Apparatus for management of SNMP/OSI gateways

• US 5,960,176 A
• Filed: 09/09/1996
• Issued: 09/28/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 09/07/1995
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: KDDI Corporation
• Original Assignee: Kokusai Denshi Denwa Company Limited (KDDI Corporation)
• Inventors: Kuroki, Tetsuya, Horiuchi, Hiroki, Obana, Sadao, Suzuki, Kenji, Sugiyama, Keizo
• Primary Examiner(s): Rinehart, Mark H.
• Application Number:
  US08/709,729
• Time in Patent Office: 1,114 Days
• Field of Search: 395/200.01, 395/200.79, 395/200.53, 395/200.3, 395/200.57, 395/200.8, 395/200.58, 395/200.66
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0213 Standardised network management protocols, e.g. simple network management protocol [SNMP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/046 comprising network management agents or mobile agents therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/052 using standardised network management architectures, e.g. telecommunication management network [TMN] or unified network management architecture [UNMA]

Abstract

The gateway apparatus for SNMP/OSI management enables that an SNMP manager manages an OSI management agent, by using a basic conversion of a management operation and a management information between SNMP and CMIP and by using a cache, a replica and a link object.

Claims

1. A gateway apparatus for SNMP/OSI management enabling an SNMP manager to manage an OSI management agent comprising:

SNMP protocol process means for giving and receiving a message by a simple network management protocol (SNMP) to/from the SNMP manager having the SNMP protocol as an interface, and for producing and analyzing a protocol data unit;

OSI protocol process means for giving and receiving a message by a common management information protocol (CMIP) to/from the OSI management agent having the OSI protocol as an interface, and for producing and analyzing a protocol data unit;

table means for determining a correspondence between a definition of OSI management information and a definition of SNMP management information;

instance information means for keeping a name tree of the OSI management agent;

conversion means for converting a management operation and the management information between the SNMP manager and the OSI management agent, said conversion means being connected with said SNMP protocol process means, said OSI protocol process means, said definition table means and said instance information means.

2. The apparatus claimed in claim 1 further comprising:

instance management means for renewing the name tree kept by said instance information means based on a result of the analysis by said OSI protocol process means.

3. The apparatus claimed in claim 1:

said conversion means having cache means corresponding to every SNMP manager;

when an attribute value is a structural type, said attribute value is kept in the cache means of said conversion means, and said attribute value is obtained by issuing a management operation of M-GETreq;

when a request of the SNMP manager is to obtain a management information corresponding to the attribute value kept in the cache means, the attribute value in the cache means is transferred.

4. The apparatus claimed in claim 3:

when the request of the SNMP manager is not to obtain a management information corresponding to the attribute value kept in the cache means, a content in the cache means is deleted.

5. The apparatus claimed in claim 3:

when the request of the SNMP manager is to set a management information, a content in the cache means is deleted.

6. The apparatus claimed in claim 3:

when an association between the OSI management agent and the gateway apparatus for SNMP/OSI management is disconnected, all contents in the cache means are deleted.

7. The apparatus claimed in claim 1:

said conversion means having replica means;

a copy of an attribute value is set in the replica means, wherein said attribute value is obtained by issuing a management operation of M-GETreq;

when a request of the SNMP manager is to set a management information corresponding to the attribute value in the replica means, a management operation M-SETreq is issued for changing a value of the requested part and for setting it as a management information in the OSI management agent;

when a request of the SNMP manager is to obtain a management information corresponding to the attribute value in the replica means, the attribute value in the replica means is transferred.

8. The attribute claimed in claim 7:

said attribute value is copied according to a request, an existence of said request being stored in said definition table means.

9. The apparatus claimed in claim 7:

when an association between the OSI management agent and the gateway apparatus for SNMP/OSI management is disconnected, all contents in the replica means are deleted.

10. The apparatus claimed in claim 7:

plural copies being allowed in the replica means, wherein the oldest copy is deleted when a number of the copies is more than a maximum.

11. The apparatus claimed in claim 10:

said oldest copy is periodically deleted by said conversion means based on expiration of a timer.

12. The apparatus claimed in claim 1:

said conversion means having link object means;

when a structural attribute of the management information of the OSI management agent is accessed, a structural data being generated as link object and said structural data being transferred as OPAQUE-type data to the SNMP manager, wherein said structural data represents a table structure which is converted and spread as a management information of SNMP from the structural attribute of the management information of OSI management and which includes a status of the table, index which can be used in the table, and a class structure of the table.

13. The apparatus claimed in claim 12:

said link object means being independently set in every management object class of OSI management information.

14. The apparatus claimed in claim 1:

said definition table includes an OPAQUE-type of SNMP management information item which is converted as SNMP management information definition from OSI management information definition by using OPAQUE-type.

15. The apparatus claimed in claim 14:

an attribute type of the OSI management information being a structural type, wherein when a type is recursively defined in components included in said structural type, said attribute is an OPAQUE-type of a single SNMP management information item.

16. The apparatus claimed in claim 14:

an attribute type of the OSI management information being a structural type, wherein a number of steps of a side table made by spreading the structural type is more than a predetermined number, said attribute is an OPAQUE-type of a single SNMP management information item.

17. The apparatus claimed in claim 1:

said definition table means includes, as an SNMP management information item to be converted, an object representing a number of instances of OSI managed objects.

18. The apparatus claimed in claim 1:

said definition table means includes, as an SNMP management information item to be converted, an object representing an existence of a conditional attribute in the OSI management information definition.

19. The apparatus claimed in claim 1:

said definition table means includes, as an SNMP management information item to be converted, an object representing an existence of a optional component in an attribute of SEQUENCE-type or SET-type in the OSI management information definition.

20. The apparatus claimed in claim 1:

said definition table means includes, as an SNMP management information item to be converted, an object representing a selection information of a component in an attribute of CHOICE-type in the OSI management information definition.

21. The apparatus claimed in claim 1:

said definition table means includes, as an SNMP management information item to be converted, an object representing a repetition number of a component in an attribute of SEQUENCE OF-type or SET OF-type in the OSI management information definition.