PROTECTING HYBRID EQUIPMENT IN A NETWORK NODE

• US 20150023368A1
• Filed: 07/22/2013
• Published: 01/22/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/22/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ciena Corporation
• Original Assignee: Ciena Corporation
• Inventors: Connolly, Matthew W., Moynihan, Jeffrey Scott, Oltman, John
• Granted Patent: US 9,240,905 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/420
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/6402 Hybrid switching fabrics
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/66 Arrangements for connecting between networks having differing types of switching systems, e.g. gateways
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/245 Link aggregation, e.g. trunking

Abstract

The disclosure generally relates to mechanisms to protect hybrid networking equipment at a port level granularity and thereby provide capabilities to specify the protection of client services on a port-by-port basis. For example, in one embodiment, a Virtual Connection Point (VCP) may be established as a termination point for a transport-side network connection and configured as a Layer 1 bridge/select connection to switch among any one of a plurality of backplane Layer 1 termination points. The plurality of backplane Layer 1 termination points may be protected using a link aggregation group, wherein a Layer 2 switch may be established to direct packets between the link aggregation group and the VCP configured as the Layer 1 bridge/select connection.

Claims

1. A method for providing port level protection for a hybrid interface, comprising:

establishing a Virtual Connection Point (VCP) as a termination point for a transport-side network connection;

configuring the VCP as a Layer 1 bridge/select connection to switch among any one of a plurality of backplane Layer 1 termination points;

creating a link aggregation group to protect the plurality of backplane Layer 1 termination points; and

establishing a Layer 2 switch to direct packets between the link aggregation group and the VCP configured as the Layer 1 bridge/select connection.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

assigning logical Ethernet ports to Layer 1 termination points, wherein members in the link aggregation group include the assigned the logical Ethernet ports to protect the backplane Layer 1 termination points.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the link aggregation group comprises a first link aggregation group and the method further comprising:

creating a second link aggregation group to protect one or more client-side Ethernet ports, wherein the Layer 2 switch further directs packets between the first link aggregation group and second link aggregation group.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the backplane Layer 1 termination points comprise Optical Transport Network (OTN) termination points and the OTN termination points comprise Optical Data Unit (ODUk) termination points.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the backplane Layer 1 termination points comprise one or more of Synchronous Optical Networking (SONET) termination points or Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) termination points.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the VCP is established in a Layer 1 switch fabric.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the VCP is realized in a center stage of a three-stage Clos switch.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the VCP provides a termination point for one or more of a Subnetwork Connection (SNC) or a Label Switched Path (LSP) tunnel.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the link aggregation group is single-ended and lacks a far-end peer.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the link aggregation group runs in a link aggregation group (1+1) configuration.

11. A node for providing port level protection for a hybrid interface, comprising:

at least one control module;

at least one switching module having switch fabrics that can independently function at both Layer 1 and Layer 2;

at least one hybrid services line module functionally coupled to the at least one control module and the at least one switch module through a backplane; and

at least one processor configured to;

establish a Virtual Connection Point (VCP) in the at least one switching module as a termination point for a transport-side network connection;

configure the VCP as a Layer 1 bridge/select connection to switch among any one of a plurality of backplane Layer 1 termination points;

create a link aggregation group to protect the backplane Layer 1 termination points; and

establish a Layer 2 switch to direct packets between the link aggregation group and the VCP configured as the Layer 1 bridge/select connection.

12. The node of claim 11, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

assign logical Ethernet ports to Layer 1 termination points, wherein members in the link aggregation group include the assigned logical Ethernet ports to protect the backplane Layer 1 termination points.

13. The node of claim 11, wherein the link aggregation group comprises a first link aggregation group and the at least one processor is further configured to:

create a second link aggregation group to protect one or more client-side Ethernet ports, wherein the Layer 2 switch is further configured to direct packets between the first link aggregation group and second link aggregation group.

14. The node of claim 11, wherein the backplane Layer 1 termination points comprise Optical Transport Network (OTN) termination points and the OTN termination points comprise Optical Data Unit (ODUk) termination points.

15. The node of claim 11, wherein the backplane Layer 1 termination points comprise one or more of Synchronous Optical Networking (SONET) termination points or Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) termination points.

16. The node of claim 11, wherein the VCP is established in a Layer 1 switch fabric.

17. The node of claim 16, wherein the VCP is realized in a center stage of a three-stage Clos switch.

18. The node of claim 11, wherein the VCP provides a termination point for one or more of a Subnetwork Connection (SNC) or a Label Switched Path (LSP) tunnel.

19. The node of claim 11, wherein the link aggregation group is single-ended and lacks a far-end peer.

20. The node of claim 19, wherein the link aggregation group is configured to run in a LAG (1+1) configuration.