Link discovery and verification procedure using loopback
First Claim
1. A method for operating a first node in a data communication network to verify connectivity to a second node in said data communication network, said method comprising:
- looping back a port of said first node by internally connecting an input of said port to an output of said port via an all-optical connection within said first node; and
notifying said second node of a looped back condition of said port to advance a procedure that verifies connectivity between said first node and said second node by employing said looped-back condition of said port; and
removing said looped back condition after verifying a connection between said first node and said second node.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Systems and methods for link discovery and verification technique that minimize the need for line termination resources that generate and interpret packets. Of two nodes verifying a link to one another, only one node need have any line termination capability. The node lacking line termination capability simply loops back packets generated by the other node thus verifying the link. Thus, an optical cross-connect can verify links to a wide variety of node types by employing a single line termination unit capable of terminating any suitable packet type. Alternatively, a router can verify connectivity to an optical cross-connect even when the optical cross-connect lacks any line termination capability at all. This saves greatly on implementation costs for optical networks.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method for operating a first node in a data communication network to verify connectivity to a second node in said data communication network, said method comprising:
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looping back a port of said first node by internally connecting an input of said port to an output of said port via an all-optical connection within said first node; and notifying said second node of a looped back condition of said port to advance a procedure that verifies connectivity between said first node and said second node by employing said looped-back condition of said port; and removing said looped back condition after verifying a connection between said first node and said second node. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. An apparatus for operating a first node in a data communication network to verify connectivity to a second node in said data communication network, said apparatus comprising:
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a port having an input and an output, wherein said port input and said port output comprise optical interfaces; and a processor that internally connects said port input and said port output via an all-optical connection within said first node without conversion to or from electrical form, that notifies said second node of a looped back condition of said port to advance a procedure that verifies connectivity between said first node and said second node by employing said looped back condition of said port, and removes said looped back condition after verifying a connection between said first node and said second node. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. An apparatus for operating a first node in a data communication network to verify connectivity to a second node in said data communication network, said apparatus comprising:
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a port having an input and an output, said input and output comprising optical interfaces; a line termination unit capable of, in accordance with a protocol, interpreting data received via said port input and formatting data to be transmitted via said port output; and a processor that connects said line termination unit to said port, monitors data received at said port at said first node to check for a match to data transmitted at said first port, and if said received data matches said transmitted data, determines that said port at said first node is connected to an internally looped-back port at said second node, stores an indication of connectivity between said first node and said second node, and removes said looped back condition after verifying a connection between said first node and said second node, said data traveling entirely in optical form between said first node and said second node and through said looped-back port. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16)
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17. An apparatus for operating a first node in a data communication network to verify connectivity to a second node in said data communication network, said apparatus comprising:
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means for looping back a port of said first node by internally connecting an input of said port to an output of said port via an all-optical connection within said first node; and means for notifying said second node of a looped back condition of said port to advance a procedure that verifies connectivity between said first node and said second node by employing a looped back condition of said port; and means for removing said looped back condition after verifying a connection between said first node and said second node. - View Dependent Claims (18)
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Specification