Method of establishing logical connections in a synchronous digital communications network, as well as network elements and management system

A network element for a Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) communications network having a central management system, said network element being designed for the transmission of data packets, each structured in accordance with the Internet Protocol (IP) and containing a destination address, said network element comprising:

• a first interface adapted to receive said data packets structured in accordance with the Internet Protocol;
• an IP address monitor for monitoring the destination addresses of the data packets to be transmitted;
• means for packetizing the data packets to be transmitted into virtual containers of the SDH transmission system, said virtual containers being representative of existing virtual connection;
• and
• a second interface to said central management system for notifying the management system of results of the monitoring of the destination addresses and for receiving instructions relating to virtual connections to be switched by the network element.

A method of establishing a virtual connection in a digital Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) comprising a plurality of at least partly interconnected network elements designed for the transmission of data packets, each structured in accordance with the Internet Protocol (IP) and containing a destination address, said virtual connection being established by use of virtual tributaries of the SONET transmission system, said method comprising the steps of:

• in at least one of said network elements, monitoring the destination addresses of the data packets to be transmitted;
• determining respective current traffic volumes among pairs of individual network elements with the aid of the destination addresses;
• determining an optimized configuration of virtual connections to be established, based on the traffic volume and existing virtual connections, said optimized configuration comprising at least one of:
• new virtual connections which are not yet established, virtual connections of different capacity as compared to existing ones, and any existing virtual connections which are no longer required;
• and
• updating the virtual connections in the SONET communications network with the optimized configuration by switching virtual tributaries of the SONET transmission system through the network, said virtual tributaries being representative of the virtual connections to be established.

A network element for a digital Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) communications network having a central management system (TMN), said network element being designed for the transmission of data packets, each structured in accordance with the Internet Protocol (IP) and containing a destination address, said network element comprising:

• a first interface adapted to receive said data packets structured in accordance with the Internet Protocol;
• an IP address monitor for monitoring the destination addresses of the data packets to be transmitted;
• means for packetizing the data packets to be transmitted into virtual tributaries of the SONET system, said virtual tributaries being representative of existing virtual connections;
• and
• a second interface to said central management system (TMN) for notifying the management system of results of the monitoring of the destination addresses and for receiving instructions relating to virtual connections to be switched by the network element.