METHOD OF PERFORMING ETHERNET GATEWAY SWITCH TROUBLE DIAGNOSTICS

• US 20090138588A1
• Filed: 11/27/2007
• Published: 05/28/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/27/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Services Incorporated (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Services Incorporated (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Csupor, Anamaria, Morales, Carlos, Bajpay, Paritosh, Liu, Jackson, Qian, Zhiqiang, Zinnikas, Michael
• Granted Patent: US 8,107,381 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4625 Single bridge functionality, e.g. connection of two networks over a single bridge
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4641 Virtual LANs, VLANs, e.g. virtual private networks [VPN] LAN interconnection over a bridge based backbone H04L12/462; encapsulation techniques H04L12/4633; routing of packets H04L45/00; packet switches H04L49/00; virtual private networks for security H04L63/0272
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/069 using logs of notifications; Post-processing of notifications

Abstract

A service provider unit automatically diagnoses problems in an Ethernet network that are associated with layers 1, 2, and/or 3 and determines whether there is a problem associated with an Ethernet gateway switch EGS. Further diagnostics can be performed to determine the layer, type, and/or location of the problem(s) based on whether there is a problem with the EGS. The diagnostic process followed depends on the types of problem(s) in the network. Once the problems have been diagnosed, an operator can be notified of the location and/or type of problem.

Claims

1. An automated method of diagnosing a computer network problem comprising:

determining whether there is an alarm associated with an Ethernet gateway switch (EGS), the EGS being coupled between a provider edge (PE) router and a third party service provider network; and

identifying whether a problem associated with at least one of a port of the EGS and a port of the PE router has occurred based on the determination of whether there is an alarm associated with the EGS.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising identifying whether a problem associated with a virtual local area network (VLAN) of the EGS has occurred in response to the port of the provider edge router being identified as operating properly.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising identifying whether there is a customer facing alarm between the EGS and the third party service provider in response to the port of the EGS being identified as operating properly.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising determining an access technology associated with a customer in response to identifying that there is a customer facing alarm between the EGS and the third party service provider.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising performing a layer 1 test in response to the access technology being a Synchronous Optical Network (SONET).

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising checking a network facing facility between the EGS and the PE router for a problem.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising checking a customer facing facility between the EGS and the ESP in response to there being no problem detected associated with the network facing facility.

8. A computer-readable medium comprising instructions executable by a computing device that diagnoses problems in a computer network by:

determining whether there is an alarm associated with an Ethernet gateway switch (EGS), the EGS being coupled between a provider edge (PE) router and a third party service provider network; and

identifying whether a problem associated with at least one of a port of the EGS and a port of the PE router has occurred based on the determination of whether there is an alarm associated with the EGS.

9. The medium of claim 8, further comprising identifying whether a problem associated with a virtual local area network (VLAN) of the EGS has occurred in response to the port of the PE router being identified as operating properly.

10. The medium of claim 8, further comprising identifying whether there is a customer facing alarm between the EGS and the third party service provider in response to the port of the EGS being identified as operating properly.

11. The medium of claim 10, further comprising determining an access technology associated with a customer in response to identifying that there is a customer facing alarm between the EGS and the third party service provider.

12. The medium of claim 11, further comprising performing a layer 1 test in response to the access technology being SONET.

13. The medium of claim 12, further comprising checking a network facing facility between the EGS and the PE router for a problem.

14. The medium of claim 13, further comprising checking a customer facing facility between the EGS and the ESP in response to there being no problem detected associated with the network facing facility.

15. A system configured to diagnose network problems comprising:

a Ethernet gateway switch (EGS) coupled between a service provider edge (PE) router and a third party service provider of a network; and

a service provider unit operatively coupled to the network, the service provider unit configured to determine whether there is an alarm associated with the EGS and the service provider unit configured to identify whether a problem associated with at least one of a port of the EGS and a port of the provider edge router has occurred based on the determination of whether there is an alarm associated with the EGS.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the service provider unit determines whether a problem associated with a virtual local area network (VLAN) of the EGS has occurred in response to the port of the provider edge router being identified as operating properly.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the service provider unit determines whether there is a customer facing alarm between the EGS and the third party service provider in response to the port of the EGS being identified as operating properly.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the service provider unit determines an access technology associated with a customer in response to identifying that there is a customer facing alarm between the EGS and the ESP.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the service provider unit performs a layer 1 test in response to the access technology being SONET.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the service provider unit checks a network facing facility between the EGS and the PE router for a problem.