Relay System and Switching Device

• US 20150333954A1
• Filed: 05/07/2015
• Published: 11/19/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/14/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: APRESIA Systems, Ltd. (HC Networks Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Hitachi Metals (Thailand) Ltd.
• Inventors: YASUDA, Makoto, TSUBOTA, Shigeru
• Granted Patent: US 9,590,815 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/46 Interconnection of networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4625 Single bridge functionality, e.g. connection of two networks over a single bridge
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0668 by dynamic selection of recovery network elements, e.g. replacement by the most appropriate element after failure
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0817 by checking functioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/22 Alternate routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/24 Multipath
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/15 Interconnection of switching modules
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/25 Routing or path finding in a switch fabric
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/552 by ensuring the integrity of packets received through redundant connections

Abstract

A first redundancy device and a second redundancy device connected to the first redundancy device are provided. A third switching device has a first link with a first port group of the first switching device and has no link with the second switching device. A fourth switching device has a second link with a first port group of the second switching device and has no link with the first switching device. Here, a communication between the first redundancy device and the second redundancy device is performed through the first link when the first link has no fault, and the communication is performed through the second link when the first link has a fault and the second link has no fault.

Claims

1. A relay system comprising:

a first redundancy device made up of a first switching device and a second switching device; and

a second redundancy device made up of a third switching device and a fourth switching device and connected to the first redundancy device,

wherein the first switching device and the second switching device each have a first port group made up of one or a plurality of first ports, a second port and a bridge port, the first switching device and the second switching device being connected to each other by a communication line via the bridge ports,

the third switching device has a first link with the first port group of the first switching device and has no link with the second switching device,

the fourth switching device has a second link with the first port group of the second switching device and has no link with the first switching device, and

a communication between the first redundancy device and the second redundancy device is performed through the first link when the first link has no fault, and the communication is performed through the second link when the first link has a fault and the second link has no fault.

2. The relay system according to claim 1,

wherein each of the first switching device and the second switching device includes a port control unit which controls the first port group to a first state in which transmission and reception are both permitted or a second state in which transmission and reception are both prohibited in accordance with whether the first port group is set to active or standby, and

the first port group of the first switching device is set to the active and the first port group of the second switching device is set to the standby.

3. The relay system according to claim 2,

wherein each of the first switching device and the second switching device further includes an OAM transmitting unit which transmits a RDI frame serving as one of CCM control frames based on Ethernet OAM from each of the one or the plurality of first ports constituting the first port group controlled to the second state.

4. The relay system according to claim 3,

wherein each of the first switching device and the second switching device further includes a mode retaining unit which retains a first mode or a second mode, and

when the first mode is retained, the OAM transmitting unit transmits the RDI frame from each of the one or the plurality of first ports constituting the first port group controlled to the second state, and when the second mode is retained, the OAM transmitting unit transmits a CCM control frame in conformity to a standard of Ethernet OAM from each of the one or the plurality of first ports constituting the first port group controlled to the second state.

5. The relay system according to claim 2,

wherein each of the first switching device and the second switching device further includes:

a fault monitoring unit which monitors presence and absence of fault at the first port group; and

a fault frame transmitting unit which transmits a fault notification frame via the bridge port when a monitoring result by the fault monitoring unit is changed from absence of fault to presence of fault,

in a first case in which the first port group is set to the active and when the monitoring result by the fault monitoring unit is absence of fault, the port control unit controls the first port group to the first state, and in the first case and when the monitoring result by the fault monitoring unit is presence of fault, the port control unit controls the first port group to the second state, and

in a second case in which the first port group is set to the standby and when the fault notification frame is not received via the bridge port, the port control unit controls the first port group to the second state, and in the second case and when the fault notification frame is received via the bridge port and the monitoring result by the fault monitoring unit is absence of fault, the port control unit controls the first port group to the first state.

6. The relay system according to claim 3,

wherein each of the first switching device and the second switching device further includes:

a fault monitoring unit which monitors presence and absence of fault at the first port group; and

a fault frame transmitting unit which transmits a fault notification frame via the bridge port when a monitoring result by the fault monitoring unit is changed from absence of fault to presence of fault,

in a first case in which the first port group is set to the active and when the monitoring result by the fault monitoring unit is absence of fault, the port control unit controls the first port group to the first state, and in the first case and when the monitoring result by the fault monitoring unit is presence of fault, the port control unit controls the first port group to the second state, and

in a second case in which the first port group is set to the standby and when the fault notification frame is not received via the bridge port, the port control unit controls the first port group to the second state, and in the second case and when the fault notification frame is received via the bridge port and the monitoring result by the fault monitoring unit is absence of fault, the port control unit controls the first port group to the first state.

7. The relay system according to claim 4,

wherein each of the first switching device and the second switching device further includes:

a fault monitoring unit which monitors presence and absence of fault at the first port group; and

a fault frame transmitting unit which transmits a fault notification frame via the bridge port when a monitoring result by the fault monitoring unit is changed from absence of fault to presence of fault,

in a first case in which the first port group is set to the active and when the monitoring result by the fault monitoring unit is absence of fault, the port control unit controls the first port group to the first state, and in the first case and when the monitoring result by the fault monitoring unit is presence of fault, the port control unit controls the first port group to the second state, and

in a second case in which the first port group is set to the standby and when the fault notification frame is not received via the bridge port, the port control unit controls the first port group to the second state, and in the second case and when the fault notification frame is received via the bridge port and the monitoring result by the fault monitoring unit is absence of fault, the port control unit controls the first port group to the first state.

8. The relay system according to claim 2,

wherein each of the first switching device and the second switching device further includes:

a MCLAG table which retains the one or the plurality of first ports in association with a first identifier; and

a relay processing unit which, when the first port group is controlled to the first state, relays a frame containing the first identifier as a destination port to the first port group, and when the first port group is controlled to the second state, relays a frame containing the first identifier as a destination port to the bridge port.

9. The relay system according to claim 3,

wherein each of the first switching device and the second switching device further includes:

a MCLAG table which retains the one or the plurality of first ports in association with a first identifier; and

a relay processing unit which, when the first port group is controlled to the first state, relays a frame containing the first identifier as a destination port to the first port group, and when the first port group is controlled to the second state, relays a frame containing the first identifier as a destination port to the bridge port.

10. The relay system according to claim 4,

wherein each of the first switching device and the second switching device further includes:

a MCLAG table which retains the one or the plurality of first ports in association with a first identifier; and

a relay processing unit which, when the first port group is controlled to the first state, relays a frame containing the first identifier as a destination port to the first port group, and when the first port group is controlled to the second state, relays a frame containing the first identifier as a destination port to the bridge port.

11. A switching device having a first port group made up of a plurality of first ports, a second port and a bridge port and connected to a different switching device via the bridge port, the switching device comprising:

a port control unit which controls the first port group to a first state in which transmission and reception are both permitted or a second state in which transmission and reception are both prohibited in accordance with whether the first port group is set to active or standby;

a mode retaining unit which retains a first mode or a second mode; and

an OAM transmitting unit which transmits a RDI frame serving as one of CCM control frames based on Ethernet OAM from each of the one or the plurality of first ports constituting the first port group controlled to the second state when the first mode is retained, and transmits a CCM control frame in conformity to a standard of Ethernet OAM from each of the one or the plurality of first ports constituting the first port group controlled to the second state when the second mode is retained,

wherein the first port group of the switching device is set to the standby when a first port group of the different switching device is set to the active, and the first port group of the switching device is set to the active when the first port group of the different switching device is set to the standby.

12. The switching device according to claim 11, further comprising:

a fault monitoring unit which monitors presence and absence of fault at the first port group; and

a fault frame transmitting unit which transmits a fault notification frame via the bridge port when a monitoring result by the fault monitoring unit is changed from absence of fault to presence of fault,

wherein, in a first case in which the first port group is set to active and when the monitoring result by the fault monitoring unit is absence of fault, the port control unit controls the first port group to the first state, and in the first case and when the monitoring result by the fault monitoring unit is presence of fault, the port control unit controls the first port group to the second state, and

in a second case in which the first port group is set to standby and when the fault notification frame is not received via the bridge port, the port control unit controls the first port group to the second state, and in the second case and when the fault notification frame is received via the bridge port and the monitoring result by the fault monitoring unit is absence of fault, the port control unit controls the first port group to the first state.

13. The switching device according to claim 11, further comprising:

a MCLAG table which retains the one or the plurality of first ports in association with a first identifier; and

a relay processing unit which, when the first port group is controlled to the first state, relays a frame containing the first identifier as a destination port to the first port group, and when the first port group is controlled to the second state, relays a frame containing the first identifier as a destination port to the bridge port.