Method of providing restoration routes in a mesh network
AssigneeNortel Networks Limited
InventorsWayne D. Grover, John Doucette, Thuthuy Bach
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of providing restoration routes for protecting traffic in a mesh network is described. The method comprises the steps of generating a set of eligible restoration routes for each span in the network, establishing a bi-criteria objective function in terms of route length and capacity cost for selecting a set of restoration routes, and selecting a set of restoration routes for each span from the eligible restoration routes in dependence upon the bi-criteria objective function. Embodiments of the invention may be useful for shortening the lengths, in terms of hops, of existing restoration routes in a mesh-restorable network and in some cases with negligible spare capacity penalty.
Claims13
A method of determining restoration routes in a mesh network, the network comprising a plurality of network nodes Interconnected by spans and each span having a predetermined amount of working capacity, the method comprising the steps of:
- a) generating a set of eligible restoration routes for each span in the network;
- b) establishing a bi-criteria objective function in terms of route length and capacity cost for selecting a set of restoration routes;
- and
- c) selecting a set of restoration routes for each span from the eligible restoration routes in dependence upon the bi-criteria objective function wherein the step (c) of selecting a set of restoration routes comprises:
- determining an initial value of an intermediary variable in the bi-criteria objective function for identifying combinations of capacity and length of restoration routes to be selected;
- selecting the restoration routes for each span according to the bi-criteria objective function;
- and
- adjusting the value of the intermediary variable and repeating the selection of restoration routes for each span according to the adjusted bi-criteria objective function until a final value of the intermediary variable is reached.
A method of determining network span capacity required for traffic protection in a mesh network comprising:
- a) establishing a model describing the network including the interconnection of network nodes and spans, the cost of bandwidth capacity on each span, and the capacity demand between network nodes;
- b) determining a working capacity placement on each span;
- c) establishing a bi-criteria objective function in terms of route length and span capacity cost;
- d) selecting a set of restoration routes for each span in dependence upon the bi-criteria objective function and the model;
- and
- e) determining an amount of spare capacity, additional to the working capacity, required for each span in accordance with the selected set of restoration routes.
A method of providing restoration routes in a mesh network, the network comprising a plurality of network nodes interconnected by spans and having a protection routing control function, the method comprising the steps of:
- a) establishing a model describing the network;
- b) determining a working capacity placement on each span;
- c) generating a set of eligible restoration routes for each span in the network;
- d) establishing a bi-criteria objective function in terms of route length and capacity cost for selecting a set of restoration routes from the eligible restoration routes for each span;
- e) selecting a set of restoration routes for each span in dependence upon the bi-criteria objective function;
- f) determining an amount of spare capacity required for each span in accordance with the set of restoration routes selected for the span;
- g) adapting the network to provide the spare capacity required for each span;
- and
- h) communicating the set of restoration routes selected for each span to the protection routing control function in the network.
A method of providing network span capacity required for traffic protection in a mesh network comprising;
- a) establishing a model describing the network including the interconnection of network nodes and spans, the cost of bandwidth capacity on each span, and the capacity demand between network nodes;
- b) determining a working capacity placement on each span;
- c) establishing a bi-criteria objective function in terms of route length and span capacity cost;
- d) selecting a set of restoration routes for each span in dependence upon the bi-criteria objective function and the model;
- and
- e) determining an amount of spare capacity, additional to the working capacity, required for each span in accordance with the selected set of restoration routes;
- and
- f) adapting the network to provide the spare capacity required for each span.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.