Systems and methods for private network-to-network interface out-of-band signaling and path blocking
AssigneeCiena Corporation
InventorsVagish Madrahalli, Nilesh Patil, Hongxing Meng
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention provides systems and methods to mix In-Band (IB) and Out-of-Band (OOB) signaling mechanisms under the Private Network-to-Network (PNNI) protocol for optical control plane connectivity. The present invention provides mechanisms for establishing and controlling OOB control plane communications. By default, the mechanisms treat all links as IB to discover nodes and links using IB mechanisms. For any blocked links, the link can be configured as OOB if there is a data communication network (DCN) connection to the remote node.
Claims20
A method for PNNI out-of-band signaling and blocking, comprising:
- discovering nodes and links through in-band mechanisms, wherein each of the nodes is configured to first perform the discovering step through the in-band mechanisms;
- for all blocked nodes and links in the discovering step, configuring the blocked nodes and links through out-of-band mechanisms;
- and
- routing and signaling using PNNI through a combination of discovered in-band links and configured out-of-band links transparent to a communication mechanism of the discovered in-band links and the configured out-of-band links;
- wherein the discovered in-band links and configured out-of-band links comprise a unified control plane, and wherein a node linked to a prior node via an in-band link in the control plane and terminating the in-band link is linked to a subsequent node via an out-of-band link in the control plane.
A node configured for PNNI out-of-band signaling and blocking, comprising:
- one or more ingress port;
- one or more egress port;
- a switch connected to each of the one or more ingress port and the one or more egress port, wherein the switch is configured to provide connectivity between each of the one or more ingress port and the one or more egress port;
- and
- a controller operable to control the switch, wherein the controller utilizes a PNNI control plane with in-band connections and out-of-band connections to connected nodes for routing and signaling with the connected nodes, and wherein the controller is configured to:
- discover connected nodes and links through in-band mechanisms, wherein each of the connected nodes is configured to first perform the discovering through the in-band mechanisms;
- and
- for all blocked connected nodes and links, configure the blocked nodes and links through out-of-band mechanisms;
- wherein discovered in-band links and configured out-of-band links comprise a unified control plane, and wherein a node linked to a prior node via an in-band link in the control plane and terminating the in-band link is linked to a subsequent node via an out-of-band link in the control plane.
A network with PNNI out-of-band signaling and blocking, comprising:
- one or more nodes, wherein the one or more nodes are interconnected, and wherein two or more of the one or more nodes are connected by a plurality of in-band links;
- a data communication network connected between at least two of the one or more nodes, wherein the at least two of the one or more nodes are connected by a plurality of out-of-band links;
- a PNNI control plane utilized between the one or more nodes, wherein the control plane performs routing and signaling over the plurality of in-band links and the plurality of out-of-band links;
- and
- a mechanism to discover and manage out-of-band links responsive to path blocking, wherein each of the one or more nodes is configured to first attempt the discovering through in-band mechanisms and to second attempt the discovering through out-of-band mechanisms responsive to the path blocking;
- wherein discovered in-band links and out-of-band links comprise a unified control plane, and wherein a node linked to a prior node via an in-band link in the control plane and terminating the in-band link is linked to a subsequent node via an out-of-band link in the control plane.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.