COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK MANAGEMENT
First Claim
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1. A communications network comprising a plurality of network segments, each of the plurality of the network segments comprising:
- a) a segment management module;
b) a plurality of network elements; and
c) a plurality of communications links, wherein the plurality of network elements are interconnected by the plurality of communications links,the communications network being configured such that, in operation;
i) each of the segment management modules receives operational data from the plurality of network elements in its respective network segment;
ii) on the basis of operational data received from the plurality of network elements, each segment management module determines the future performance of the plurality of network elements in the respective network segment; and
iii) if a segment management module determines that the future performance of one or more of the plurality of network elements in the respective network segment will be less than a threshold value, re-routing one or more data flows.
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Abstract
The present invention provides a communications network which is divided into a plurality of segments, with each segment comprising one or more routers and one or more communications links that connect the routers. Quality of service (QoS) thresholds can be defined for each of the segments and if it is predicted that one of these thresholds is to be breached in one of the segments, for example due to a communications link or a router being overloaded, then a segment management module associated with that segment will re-route the traffic.
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Citations
8 Claims
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1. A communications network comprising a plurality of network segments, each of the plurality of the network segments comprising:
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a) a segment management module; b) a plurality of network elements; and c) a plurality of communications links, wherein the plurality of network elements are interconnected by the plurality of communications links, the communications network being configured such that, in operation; i) each of the segment management modules receives operational data from the plurality of network elements in its respective network segment; ii) on the basis of operational data received from the plurality of network elements, each segment management module determines the future performance of the plurality of network elements in the respective network segment; and iii) if a segment management module determines that the future performance of one or more of the plurality of network elements in the respective network segment will be less than a threshold value, re-routing one or more data flows. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method of operating a communications network, wherein the communications network comprises a plurality of network segments, each of the plurality of the network segments comprising:
- a segment management module;
a plurality of network elements; and
a plurality of communications links, wherein the plurality of network elements are interconnected by the plurality of communications links, the method comprising the steps of;i) each of the segment management modules receiving operational data from the plurality of network elements in its respective network segment; ii) each segment management module determining, on the basis of operational data received from the plurality of network elements, the future performance of the plurality of network elements in the respective network segment; and iii) if a segment management module determines that the future performance of one or more of the plurality of network elements in the respective network segment will be less than a threshold value, re-routing one or more data flows. - View Dependent Claims (8)
- a segment management module;
Specification