Method and system for controlling tasks on network cards

• US 7,177,919 B1
• Filed: 11/28/2000
• Issued: 02/13/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 11/28/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Medved, Jan, Truong, Alex, Maruyama, Stephen, Le, Phong-Son, Giertych, Michael, Subramaniam, Mcv
• Primary Examiner(s): Burgess; Glenton B.
• Assistant Examiner(s): REILLY, SEAN M
• Application Number:
  US09/724,629
• Time in Patent Office: 2,268 Days
• Field of Search: 709/223, 709/224, 709/220, 709/250, 709/221, 714/15, 714 48- 51, 714/4, 714/5
• US Class Current: 709/220
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/30 Peripheral units, e.g. input or output ports
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/3036 Shared queuing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/602 Multilayer or multiprotocol switching, e.g. IP switching

Abstract

A method and system for controlling tasks performed on network cards is disclosed. In one embodiment, the method disclosed controls applications that are executed within the network. The method of controlling the applications comprises transition.

Claims

1. In a digital communications network having network cards,

a method comprising:

controlling applications executed within the network, wherein controlling the applications comprises,

in response to a state change message, performing a set of transitioning actions to transition each of the applications between one of a plurality of active states on an active card of the network cards and one of a plurality of standby states on a standby card of the network cards, wherein the plurality of active states comprises an active ready state, a quiescent state, and a no-provisioning state, the set of transitioning actions including;

flushing data to a disk,

synchronizing RAM with a disk database,

synchronizing RAM with the standby card, and

building RAM from the active card,

wherein all necessary commands required by each of the applications are loaded into a memory of the active card for executing each of the applications during the active ready sate,

wherein memories of the active card and the standby card are synchronized during the quiescent state, and

wherein at least a portion of network management requests for configuring the active network card are rejected during the no-provisioning state; and

subsequent to the transitioning, sending a state change confirmation message.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein an application state machine controls the execution of the application.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

receiving control messages from a shelf manager; and

communicating via APIs to the application, wherein the shelf manager may be located on a remote network card.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the standby states comprises a standby locked state.

5. In a digital communications network having network cards,

a method comprising:

switching the state of an application in an active state to a standby state,

comprising,

in response to a first state change message, performing a set of transitioning actions to transition the application from the active state to a quiescent state on an active card of the network cards, the transitioning actions including,

flushing data to a disk, and

synchronizing RAM with the standby card;

subsequent to the transitioning from the active state to the quiescent state, sending a first state change confirmation message;

in response to a second state change message, transitioning the application from the quiescent state to the standby state on a standby card of the network cards; and

subsequent to the transitioning from the quiescent state to the standby state, sending a second state change confirmation message;

wherein all necessary commands required by each of the applications are loaded into a memory of the active card for executing each of the applications during the active state,

wherein memories of the active card and the standby card are synchronized during the quiescent state, and

wherein at least a portion of the commands required by each of the applications are loaded into a memory of the standby card for executing each of the applications during the standby state.

6. In a digital communications network having network cards,

a method comprising:

upgrading code of an application in an active state on an active card of the network cards to a standby locked state on a standby card of the network cards comprising,

in response to a first state change message, performing a first set of transitioning actions to transition the application from the active state to a no provisioning state, the first set of transitioning actions including,

flushing data to a disk,

wherein at least a portion of network management requests for configuring the active network care are rejected during the no provisioning state;

subsequent to the transitioning from the active state to the no provisioning state, sending a first state change confirmation message;

in response to a second state change message, performing a second set of transitioning actions to transition the application from the no provisioning state to a quiescent state, the second set of transitioning actions including,

synchronizing RAM with the standby card, and

flushing data to a disk,

wherein memories of the active card and the standby card are synchronized during the quiescent state;

subsequent to the transitioning from the no provisioning state to the quiescent state, sending a second state change confirmation message;

in response to a third state change message, transitioning the application from the quiescent state to the standby locked state, wherein the application is in a ready state in the standby card but does not communicate with the corresponding application of the active card; and

subsequent to the transitioning from the quiescent state to the standby locked sate, sending a third state change confirmation message.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the standby locked state does not allow disk database access nor access to write to RAM.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the no provisioning state does not allow access to write to a disk database.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the quiescent state does not allow access to write to a disk database nor access to write to RAM.

10. The method of claim 6,

further comprising:

upgrading code of the application in the standby state to the active state comprising,

in response to a fourth state change message, transitioning the application from the standby state on a standby card of the network cards to a no provisioning state on an active card of the network cards;

subsequent to the transitioning from the standby state to the no provisioning state, sending a fourth state change confirmation message;

in response to a fifth state change message, transitioning the application from the no provisioning state to the active state wherein all necessary commands required by each of the applications are loaded into a memory of the active card for executing each of the applications during the active state, and wherein at least a portion of network management requests for configuring the active network card are rejected during the no provisioning state; and

subsequent to the transitioning from the no provisioning state to the active state sending a fifth state change confirmation message.

11. In a digital communications network having network cards, a system comprising:

means for controlling applications executed within the network, wherein the means for controlling the applications comprises,

means for performing a set of transitioning actions, in response to a state change message, to transition each of the applications between one of a plurality of active states on an active card of the network cards and one of a plurality of standby states on a standby card of the network cards, wherein the plurality of active states comprise an active ready state, a quiescent state, and a no-provisioning state, the set of transitioning actions including,

flushing data to a disk,

synchronizing RAM with a disk database,

synchronizing RAM with the standby card, and

building RAM from the active card,

wherein all necessary commands required by each of the applications are loaded into a memory of the active card for executing each of the applications during the active ready state,

wherein memories of the active card and the standby card are synchronized during the quiescent state, and

wherein at least a portion of network management requests for configuring the active network card are rejected ruing the no-provisioning state; and

means for sending, subsequent to the transitioning, a state change confirmation message.

12. The system of claim 11, further comprising:

means for receiving control messages from a shelf manager; and

means for communicating via APIs to the application, wherein the shelf manager may be located on a remote network card.

13. In a digital communications network having network cards, a system comprising:

means for switching the state of an application in an active state to a standby state,

comprising,

means for performing a first set of transitioning actions, in response to a first state change message, to transition the application from the active state to a quiescent state on an active card of the network cards, the first set of transitioning actions including,

flushing data to a disk, and

synchronizing RAM with the standby card;

means for sending, subsequent to the transitioning from the active state to the quiescent state, a first state change confirmation message;

means for transitioning, in response to a second state change message, the application from the quiescent state to the standby state on a standby card of the network cards; and

means for sending, subsequent to the transitioning from the quiescent state to the standby state, a second state change confirmation message;

wherein all necessary commands required by each of the applications are loaded into a memory of the active card for executing each of the applications during the active state,

wherein memories of the active card and the standby card are synchronized during the quiescent state, and

wherein at least a portion of the commands required by each of the applications are loaded into a memory of the standby card for executing each of the applications during the standby state.

15. The, system of claim 13, further comprising:

means for upgrading code of the application in the standby state to the active state comprising,

means for transitioning, in response to a fourth state change message, the application from the standby state on the standby card to the no provisioning state on the active card;

means for sending, subsequent to the transitioning from the standby state to the no provisioning state, a fourth state change confirmation message;

means for transitioning, in response to a fifth state change message, the application from the no provisioning state to the active state, wherein all necessary commands required by each of the applications are loaded into a memory of the active card for executing each of the applications during the active state, and wherein at least a portion of network management requests for configuring the active network card are rejected during the no provisioning state; and

means for sending subsequent to the transitioning from the no provisioning state to the active state, a fifth state change confirmation message.

14. In a digital communications network having network cards,

a system comprising:

means for upgrading code of an application in an active state on an active card of the network cards to a standby locked state on a standby card of the network cards comprising,

means for performing a first set of transitioning actions, in response to a first state change message, to transition the application from the active state to a no provisioning state, the first set of transitioning actions including,

flushing data to a disk,

wherein at least a first portion of network management requests for configuring the active network card are rejected during the no provisioning state, and wherein at least a second portion of network management requests for reading configurations of the active card are processed during the no-provisioning state;

means for sending, subsequent to the transitioning from the active state to the no provisioning state, a first state change confirmation message;

means for performing a second set of transitioning actions, in response to the second state change message, to transition the application from the no provisioning state to a quiescent state, the second set of transitioning actions including,

synchronizing RAM with the standby card, and

flushing data to a disk,

wherein memories of the active card and the standby card are synchronized during the quiescent state;

means for sending, subsequent to the transitioning from the no provisioning state to the quiescent state, a second state change confirmation message;

means for transitioning, in response to a third state change message, the application from the quiescent state to the standby locked state, wherein an application is in a ready state in the standby card but does not communicate with the corresponding application of the active card during the standby locked state; and

means for sending, subsequent to the transitioning from the quiescent state to the standby locked state, a third state change confirmation message.

16. A computer readable storage medium having stored thereon a plurality of instructions for controlling tasks performed on network cards, said plurality of instructions when executed by a computer, cause said computer to perform:

controlling applications executed within the network, wherein controlling the applications comprises,

in response to the state change message, performing a set of transitioning actions to transition each of the applications between one of a plurality of active states on an active card of the network cards and one of a plurality of standby states on a standby card of the network cards, wherein the plurality of active states comprise an active ready state, a quiescent state, and a no-provisioning state, the set of transitioning actions including,

flushing data to a disk,

synchronizing RAM with a disk database,

synchronizing RAM with the standby card, and

building RAM from the active card,

wherein all necessary commands required by each of the applications are loaded into a memory of the active card for executing each of the applications during the active ready state,

wherein memories of the active card and the standby card are synchronized during the quiescent state, and

wherein at least a portion of network management requests for configuring the active network card are rejected during the no-provisioning state; and

subsequent to the transitioning, sending a state change confirmation message.

17. The computer readable storage medium of claim 16 having stored thereon additional instructions, said additional instructions when executed by a computer, cause said computer to further perform:

receiving control messages from a shelf manager; and

means for communicating via APIs to the application, wherein the shelf manager may be located on a remote network card.

18. A computer readable storage medium having stored thereon a plurality of instructions for controlling tasks performed on network cards, said plurality of instructions when executed by a computer, cause said computer to perform:

switching the state of an application in an active state to a standby state, comprising,

in response to the first state change message, performing a set of transitioning actions to transition the application from the active state to a quiescent state on an active card of the network cards, the set of transitioning actions including,

flushing data to a disk, and

synchronizing RAM with the standby card;

subsequent to the transitioning from the active state to the quiescent state, sending a first state change confirmation message;

in response to a second state change message, transitioning the application from the quiescent state to the standby state on a standby card of the network cards; and

subsequent to the transitioning from the quiescent state to the standby state, sending a second state change confirmation message;

wherein all necessary commands required by each of the applications are loaded into a memory of the active card for executing each of the applications during the active state,

wherein memories of the active card and the standby card are synchronized during the quiescent state, and

wherein at least a portion of the commands required by each of the applications are loaded into a memory of the standby card for executing each of the applications during the standby state.

19. A computer readable storage medium having stored thereon a plurality of instructions for controlling tasks performed on network cards, said plurality of instructions when executed by a computer, cause said computer to perform:

upgrading code of an application in an active state to a standby locked state comprising,

in response to the first state change message, performing a first set of transitioning actions to transition the application from the active state to a no provisioning state on an active card of the network cards, the first set of transitioning actions including,

flushing data to a disk,

wherein at least a portion of network management requests for configuring the active network card are rejected during the no provisioning state;

subsequent to the transitioning from the active state to the no provisioning state, sending a first state change confirmation message;

in response to a second state change message, performing a second set of transitioning actions to transition the application from the no provisioning state to a quiescent state, the second set of transitioning actions including,

synchronizing RAM with the standby card, and

flushing data to a disk,

wherein memories of the active card and the standby card are synchronized during the quiescent state;

subsequent to the transitioning from the no provisioning state to the quiescent state, sending a second state change confirmation message;

in response to a third state change message, transitioning the application from the quiescent state to the standby locked state on a standby card of the network cards, wherein an application is in a ready state in the standby card but does not communicate with the corresponding application of the active card during the standby locked state; and

subsequent to the transitioning from the quiescent state to the standby locked state, sending a third state change confirmation message.

20. The computer readable storage medium of claim 19, said plurality of instructions cause said computer to further perform:

upgrading code of the application in the standby state to the active state comprising,

in response to a fourth state change message, transitioning the application from the standby state on the standby card to the no provisioning state on the active card;

subsequent to the transitioning from the standby state to the no provisioning state, sending a fourth state change confirmation message;

in response to a fifth state change message, transitioning the application from the no provisioning state to the active state, wherein all necessary commands required by each of the applications are loaded into a memory of the active card for executing each of the applications during the active state, and wherein at least a portion of network management requests for configuring the active network card are rejected during the no provisioning state; and

subsequent to the transitioning from the no provisioning state to the active state, sending a fifth state change confirmation message.

21. In a digital communications network, a system for controlling tasks performed on network cards comprising:

a CPU subsystem;

one or more input/output ports connected to the CPU subsystem for communicating with the network; and

special hardware connected to the CPU subsystem via a bus, wherein the CPU subsystem controls applications executed within the network, wherein the applications receive a state change message, wherein the applications performing a set of transitioning actions in response to the state change message to transition from one of a plurality of active states on an active card of the network cards and one of a plurality of standby states on a standby card of the network cards, wherein the applications send a state change confirmation message subsequent to the transition actions, wherein the plurality of active states comprise an active ready state, a quiescent state, and a no-provisioning state, wherein the set of transitioning actions includes;

flushing data to a disk,

synchronizing RAM with a disk database,

synchronizing RAM with the standby card, and

building RAM from the active card,

wherein all necessary commands required by each of the applications are loaded into a memory of the active card for executing each of the applications during the active ready state,

wherein memories of the active card and the standby card are synchronized during the quiescent state, and

wherein at least a portion of network management requests for configuring the active network card are rejected during the no-provisioning state.

22. The system of claim 21 further comprising a disk database connected to the CPU subsystem via a PCI bus.

23. The system of claim 21, wherein the CPU subsystem comprises:

a central processing unit;

a system controller connected to the central processing unit;

random access memory connected to the system controller; and

an application state machine for transitioning applications between one of a plurality of active states and one of a plurality of standby states.