Control system and operations system interface for a network element in an access system
First Claim
1. Network management apparatus for interfacing a network element in an access system with at least two operations systems employed in an open system interconnection or OSI architecture, and a non-OSI architecture, respectively, the network management apparatus comprising:
- a first interface for interfacing said network element to said OSI operations system;
a second interface for interfacing said network element to said non-OSI operations system;
a control device coupled to the said first interface and said second interface for receiving OSI and non-OSI operations system commands from said first interface and said second interface, respectively; and
a memory device coupled to said control device for storing a database of managed OSI-based object instances organized into object classes, and at least one table of data comprising an access identifier, at least one of said object classes and an object instance identifier corresponding to a non-OSI command;
wherein said control device being programmable to process said OSI commands using said database and said non-OSI operations system commands using said table to create messages for requesting services on said object instances.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A control system for a network element (NE) such as a remote digital terminal (RDT) in an integrated digital loop carrier (DLC) system is provided which comprises subsystems for operating circuit packs and for providing functions that are common to the circuit packs. Each subsystem has a subagent residing on a network processor circuit pack. The subagents communicate via a common subagent interface. A NE which supports both OSI and non-OSI interfaces such as Transaction Language 1 (TL1) and Common Management Services Element (CMISE) interfaces is provided, along with a method for mapping TL1 commands to CMISE messages using TL1 proxy objects.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. Network management apparatus for interfacing a network element in an access system with at least two operations systems employed in an open system interconnection or OSI architecture, and a non-OSI architecture, respectively, the network management apparatus comprising:
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a first interface for interfacing said network element to said OSI operations system; a second interface for interfacing said network element to said non-OSI operations system; a control device coupled to the said first interface and said second interface for receiving OSI and non-OSI operations system commands from said first interface and said second interface, respectively; and a memory device coupled to said control device for storing a database of managed OSI-based object instances organized into object classes, and at least one table of data comprising an access identifier, at least one of said object classes and an object instance identifier corresponding to a non-OSI command; wherein said control device being programmable to process said OSI commands using said database and said non-OSI operations system commands using said table to create messages for requesting services on said object instances. - View Dependent Claims (2)
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3. A method of generically mapping a Transaction Language 1 or TL1 command into a Common Management Information Service or CMIS-type service, comprising the steps of:
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generating TL1 proxy objects corresponding to at least one of a plurality of CMIS-type services requested in said TL1 command; generating a service message for delivery to a memory device which stores object instances organized into classes; retrieving object classes stored in said memory device to which said service message is directed and saving said classes until corresponding ones of said plurality of services are complete; performing said generating TL1 proxy objects step, said generating a service message step and said retrieving step to complete each of said plurality of services and correspondingly modify respective ones of said saved classes from a first state in said memory device; generating a success message after said plurality of services are all complete; and generating a failure message if any one of said plurality of services fails to be completed, and restoring said object class to which said failed service was directed back to said first state. - View Dependent Claims (4)
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5. A control system for a network element apparatus in an access system, the network element comprising common equipment for supporting a plurality of different subscriber systems, the common equipment having a number of circuit packs for performing functions common to all of the subscriber systems, and the subscriber systems each also having at least one circuit pack for performing functions associated with that subscriber system, the control system comprising:
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at least one processor in each of said plurality of subscriber systems, said plurality of subscriber systems being connected to at least one of said common equipment circuit packs and operable in accordance with at least one of a plurality of application subsystems; at least one processor in said common equipment for controlling the operation of the circuit packs therein and for communicating with said at least one of subscriber system processors; and at least one memory device connected to and accessed by said common equipment processor, said memory device comprising; a collection of objects, subsets of said collection of objects corresponding to respective ones of said application subsystems; and at least one subagent stored therein and used by said common equipment processor for supporting each of said application subsystems; said common equipment processor being programmed to operate a common subagent interface along which each of said subagents can generate and transmit messages to other ones of said subagents and receive messages therefrom. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method of controlling a network element apparatus in an access system comprising a plurality of different subscriber systems, each subscriber system having at least one circuit pack and a software subsystem to manage the circuit pack, and common equipment for supporting the subscriber systems having a number of circuit packs and software subsystems for performing functions common to all of the subscriber systems, the method comprising the steps of:
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storing a collection of objects in a memory device connected to said common equipment, subsets of said collection of objects corresponding to respective ones of said software subsystems; generating and storing an object identifier uniquely mapping one of said collection of objects to one of said software subsystems; and transmitting a message which comprises said object identifier to one of said collection of objects from one of said subsystems. - View Dependent Claims (17)
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18. A control system for a network element apparatus in an access system comprising a plurality of different subscriber systems, each subscriber system having at least one circuit pack and a software subsystem to manage the circuit pack, and common equipment for supporting the subscriber systems and having a number of circuit packs and software subsystems for performing functions common to all of the subscriber systems, the control system comprising:
a communications network associated with said common equipment and connected to a plurality of said circuit packs associated with said common equipment and said plurality of subscriber systems to transport messages therebetween, said circuits packs and said software subsystems being characterized as applications, said messages comprising circuit pack identifiers corresponding to source and destination circuit packs, respectively, and application class identifiers specifying at least one of a plurality of tasks that can be performed by said source and destination circuit packs, and a message payload, said communications network being configured to transport messages between applications using application class identifiers while concealing physical board addresses from said source and destination circuit packs. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A method of controlling a network element apparatus in an access system comprising a plurality of different subscriber systems, each subscriber system having at least one circuit pack and a software subsystem to manage the circuit pack, and common equipment for supporting the subscriber systems and having a number of circuit packs and software subsystems for performing functions common to all of the subscriber systems, the method comprising the steps of:
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defining a plurality of applications corresponding to different ones of said circuit packs and said software subsystems, said applications each being characterized by a plurality of application tasks that are performed by respective ones of said circuit packs and said software subsystems; generating a message from one of said applications for delivery to another one of said applications, said message comprising a communications network header and an inter-process message header, said communications network header comprising a circuit pack identifier and an application class identifier, wherein said application class identifiers are assigned to corresponding tasks that can be performed by a circuit pack; and de-coupling said message to ascertain said circuit pack and said application task on said circuit pack to which said message is directed. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29)
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30. A method for mapping a command received from an external manager by a network element apparatus in an access system into a message having a format which can be processed by the network element apparatus, comprising the steps of:
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generating at least one table of data in a memory device within the network element apparatus relating the command and parameters associated with the command to a message identifier; converting said message identifier to a binary value within a predetermined range of values using a look-up table stored in said memory device, said look-up table relating said message identifier to one of said range of values, to a service provided on a communications network within said network element apparatus, and to at least one of a plurality of object classes which relate a plurality of objects stored in said memory device to each other; generating an object class identifier using an address identifier within said command in combination with said object class; converting said parameters in the command to message attributes; and generating a message from said object identifier, said message identifier and said attributes to invoke a service on at least one of said objects.
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Specification