CONNECTIVITY FAULT MANAGEMENT (CFM) AUTO-PROVISIONING USING VIRTUAL PRIVATE LAN SERVICE (VPLS) AUTO-DISCOVERY

• US 20100238808A1
• Filed: 03/23/2009
• Published: 09/23/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/23/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Henderson, Samuel, Salam, Samer M., Sajassi, Ali
• Granted Patent: US 8,385,353 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/241.100
• 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 12/4675 Dynamic sharing of VLAN information amongst network nodes configuration of the network or of network elements H04L41/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0659 by isolating or reconfiguring faulty entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/40 using virtualisation of network functions or resources, e.g. SDN or NFV entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0811 by checking connectivity

Abstract

Connectivity Fault Management (CFM) auto-provisioning using Virtual Private LAN Service (VPLS) auto-discovery is described. In one embodiment, an apparatus comprises VPLS logic and configuration logic. The VPLS logic is operable at least to receive and send configuration information for a VPLS instance, where the configuration information comprises: a first value that uniquely identifies the VPLS instance; and a plurality of second values that respectively and uniquely identify a plurality of network elements that are operable to provide the VPLS instance. The configuration logic is operable at least to automatically configure, based on the first value and on the plurality of second values, a CFM association and a local maintenance endpoint (MEP) for the VPLS instance on the apparatus.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

one or more processors;

Virtual Private LAN Service (VPLS) logic encoded in one or more storage media for execution and when executed operable at least to receive and send configuration information for a VPLS instance;

configuration logic encoded in one or more storage media for execution and when executed operable at least to automatically configure, based on the configuration information for the VPLS instance, a Connectivity Fault Management (CFM) association and a local maintenance endpoint (MEP) for the VPLS instance on the apparatus.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein:

the configuration information comprises;

a first value that uniquely identifies the VPLS instance; and

a plurality of second values that respectively and uniquely identify a plurality of network elements that are operable to provide the VPLS instance;

the VPLS logic is further operable to execute a Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) auto-discovery process that receives and sends the configuration information for the VPLS instance; and

the configuration logic is further operable to;

based on the first value, determine a CFM identifier of the CFM association that is to be configured for the plurality of network elements;

based on the plurality of second values, determine a plurality of MEP identifiers that uniquely identify a plurality of MEPs, in the CFM association, that are to be respectively configured on the plurality of network elements;

based on a local value that uniquely identifies the apparatus in the VPLS instance, determine a local MEP identifier that uniquely identifies, in the CFM association, the local MEP that is to be configured at the apparatus; and

configure the CFM association and the local MEP based at least on the CFM identifier of the CFM association, the local MEP identifier, and the plurality of MEP identifiers that uniquely identify the plurality of MEPs in the CFM association.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein:

the first value and the plurality of second values are included in a BGP message that is received by the BGP auto-discovery process;

the first value is a VPLS identifier of the VPLS instance;

the plurality of second values is a plurality of Virtual Switching Interface (VSI) identifiers that respectively and uniquely identify the plurality of network elements.

4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the configuration logic is further operable to generate the plurality of MEP identifiers by providing the plurality of second values to a mapping function.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein:

the plurality of second values is an ordered sequence of values;

the mapping function is operable to use a predetermined number of bits from each particular value in the ordered sequence of values as a corresponding particular MEP identifier.

6. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the mapping function is a hashing function that is operable to generate the plurality of MEP identifiers from the plurality of second values.

7. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the mapping function is operable to:

arrange the plurality of second values in a particular order; and

assign the plurality of MEP identifiers as consecutive numbers that match the particular order.

8. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the mapping function is a function that is used by each of the plurality of network elements to derive the same plurality of MEP identifiers.

9. The apparatus of claim 2, further comprising logic that is operable to invoke the configuration logic in response to a BGP message that is received by the BGP auto-discovery process.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising CFM logic that is operable to provide a CFM service through the local MEP, wherein the CFM service is operable to provide one or more of connectivity monitoring, fault verification, and fault isolation for the pseudowires over which the VPLS instance is established.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the local MEP is a Down MEP that is configured to connect to one or more pseudowires of the VPLS instance, or an Up MEP that is configured to connect to one or more network interfaces of the apparatus.

12. A computer-implemented method comprising:

at a network element, of a plurality of network elements that are operable to provide a Virtual Private LAN Service (VPLS) instance, receiving and sending configuration information for the VPLS instance;

based on the configuration information for the VPLS instance, automatically configuring a Connectivity Fault Management (CFM) association and a local maintenance endpoint (MEP) for the VPLS instance on the network element.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein:

the configuration information comprises;

a first value that uniquely identifies the VPLS instance; and

a plurality of second values that respectively and uniquely identify the plurality of network elements;

the method further comprises executing, at the network element, a Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) auto-discovery process that performs receiving and sending the configuration information for the VPLS instance; and

automatically configuring the CFM association and the local MEP further comprises;

based on the first value, determining a CFM identifier of the CFM association that is to be configured for the plurality of network elements;

based on the plurality of second values, determining a plurality of MEP identifiers that uniquely identify a plurality of MEPs, in the CFM association, that are to be respectively configured on the plurality of network elements;

based on a local value that uniquely identifies the network element in the VPLS instance, determining a local MEP identifier that uniquely identifies, in the CFM association, the local MEP that is to be configured at the network element; and

configuring the CFM association and the local MEP based at least on the CFM identifier of the CFM association, the local MEP identifier, and the plurality of MEP identifiers that uniquely identify the plurality of MEPs in the CFM association.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein:

the first value and the plurality of second values are included in a BGP message that is received by the BGP auto-discovery process;

the first value is a VPLS identifier of the VPLS instance; and

the plurality of second values is a plurality of Virtual Switching Interface (VSI) identifiers that respectively and uniquely identify the plurality of network elements.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein determining the plurality of MEP identifiers comprises executing a mapping function based on the plurality of second values.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein:

the plurality of second values is an ordered sequence of values;

executing the mapping function includes using a predetermined number of bits from each particular value in the ordered sequence of values as a corresponding particular MEP identifier.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the mapping function is a hashing function that generates the plurality of MEP identifiers from the plurality of second values.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein executing the mapping function includes:

arranging the plurality of second values in a particular order; and

assigning the plurality of MEP identifiers as consecutive numbers that match the particular order.

19. The method of claim 13, wherein automatically configuring the CFM association and the local MEP is performed in response to receiving a BGP message by the BGP auto-discovery process.

20. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

receiving, at the network element, second configuration information for a second VPLS instance that is to be provided by the plurality of network elements; and

automatically configuring, at the network element, a second CFM association and a second local MEP for the second VPLS instance based on the second configuration information for the second VPLS instance.

21. The method of claim 12, further comprising executing a CFM service through the local MEP, wherein the CFM service provides one or more of connectivity monitoring, fault verification, and fault isolation for the pseudowires over which the VPLS instance is established.

22. The method of claim 12, wherein the local MEP at the network element is a Down MEP that is configured to connect to one or more pseudowires of the VPLS instance, or an Up MEP that is configured to connect to one or more network interfaces of the network element.

23. An apparatus comprising:

one or more processors;

Virtual Private LAN Service (VPLS) logic encoded in one or more storage media for execution and when executed operable at least to receive and send configuration information for a VPLS instance;

means for automatically configuring, based on the configuration information for the VPLS instance, a Connectivity Fault Management (CFM) association and a local maintenance endpoint (MEP) for the VPLS instance on the apparatus.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein:

the configuration information comprises;

a first value that uniquely identifies the VPLS instance; and

a plurality of second values that respectively and uniquely identify a plurality of network elements that are operable to provide the VPLS instance;

the VPLS logic is further operable to execute a Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) auto-discovery process that receives and sends the configuration information for the VPLS instance; and

the means for automatically configuring the CFM association and the local MEP comprise;

means for determining, based on the first value, a CFM identifier of the CFM association that is to be configured for the plurality of network elements;

means for determining, based on the plurality of second values, a plurality of MEP identifiers that uniquely identify a plurality of MEPs, in the CFM association, that are to be respectively configured on the plurality of network elements;

means for determining, based on a local value that uniquely identifies the apparatus in the VPLS instance, a local MEP identifier that uniquely identifies, in the CFM association, the local MEP that is to be configured at the apparatus; and

means for configuring the CFM association and the local MEP based at least on the CFM identifier of the CFM association, the local MEP identifier, and the plurality of MEP identifiers that uniquely identify the plurality of MEPs in the CFM association.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein:

the first value and the plurality of second values are included in a BGP message that is received by the BGP auto-discovery process;

the first value is a VPLS identifier of the VPLS instance;

the plurality of second values is a plurality of Virtual Switching Interface (VSI) identifiers that respectively and uniquely identify the plurality of network elements.

26. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the means for automatically configuring the CFM association and the local MEP further comprise means for generating the plurality of MEP identifiers by providing the plurality of second values to a mapping function.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the mapping function is a function that is used by each of the plurality of network elements to derive the same plurality of MEP identifiers.