METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR INTERACTIVE ROUTING

• US 20080291925A1
• Filed: 11/07/2007
• Published: 11/27/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 05/25/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tellabs Operations Incorporated (Infinera Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Tellabs Operations Incorporated (Infinera Corp.)
• Inventors: Jenkins, David W., Anand, Ramasubramanian, Desai, Abhishek J., Fisher, Kenneth M.
• Granted Patent: US 8,717,933 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/400
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0806 for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0823 characterised by the purposes of a change of settings, e.g. optimising configuration for enhancing reliability for optimising operational conditions of wireless networks H04W24/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/00 Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks routing or path finding in wireless networks H04W40/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/10 Routing in connection-oriented networks, e.g. X.25 or ATM
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/42 Centralised routing

Abstract

A method to provision routes in a network having a plurality of nodes and a plurality of links connecting various nodes. The method includes determining a route between a designated source node and a designated destination node based on a preselected routing algorithm and one of (i) a designated node of interest and (ii) a designated link of interest, and outputting information indicating the determined route.

Claims

1. A method to provision routes in a network having a plurality of nodes and a plurality of links connecting various nodes, comprising:

determining a route from a designated source node to a designated destination node based on a preselected routing algorithm and one of (i) a designated node of interest and (ii) a designated link of interest; and

outputting information to indicate the determined route.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the determining is performed following designation of the source node, the destination node, and one of a node of interest and a link of interest on a graphical display, and the outputting includes outputting information to indicate the determined route on the graphical display.

3. A method according to claim 1, wherein the determining determines a route from the source node to the destination node that excludes the designated node of interest or link of interest.

4. A method according to claim 1, wherein the determining determines a route from the source node to the destination node that includes the designated node of interest or link of interest.

5. A method according to claim 4, wherein the determining comprises determining a first route from the source node to a node at one end of a designated link of interest, determining a second route from a node at the other end of the link of interest to the destination node, combining the first route and the second route, and eliminating unnecessary links.

6. A method according to claim 4, wherein determining the route from the source node to the destination node comprises finding a ring that includes the source node, the destination node, and the designated node of interest or link of interest.

7. A method to provision routes in a network having a plurality of nodes and a plurality of links connecting various nodes, comprising:

determining an initial route between a source node and a destination node using a preselected routing algorithm;

determining a revised route between the source node and the destination node based on one of (i) a designated link of interest and (ii) a designated node of interest; and

outputting information to indicate the revised route.

8. A method according to claim 7, wherein determining the revised route comprises determining a revised route between the source node and the destination node that excludes a designated node of interest.

9. A method according to claim 7, wherein determining the revised route comprises determining a revised route between the source node and the destination node that excludes a designated link of interest.

10. A method according to claim 7, wherein determining the revised route comprises determining a revised route between the source node and the destination node that includes a designated link of interest.

11. A method according to claim 10, wherein determining the revised route comprises determining a first route from the source node to a node at one end of the link of interest, determining a second route from a node at the other end of the link of interest to the destination node, and determining the revised route based on the first route and the second route.

12. A method according to claim 11, wherein determining the revised route comprises combining the first route and the second route and eliminating unnecessary links.

13. A method according to claim 11, wherein at least one of determining the first route and determining the second route is performed using the preselected routing algorithm.

14. A method according to claim 10, wherein determining the revised route comprises determining a first route from the source node to a node at one end of the link of interest, based on the initial route, determining a second route from a node at the other end of the link of interest to the destination node, and determining the revised route based on the first route and the second route.

15. A method according to claim 14, wherein determining the revised route comprises combining the first route and the second route and eliminating unnecessary links.

16. A method according to claim 15, wherein determining the initial route comprises determining a ring that includes the source node and the destination node, and determining the revised route comprises determining a ring that includes the source node, the destination node, and the designated link of interest.

17. A method according to claim 10, wherein determining the initial route comprises determining a first ring that includes the source node and the destination node, and wherein determining the revised route comprises determining a second ring that includes the link of interest and the destination node, combining the first ring and the second ring, and removing unnecessary links.

18. A method to provision routes in a network having a plurality of nodes and a plurality of links connecting various nodes, comprising:

designating a source node on a display of network nodes;

designating a destination node on the display of network nodes;

inputting a command to initiate determination of an initial route between the source node and the destination node using a preselected routing algorithm;

designating, on a display of network nodes that includes information indicating the initial route, one of (i) a node of interest and (ii) a link of interest; and

inputting a command to initiate determination of a revised route between the source node and the destination node based on the designated node of interest or link of interest.

19. A method according to claim 18, further comprising:

selecting a preselected routing algorithm to be used to determine the initial route.

20. A method according to claim 18, further comprising:

selecting whether the revised route is to include the designated node of interest or link of interest or exclude the designated node of interest or link of interest.

21. An apparatus to provision routes in a network, comprising:

a memory to store information regarding a plurality of network nodes and links connecting network nodes;

a display to display information regarding the plurality of network nodes and the links connecting the network nodes;

a user interface to input user designations; and

a processor to control the apparatus to (i) determine an initial route between a source node and a destination node using a preselected routing algorithm, (ii) determine a revised route between the source node and the destination node based on one of (a) a designated node of interest and (b) a designated link of interest, and (iii) output information to the display to indicate the revised route.

22. An apparatus according to claim 21, wherein determining the revised route comprises determining a first route from the source node to a node at one end of a designated link of interest, determining a second route from a node at the other end of the link of interest to the destination node, combining the first route and the second route, and eliminating unnecessary links.

23. An apparatus according to claim 21, wherein determining the revised route comprises determining a first route from the source node to a node at one end of a designated link of interest, based on the initial route, determining a second route from a node at the other end of the link of interest to the destination node, combining the first route and the second route, and eliminating unnecessary links.

24. An apparatus according to claim 21, wherein determining the initial route comprises determining a first ring that includes the source node and the destination node, and wherein determining the revised route comprises determining a second ring that includes the destination node and the designated node of interest or link of interest, combining the first ring and the second ring, and eliminating unnecessary links.

25. A computer-readable medium embodying a computer program, the program comprising code to control an apparatus to:

determine an initial route between a source node and a destination node in a network having a plurality of nodes and a plurality of links connecting various nodes, using a preselected routing algorithm;

determine a revised route between the source node and the destination node based on one of (i) a designated node of interest and (ii) a designated link of interest; and

output information to indicate the revised route.