Automated path verification for shin-based restoration

• US 5,841,759 A
• Filed: 01/13/1997
• Issued: 11/24/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 06/07/1995
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: MCI Communications Corporation (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Russ, Will, Sees, Mark Wayne
• Primary Examiner(s): Jung, Min
• Application Number:
  US08/781,495
• Time in Patent Office: 680 Days
• Field of Search: 370/216, 370/225, 370/248, 370/242, 370/245, 370/221, 395/182.02, 379/221
• US Class Current: 370/221
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 2203/0057 Operations, administration and maintenance [OAM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 2203/006 Fault tolerance and recovery
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 3/14 Monitoring arrangements for SDH/SONET rings H04J3/085
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 11/0478 Provisions for broadband connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/0079 involving restoration of networks, e.g. disaster recovery, self-healing networks

Abstract

To verify that a communications path restored in response to a failure to a telecommunications network is a validly restored path, each of the end nodes terminating the restored communications path sends out a message containing data that identifies that node and the ID of the access/egress port to which the STS-1 circuit forming the communications path is connected. Once the respective path verification messages are exchanged between the two end nodes of the communications path, the Operations Support System (OSS) that oversees the topology of the network retrieves those messages and compares the data contained therein with the data of the same type of messages from the same ends nodes that were stored just prior to the occurrence of the disruption to the communications path. The restored communications path is deemed to be verified if there are no differences between the path verification messages retrieved after the failure event and the path verification messages stored just prior to the failure event.

Claims

1. In a telecommunications network, a system operative for verifying the integrity of a communications path connecting two end nodes, comprising:

interface means for communicating with each of said end nodes;

processor means connected to said interface means for retrieving periodically from said each end nodes a path verification message said each end node sent to the other of said end nodes;

store means for storing the path verification messages retrieved from said end nodes;

wherein after a fault has occurred to the communications path connecting said end nodes and an alternate communications path has allegedly been established to reconnect said end nodes, said processor means

retrieving from said each end node the path verification message sent to the other of said end nodes;

comparing the path verification messages retrieved from said end nodes subsequent to the establishment of said alternate communications path with the path verification messages retrieved from said end nodes stored just prior to said fault; and

verifying the integrity of said alternate communications path if no differences exist between the path verification messages of said end nodes stored prior to said fault and the path verification messages retrieved from said end nodes after the establishment of said alternate communications path.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said interface means further communicates with all nodes within a dynamic transmission network restoration (DTNR) domain of said telecommunications network, further comprising:

a database store means for storing all path verification messages from the end nodes of each communications path established within said DTNR domain.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

terminal means for informing the management of said telecommunications network the status of any two end nodes to which a communications path in said telecommunications network is connected as the status record of said two end nodes is periodically updated.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein each of said path verifying messages includes a unique identifier representative of the end node that sent said each message.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein said each identifier includes the ID of the one access/egress port and the ID of whichever one of the end nodes that sent the path verifying message to which said each identifier resides.

6. In a telecommunications network, a method of verifying the integrity of a communications path connecting two end nodes, comprising the steps of:

a) interfacing communication with each of said end nodes;

b) retrieving periodically from said each end nodes a path verification message said each end node sent to the other of said end nodes;

c) storing the path verification messages retrieved from said end nodes;

wherein after a fault has occurred to the communications path connecting said end nodes and an alternate communications path has allegedly been established to reconnect said end nodes,

d) retrieving from said each end node the path verification message sent to the other of said end nodes;

e) comparing the path verification messages retrieved from said end nodes subsequent to the establishment of said alternate communications path with the path verification messages retrieved from said end nodes stored just prior to said fault; and

f) verifying the integrity of said alternate communications path if no differences exist between the path verification messages of said end nodes stored prior to said fault and the path verification messages retrieved from said end nodes after the establishment of said alternate communications path.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein said step a further comprises the step of:

communicating with all nodes within a dynamic transmission network restoration (DTNR) domain of said telecommunications network.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising the step of:

storing all path verification messages from the end nodes of each communications path established within said DTNR domain in a database store means.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising the step of:

informing the management of said telecommunications network the status of any two end nodes to which a communications path in said telecommunications network is connected as the status record of said two end nodes is periodically updated via terminal means.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein said step b further comprises the step of:

retrieving from each of said path verifying messages a unique identifier representative of the end node that sent said each message.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising the step of:

retrieving from said each identifier the ID of the one access/egress port and the ID of whichever one of the end nodes that sent the path verifying message to which said each identifier resides.