Determining and provisioning paths in a network

• US 20060067236A1
• Filed: 04/07/2005
• Published: 03/30/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CommWorks Solutions, LLC (IP Investments Group LLC)
• Original Assignee: Telcordia Licensing Co LLC (Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson)
• Inventors: Gupta, Sanyogita
• Granted Patent: US 7,760,664 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/238
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0806 for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/563 Software download or update

Abstract

A network provisioning system for establishing a path between two networks is disclosed wherein a common network device between those networks is modeled as a link between a first network element in one network and a second network element in a second network. A network routing graph is created by an inventory subsystem in a routing manager by inventorying the physical network elements and links in the network. The inventory subsystem then models those elements/links as a plurality of nodes and links between the nodes. At least one common network device, such as a digital cross connect connecting the two networks, is modeled as a link instead of a node. A routing engine then uses the network routing graph, including the link modeled from the common network device, to provision a path between the networks.

Claims

1. A network provisioning system for establishing a path between at least a first network element and at least a second network element, said at least a first network element and said at least a second network element being interconnected through a common network device, said system comprising:

an inventory subsystem for modeling each of said at least a first network element and said at least a second network element as one or more routing nodes in a graph, said graph comprising a plurality of routing nodes and a plurality of links interconnecting said plurality of routing nodes; and

a routing engine adapted to use said graph for determining a path between said at least a first network element and said at least a second network element,

wherein the inventory subsystem models said common network device as a link between said at least a first network element and said at least a second network element.

2. The network provisioning system of claim 1 wherein said common network device comprises a digital cross connect system.

3. The network provisioning system of claim 1 wherein said at least a first network element is in a first network and said at least a second network element is in a second network.

4. A routing manager for provisioning paths for network traffic between a plurality of network elements in one or more networks wherein at least a first common network device is disposed between a first network element in said plurality of network elements and a second network element in said plurality of network elements, said routing manager comprising:

means for creating a graph of routing nodes and links, said routing nodes representing one or more network elements in said plurality of network elements and said links representing interconnections between said routing nodes; and

means for modeling said at least a first common network device as a link between those routing nodes representing said first network element and said second network element.

5. The routing manager of claim 4 wherein said at least a first common network device comprises a digital cross connect system.

6. The routing manager of claim 4 wherein said first network element is an element in a first network and said second network element is an element in a second network.

7. A method for routing network traffic between a first network and a second network, each of said first and second networks comprising a plurality of network elements, said plurality of network elements connected by a digital cross connect, said method comprising the steps of:

determining the interconnections created by said digital cross connect system between at least two network elements in said plurality of network elements; and

representing each of said interconnections as a link between said at least two network elements.

8. The method of claim 7 further comprising storing the status of each of said interconnections in a cross connection status database.

9. The method of claim 7 further comprising provisioning a path between said at least two network elements.

10. A method for determining a path between a first network element in a first network and a second network element in a second network, said first network connected to said second network via a common network device, each of said networks comprising a plurality of network elements and a plurality of network links, said method comprising the steps of:

modeling said plurality of network elements in said first and second networks as one or more routing nodes;

modeling said network links as routing links, said routing links interconnecting said routing nodes; and

modeling said common network device as a routing link connecting a first routing node in said first network to a second routing node in said second network.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising:

storing said routing links in a routing link table.

12. The method of claim 10 further comprising the step of:

determining a network path between said first routing node and said second routing node using said routing link.

13. The method of claim 12 further comprising the step of:

provisioning said network path to interconnect a first network element in said first routing node with a second network element in said second network element.

14. The method of claim 10 further comprising:

maintaining the status of said routing links, said status indicating whether a cross-connection using at least one of said routing links was successfully or unsuccessfully provisioned.