US 2003/0210698 A1 · Auto ATM-VC detection for ATM network access devices

Abstract

The system and method allow Customer Premises Equipment Network Access Devices using ATM as a datalink layer transport, to automatically determine what VC addresses are supported by the remote Network Access Concentrator end of the physical connection. A “divide and conquer” approach is used to ping as quickly as possible the most likely VPI/VCI values. The VC discovery mechanism attempts to discover active VP's and pings only VC's on these VP's. If there are no VP replies, it pings VC's to a limited VCI depth covering the entire VP range. The maximum predetermined range of VC's to ping (MAX-PING) and the physical upstream line speed determines the overall amount of time required by this procedure. Direct benefits of the proposed approach include: time and money saved by not having to customize the firmware in each NAD destined for particular Network Service Providers, and improved end-user experience by providing plug-and-play convenience out of the box.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A method of configuring a Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) Network Access Device (NAD) to recognize at least one Virtual Channel (VC) address to be used for traffic between the NAD and the remote Network Access Concentrator (NAC) over an ATM link, the method comprising:

sending a plurality of pings to said NAC from said NAD, said pings comprising a prompt for said NAC to reply to said pings;
receiving and recording at least one response to said pings at said NAD, said response comprising an indication of a VC used to send said response;
determining said VC address to be used for traffic using said indication in said at least one response.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Auto ATM-VC detection for ATM network access devices

Life of this patent

Auto ATM-VC detection for ATM network access devices

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20