COORDINATED TIMING NETWORK HAVING SERVERS OF DIFFERENT CAPABILITIES

• US 20090257456A1
• Filed: 04/10/2008
• Published: 10/15/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 04/10/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Hack, Michel H. T., Dahlen, Dennis J., Crabtree, Donald, Sevigny, Denise M., Carlson, Scott M., Dhondy, Noshir R., Wierbowski, Judith A.
• Granted Patent: US 8,416,811 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/503
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 3/0641 Change of the master or reference, e.g. take-over or failure of the master
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/24 Negotiation of communication capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/28 Timers or timing mechanisms used in protocols

Abstract

Communication and processing within a timing network that supports servers having different capabilities are facilitated. Individual servers of the network are dynamically updated without disrupting the operational characteristics of the timing network. New capabilities are not utilized between two servers until it is known that both servers are capable of supporting the new features. One server communicates to another server at an acceptable level of the another server.

Claims

1. An article of manufacture comprising:

at least one computer usable medium having computer readable program code logic to facilitate communication within a timing network of servers, said computer readable program code logic when executing performing the following;

determining a version number, which indicates a level of timing capability supported by a server having that version number associated therewith, that is common to one server and another server of a timing network, wherein the one server and the another server support one or more levels of timing capability, and wherein the one server operates, independent of communication, at one level of timing capability and the another server operates, independent of communication, at another level of timing capability, said one level of timing capability being different from the another level of timing capability; and

sending a communication from the one server to the another server, said communication adhering to a level of timing capability indicated by the version number that is common to the one server and the another server.

2. The article of manufacture of claim 1, wherein the level of timing capability indicated by the version number common to the one server and the another server is different than the level of timing capability at which at least one server of the one server and the another server operates.

3. The article of manufacture of claim 1, wherein the timing network comprises an additional server, said additional server operating, independent of communication, at an additional level of timing capability, said additional level of timing capability being different from said one level of timing capability and said another level of timing capability, and wherein the one server communicates to the another server at the level of timing capability indicated by the version number common to the one server and the another server, and the one server communicates to the additional server at a level of timing capability supported by both the one server and the additional server, said level of timing capability common to the one server and the another server being different than the level of timing capability common to the one server and the additional server.

4. The article of manufacture of claim 1, wherein each level of timing capability is indicated by a version number, and further comprising updating a version number of a server of the timing network, wherein the updating is independent of an updating of a version number of one or more other servers of the timing network.

5. The article of manufacture of claim 4, wherein the updating of the version number is absent disruption of timing synchronization of the timing network.

6. The article of manufacture of claim 1, wherein a server of the timing network has one or more version numbers associated therewith including a minimum supported version number, a maximum supported version number, and zero or more version numbers between the minimum supported version number and the maximum supported version number.

7. The article of manufacture of claim 6, wherein the minimum supported version number is different from the maximum supported version number.

8. The article of manufacture of claim 6, wherein the minimum supported version number is the same as the maximum supported version number.

9. The article of manufacture of claim 1, further comprising updating a version number of a server of the timing network, said updating comprising:

notifying, by the server, one or more other servers of the timing network that the version number is being updated;

determining that the update has taken effect; and

updating at the server the version number.

10. The article of manufacture of claim 9, wherein the updating further comprises:

storing, by the one or more other servers, the updated version number for use by the one or more other servers;

modifying, by the server and the one or more other servers, an active version number for the server and the one or more other servers, respectively;

determining, in response to the modifying for each pair of servers comprising the server and one other server of the one or more other servers, whether there is a common version number supported by the server and the one other server; and

removing communication paths between the server and the one other server, in response to the determining indicating there is no common version number.

11. The article of manufacture of claim 1, wherein the determining is performed at initialization of a communication path between the one server and the another server.

12. The article of manufacture of claim 1, wherein the determining comprises performing a version number compatibility check to determine the version number common to the one server and the another server.

13. The article of manufacture of claim 1, wherein the level of timing capability includes aspects related to Server Time Protocol timing, including at least one of recovery, configuration, timing management, formatting of time synchronization messages and time of day clock synchronization.

14. The article of manufacture of claim 1, wherein the version number comprises a Server Time Protocol version number.

15. A computer-implemented method of facilitating communication within a timing network of servers, said method comprising:

determining a version number, which indicates a level of timing capability supported by a server having that version number associated therewith, that is common to one server and another server of a timing network, wherein the one server and the another server support one or more levels of timing capability, and wherein the one server operates, independent of communication, at one level of timing capability and the another server operates, independent of communication, at another level of timing capability, said one level of timing capability being different from the another level of timing capability; and

sending a communication from the one server to the another server, said communication adhering to a level of timing capability indicated by the version number that is common to the one server and the another server.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein the timing network comprises an additional server, said additional server operating, independent of communication, at an additional level of timing capability, said additional level of timing capability being different from said one level of timing capability and said another level of timing capability, and wherein the one server communicates to the another server at the level of timing capability indicated by the version number common to the one server and the another server, and the one server communicates to the additional server at a level of timing capability supported by both the one server and the additional server, said level of timing capability common to the one server and the another server being different than the level of timing capability common to the one server and the additional server.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, further comprising updating a version number of a server of the timing network, said updating comprising:

notifying, by the server, one or more other servers of the timing network that the version number is being updated;

determining that the update has taken effect; and

updating at the server the version number.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein the updating further comprises:

storing, by the one or more other servers, the updated version number for use by the one or more other servers;

modifying, by the server and the one or more other servers, an active version number for the server and the one or more other servers, respectively;

determining, in response to the modifying for each pair of servers comprising the server and one other server of the one or more other servers, whether there is a common version number supported by the server and the one other server; and

removing communication paths between the server and the one other server, in response to the determining indicating there is no common version number.

19. A system of facilitating communication within a timing network of servers, said system comprising:

a server to determine a version number, which indicates a level of supported timing capability, that is common to the one server and another server of a timing network, wherein the one server and the another server support one or more levels of timing capability, and wherein the one server operates, independent of communication, at one level of timing capability and the another server operates, independent of communication, at another level of timing capability, said one level of timing capability being different from the another level of timing capability; and

the server to send a communication to the another server, said communication adhering to a level of timing capability indicated by the version number that is common to the one server and the another server.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the timing network comprises an additional server, said additional server operating, independent of communication, at an additional level of timing capability, said additional level of timing capability being different from said one level of timing capability and said another level of timing capability, and wherein the one server communicates to the another server at the level of timing capability indicated by the version number common to the one server and the another server, and the one server communicates to the additional server at a level of timing capability supported by both the one server and the additional server, said level of timing capability common to the one server and the another server being different than the level of timing capability common to the one server and the additional server.