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US 7,983,174 B1Granted
Method and apparatus for diagnosing a fault in a network path
AssigneeCisco Technology, Inc.
InventorsJohn Monaghan, Thomas D. Nadeau, Sam K. Aldrin
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of diagnosing a fault in a network path comprises the steps, performed at a diagnosing node, of initiating a path discovery test. The diagnosing node receives at least one path discovery test response and identifies the diagnosable node on the network path from a path discovery test response. The diagnosing node remotely accesses said diagnosable node and performs a diagnostic routine at said diagnosable node.
Claims25
A method of diagnosing a fault in a Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) network path comprising the steps, performed at a diagnosing node, of:
- initiating a path discovery test to a destination node;
- receiving at least one path discovery test response;
- identifying a diagnosable node on the MPLS network path from the path discovery test response;
- remotely accessing said diagnosable node;
- and
- performing a diagnostic routine, using a layer two service of the Open System Interconnection (OSI) reference model, at said diagnosable node to at least determine whether an MPLS packet handled by said diagnosable node carried an incorrect header;
- wherein the layer two service does not have information about an exchange of layer three routing information with a service provider;
- in response to the diagnostic routine not diagnosing the fault at the diagnosable node, using the layer two service of the OSI reference model, the diagnosable node, from forwarding information at the diagnosable node, without sending a test packet, identifying a next-hop node along the MPLS network path to the destination node, and using the layer two service of the OSI reference model, remotely accessing the next-hop node along the MPLS network path to the destination node as a new diagnosable node and performing the diagnostic routine at said new diagnosable node;
- wherein the method is performed by one or more computing devices;
- wherein the method is performed in a-the layer two service of the OSI reference model.
7 more elements
A computer readable volatile or non-volatile storage medium storing one or more sequences of instructions for diagnosing a fault in a Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) network path which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the steps of:
- initiating a path discovery test to a destination node;
- receiving at least one path discovery test response;
- identifying a diagnosable node on the MPLS network path from the path discovery test response;
- remotely accessing said diagnosable node;
- and
- performing a diagnostic routine, using a layer two service of the Open System Interconnection (OSI) reference model, at said diagnosable node to at least determine whether an MPLS packet handled by said diagnosable node carried an incorrect header;
- wherein the layer two service does not have information about an exchange of layer three routing information with a service provider, in response to the diagnostic routine not diagnosing the fault at the diagnosable node, using the layer two service of the OSI reference model, the diagnosable node, from forwarding information at the diagnosable node, without sending a test packet, identifying a next-hop node along the MPLS network path to the destination node, and using the layer two service of the OSI reference model, remotely accessing the next-hop node along the MPLS network path to the destination node as a new diagnosable node and performing the diagnostic routine at said new diagnosable node;
- wherein the steps are performed in a-the layer two service of the OSI reference model.
5 more elements
An apparatus for diagnosing a fault in a Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) network path comprising:
- one or more processors;
- a network interface communicatively coupled to the one or more processors and configured to communicate one or more packet flows among the one or more processors in a network;
- and
- a computer readable volatile or non-volatile storage medium storing one or more sequences of instructions for diagnosing a fault in the MPLS network path which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform:
- initiating a path discovery test to a destination node;
- receiving at least one path discovery test response;
- identifying a diagnosable node on the MPLS network path from the path discovery test response;
- remotely accessing said diagnosable node;
- and
- performing a diagnostic routine, using a layer two service of the Open System Interconnection (OSI) reference model, at said diagnosable node to at least determine whether a-an MPLS packet handled by said diagnosable node carried an incorrect header;
- wherein the layer two service does not have information about an exchange of layer three routing information with a service provider,
- in response to the diagnostic routine not diagnosing the fault at the diagnosable node, using the layer two service of the OSI reference model, the diagnosable node, from forwarding information at the diagnosable node, without sending a test packet, identifying a next-hop node along the MPLS network path to the destination node, and using the layer two service of the OSI reference model, remotely accessing the next-hop node along the MPLS network path to the destination node as a new diagnosable node and performing the diagnostic routine at said new diagnosable node;
- wherein the diagnostic routine is performed in a-the layer two service of the Open OSI reference model.
10 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.