Sonet ring subnetwork management method
AssigneeNEC Corporation Of America
InventorTsu-Kai Lu
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of managing a telecommunication subnetwork system composed of a number of network elements coupled together through an optical medium to form a Synchronous Optical NETwork (SONET) ring. Each of the network elements receives upon initiation or reconfiguration and then stores an identical ring table or knowledge database that is composed of data in a predetermined format and structure. The ring table defines the ring type and ring identification, number of nodes, ring status, node identification, sequence, and status, and provides ring provisioning tables and embedded SONET ring path identification/status information. The ring table is utilized in each of the network elements for provisioning and other management type functions common within a SONET ring environment.
Claims29
A method of managing a synchronous optical subnetwork (SONET) ring composed of a plurality of network elements coupled together through an optical fiber medium in which a plurality of channels are defined, each of said network elements comprising a first and a second high-speed interface module for interfacing said network elements to one another through said optical fiber medium, and a low-speed interface module selectively coupled to said first and second high-speed interface modules, said method comprising the steps of:
- generating a ring table comprising data representing ring characteristics for each of the network elements of the SONET ring, said ring characteristics including, for each of the network elements of the SONET ring, ring provisioning information for defining channel connectivities between the first and second high-speed interface modules and for defining channel connectivities between the low-speed interface module and each of the first and second high-speed modules of said SONET ring;
- downloading said ring table to each of the network elements;
- storing said ring table in each of said network elements;
- and
- managing each of said network elements of said SONET ring according to said ring table.
A telecommunication subnetwork system comprising:
- transmission means including an optical fiber medium for transferring OC-N data;
- and
- a synchronous optical subnetwork (SONET) ring network comprising a plurality of network elements coupled together through said transmission means to form a closed loop, wherein said plurality of network elements each comprises:
- a first and a second high-speed interface module for interfacing said network element to said transmission means, said first and second high-speed interface modules each comprising means for converting optical signals OC-N to electrical signals STS-N and electrical signals STS-N to optical signals OC-N;
- at least one low-speed module, coupled to said first and second high-speed modules and to a communication device located outside of the SONET ring network;
- means for storing a ring table, said ring table comprising data representing ring characteristics for each of the network elements of said SONET ring, said ring characteristics including, for each of the network elements of said SONET ring, ring provisioning information for defining channel connectivities between the first and second high-speed interface modules and for defining channel connectivities between the low-speed interface module and each of the first and second high-speed modules of said SONET ring;
- and
- a controller for controlling and managing at least a portion of the OC-N data to and from each of said network element within said SONET ring in accordance with said ring table.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.