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US 8,045,539 B2Granted
Virtual group connection scheme for ATM architecture in an access node
AssigneeAlcatel Lucent
InventorsMudhafar Hassan-Ali, Jeff Mendelson, Annie Rastello, Li-Sheng Chen, Radimir Shilshtut, Sina Soltani, Francisco Moreno
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A Virtual Group Connection (VGC) scheme for grouping ATM connections. A plurality of VPCs, VCCs, or both are managed together as a single virtual data pipe having a pool of common connection resources (e.g., bandwidth, buffering, etc.) associated therewith. Shaping, grooming, policing, switching, and other traffic engineering operations may be performed on a VGC as a single connection hierarchy operable to be associated with a single customer.
Claims31
A Virtual Group Connection (VGC) arrangement for grouping Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) connections in an access node, comprising:
- a plurality of Virtual Path Connections (VPCs), each having at least one Virtual Channel Connection (VCC);
- and
- a pool of connection resources commonly associated with said plurality of VPCs, wherein said VPCs are operable to be managed as a single virtual pipe that creates a Virtual Group Connection (VGC) wherein a plurality of VGCs are grouped onto a single pathway and are operable to be managed on the single pathway and wherein a plurality of users of at least one VGC are serviced by an access node that receives the at least one VGC on an ingress interface coupled to the single pathway and wherein a network manager is responsible for managing and provisioning the plurality of VGCs and each customer manages its own VGC and resource allocation for its own VGC wherein a central office terminal (COT) node provides VGC bundling functionality and wherein the COT node is coupled to a transport network via a transport card and to an access loop portion via a line card and wherein the transport card and the line card are both contained within the COT node and wherein a switch fabric board includes the ATM connections and a connection management (CM) server and wherein said pool of connection resources is associated with the switch fabric board and wherein a common control block of the COT node includes a connection management (CM) client and a provisioning database.
A Virtual Group Connection (VGC) method for grouping Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) connections, comprising the steps:
- specifying a number of ATM connections to be grouped together as a single virtual pipe;
- specifying a pool of connection resources;
- and
- associating said pool of connection resources with said single virtual pipe that creates a Virtual Group Connection (VGC) wherein a plurality of VGCs are grouped onto a single pathway and are operable to be managed on the single pathway and wherein a plurality of users of at least one VGC are serviced by an access node that receives the at least one VGC on an ingress interface coupled to the single pathway and wherein a network manager is responsible for managing and provisioning the plurality of VGCs and each customer manages its own VGC and resource allocation for its own VGC wherein a central office terminal (COT) node provides VGC bundling functionality and wherein the COT node is coupled to a transport network via a transport card and to an access loop portion via a line card and wherein the transport card and the line card are both contained within the COT node and wherein a switch fabric board includes the ATM connections and a connection management (CM) server and wherein said pool of connection resources is associated with the switch fabric board and wherein a common control block of the COT node includes a connection management (CM) client and a provisioning database and wherein the CM server on the switch fabric board acts as a server and serves connection related requests from multiple customers by interacting with local resources and wherein VGC provisioning messages are forwarded from the network manager to the CM client.
1 more element
A system for grouping Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) connections, comprising:
- means for specifying a number of ATM connections to be grouped together as a single virtual pipe;
- means for specifying a pool of connections resources;
- and
- means for associating said pool of connections resources with said single virtual pipe that creates a Virtual Group Connection (VGC) wherein a plurality of VGCs are grouped onto a single pathway and are operable to be managed on the single pathway and wherein a plurality of users of at least one VGC are serviced by an access node that receives the at least one VGC on an ingress interface coupled to the single pathway and wherein a network manager is responsible for managing and provisioning the plurality of VGCs and each customer manages its own VGC and resource allocation for its own VGC wherein a central office terminal (COT) node provides VGC bundling functionality and wherein the COT node is coupled to a transport network via a transport card and to an access loop portion via a line card and wherein the transport card and the line card are both contained within the COT node and wherein a switch fabric board includes the ATM connections and a connection management (CM) server and wherein said pool of connection resources is associated with the switch fabric board and wherein a common control block of the COT node includes a connection management (CM) client and a provisioning database and wherein the CM server on the switch fabric board acts as a server and serves connection related requests from multiple customers by interacting with local resources and wherein VGC provisioning messages are forwarded from the network manager to the CM client.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.