Apparatus for and method of establishing a route utilizing multiple parallel segments in an asynchronous transfer mode network

• US 6,577,653 B1
• Filed: 04/28/1999
• Issued: 06/10/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 04/28/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Original Assignee: 3Com Corporation (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Rochberger, Haim, Gorokhovsky, Michael, Natanson, Sarit Shani
• Primary Examiner(s): VANDERPUYE, KENNETH N
• Application Number:
  US09/300,884
• Time in Patent Office: 1,504 Days
• Field of Search: 370/254, 370/389, 370/395.1, 370/356, 370/238, 370/397, 370/394, 370/536, 370/542
• US Class Current: 370/536
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/5601 Transfer mode dependent, e.g. ATM
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/5624 Path aspects, e.g. path bundling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/24 Multipath

Abstract

An apparatus for and a method of establishing a connection between a source and destination node using multiple parallel paths. To establish a connection, bandwidth capacity on one or more parallel paths are aggregated and combined to form a route having a bandwidth larger than any single path. A technique similar to inverse multiplexing is used at the source end to split the cell stream into multiple parallel paths. At the destination end, the parallel multiple cell streams are inverse demultiplexed and the multiple cell streams combined into a single cell stream. The parallel routes are established by building parallel VCCs for the same call via the network. The ATM signaling process at the source and destination nodes is modified to accommodate multiple VCCs. In addition, the hardware at each source and destination node is configured to perform the inverse and inverse demultiplexing. Further, the control software at the source and destination nodes is modified to implement the call handling required of such a multiple VCC call, including setup, tear down, error handling, etc.

Claims

1. In an Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) network including a source user, source node, destination user, destination node and a plurality of intermediate nodes, a method of establishing a call from said source user to said destination user, said method comprising the steps of:

receiving a request to establish a call with a requested bandwidth;

if a route with said requested bandwidth cannot be found, calculating and establishing a plurality of parallel routes via said plurality of intermediate nodes from said source node to said destination node, wherein a call indication is sent to said destination node in the establishment of each parallel route indicating whether a route is a final route used to establish said call;

configuring said source node to convert a serial cell stream to a plurality of parallel cell streams, each parallel cell stream corresponding to a different parallel route established between said source node and said destination node;

configuring said destination node to convert said plurality of cell streams back to said serial cell stream; and

forwarding said serial cell stream to said destination user.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein said plurality of routes comprising said plurality of intermediate nodes, have one or more shared nodes.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein said plurality of routes comprising said plurality of intermediate nodes, have one or more shared links.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein said step of establishing said plurality of routes comprises the step of transmitting a Last Connection Indication (LCI) to indicate whether a particular route is the first, intermediate or last connection of the call.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein said step of establishing said plurality of routes comprises the step of transmitting a Network Connection Correlation Identifier (NCCI) to identify said plurality of routes as belonging to a single call.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein said each route calculated during said route calculation step, comprises a route not previously used having a maximum bandwidth.

7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of generating a call object on said destination node and storing said call object in a data structure.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein said data structure comprises a hash list.

9. The method according to claim 7, wherein said data structure comprises a trie tree.

10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of releasing all parallel paths by all nodes common to said plurality of routes, in the event there is release of one parallel connection from among said plurality of parallel connections, and sending a release message to said source user once the last path connection is freed.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein said call indication is adapted to indicate whether a parallel route is a first, intermediate or final route of said call, an indication of a final route causing said destination node to complete said call and forward a SETUP message to said destination user with an indication of the aggregate bandwidth of said parallel routes.

12. A method for use in an Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) source node of establishing a call to a destination utilizing multiple parallel routes, said method comprising the steps of:

performing a first route calculation,to said destination in accordance with a requested bandwidth received in a SETUP message from a source user;

if said first route calculation fails, determining a second route to said destination having the largest bandwidth from among available routes and transmitting a SETUP message adapted to include a unique call identification and a call indication, said call indication adapted to indicate whether a particular route is a final route;

if the establishment of said second route is successful, determining and establishing additional routes from said source node to said destination until the aggregate bandwidth of all routes established meet or exceed said requested bandwidth; and

configuring said source node for inverse multiplexing of an input cell stream over said parallel routes.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein if the establishment of said first route is successful, sending a CONNECT message said source user.

14. The method according to claim 12, said second routes are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

15. The method according to claim 12, wherein upon successful establishment of said final route, sending a CONNECT message to said source user that includes the aggregate bandwidth of all said second routes.

16. The method according to claim 12, wherein said unique call identification comprises a Network Connection Correlation Identifier (NCCI).

17. A method for use in an Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) destination node of establishing a call between a source node and said destination node utilizing multiple parallel routes, said method comprising the steps of:

receiving a SETUP message transmitted by said source node containing a request to establish a multiple route call,said request comprising a call identification and a last call indication;

if said last call indication indicates a first route, establishing a call object for storing call related data and replying to said source node with a CONNECT message in response thereto;

if said last call indication indicates an intermediate route and said call identification corresponds to that found in an associated call object, replying to said source node with a CONNECT message;

if said last call indication indicates a final route and said call identification corresponds to that found in an associated call object, forwarding a SETUP message to a destination user containing the aggregate cell bandwidth of said call; and

upon receipt of a CONNECT message from said destination user, configuring said destination node for inverse demultiplexing of a cell stream and forwarding a CONNECT message to said source node.

18. The method according to claim 17, said routes are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

19. The method according to claim 17, wherein said routes comprise one or more shared nodes.

20. The method according to claim 17, wherein said call identification comprises a Network Connection Correlation Identifier (NCCI).