Extended virtual user-to-network interface with ATM network

• US 20040165592A1
• Filed: 02/21/2003
• Published: 08/26/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 02/21/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Knowledge Ventures, L.P. (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: SBC Properties, L.P. (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Chou, Peter, Liu, Kuo-Hui, Soon, Shih Chung, Chen, Wenge, Sinwald, Michael P.
• Granted Patent: US 7,382,785 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/395.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2856 Access arrangements, e.g. Internet access asynchronous transfer mode networks H04L12/5601; broadband local area networks H04L12/2801; optical access or distribution networks H04Q11/0067; access to open networks H04L12/5691; digital subscriber line end-user equipment and bit-level processing of data on a PSTN-based network H04M11/00; home network gateways H04L12/2834; wireless access networks H04W
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2883 ATM DSLAM
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/5601 Transfer mode dependent, e.g. ATM
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/5614 User Network Interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/563 Signalling, e.g. protocols, reference model
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/253 using establishment or release of connections between ports

Abstract

An SVC is established via an ATM switch port, which includes multiple virtual paths (VPs), by associating multiple virtual user-to-network interfaces (UNIs) to each of the VPs. Each of the VPs includes multiple virtual circuit (VC) ranges, each of which corresponds to a different virtual UNI. Each VC range includes at least one VC for control and at least one VC for data transfer. Associating the virtual UNIs to each of the VPs includes mapping each virtual UNI to a corresponding VC range within a VP based on a virtual path index (VPI)/virtual channel index (VCI) of the virtual UNI initially received by the ATM switch port.

Claims

1. A method of establishing at least one SVC via an ATM switch port, the ATM switch port comprising a plurality of VPs, the method comprising:

associating a plurality of virtual UNIs to each of the plurality of VPs.

2. The method of establishing at least one SVC according to claim 1, in which each VP of the plurality of VPs comprises a plurality of VC ranges, each VC range corresponding to a different virtual UNI of the plurality of virtual UNIs.

3. The method of establishing at least one SVC according to claim 2, in which each VC range comprises at least one VC for control and at least one VC for data transfer.

4. The method of establishing at least one SVC according to claim 2, in which associating the plurality of virtual UNIs to each of the plurality of VPs comprises mapping each virtual UNI to a corresponding VC range within a VP based on a VPI/VCI of the virtual UNI initially received by the ATM switch port.

5. A method for supporting a plurality of virtual UNIs within a single VP, which includes a plurality of VCs, the method comprising:

assigning a virtual UNI to the VP;

assigning at least one control VC of the plurality of VCs to the virtual UNI; and

assigning at least one data VC of the plurality of VCs to the virtual UNI, the at least one data VC being contiguous with the at least one control VC;

wherein a plurality of virtual UNIs are available for the VP.

6. The method for supporting a plurality of virtual UNIs according to claim 5, further comprising:

determining a quality of service associated with an application of the virtual UNI; and

assigning at least one of the at least one control VC and the at least one data VC based on the quality of service.

7. The method for supporting a plurality of virtual UNIs according to claim 6, further comprising:

determining a minimum number of contiguous data VCs needed to support the quality of service; and

assigning the determined number of data VCs to the virtual UNI.

8. The method for supporting a plurality of virtual UNIs according to claim 6, further comprising:

determining a minimum number of contiguous control VCs needed to support the required quality of service; and

assigning the determined number of control VCs to the virtual UNI.

9. The method for supporting a plurality of virtual UNIs according to claim 5, in which the at least one control VC is a signaling channel.

10. A method for establishing an SVC in an ATM network, comprising:

receiving a signaling message, via a virtual UNI, to set up the SVC;

assigning the virtual UNI to a range of VCs with within a single VP, based on a VPI/VCI of the signaling message, the VP including at least one additional range of VCs assigned to another virtual UNI; and

establishing the SVC using the range of VCs assigned to the virtual UNI.

11. A system for establishing at least one SVC in an ATM network, comprising:

an ATM network element having a plurality of ports, each port supporting a plurality of VPs, the ATM network element associating a plurality of virtual UNIs to each of the plurality of VPs.

12. The system for establishing at least one SVC according to claim 11, in which each VP of the plurality of VPs comprises a plurality of VC ranges, each VP range corresponding to a different virtual UNI of the plurality of virtual UNIs.

13. The system for establishing at least one SVC according to claim 12, in which each VC range comprises at least one VC for control and at least one VC for data transfer.

14. The system for establishing at least one SVC according to claim 12, in which the ATM network element associates the plurality of virtual UNIs to each of the plurality of VPs by mapping each virtual UNI to a corresponding VC range within a VP based on a VPI/VCI of the virtual UNI initially received at a corresponding one of the plurality of ports.

15. The system for establishing at least one SVC according to claim 11, in which the ATM network element comprises one of an ATM edge switch and a DSLAM.

16. A computer readable medium for storing a computer program that establishes at least one SVC via an ATM switch port, the ATM switch port comprising a plurality of VPs, the computer readable medium comprising:

an associating source code segment that associates a plurality of virtual UNIs to each of the plurality of VPs.

17. The computer readable medium according to claim 16, in which each VP of the plurality of VPs comprises a plurality of VC ranges, each VC range corresponding to a different virtual UNI of the plurality of virtual UNIs.

18. The computer readable medium according to claim 17, in which each VC range comprises at least one VC for control and at least one VC for data transfer.

19. The computer readable medium according to claim 17, further comprising:

a mapping source code segment that maps each virtual UNI to a corresponding VC range within a VP based on a VPI/VCI of the virtual UNI initially received by the ATM switch port, the associating source code segment associating the plurality of virtual UNIs to each of the plurality of VPs based on the mapping.

20. The computer readable medium according to claim 17, further comprising:

a determining source code segment that determines a size of each VC range based on an application of the corresponding virtual UNI.