Network controlling apparatus and path controlling method therein

• US 20050169313A1
• Filed: 05/20/2004
• Published: 08/04/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 01/30/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Original Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Inventors: Yamada, Hitoshi, Okamura, Akiko
• Granted Patent: US 7,450,513 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/477
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 3/1694 Allocation of channels in TDM/TDMA networks, e.g. distributed multiplexers Passive Optical Networks H04Q11/0062
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0896 Bandwidth or capacity management, i.e. automatically increasing or decreasing capacities flow or congestion control using dynamic resource allocation, e.g. in-call renegotiation, H04L47/76
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5003 Managing SLA; Interaction between SLA and QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5054 Automatic deployment of services triggered by the service manager, e.g. service implementation by automatic configuration of network components
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/42 Centralised routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/15 in relation to multipoint traffic arrangements for broadcast or multicast in data networks H04L12/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/16 in connection oriented networks, e.g. frame relay
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/70 Admission control; Resource allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/724 at intermediate nodes, e.g. resource reservation protocol [RSVP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/765 triggered by the end-points
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/781 Centralised allocation of resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/822 Collecting or measuring resource availability data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/825 Involving tunnels, e.g. MPLS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/826 Involving periods of time

Abstract

A network controlling apparatus appropriately arranges a generated path every hour with a change in section and bandwidth requested in each time period to flexibly generate a path according to the state of occurrence of requests. The network apparatus comprises a storing unit storing information for management of the network, and a controlling unit controlling setting of the network device relating to a connection of network devices at two edge points in the network to obtain path setting satisfying the quality guarantee request, using a path already set or scheduled to be set, or a newly generated path, by referring to the information stored in the storing unit when receiving the quality guarantee request.

Claims

1. In a network configured by connecting a plurality of network devices to one another, a network controlling apparatus for controlling setting of a path for carrying out communication between two network devices in said network comprising:

a storing unit for storing information for managing said network; and

a controlling unit for controlling setting of said network devices relating to a connection at two edge points in said network to obtain path setting meeting a quality guarantee request of a reservation type for said connection, using a path already set or scheduled to be set, or a newly generated path, by referring to said information stored in said storing unit when receiving said quality guarantee request.

2. The network controlling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said storing unit comprises:

a path management storing unit for storing management information on said path already set or scheduled to be set;

a link information storing unit for storing information about connections among said network devices configuring said network as link information; and

said controlling unit comprises;

an existing path accommodation capability determining unit for determining whether or not the connection of said quality guarantee request can be accommodated in said path already set or scheduled to be set on the basis of contents of said quality guarantee request and contents stored in said path management storing unit and said link information storing unit.

3. The network controlling apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said storing unit further comprises:

a request contents storing unit for storing contents of an accepted quality guarantee request; and

said controlling unit further comprises;

an updating unit for updating the contents stored in said path management storing unit according to the contents of said quality guarantee request when said existing path accommodation capability determining unit determines that the connection of said quality guarantee request can be accommodated in said path already set or scheduled to be set; and

a request registering unit for entering the contents of said quality guarantee request as accepted contents in said request contents storing unit.

4. The network controlling apparatus according to claim 3, wherein, in said controlling unit, when said existing path accommodation capability determining unit determines that the connection of said quality guarantee request can be accommodated in said path already set or scheduled to be set, by changing attribute of a start time and an end time in setting of said path already set or scheduled to be set, said updating unit updates the attribute of the start time and the end time of setting of said path already set or scheduled to be set.

5. The network controlling apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said storing unit further comprises:

a network device management information storing unit for storing management information on each of said network devices configuring said network; and

said controlling unit further comprises;

a new route retrieving unit for newly retrieving a route for said connection on the basis of contents stored in said link information storing unit and said network device management information storing unit when said existing path accommodation capability determining unit determines that the connection of said quality guarantee request cannot be accommodated in said path already set or scheduled to be set.

6. The network controlling apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said existing path accommodation capability determining unit determines whether or not said route retrieved by said new route retrieving unit can be accommodated ins aid path already set or scheduled to be set, so that said existing path accommodation capability determining unit determines whether or not the connection of said quality guarantee request can be accommodated in said path already set or scheduled to be set along said retrieved route.

7. The network controlling apparatus according to claim 6, wherein when said existing path accommodation capability determining unit determines as a result of said determination on said retrieved route that the connection of said quality guarantee request cannot be accommodated in said path already set or scheduled to be set along said retrieved route, said request registering unit enters a request for newly generating a path along said retrieved route in said request contents storing unit.

8. The network controlling apparatus according to claim 6, when said existing path accommodation capability determining unit determines as a result of said determination on said retrieved route that the connection of said quality guarantee request can be accommodated in said path already set or scheduled to be set along said retrieved route, a path is not newly generated along said route retrieved by said new route retrieving unit, but contents stored in said path management storing unit are updated according to the contents of said quality guarantee request by said updating unit, and said request registering unit enters the contents of said quality guarantee request in said request contents storing unit.

9. The network controlling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said controlling unit comprises:

a device setting controlling unit for controlling setting of network devices relating to said connection while referring to contents stored in said storing.

10. The network controlling apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said controlling unit receives said quality guarantee request containing identification information on a quality guarantee requested section between two edge points in said network, information on a quality guarantee requested bandwidth, and start/end time information from a start time to an end time of said quality guarantee;

when said path management storing unit manages a path which is set in the same section as said section between the two edge points in said network requested said quality guarantee, is set in a time period containing a time zone from the start time to the end time in said quality guarantee request, and has a remaining bandwidth sufficient to satisfy said quality guarantee request, said existing path accommodation capability determining unit determines that the connection of said quality guarantee request can be accommodated in said path.

11. The network controlling apparatus according to claim 10, wherein when said path management storing unit manages a path which is set in the same section as said quality guarantee requested section between the two edge points in said network, is set in a time period partly containing the time zone from the start time to the end time in said quality guarantee request, and has a remaining bandwidth sufficient to satisfy said quality guarantee request, said existing path accommodation capability determining unit determines that the connection of said quality guarantee request can be accommodated in said path as well;

and

said updating unit updates attribute of a start time to an end time of setting of said path so that a time period from the start time to the end time of said path contains the time zone from the start to the end time in said quality guarantee request.

12. The network controlling apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said controlling unit receives said quality guarantee request containing identification information on a quality guarantee requested section between two edge points in said network, information on a quality guarantee requested bandwidth, and start/end time information from a start time to an end time of said quality guarantee;

the existing path accommodation capability determining unit determines that the connection of said quality guarantee request can be accommodated in a path when said path is set in the same section as said quality guarantee requested section between the two edge points in said network, is set in a time period containing all or a part of a time zone from the start time to the end time in said quality guarantee request, and has a remaining bandwidth sufficient to satisfy said quality guarantee request, and a bandwidth of said path does not exceeds a bandwidth assigned for quality guarantee to be used for said path in the time zone from the start time to the end time in said quality guarantee request if the connection of said quality guarantee request is accommodated in said path.

13. The network controlling apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising:

a request accepting unit for receiving said quality guarantee request, and passing said received quality guarantee request to said controlling unit;

wherein said request accepting unit collects a plurality of quality guarantee requests, and passes said quality guarantee requests to said controlling unit.

14. The network controlling apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said link information storing unit stores information on a remaining bandwidth assignable for quality guarantee in each time zone of each connection between said network devices as said link information;

and

said new route retrieving unit performs said route retrieval using a connection in which said remaining bandwidth assignable for quality guarantee always satisfies said quality guarantee request in a time zone from a start time to an end time of a quality guarantee requested in said quality guarantee request.

15. The network controlling apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said link information storing unit stores information on a remaining bandwidth assignable for quality guarantee in each time zone of each connection between said network devices as said link information;

and

said new route retrieving unit calculates a cost on the basis of the information on a remaining bandwidth assignable for quality guarantee in a time zone from a start time to an end time requested in said quality guarantee request, and retrieves an optimum route on the basis of a result of the calculation.

16. The network controlling apparatus according to claim 14, wherein when said new route retrieving unit retrieves a plurality of routes as candidates, said retrieving unit calculates a route evaluation value of each of said plurality of routes with a value of the number of paths using in each connection between network devices configuring the route, which varies within a time zone containing the start time to the end time in said quality guarantee request, and a bandwidth assignable to the connection between the network devices, said new route retrieving unit determining one optimum route as a result of the retrieval on the basis of said route evaluation values.

17. The network controlling apparatus according to claim 15, wherein when said new route retrieving unit retrieves a plurality of routes as candidates, said retrieving unit calculates a route evaluation value of each of said plurality of routes with a value of the number of paths using in each connection between network devices configuring the route, which varies within a time zone containing the start time to the end time in said quality guarantee request, and a bandwidth assignable to the connection between the network devices, said new route retrieving unit determining one optimum route as a result of the retrieval on the basis of said route evaluation values.

18. In a network controlling apparatus for controlling a network configured by connecting a plurality of network devices to one another, a path controlling method for controlling setting of a path for connecting two network devices in said network, comprising the steps of:

a storing step of storing information for managing said network;

a quality guarantee request receiving step of receiving a quality guarantee request of a reservation type for a connection between network devices at two edge points in said network; and

a controlling step of controlling setting of said network devices relating to said connection to set a path satisfying said quality guarantee request using a path already set or scheduled to be set, or a newly generated by, by referring to the stored information for managing said network.