Monitoring ATM traffic load by quality of service type

• US 6,763,000 B1
• Filed: 12/07/1998
• Issued: 07/13/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 07/12/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Viavi Solutions, Inc. (Lumentum Holdings Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Agilent Technologies, Inc.
• Inventors: Walsh, Peter J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Ton, Dang
• Assistant Examiner(s): Phan, Tri H.
• Application Number:
  US09/206,672
• Time in Patent Office: 2,045 Days
• Field of Search: 370/252, 370/253, 370/395.1, 370/395.43, 370/229, 370/230-235, 370/395.2, 370/395.21, 370/395.31, 370/401, 370/410
• US Class Current: 370/252
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0681 Configuration of triggering conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5022 by giving priorities, e.g. assigning classes of service
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/08 Monitoring or testing based on specific metrics, e.g. QoS, energy consumption or environmental parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/16 Threshold monitoring

Abstract

The inventive mechanism monitors ATM traffic load by service type. The inventive mechanism receives each cell being transported over a backbone or link of an ATM network. The mechanism creates a table, which includes the VPI/VCI tags and the respective service type for each tag, to determine the numbers of cells being transported for each of the service types. The mechanism forms the table by monitoring connection/call setup-request cells and their associated answer cells, which identify the service type for each VPI/VCI tag. The inventive mechanism may set alarm levels to trigger based upon the pipe bandwidth usage by the different service types.

Claims

1. A system for monitoring cell traffic on a network, wherein each cell is associated with a channel that identifies a particular network element, and wherein the network has a plurality of service types, each of which indicates a network priority, the system comprising:

an interface with the network for intercepting cells; and

an analyzer that examines the intercepted cells to determine, a number of cells that are associated with a particular channel, the service type associated with the particular channel, and the relative usage of the network by each service type,

wherein the analyzer includes at least one table listing the channels, the service types associated with each particular channel, and a number of intercepted cells for each particular channel.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a display device for graphically presenting information derived by the analyzer.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the network is an asynchronous transfer mode network; and

each channel is identified by a virtual path identifier/virtual channel identifier (VPI/VCI) tag.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the analyzer comprises:

means for determining a particular channel for each intercepted cell.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the analyzer further comprises:

means for dynamically forming a portion of the at least one table by intercepting connection cells that describe the service type being granted to a particular channel.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the at least one table is updated after the particular channel has been determined for each intercepted cell.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the analyzer formats information derived from the intercepted cells to indicate a relative usage of the network by each service type.

8. The system of claim 7, further comprising:

an alarm which is triggered when a particular service type exceeds a predetermined threshold for an amount of relative usage.

9. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

an alarm that is triggered when a portion of information derived from the intercepted cells exceeds a predetermined threshold.

20. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one table further lists a total cell usage to date for each particular channel.

10. A method for monitoring cell traffic on a network, wherein each cell is associated with a channel that identifies a particular network element, and wherein the network has a plurality of service types, each of which indicates a network priority, the method comprising:

intercepting cells being transported on the network;

examining the intercepted cells to determine a number of cells that are associated with a particular channel, the service type associated with the particular channel, and the relative usage of the network by each service type; and

consulting at least one table listing the channels, the service types associated with each particular channel, and a number of intercepted cells for each particular channel.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

displaying, graphically, information derived from the examining of the intercepted cells on a display device.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein:

the network is an asynchronous transfer mode network; and

each channel is identified by a virtual path identifier/virtual channel identifier (VPI/VCI) tag.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the examining comprises:

determining a particular channel for each intercepted cell.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the examining further comprises:

dynamically forming a portion of the at least one table by intercepting connection cells that describe the service type being granted to a particular channel.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the examining further comprises:

updating the at least one table after the particular channel has been determined for each intercepted cell.

16. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

formatting information derived from the intercepted cells to indicate a relative usage of the network by each service type.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

triggering an alarm when a particular service type exceeds a predetermined threshold for an amount of relative usage.

18. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

triggering an alarm when a portion of information derived from the intercepted cells exceeds a predetermined threshold.

21. The method of claim 10, wherein the at least one table further lists a total cell usage to date for each particular channel.

19. A system for monitoring cell traffic on an asynchronous transfer mode network, wherein each cell is associated with a channel that is identified by a virtual path identifier/virtual channel identifier (VPI/VCI) tag that identifies a particular network element, and wherein the network has a plurality of service types, each of which indicates a network priority, the system comprising:

an interface with the network for intercepting cells;

an analyzer that examines the intercepted cells, to determine a number of cells having a particular VPI/VCI tag, the service type associated with the particular VPI/VCI tag, and a relative usage of the network by each service type; and

a display device for graphically presenting information derived by the analyzer;

wherein the analyzer includes means for determining a particular VPI/VCI tag for each intercepted cell, and at least one table listing a plurality of VPI/VCI tags, the associated service type for each VPI/VCI tag, and a number of intercepted cells for each particular VPI/VCI tag.