US 7,069,343 B2Granted

Topology discovery by partitioning multiple discovery techniques

AssigneeAvaya TechnologyCorp.

InventorsChristopher M. Goringe, Muneyb Minhazuddin, James D. Schreuder, Alex M. Krumm-Heller

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Abstract

A system for discovering a topology of a distributed processing network that includes a first topology discovery agent 308 configured to contact a first set of routers to obtain a first type of information stored in each router in the first set of routers; a second topology discovery agent 312 and/or 316 configured to contact a second set of routers to obtain a second type of information stored in each router in the second set of routers, and a phase controller 304 configured to select between the first and second topology discovery agents. The first and second sets of routers are different, and the first and second types of information are different. In one configuration, the first type of information is defined by a network management protocol, and the second type of information is defined by a routing protocol.

Claims17

Dependent claims

A topology discovery method, comprising:

(a) contacting each router in a first set of routers, the first set of routers being part of a common autonomous system;
(b) for each contacted router in the first set of routers, accessing a first set of managed objects and/or variables defined by a network management protocol, the first set of managed objects and/or variables comprising a listing of interface addresses corresponding to the contacted router, how each interface address is connected to a next hop interface of another router, and an interior gateway routing protocol identifier identifying an interior gateway routing protocol present on each link between an interface of the contacted router and the corresponding next hop interface;
(c) for each contacted router in the first set of routers, processing the first set of managed objects and/or variables to identify each next hop interface and, for each next hop interface, how the corresponding interface of the contacted router is connected to the selected next hop interface and an interior gateway routing protocol identifier identifying an interior gateway routing protocol present on each link between the corresponding interface of the contacted router and the selected next hop interface;
(d) based on the first set of managed objects and/or variables, determining a second set of routers using a first interior gateway routing protocol, the second set of routers being in the autonomous system;
(e) contacting each router in the second set of routers;
(f) for each contacted router in the second set of routers, accessing a second set of objects and/or variables defined by the first interior gateway routing protocol, the second set of managed objects and/or variables comprising a listing of interface, link, and/or network addresses corresponding to the members of the second set of routers;
and
(g) processing the first and second sets of objects and/or variables to provide a network topology model.

5 more elements

A topology discovery system, comprising:

(a) a first topology discovery agent operable to:
(i) contact each router in a first set of routers, the first set of routers being part of an autonomous system;
(ii) for each contacted router in the first set of routers, access a first set of managed objects and/or variables defined by a network management protocol, the first set of managed objects and/or variables comprising a listing of interface addresses corresponding to the contacted router, how each interface address is connected to a next hop interface of another router, and an interior gateway routing protocol identifier identifying an interior gateway routing protocol present on each link between an interface of the contacted router and the corresponding next hop interface;
(iii) for each contacted router in the first set of routers, process the first set of managed objects and/or variables to identify each next hop interface and, for each next hop interface, how the corresponding interface of the contacted router is connected to the selected next hop interface and an interior gateway routing protocol identifier identifying an interior gateway routing protocol present on each link between the corresponding interface of the contacted router and the selected next hop interface;
(b) a second topology discovery agent operable to:
(i) determine a second set of routers using a first interior gateway routing protocol, the second set of routers being part of the autonomous system;
(ii) contact each router in a second set of routers;
(iii) for each contacted router in the second set of routers, accessing a second set of objects and/or variables defined by the first interior gateway routing protocol, the second set of managed objects and/or variables comprising a listing of interface, link, and/or network addresses corresponding to the members of the second set of routers;
and
(b) a phase controller operable to:
(i) based on the first set of managed objects and/or variables, select between the first and topology discovery agents to effect topology discovery;
and
(ii) process the first and second sets of objects and/or variables to provide a network topology model.

10 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 10/127,888Filed 22 Apr 2002 · us provisional application
Priority: 6 Sep 2001
Published: US 2003/0046427 A16 Mar 2003
Granted: 27 Jun 2006
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification8 codes

H04L 41/046
Network management architectures or arrangements: comprising network management agents or mobile agents therefor
H04L 41/12
Arrangements for maintenance, administration or management of data switching networks, e.g. of packet switching networks: discovery or management…
H04L 45/02
Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks: topology update or discovery
H04L 45/04
Topology update or discovery: interdomain routing, e.g. hierarchical routing