionality. For example, a portion of the switch fabric may be distributed on each forwarding card.
- the entire switch fabric need not be included in a minimally configured network device, the cost of the minimal configuration is reduced allowing network service providers to more quickly recover the initial cost of the device.
- additional functionality including both forwarding cards (with additional switch fabric functionality) and universal port cards may be added to the network device to handle the new requests, and the fees for the new services may be applied to the cost of the additional functionality. Consequently, the cost of the network device more closely tracks the service fees received by network providers.
- each forwarding card (e.g., 546c) includes fraffic management chips (e.g., 588a-588n and 590a-590b) that ensure high priority network data / traffic (e.g., voice) is transferred faster than lower priority traffic (e.g., e-mail).
- Each forwarding card also includes switch fabric interface (SFIF) chips (e.g., 589a-589n) that transfer network data between the fraffic management chips and the switch fabric cards 570a-570b.
- SFIF switch fabric interface
- SFEF chips 589 and 660 on both boards include a switch fabric interface (SEF) chip 661, data slice chips 662a-662f, an enhanced port processor (EPP) chip 664 and a local timing subsystem (LTS) 665.
- SEF switch fabric interface
- EPP enhanced port processor
- LTS local timing subsystem
- the SFIF chips receive data from ingress TM chips 588n and 659a and forward it to the switch fabric cards 570a- 570b (Figs. 35A & 35B and 36A & 36B).
- the SFEF chips receive data from the switch fabric cards and forward it to the egress TM chips 590a and 659b.
- each switch fabric card 570a-570b may include multiple separate cards.
- each switch fabric card 570a-570b includes a control card 666 and four data cards 668a-668d.
- a scheduler chip 670 on confrol card 666 works with the EPP chips on each of the forwarding cards to transfer network data between the data slice chips on the forwarding cards through cross-bar chips 672a-6721 (only chips 672a-672f are shown) on data cards 668a-668d.
- Each of the data slice chips on each of the forwarding cards is connected to two of the cross-bar chips on the data cards.
- Switch fabric control card 666 and each of the switch fabric data cards 668a-668d also include a switch fabric local timing subsystem (LTS) 665, and a switch fabric cenfral timing subsystem (CTS) 673 on confrol card 666 provides a start of segment (SOS) reference signal to each LTS 665 on each of the forwarding cards and switch fabric cards.
- LTS switch fabric local timing subsystem
- CTS switch fabric cenfral timing subsystem
- the fraffic management chips perform upper level network traffic management within the network device while scheduler chip 670 on control card 666 performs the lower level data fransfer between forwarding cards.
- the traffic management chips determine the priority of received network data and then forward the highest priority data to SEF chips 661.
- the traffic management chips include large buffers to store lower priority data until higher priority data has been transferred.
- the traffic management chips also store data in these buffers when the local EPP chip indicates that data transfers are to be stopped (i.e., back pressure).
- the scheduler chip works with the EPP chips to stop or hold-off data transfers when necessary, for example, when buffers on one forwarding card are close to full, the local EPP chip sends notice to each of the other EPP chips and the scheduler to hold off sending more data. Back pressure may be applied to all forwarding cards when a new switch fabric confrol card is added to the network device, as described below.
- the traffic management chips forward network data in predefined segments to the SEF chips.
- each ATM cell is a segment.
- the data is first arranged into appropriately sized segments before being sent to the SEF chips. This may be accomplished through segmentation and reassembly (SAR) chips (not shown).
- SAR segmentation and reassembly
- the SEF chip When the SEF chip receives a segment of network data, it organizes the data into a segment consistent with that expected by the switch fabric components, including any required header information.
- the SEF chip may be a PMC9324-TC chip available from Extreme Packet Devices (EPD), a subsidiary of PMC-Sierra, and the data slice chips may be PM9313-HC chips and the EPP chip may be a PM9315-HC chip available from Abrizio, also a subsidiary of PMC-Sierra.
- the SEF chip organizes each segment of data - including header information — in accordance with a line-card-to- switch two (LCS-2) protocol.
- the SEF chip then divides each data segment into twelve slices and sends two slices to each data slice chip 662a-662f. Two slices are sent because each data slice chip includes the functionality of two data slices.
- the data slice chips When the data slice chips receive the LCS segments, the data slice chips strip off the header information, including both a destination address and quality of service (QoS) information, and send the header information to the local EPP chip.
- the SEF chip may send the header information directly to the EPP chip and send only data to the data slice chips.
- the manufacturer teaches that the SEF chip should be on the forwarding card and the EPP and data slice chips should be on a separate switch fabric card within the network device or in a separate box connected to the network device.
- the header information is sent with the data by the SIF chip to reduce the required inter-card connections, and the data slice chips then strip off this information and send it to the EPP chip.
- the EPP chips on all of the forwarding cards communicate and synchronize through cross-bar chips 674a-674b on control card 666. For each time interval (e.g., every 40 nanoseconds, "ns"), the EPP chips inform the scheduler chip as to which data segment they would like to send and the data slice chips send a segment of data previously set up by the scheduler and EPP chips.
- the EPP chips and the scheduler use the destination addresses to determine if there are any conflicts, for example, to determine if two or more forwarding cards are trying to send data to the same forwarding card. If a conflict is found, then the quality of service information is used to determine which forwarding card is trying to send the higher priority data. The highest priority data will likely be sent first.
- the scheduler chips include an algorithm that takes into account both the quality of service and a need to keep the switch fabric data cards 668a-668d full (maximum data through put). Where a conflict exists, the scheduler chip may inform the EPP chip to send a different, for example, lower priority, data segment from the data slice chip buffers or to send an empty data segment during the time interval.
- Scheduler chip 670 informs each of the EPP chips which data segment is to be sent and received in each time interval.
- the EPP chips then inform their local data slice chips as to which data segments are to be sent in each interval and which data segments will be received in each interval.
- the forwarding cards each send and receive data.
- the data slice chips include small buffers to hold certain data (e.g., lower priority) while other data (e.g., higher priority) data is sent and small buffers to store received data.
- the data slice chips also include header information with each segment of data sent to the switch fabric cards. The header information is used by cross- bar chips 672a-6721 (only cross-bar chips 672a-672f are shown) to switch the data to the correct forwarding card.
- the cross-bar chips may be PM9312-UC chips and the scheduler chip may be a PM9311-UC chip both of which are available from Abrizio.
- a segment of data (e.g., an ATM cell) is transfe ⁇ ed between the data slice chips through the cross-bar chips every predetermined time interval.
- this time interval is 40ns and is established by a 25MHz start of segment (SOS) signal.
- a higher frequency clock (e.g., 200 MHz, having a 5ns time interval) is used by the data slice and cross-bar chips to transfer the bits of data within each segment such that all the bits of data in a segment are transferred within one 40ns interval.
- each switch fabric component multiplies the 200 MHz clock signal by four to provide an 800 MHz internal clock signal allowing data to be transferred through the data slice and cross-bar components at 320 Gbps.
- any time-difference in events (e.g., clock pulse) on the distributed signals is generally termed "skew". Skew between distributed signals may result in the actions not occurring at the same time, and in the case of transmission of data through a switch fabric, skew can cause data corruption and other errors.
- skew can introduce skew into these signals. For example, components used to distribute the clock signal introduce skew, and etches on the mid-plane(s) introduce skew in proportion to the differences in their length (e.g., about 180 picoseconds per inch of etch in FR 4 printed circuit board material). To minimize skew, one manufacturer teaches that all switch fabric components
- a cenfral clock reference signal e.g. 200 MHz
- a separate SOS signal e.g. 25 MHz
- Locating the boards near each other within the network device or in a separate box allows etch lengths on the mid-plane for the reference timing signals to be more easily matched and, thus, introduce less skew.
- a redundant, distributed switch fabric greatly increases the number of reference timing signals that must be routed over the mid-planes and yet remain accurately synchronized.
- the distance between the cards may vary greatly and, thus, make matching the lengths of timing signal etches on the mid-planes difficult.
- the lengths of the etches for the reference timing signals from both the primary and redundant central timing subsystems must be matched. Compounding this with a fast clock signal and low skew component requirements makes distributing the timing very difficult.
- the network device of the present invention though difficult, includes two synchronized central timing subsystems (CTS) 673 (one is shown in Fig. 43).
- the etch lengths of reference timing signals from both cenfral timing subsystems are matched to within, for example, +/- 50 mils, and both cenfral timing subsystems distribute only reference start of segment (SOS) signals to a local timing subsystem (LTS) 665 on each forwarding card and switch fabric card.
- SOS reference start of segment
- LTS local timing subsystem
- the LTSs use the SOS reference signals to generate both an SOS signal and a higher frequency clock signal. This adds components and complexity to the LTSs, however, distributing only the SOS reference signals and not both the SOS and clock reference signals significantly reduces the number of reference timing signals that must be routed across the mid-plane on matched etch lengths.
- Both electro-magnetic radiation and electro-physical limitations prevent the 200 MHz reference clock signal from being widely distributed as required in a network device implementing distributed switch fabric subsystems. Such a fast reference clock increases the overall noise level generated by the network device and wide distribution may cause the network device to exceed Electro-Magnetic Interference (EMI) limitations.
- Clock errors are often measured as a percentage of the clock period, the smaller the clock period (5ns for a 200 MHz clock), the larger the percentage of error a small skew can cause. For example, a skew of 3ns represents a 60% error for a 5ns clock period but only a 7.5% error for a 40ns clock period.
- Higher frequency clock signals e.g., 200 MHz
- the SOS signal has a larger clock period than the reference clock signal (40ns versus 5ns) and, thus, is less susceptible to noise error and reduces the percentage of error resulting from clock skew.
- the network device may include redundant switch fabric cards 570a and 570b (Figs. 36A & 36B) and as described above with reference to Fig. 43, each switch fabric card 570a and 570b may include a confrol card and four or more data cards.
- network device 540 may include switch fabric control card 666 (part of central switch fabric 570a) and redundant switch fabric control card 667 (part of redundant switch fabric 570b).
- Each control card 666 and 667 includes a central timing subsystem (CTS) 673.
- CTS central timing subsystem
- the CTS on the primary switch fabric control card 666 begins as the master and if a problem occurs with the CTS on the primary control card, then the CTS on redundant confrol card 667 takes over as master without requiring a switch over of the primary switch fabric control card.
- each CTS sends a reference SOS signal to the LTSs on each forwarding card, switch fabric data cards 668a-668d and redundant switch fabric data cards 669a-669b.
- each CTS sends a reference SOS signal to the LTS on its own switch fabric control card and the LTS on the other switch fabric control card. As described in more detail below, each LTS then selects which reference SOS signal to use.
- Each CTS 673 also sends a reference SOS signal to the CTS on the other control card.
- the master CTS ignores the reference SOS signal from the slave CTS but the slave CTS locks its reference SOS signal to the reference SOS signal from the master, as described below. Locking the slave SOS signal to the master SOS signal synchronizes the slave signal to the master signal such that in the event that the master CTS fails and the LTSs switchover to the slave CTS reference SOS signal and the slave CTS becomes the master CTS, minimal phase change and no signal disruption is encountered between the master and slave reference SOS signals received by the LTSs.
- Each of the CTS reference SOS signals sent to the LTSs and the other CTS over mid-plane etches are the same length (i.e., matched) to avoid introducing skew.
- the CTS may be on its own independent card or any other card in the system. Even when it is located on a switch fabric card, such as the control card, that has an LTS, the reference SOS signal is routed through the mid-plane with the same length etch as the other reference SOS signals to avoid adding skew.
- central timing subsystem (CTS) 673 includes a voltage controlled crystal oscillator (VCXO) 676 that generates a 25MHz reference SOS signal 678.
- the SOS signal must be distributed to each of the local timing subsystems (LTSs) and is, thus, sent to a first level clock driver 680 and then to second level clock drivers 682a-682d that output reference SOS signals SFC_BENCH_FB and SFC J EF1 - SFC_REFn.
- SFC_BENCH_FB is a local feedback signal returned to the input of the CTS.
- SFC_REF1 - SFC_REFn is sent to each LTS, the other CTS, which receives it on SFC_S YNC, and one is routed over a mid-plane and returned as a feedback signal SFC_FB to the input of the CTS that generated it. Additional levels of clock drivers may be added as the number of necessary reference SOS signals increases.
- VCXO 676 may be a VF596ES50 25MHz LVPECL available from Conner-
- PECL Positive Emitter Coupled Logic
- TTL Transistor- Transistor Logic
- differential PECL is preferred over PECL for its lower skew properties and high noise immunity.
- the clock drivers are also differential PECL and may be one to ten (1:10) MCI 00 LVEP111 clock drivers available from On Semiconductor.
- a test header 681 may be connected to clock driver 680 to allow a test clock to be input into the system.
- Hardware control logic 684 determines (as described below) whether the CTS is the master or slave, and hardware control logic 684 is connected to a multiplexor (MUX) 686 to select between a predetermined voltage input (i.e., master voltage input) 688a and a slave VCXO voltage input 688b.
- MUX multiplexor
- hardware control logic 684 selects predetermined voltage input 688a from discrete bias circuit 690 and slave VCXO voltage input 688b is ignored.
- the predetermined voltage input causes VCXO 676 to generate a constant 25MHz SOS signal; that is, the VCXO operates as a simple oscillator.
- Hardware confrol logic may be implemented in a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or a programmable logic device (PLD).
- MUX 686 may be a 74CBTLV3257 FET 2:1 MUX available from Texas Instruments.
- hardware confrol logic 684 selects slave VCXO voltage signal 688b. This provides a variable voltage level to the VCXO that causes the output of the VCXO to track or follow the SOS reference signal from the master CTS.
- the CTS receives the SOS reference signal from the other CTS on SFC SYNC. Since this is a differential PECL signal, it is first passed through a differential PECL to TTL translator 692 before being sent to MUX 697a within dual MUX 694. In addition, two feedback signals from the CTS itself are supplied as inputs to the CTS.
- the first feedback signal SFC_FB is an output signal (e.g., one of SFC_REFl-SFC_REFn) from the CTS itself which has been sent out to the mid-plane and routed back to the switch fabric control card. This is done so that the feedback signal used by the CTS experiences identical conditions as the reference SOS signal delivered to the LTSs and skew is minimized.
- the second feedback signal e.g., one of SFC_REFl-SFC_REFn
- SFC_BENCH_FB is a local signal from the output of the CTS, for example, clock driver 682a.
- SFC_BENCH_FB may be used as the feedback signal in a test mode, for example, when the confrol card is not plugged into the network device chassis and SFC_SB is unavailable.
- SFC_BENCH_FB and SFC_FB are also differential PECL signals and must be sent through translators 693 and 692, respectively, prior to being sent to MUX 697b within dual MUX 694.
- Hardware control logic 684 selects which inputs are used by MUX 694 by asserting signals on REF_SEL(1 :0) and FB_SEL(1 :0).
- inputs 696a and 696b from translator 692 are selected.
- grounded inputs 695a, test headers 695b or local feedback signal 698 from translator 693 may be selected.
- copies of the selected input signals are provided on the test headers.
- the reference output 700a and the feedback output 700b are then sent from the MUX to phase detector circuit 702.
- the phase detector compares the rising edge of the two input signals to determine the magnitude of any phase shift between the two.
- the phase detector then generates variable voltage pulses on outputs 704a and 704b representing the magnitude of the phase shift.
- the phase detector outputs are used by discrete logic circuit 706 to generate a voltage on a slave VCXO voltage signal 688b representing the magnitude of the phase shift.
- the voltage is used to speed up or slow down (i.e., change the phase of) the VCXO's output SOS signal to allow the output SOS signal to track any phase change in the reference SOS signal from the other CTS (i.e., SFC_SYNC).
- the discrete logic components implement filters that determine how quickly or slowly the VCXO's output will frack the change in phase detected on the reference signal.
- the combination of the dual MUX, phase detector, discrete logic, VCXO, clock drivers and feedback signal forms a phase locked loop (PLL) circuit allowing the slave CTS to synchronize its reference SOS signal to the master CTS reference SOS signal.
- MUX 686 and discrete bias circuit 690 are not found in phase locked loop circuits.
- the phase detector circuit may be implemented in a programmable logic device (PLD), for example a MACH4LV-32 available from Lattice/Vantis Semiconductor.
- Dual MUX 694 may be implemented in the same PLD.
- dual MUX 694 is an SN74CBTLV3253 available from Texas Instruments, which has better skew properties than the PLD.
- the differential PECL to TTL translators may be MC100EPT23 dual differential PECL/TTL translators available from On Semiconductor.
- the discrete logic implements a filter, and for any detected phase shift, only small incremental changes over time are made to the voltage provided on slave VCXO control signal 688b.
- the slave VCXO control signal 688b only changes phase slowly over time meaning that the VCXO will continue to provide a reference SOS signal. If the reference signal from the master CTS is suddenly returned, the slave VCXO control signal 688b again only changes phase slowly over time to cause the VCXO signal to re-synchronize with the reference signal from the master CTS.
- LTSs may use reference SOS signals from the master CTS while one or more are using the reference SOS signals from the slave CTS. In general, this is a transitional state prior to or during switch over. For example, one or more LTSs may start using the slave CTS's reference SOS signal prior to the slave CTS switching over to become the master CTS. It is important for both the CTSs and the LTSs to monitor the activity of the reference SOS signals from both CTSs such that if there is a problem with one, the LTSs can begin using the other SOS signal immediately and/or the slave CTS can quickly become master.
- Reference output signal 700a - the translated reference SOS signal sent from the other CTS and received on SFCjS YNC — is sent to an activity detector circuit 708.
- the activity detector circuit determines whether the signal is active - that is, whether the signal is "stuck at” logic 1 or logic 0. If the signal is not active (i.e., stuck at logic 1 or 0), the activity detector sends a signal 683a to hardware control logic 684 indicating that the signal died.
- the hardware control logic may immediately select input 688a to MUX 686 to change the CTS from slave to master.
- the hardware control logic also sends an interrupt to a local processor 710 and software being executed by the processor detects the interrupt. Hardware confrol allows the CTS switch over to happen very quickly before a bad clock signal can disrupt the system.
- an activity detector 709 monitors the output of the first level clock driver 680 regardless of whether the CTS is master or slave. Instead, the output of one the second level clock drivers could be monitored, however, a failure of a different second level clock will not be detected.
- SFC_REF_ACTEVITY is sent from the first level clock driver to differential PECL to TTL translator 693 and then as FABRIC_REF_ACTEVITY to activity detector 709. If activity detector 709 determines that the signal is not active, which may indicate that the clock driver, oscillator or other component(s) within the CTS have failed, then it sends a signal 683b to the hardware control logic.
- the hardware control logic asserts KILL_CLKTREE to stop the clock drivers from sending any signals and notifies a processor chip 710 on the switch fabric control card through an interrupt.
- Software being executed by the processor chip detects the interrupt.
- the slave CTS activity detector 708 detects a dead signal from the master CTS either before or after the hardware control logic sends KILL_CLKTREE and asserts e ⁇ or signal 683a to cause the hardware control logic to change the input selection on MUX 686 from 688b to 688a to become the master CTS.
- the LTSs also detect a dead signal from the master CTS either before or after the hardware control logic sends KILL_CLKTREE and switch over to the reference SOS signal from the slave CTS either before or after the slave CTS switches over to become the master.
- a separate, common clock selection signal or etch was sent to each card in the network device to indicate whether to use the master or slave clock reference signal. This approach required significant routing resources, was under software control and resulted in every load selecting the same source at any given time. Hence, if a clock signal problem was detected, components had to wait for the software to change the separate clock selection signal before beginning to use the standby clock signal and all components (i.e., loads) were always locked to the same source. This delay can cause data corruption errors, switch fabric failure and a network device crash.
- Forcing a constant logic one or zero (i.e., "killing") clock signals from a failed source and having hardware in each LTS and CTS detect inactive (i.e., "dead” or stuck at logic one or zero) signals allows the hardware to quickly begin using the standby clock without the need for software intervention.
- LTSs receiving output signals from that clock driver may immediately begin using signals from the slave CTS clock driver while the other LTSs continue to use the master CTS.
- Interrupts to the processor from each of the LTSs connected to the failed master CTS clock driver allow software, specifically the SRM, to detect the failure and initiate a switch over of the slave CTS to the master CTS.
- the software may also override the hardware control and force the LTSs to use the slave or master reference SOS signal.
- the remaining switch fabric confrol card functionality e.g., scheduler and cross-bar components
- the SRM decides — based on a failure policy — whether to switch over from the primary switch fabric control card to the secondary switch fabric confrol card.
- the CTS on the secondary switch fabric confrol card operates as the master CTS for a period of time before the network device switches over from the primary to the secondary switch fabric control card, or instead, there may be instances where the CTS on the secondary switch fabric confrol card operates as the master CTS for a period of time and then the software directs the hardware control logic on both switch fabric confrol cards to switch back such that the CTS on the primary switch fabric confrol card is again master.
- the CTS is independent of the remaining functionality on the switch fabric confrol card.
- Phase detector 702 also includes an out of lock detector that determines whether the magnitude of change between the reference signal and the feedback signal is larger than a predetermined threshold.
- this circuit detects errors that may not be detected by activity detector 708 such as where the reference SOS signal from the master CTS is failing but is not dead. If the magnitude of the phase change exceeds the predetermined threshold, then the phase detector asserts an OOL signal to the hardware confrol logic.
- the hardware confrol logic may immediately change the input to MUX 686 to cause the slave CTS to switch over to Master CTS and send an interrupt to the processor, or the hardware control logic may only send the interrupt and wait for software (e.g., the SRM) to determine whether the slave CTS should switch over to master.
- hardware control logic 684 implements a state machine. Each hardware control logic 684 sends an IM_THE_MASTER signal to the other hardware control logic 684 which is received as a YOU EHEJVJASTER signal. If the EM_THE_MASTER signal - and, hence, the received YOU_THE_MASTER signal - is asserted then the CTS sending the signal is the master (and selects input 688a to MUX 686, Fig. 45A) and the CTS receiving the signal is the slave (and selects input 688b to MUX 686).
- Each FM_THE_MASTER / YOU_THE_MASTER etch is pulled down to ground on the mid-planes such that if one of the CTSs is missing, the YOU_THE_MASTER signal received by the other CTS will be a logic 0 causing the receiving CTS to become the master. This situation may arise, for example, if a redundant control card including the CTS is not inserted within the network device.
- each of the hardware control logics receive SLOT_ED signals from pull-down/pull-up resistors on the chassis mid-plane indicating the slot in which the switch fabric control card is inserted.
- the hardware confrol logic state machine begins in INIT/RESET state 0 and does not assert IM_THE_MASTER. If the SLOTJD signals indicate that the control card is inserted in a preferred slot (e.g., slot one), and the received YOU EHEJMASTER is not asserted (i.e., 0), then the state machine transitions to the ONLINE state 3 and the hardware control logic asserts EM_THE_MASTER indicating its master status to the other CTS and selects input 688a to MUX 686.
- a preferred slot e.g., slot one
- YOU EHEJMASTER is not asserted
- the state machine While in the ONLINE state 3, if a failure is detected or the software tells the hardware logic to switch over, the state machine enters the OFFLINE state 1 and the hardware control logic stops asserting EM_THE_MASTER and asserts KILL_CLKTREE. While in the OFFLINE state 1, the software may reset or re-boot the confrol card or just the CTS and force the state machine to enter the STANDBY state 2 as the slave CTS and the hardware confrol logic stops asserting KILL_CLKTREE and selects input 688b to MUX 686.
- This situation may arise after a failure and recovery of the CTS in the preferred slot (e.g., reboot, reset or new control card).
- the state machine While in the STANDBY state 2, if the YOU_THE_MASTER signal becomes zero (i.e., not asserted), indicating that the master CTS is no longer master, the state machine will transition to ONLINE state 3 and the hardware control logic will assert IM THEJviASTER and select input 688a to MUX 686 to become master.
- ONLINE state 3 if the YOU_THE_MASTER signal is asserted and SLOTJD indicating slot 0 the state machine enters STANDBY state 2 and the hardware control logic stops asserting IMJTHEJVIASTER and selects input 688b to MUX 686. This is the situation where the original master CTS is back up and running.
- the software may reset the state machine at any time or set the state machine to a particular state at any time.
- each local timing subsystem (LTS) 665 receives a reference SOS signal from each CTS on SFCJ EFA and SFC_REFB. Since these are differential PECL signals, each is passed through a differential PECL to TTL franslator 714a or 714b, respectively.
- a feedback signal SFCJFB is also passed from the LTS output to both translators 714a and 714b.
- the reference signal outputs 716a and 716b are fed into a first MUX 717 within dual MUX 718, and the feedback signal outputs 719a and 719b are fed into a second MUX 720 within dual MUX 718.
- LTS hardware confrol logic 712 controls selector inputs REF_SEL (1 :0) and FB_SEL (1 :0) to dual MUX 718. With regard to the feedback signals, the LTS hardware confrol logic selects the feedback signal that went through the same translator as the reference signal that is selected to minimize the effects of any skew introduced by the two translators.
- a phase detector 722 receives the feedback (FB) and reference (REF) signals from the dual MUX and, as explained above, generates an output in accordance with the magnitude of any phase shift detected between the two signals.
- Discrete logic circuit 724 is used to filter the output of the phase detector, in a manner similar to discrete logic 706 in the CTS, and provide a signal to VCXO 726 representing a smaller change in phase than that output from the phase detector.
- the VCXO is a 200 MHz oscillator as opposed to the 25MHz oscillator used in the CTS.
- the output of the VCXO is the reference switch fabric clock. It is sent to clock driver 728, which fans the signal out to each of the local switch fabric components.
- the LTSs supply the 200MHz reference clock signal to the EPP and data slice chips
- the LTSs supply the 200 MHz reference clock signal to the cross-bar chips.
- the LTSs supply the 200 MHz clock signal to the scheduler and cross-bar components.
- the 200 MHz reference clock signal from the VCXO is also sent to a divider circuit or component 730 that divides the clock by eight to produce a 25MHz reference SOS signal 731. This signal is sent to clock driver 732, which fans the signal out to each of the same local switch fabric components that the 200 MHz reference clock signal was sent to.
- reference SOS signal 731 is provided as feedback signal SFC_FB to franslator 714b.
- VCXO clock drivers and feedback signal forms a phase locked loop circuit allowing the 200 MHz and 25MHz signals generated by the LTS to be synchronized to either of the reference SOS signals sent from the CTSs.
- the divider component may be a SY100EL34L divider by Synergy Semiconductor Corporation.
- Reference signals 716a and 716b from franslator 714a are also sent to activity detectors 734a and 734b, respectively. These activity detectors perform the same function as the activity detectors in the CTSs and assert error signals ref_aJos or ref bjos to the LTS hardware control logic if reference signal 716a or 716b, respectively, die.
- a state machine (Fig. 48) within the LTS hardware control logic starts in INIT/RESET state 0.
- reference signal 716a is the first signal considered.
- activity detector 734a If activity detector 734a is not sending an error signal (i.e., ref_aJos is 0), indicating that that reference signal 716a is active, then the state machine changes to REF_A state 2 and sends signals over REF_SEL(1:0) to MUX 717 to select reference input 716a and sends signals over FB_SEL(1 :0) to MUX 720 to select feedback input 719a.
- REF_B state 1 if activity detector 734b detects a loss of signal 716b and asserts refbjos, the state machine will change to REF_A state 2 and change REF_SEL(1 :0) and FB_SEL(1 :0) to select inputs 716a and 719a. While in either REF_A state 2 or REFJB state 1, if both ref_aJos and ref_bJos are asserted, indicating that both reference SOS signals have died, the state machine changes back to INIT/RESET state 0 and change REF_SEL(1 :0) and FB_SEL(1 :0) to select no inputs or test inputs 736a and 736b or ground 738. For a period of time, the LTS will continue to supply a clock and SOS signal to the switch fabric components even though it is receiving no input reference signal.
- the LTS hardware control logic When ref_aJos and/or ref b Jos are asserted, the LTS hardware control logic notifies its local processor 740 through an interrupt.
- the SRM will decide, based on a failure policy, what actions to take, including whether to switch over from the master to slave CTS. Just as the phase detector in the CTS sends an out of lock signal to the CTS hardware control logic, the phase detector 722 also sends an out of lock signal OOL to the LTS hardware confrol logic if the magnitude of the phase difference between the reference and feedback signals exceeds a predetermined threshold. If the LTS hardware receives an asserted OOL signal, it notifies its local processor (e.g., 740) through an interrupt. The SRM will decide based on a failure policy what actions to take.
- the switch fabric data cards are four independent cards. More data cards may also be used.
- all of the cross-bar components may be located on one card.
- half of the cross-bar components may be located on two separate cards and yet attached to the same network device faceplate and share certain components.
- a network device faceplate is something the network manager can unlatch and pull on to remove cards from the network device. Attaching two switch fabric data cards to the same faceplate effectively makes them one board since they are added to and removed from the network device together. Since they are effectively one board, they may share certain hardware as if all components were on one physical card. In one embodiment, they may share a processor, hardware confrol logic and activity detectors.
- Another difficulty with distributing a portion of the switch fabric functionality involves the scheduler component on the switch fabric confrol cards.
- the entire switch fabric, including all EPP chips are always present in a network device.
- Registers in the scheduler component are configured on power-up or re-boot to indicate how many EPP chips are present in the current network device, and in one embodiment, the scheduler component detects an enor and switches over to the redundant switch fabric control card when one of those EPP chips is no longer active.
- an EPP chip may be removed from a running network device when the printed circuit board on which it is located is removed ("hot swap", "hot removal") from the network device.
- the scheduler chip To prevent the scheduler chip from detecting the missing EPP chip as an enor (e.g., a CRC enor) and switching over to the redundant switch fabric control card, prior to the board being removed from the network device, software running on the switch fabric confrol card re-configures the scheduler chip to disable the scheduler chip's links to the EPP chip that is being removed.
- an enor e.g., a CRC enor
- a latch 547 (Fig. 40) on the faceplate of each of the printed circuit boards on which a distributed switch fabric is located is connected to a circuit 742 (Fig. 43) also on the printed circuit board that detects when the latch is released.
- circuit 742 sends a signal to a circuit 743 on both switch fabric control cards indicating that the forwarding card is about to be removed.
- Circuit 743 sends an interrupt to the local processor (e.g., 710, Fig. 45B) on the switch fabric confrol card.
- Software e.g., slave SRM being executed by the local processor detects the interrupt and sends a notice to software (e.g., master SRM) being executed by the processor (e.g., 24, Fig. 1) on the network device cenfralized processor card (e.g., 12, Fig. 1, 542 or 543, Fig. 35 A).
- the master SRM sends a notice to the slave SRMs being executed by the processors on the switch fabric data cards and forwarding cards to indicate the removal of the forwarding card.
- the redundant forwarding card switches over to become a replacement for the failed primary forwarding card.
- the master SRM also sends a notice to the slave SRM on the cross-connection card (e.g., 562-562b, 564a-564b, 566a- 566b, 568a-565b, Fig. 35B) to re-configure the connections between the port cards (e.g., 554a-554h, 556a-556h, 558a-558h, 560a-560h, Fig. 35A) and the redundant forwarding card.
- the slave SRM on the switch fabric control card re-configures the registers in the scheduler component to disable the scheduler's links to the EPP chip on the forwarding card that's being removed from the network device. As a result, when the forwarding card is removed, the scheduler will not detect an enor due to a missing EPP chip.
- circuit 742 detects the closing of the latch and sends an interrupt to the processor.
- the slave SRM running on the local processor sends a notice to the Master SRM which then sends a notice to the slave SRMs being executed by the processors on the switch fabric control cards, data cards and forwarding cards indicating the presence of the new forwarding card.
- the slave SRM on the cross-connection cards may be re-configured, and the slave SRM on the switch fabric control card may re-configure the scheduler chip to establish links with the new EPP chip to allow data to be fransfened to the newly added forwarding card.
- the primary and secondary scheduler components receive the same inputs, maintain the same state and generate the same outputs.
- the EPP chips are connected to both scheduler chips but only respond to the master / primary scheduler chip. If the primary scheduler or confrol card experiences a failure a switch over is initiated to allow the secondary scheduler to become the primary.
- the failed switch fabric control card is re-booted, re-initialized or replaced, it and its scheduler component serve as the secondary switch fabric confrol card and scheduler component.
- a complex sequence of steps is required to "refresh” or synchronize the state of the newly added scheduler component to the primary scheduler component and for many of these steps, network data transfer through the switch fabric is temporarily stopped (i.e., back pressure).
- Stopping network data transfer may affect the availability of the network device.
- the switch fabric is centralized and all on one board or only a few boards or in its own box, the refresh steps are quickly completed by one or only a few processors limiting the amount of time that network data is not fransfened.
- the switch fabric includes distributed switch fabric subsystems, the processors that are local to each of the distributed switch fabric subsystems must take part in the series of steps. This may increase the amount of time that data fransfer is stopped further affecting network device availability.
- the local processors each set up for a refresh while data is still being fransfened. Communications between the processors take place over the Ethernet bus (e.g., 32, Fig. 1, 544, Fig. 35A) to avoid interrupting network data transfer.
- the processor on the master switch fabric confrol card stops data transfer and sends a refresh command to each of the processors on the forwarding cards and switch fabric cards. Since all processors are waiting to complete the refresh, it is quickly completed.
- Each processor notifies the processor on the master switch fabric confrol card that the refresh is complete, and when all processors have completed the refresh, the master switch fabric confrol card re-starts the data transfer.
- the buffers in the fraffic management chips are used to store data coming from external network devices. It is important that the data transfer be complete quickly to avoid overrunning the fraffic management chip buffers.
- forwarding cards As additional forwarding cards are added to the minimal configuration — to track an increase in customer demand ⁇ additional portions of the switch fabric are simultaneously added since a portion of the switch fabric is located on each forwarding card. Consequently, switch fabric growth tracks the growth in customer demands and fees.
- typical network devices include 1:1 redundant switch fabric subsystems.
- the forwarding cards may be 1 :N redundant and, thus, the distributed switch fabric on each forwarding card is also 1:N redundant further reducing the cost of a minimally configured network device.
- a network device In addition to internal switch fabric timing, a network device must also include external network data transfer timing to allow the network device to transfer network data synchronously with other network devices.
- multiple network devices in the same service provider site synchronize themselves to Building Integrated Timing Supply (BITS) lines provided by a network service provider.
- BITS lines are typically from highly accurate stratum two clock sources. In the United States, standard Tl BITS lines (2.048 MHz) are provided, and in Europe, standard El BITS lines (1.544 MHz) are provided.
- a network service provider provides two Tl lines or two El lines from different sources for redundancy.
- one network device may extract a timing signal received on a port connected to the other network device and use that timing signal to synchronize its data transfers with the other network device.
- controller card 542b and redundant controller card 543b each include an external central timing subsystem (EX CTS) 750.
- EX CTS receives BITS lines 751 and provide BITS lines 752.
- each EX CTS receives a port timing signal 753 from each port card (554a-554h, 556a-556h, 558a-558h, 560a- 560h, Figs. 35A & 35B), and each EX CTS also receives an external timing reference signal 754 from itself and an external timing reference signal 755 from the other EX CTS.
- One of the EX CTSs behaves as a master and the other EX CTS behaves as a slave.
- the master EX CTS may synchronize its output external reference timing signals to one of BITS lines 751 or one of the port timing signals 753, while the slave EX CTS synchronizes its output external reference timing signals to the received master external reference timing signal 755.
- the slave EX CTS may automatically switch over to become the master EX CTS or software may upon an enor or at any time force the slave EX CTS to switch over to become the master EX CTS.
- An external reference timing signal from each EX CTS is sent to each external local timing subsystem (EX LTS) 756 on cards throughout the network device, and each EX LTS generates local external timing signals synchronized to one of the received external reference timing signals.
- external reference timing signals are sent only to cards including external data transfer functionality, for example, cross connection cards 562a-562b, 564a-564b, 566a-566b and 568a-568b (Figs. 35A &35B) and universal port cards 554a-554h, 556a-556h, 558a-558h, 560a-560h.
- an additional central processor timing subsystem is needed to generate processor timing reference signals to allow the multiple processors to synchronize certain processes and functions.
- the addition of both external reference timing signals (primary and secondary) and processor timing reference signals (primary and secondary) require significant routing resources.
- the EX CTSs embed a processor timing reference signal within each external timing reference signal to reduce the number of timing reference signals needed to be routed across the mid-plane(s).
- the external reference timing signals are then sent to EX LTSs on each card in the network device having a processor component, for example, cross connection cards 562a-562b, 564a-564b, 566a- 566b, 568a-568b, universal port cards 554a-554h, 556a-556h, 558a-558h, 560a-560h, forwarding cards 546a-546e, 548a-548e, 550a-550e, 552a-552e, switch fabric cards 666, 667, 668a-668d, 669a-669d (Fig. 44) and both the internal controller cards 542a, 543a (Fig. 41B) and external controller cards 542b and 543b.
- a processor component for example, cross connection cards 562a-562b, 564a-564b, 566a- 566b, 568a-568b, universal port cards 554a-554h, 556a-556h, 558a-558h, 560a-560h,
- EX LTSs extract out the embedded processor reference timing signal and send it to their local processor component. Only the cross-connection cards and port cards use the external reference timing signal to synchronize external network data transfers.
- the EX LTSs include exfra circuitry not necessary to the function of cards not including external data transfer functionality, for example, forwarding cards, switch fabric cards and internal controller cards. The benefit of reducing the necessary routing resources, however, out weighs any disadvantage related to the excess circuitry.
- having one EX LTS that provides both local signals actually saves resources on those cards, and separate processor cenfral timing subsystems are not necessary.
- embedding the processor timing reference signal within the highly accurate, redundant external timing reference signal provides a highly accurate and redundant processor timing reference signal. Furthermore having a common EX LTS on each card allows access to the external timing signal for future modifications and having a common EX LTS, as opposed to different LTSs for each reference timing signal, results in less design time, less debug time, less risk, design re-use and simulation re-use.
- the EX CTSs are described as being located on the external controllers 542b and 543b, similar to the switch fabric CTSs described above, the EX CTSs may be located on their own independent cards or on any other cards in the network device, for example, internal controllers 542a and 543 a. In fact, one EX CTS could be located on an internal controller while the other is located on an external controller. Many variations are possible.
- the switch fabric CTSs may switch over from master to slave without affecting or requiring any other functionality on the local printed circuit board
- the EX CTSs may also switch over from master to slave without affecting or requiring any other functionality on the local printed circuit board.
- EX CTS External Central Timing Subsystem
- EX CTS 750 includes a Tl/El framer/LIU 758 for receiving and terminating BITS signals 751 and for generating and sending BITS signals 752.
- Tl/El framer is shown in two separate boxes in Figs. 50A, 50B & 50C, it is for convenience only and may be the same circuit or component. In one embodiment, two 5431 Tl/El Framer Line Interface Units (LIU) available from PMC-Siena are used.
- the Tl/El framer supplies 8KHz BIT SJREFO and BITS_REF1 signals and receives 8KHz BITS1_TXREF and BITS2_TXREF signals.
- a network administrator notifies NMS 60 (Fig. 35 A) as to whether the BITS signals are Tl or El, and the NMS notifies software running on the network device.
- NMS 60 Fig. 35 A
- hardware control logic 760 within the EX CTS is configured for Tl or El and sends an T1E1 JV1ODE signal to the Tl/El framer indicating Tl or El mode.
- the Tl/El framer then forwards BIT SJREFO and BITS_REF1 to dual MUXs 762a and 762b.
- Port timing signals 753 are also sent to dual MUXs 762a and 762b.
- the network adminisfrator also notifies the NMS as to which timing reference signals should be used, the BITS lines or the port timing signals.
- the NMS again notifies software running on the network device and through signals 761, the local processor configures the hardware control logic.
- the hardware control logic uses select signals 764a and 764b to select the appropriate output signals from the dual MUXs.
- Activity detectors 766a and 766b provide status signals 767a and 767b to the hardware confrol logic indicating whether the PRI REF signal and the SEC_REF signal are active or inactive (i.e., stuck at 1 or 0).
- Timing module 768 includes an internal MUX for selecting between the PRI_REF and SEC_REF signals, and the timing module receives confrol and status signals 769 from the hardware control logic indicating whether PRI_REF or SECJREF should be used. If one of the activity detectors 766a or 766b indicates an inactive status to the hardware control logic, then the hardware confrol logic sends appropriate information over confrol and status signals 769 to cause the timing module to select the active one of PRIJREF or SECJREF.
- the timing module also includes an internal phase locked loop (PLL) circuit and an internal stratum 3 or 3E oscillator.
- PLL phase locked loop
- the timing module synchronizes its output signal 770 to the selected input signal (PRI_REF or SECJREF).
- the timing module may be an MSTM-S3 available from Conner- Winfield or an ATIMe-s or ATEMe-3E available from TF systems.
- the hardware confrol logic, activity detectors and dual MUXs may be implemented in an FPGA.
- the timing module also includes a Free-run mode and a Hold-Over mode. When there is no input signal to synchronize to, the timing module enter a free-run mode and uses the internal oscillator to generate a clock output signal. If the signal being synchronized to is lost, then the timing module enters a hold-over mode and maintains the frequency of the last known clock output signal for a period of time.
- the EX CTS 750 also receives an external timing reference signal from the other EX CTS on STRAT_S YNC 755 (one of STRAT_REF 1 -STRAT_REFN from the other EX CTS).
- STRAT_SYNC and output 770 from the timing module are sent to a MUX 772a.
- REF_SEL(1:0) selection signals are sent from the hardware confrol logic to MUX 772a to select STRAT_SYNC when the EX CTS is the slave and output 770 when the EX CTS is the master.
- the hardware control logic may also select a test input from a test header 771 a.
- An activity detector 774a monitors the status of output 770 from the timing module and provides a status signal to the hardware confrol logic.
- an activity detector 774b monitors the status of STRAT SYNC and provides a status signal to the hardware confrol logic.
- the hardware control logic When the EX CTS is master, if the hardware control logic receives an inactive status from activity detector 774a, then the hardware control logic automatically changes the REF SEL signals to select STRAT_SYNC forcing the EX CTS to switch over and become the slave.
- the hardware control logic may automatically change the REFJSEL signals to select output 770 from the timing module forcing the EX CTS to switch over and become master.
- a MUX 772b receives feedback signals from the EX CTS itself.
- BENCH FB is an external timing reference signal from the EX CTS that is routed back to the MUX on the local printed circuit board.
- STRAT_FB 754 is an external timing reference signal from the EX CTS (one of STRAT_REF1-STRAT_REFN) that is routed onto the mid- plane(s) and back onto the local printed circuit board such that is most closely resembles the external timing reference signals sent to the EX LTSs and the other EX CTS in order to minimize skew.
- the hardware control logic sends FB_SEL(1:0) signals to MUX 772b to select STRAT_FB in regular use or BENCH_FB or an input from a test header 771b in test mode.
- the outputs of both MUX 772a and 772b are provided to a phase detector 776.
- the phase detector compares the rising edge of the two input signals to determine the magnitude of any phase shift between the two.
- the phase detector then generates variable voltage pulses on outputs 777a and 777b representing the magnitude of the phase shift.
- the phase detector outputs are used by discrete logic circuit 778 to generate a voltage on signal 779 representing the magnitude of the phase shift.
- the voltage is used to speed up or slow down (i.e., change the phase of) a VCXO 780 to allow the output signal 781 to frack any phase change in the external timing reference signal received from the other EX CTS (i.e., STRATJSYNC) or to allow the output signal 781 to track any phase change in the output signal 770 from the timing module.
- the discrete logic components implement a filter that determines how quickly or slowly the VCXO's output tracks the change in phase detected on the reference signal.
- the phase detector circuit may be implemented in a programmable logic device
Abstract
Description
Claims
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AU6167701A AU6167701A (en) | 2000-05-20 | 2001-05-16 | A network device for supporting multiple upper layer network protocols over a single network connection |
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US09/616,477 US7054272B1 (en) | 2000-07-11 | 2000-07-14 | Upper layer network device including a physical layer test port |
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Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
EP1305686A2 (en) | 2003-05-02 |
US7225244B2 (en) | 2007-05-29 |
US20030126195A1 (en) | 2003-07-03 |
EP1305686A4 (en) | 2005-07-13 |
JP2003534748A (en) | 2003-11-18 |
WO2001090843A3 (en) | 2002-07-04 |
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