System and method for provisioning connections as a distributed digital cross-connect over a packet network

• US 20040120318A1
• Filed: 12/18/2002
• Published: 06/24/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 12/18/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Famula, Dieter W., Clemm, L. Alexander
• Granted Patent: US 8,150,018 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/395.2
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/5601 Transfer mode dependent, e.g. ATM
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/66 Arrangements for connecting between networks having differing types of switching systems, e.g. gateways
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/5656 using the AAL2
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/5658 using the AAL5

Abstract

A method includes receiving a request to provision a path associated with at least a portion of a packet network and determining whether a router is associated with the path in the packet network. The method also includes provisioning a first connection between a first gateway and a second gateway when the router is not associated with the path. The method further includes provisioning a second connection between the first gateway and the router and a third connection between the router and the second gateway when the router is associated with the path. In addition, the method includes at least one of associating and disassociating a first endpoint of the first gateway and a second endpoint of the second gateway with one or more of the connections.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving a request to provision a path associated with at least a portion of a packet network;

determining whether a router is associated with the path in the packet network;

provisioning a first connection between a first gateway and a second gateway when the router is not associated with the path;

provisioning a second connection between the first gateway and the router and a third connection between the router and the second gateway when the router is associated with the path; and

at least one of associating and disassociating a first endpoint of the first gateway and a second endpoint of the second gateway with one or more of the connections.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the router is associated with the path comprises identifying one of a plurality of connection types associated with the path, at least one of the connection types involving the router and at least one other of the connection types not involving the router.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein identifying one of the connection types comprises identifying a service requested, the service associated with one or more of the connection types.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein:

the connection types include an Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) Adaptation Layer—

2 (AAL2) connection type and an ATM Adaptation Layer—

5 (AAL5) connection type;

the service comprises one of Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) 1G service, TDMA 2G service, Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) service, Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) service, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) service, and clear channel service; and

the TDMA 1G, TDMA 2G, and GSM services are associated with the AAL2 or AAL5 connection types, and the CDPD, UMTS, and clear channel services are associated with the AAL5 connection type.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein provisioning the first connection comprises:

provisioning a first connection segment between a first port of the first gateway and a second port of the second gateway; and

provisioning a second connection segment between the second port of the second gateway and a third port of the second gateway.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein provisioning the second and third connections comprises:

provisioning a first connection segment between a first port of the first gateway and a second port of the second gateway;

provisioning a second connection segment between the second port of the second gateway and the router; and

provisioning the second connection between the router and a third port of the second gateway.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein provisioning the first connection comprises:

determining whether the first connection has been previously established; and

establishing the first connection when the first connection has not been previously established.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein provisioning the first connection comprises initiating establishment of the first connection by at least one of the first and second gateways.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein associating the first and second endpoints with one or more of the connections comprises:

generating a channel identifier or a Realtime Transfer Protocol (RTP) port value associated with the one or more connections;

mapping the channel identifier or RTP port value to a first Digital Signal level 0 (DS0) connection at the first gateway; and

mapping the channel identifier or RTP port value to a second DS0 connection at the second gateway.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein associating the first endpoint with one or more of the connections comprises initiating association of the first endpoint with one or more of the connections by at least one of the first and second gateways.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the first gateway comprises an access gateway and the second gateway comprises a core gateway.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the router comprises one of a router card in the second gateway and an external router.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the first connection comprises a layer 2 permanent virtual circuit and the second and third connections comprise layer 2 permanent virtual circuits and layer 3 routes.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the request comprises receiving a request identifying the first gateway, the second gateway, a service, the first endpoint, and the second endpoint.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

providing a list of two or more available endpoints to a user; and

allowing the user to select at least one of the first endpoint and the second endpoint from the list.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

receiving an identification of the first endpoint from a user;

generating a list of one or more available endpoints, the one or more available endpoints comprising one or more endpoints supporting a service used by the first endpoint selected by the user;

providing the list to the user; and

allowing the user to select the second endpoint from the list.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein provisioning the one or more connections comprises at least one of establishing the one or more connections, modifying the one or more connections, and disabling the one or more connections.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein provisioning the one or more connections comprises disabling the one or more connections;

and

further comprising tearing down the one or more connections.

19. Logic embodied on at least one computer readable medium and operable when executed to:

receive a request to provision a path associated with at least a portion of a packet network;

determine whether a router is associated with the path in the packet network;

provision a first connection between a first gateway and a second gateway when the router is not associated with the path;

provision a second connection between the first gateway and the router and a third connection between the router and the second gateway when the router is associated with the path; and

at least one of associate and disassociate a first endpoint of the first gateway and a second endpoint of the second gateway with one or more of the connections.

20. The logic of claim 19, wherein the logic is operable to determine whether the router is associated with the path by identifying one of a plurality of connection types associated with the path, at least one of the connection types involving the router and at least one other of the connection types not involving the router.

21. The logic of claim 19, wherein the logic is operable to identify one of the connection types by identifying a service requested, the service associated with one or more of the connection types.

22. The logic of claim 19, wherein the logic is operable to provision the first connection by:

provisioning a first connection segment between a first port of the first gateway and a second port of the second gateway; and

provisioning a second connection segment between the second port of the second gateway and a third port of the second gateway.

23. The logic of claim 19, wherein the logic is operable to provision the second and third connections by:

provisioning a first connection segment between a first port of the first gateway and a second port of the second gateway;

provisioning a second connection segment between the second port of the second gateway and the router; and

provisioning the second connection between the router and a third port of the second gateway.

24. The logic of claim 19, wherein the logic is operable to provision the first connection by:

determining whether the first connection has been previously established; and

establishing the first connection when the first connection has not been previously established.

25. The logic of claim 19, wherein the logic is operable to associate the first and second endpoints with one or more of the connections by generating one of a channel identifier or a Realtime Transfer Protocol (RTP) port value, the first gateway operable to map the channel identifier or RTP port value to a first Digital Signal level 0 (DS0) connection at the first gateway, and the second gateway operable to map the channel identifier or RTP port value to a second DS0 connection at the second gateway.

26. The logic of claim 19, wherein the router comprises one of a router card in the second gateway and an external router.

27. The logic of claim 19, wherein the logic is operable to provision the one or more connections by at least one of establishing the one or more connections, modifying the one or more connections, and disabling the one or more connections.

29. A system, comprising:

a memory operable to store an object model, the object model identifying a plurality of gateways in a packet network, the object model also identifying one or more endpoints in each of the one or more gateways; and

one or more processors collectively operable to;

receive a request to provision a path associated with at least a portion of the packet network;

determine whether a router is associated with the path in the packet network;

provision a first connection between a first of the gateways and a second of the gateways when the router is not associated with the path;

provision a second connection between the first gateway and the router and a third connection between the router and the second gateway when the router is associated with the path; and

at least one of associate and disassociate a first endpoint of the first gateway and a second endpoint of the second gateway with one or more of the connections.

28. The logic of claim 29, wherein the logic is operable to provision the one or more connections by disabling the one or more connections and tearing down the one or more connections.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein the one or more processors are collectively operable to determine whether the router is associated with the path by identifying one of a plurality of connection types associated with the path, at least one of the connection types involving the router and at least one other of the connection types not involving the router.

31. The system of claim 29, wherein the one or more processors are collectively operable to identify one of the connection types by identifying a service requested, the service associated with one or more of the connection types.

32. The system of claim 29, wherein the one or more processors are collectively operable to provision the first connection by:

provisioning a first connection segment between a first port of the first gateway and a second port of the second gateway; and

provisioning a second connection segment between the second port of the second gateway and a third port of the second gateway.

33. The system of claim 29, wherein the one or more processors are collectively operable to provision the second and third connections by:

provisioning a first connection segment between a first port of the first gateway and a second port of the second gateway;

provisioning a second connection segment between the second port of the second gateway and the router; and

provisioning the second connection between the router and a third port of the second gateway.

34. The system of claim 29, wherein the one or more processors are collectively operable to provision the first connection by:

determining whether the first connection has been previously established; and

establishing the first connection when the first connection has not been previously established.

35. The system of claim 29, wherein the one or more processors are collectively operable to associate the first and second endpoints with one or more of the connections by generating a channel identifier, the first gateway operable to map the channel identifier to a first Digital Signal level 0 (DS0) connection at the first gateway, and the second gateway operable to map the channel identifier to a second DS0 connection at the second gateway.

36. The system of claim 29, wherein the one or more processors are collectively operable to associate the first and second endpoints with one or more of the connections by generating one of a channel identifier or a Realtime Transfer Protocol (RTP) port value, the first gateway operable to map the channel identifier or RTP port value to a first Digital Signal level 0 (DS0) connection at the first gateway, and the second gateway operable to map the channel identifier or RTP port value to a second DS0 connection at the second gateway.

37. The system of claim 29, wherein the router comprises one of a router card in the second gateway and an external router.

38. The system of claim 29, wherein the object model also identifies one or more of the connections.

39. The system of claim 29, wherein the one or more processors are collectively operable to provision the one or more connections by at least one of establishing the one or more connections, modifying the one or more connections, and disabling the one or more connections.

41. A method, comprising:

receiving a request to establish a path associated with at least a portion of a packet network;

determining whether the path should include a router in the packet network;

establishing a first connection between a first gateway and a second gateway when the router is not included in the path;

establishing a second connection between the first gateway and the router and a third connection between the router and the second gateway when the router is included in the path;

associating a first endpoint of the first gateway with one or more of the connections; and

associating a second endpoint of the second gateway with one or more of the connections.

42. A method, comprising:

detecting an addition of a first gateway to a packet network;

establishing a first connection between the first gateway and a router when the first gateway is of at least one gateway type; and

identifying a second gateway and establishing a second connection between the first gateway and the second gateway when the first gateway is of at least one other gateway type.

40. The system of claim 42, wherein the one or more processors are collectively operable to provision the one or more connections by disabling the one or more connections and tearing down the one or more connections.

43. The method of claim 42, further comprising:

receiving a request to establish a path through at least a portion of the packet network;

associating a first endpoint of the first gateway with one or more of the connections; and

associating a second endpoint of the second gateway with one or more of the connections.

44. The method of claim 42, wherein the gateway types include an access gateway type and a core gateway type.

45. The method of claim 42, further comprising receiving an identity of the second gateway from a user.

46. The method of claim 42, wherein the connections comprise at least one of layer 2 permanent virtual circuits and layer 3 routes.

47. The method of claim 42, wherein the router comprises one of a router coupled to the second gateway and a router in the second gateway;

and

further comprising configuring the router with a route to a network address of the first gateway.

48. Logic embodied on at least one computer readable medium and operable when executed to:

detect an addition of a first gateway to a packet network;

establish a first connection between the first gateway and a router when the first gateway is of at least one gateway type; and

identify a second gateway and establishing a second connection between the first gateway and the second gateway when the first gateway is of at least one other gateway type.

49. The logic of claim 48, wherein the logic is further operable to:

receive a request to establish a path through at least a portion of the packet network;

associate a first endpoint of the first gateway with one or more of the connections; and

associate a second endpoint of the second gateway with one or more of the connections.

50. The logic of claim 48, wherein the logic is further operable to identify a type associated with the first gateway by classifying the first gateway as an access gateway or a core gateway.

51. The logic of claim 48, wherein the logic is further operable to identify the second gateway by receiving an identity of the second gateway from a user.

52. The logic of claim 48, wherein:

the router comprises one of a router coupled to the second gateway and a router in the second gateway; and

the logic is further operable to configure the router with a route to a network address of the first gateway.

53. A system, comprising:

one or more processors collectively operable to;

detect an addition of a first gateway to a packet network;

establish a first connection between the first gateway and a router when the first gateway is of at least one gateway type; and

identify a second gateway and establishing a second connection between the first gateway and the second gateway when the first gateway is of at least one other gateway type; and

a memory operable to store an object model, the object model identifying the gateways and one or more endpoints in each of the gateways.

54. The system of claim 53, wherein the one or more processors are further collectively operable to:

receive a request to establish a path through at least a portion of the packet network;

associate a first endpoint of the first gateway with one or more of the connections; and

associate a second endpoint of the second gateway with one or more of the connections.

55. The system of claim 53, wherein the one or more processors are further collectively operable to identify a type associated with the first gateway by classifying the first gateway as an access gateway or a core gateway.

56. The system of claim 53, wherein the one or more processors are further collectively operable to identify the second gateway by receiving an identity of the second gateway from a user.

57. The system of claim 53, wherein:

the router comprises one of a router coupled to the second gateway and a router in the second gateway; and

the one or more processors are further collectively operable to configure the router with a route to a network address of the first gateway.

58. A system, comprising:

a memory operable to store an object model, the object model identifying a plurality of gateways in a packet network, the object model also identifying one or more endpoints in each of the one or more gateways; and

one or more processors collectively operable to;

detect an addition of a first gateway to a packet network;

establish a first connection between the first gateway and a router when the first gateway is of at least one gateway type;

identify a second gateway and establish a second connection between the first gateway and the second gateway when the first gateway is of at least one other gateway type;

receive a request to establish a path through at least a portion of the packet network;

determine whether the path should include the router;

establish a third connection between the router and the second gateway when the router is included in the path;

associate a first endpoint of the first gateway with one or more of the connections; and

associate a second endpoint of the second gateway with one or more of the connections.

59. A system, comprising:

means for receiving a request to provision a path associated with at least a portion of a packet network;

means for determining whether a router is associated with the path in the packet network;

means for provisioning a first connection between a first gateway and a second gateway when the router is not associated with the path;

means for provisioning a second connection between the first gateway and the router and a third connection between the router and the second gateway when the router is associated with the path; and

means for at least one of associating and disassociating a first endpoint of the first gateway and a second endpoint of the second gateway with one or more of the connections.