Quality assured network service provision system compatible with a multi-domain network and service provision method and service broker device

• US 7,254,645 B2
• Filed: 03/27/2001
• Issued: 08/07/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Original Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Inventors: Nishi, Koji
• Primary Examiner(s): Jaroenchonwant; Bunjob
• Assistant Examiner(s): Chankong; Dohm
• Application Number:
  US09/818,955
• Publication Number:
  US 20010027484A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,324 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 709/249
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/46 Interconnection of networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/28 Restricting access to network management systems or functions, e.g. using authorisation function to access network configuration
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5003 Managing SLA; Interaction between SLA and QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5009 Determining service level performance parameters or violations of service level contracts, e.g. violations of agreed response time or mean time between failures [MTBF]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5064 Customer relationship management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/04 Interdomain routing, e.g. hierarchical routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/125 by balancing the load, e.g. traffic engineering
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/20 Traffic policing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/2408 for supporting different services, e.g. a differentiated services [DiffServ] type of service
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/70 Admission control; Resource allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/782 Hierarchical allocation of resources, e.g. involving a hierarchy of local and centralised entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/783 Distributed allocation of resources, e.g. bandwidth brokers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/786 Mapping reservation between domains
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/787 Bandwidth trade among domains
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/805 QOS or priority aware
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

The invention provides quality assured network services in a multi-domain network and comprises a network service management device for managing device clusters incorporated within the operations management network of each provider network and receiving service orders, and a multi-domain service broker for providing a broker function for achieving agreement between a plurality of providers, and the multi-domain service broker further comprises a device for collecting domain information and information relating to the services each provider is able to provide from the network service management devices, and a device which on receipt of a network service request from a customer, extracts the network service management device of the domain which is able to satisfy the required quality level, and then issues instructions for the setting of the required information within the extracted network service management device.

Claims

1. A quality assured network service provision system compatible with a multi-domain network, wherein

a communication network comprising a plurality of operations management networks (domains) which are connected to a plurality of customer networks with user terminals and which are respectively managed by different providers, the system comprising:

a network service management device incorporated within an operations management network of each of said providers, and negotiating with another operations management network which is managed by another provider and with which interconnection is to be established based on a required quality level from a customer so as to ensure an end-to-end quality level; and

a service broker device at a functional host layer of said network service management device the service broker device receiving service information on services which can be provided by the respective domains and domain information which are output from the network service management device which belongs to each of the providers, storing information on the operations management networks managed by the respective providers, and brokering a service level agreement between the operations management networks of said plurality of providers by selecting route information and a network service management device for ensuring an end-to-end quality level required by the customer based on the received service information and domain information;

wherein said network service management device comprises an outputting device for outputting the service information on services which can be provided by each of said providers and the domain information to a multi-service broker, and

said service broker device comprises a device for storing output information from each network service management device, selecting a network service management device of a domain which will satisfy the required quality level when a network service request is generated by the customer, and issuing instructions for introducing and setting domain information which satisfies the service level agreement;

wherein

said network service management device comprises;

an input and output device for input, by an operator, of the service information on services which can be provided by said provider and domain information made up of configuration information about an operations management network of said provider;

storage devices for storing information input from said input and output device by information type;

a workflow server for determining transfer destinations for processing commands from among a customer care server, a design server, a policy server, and a bandwidth broker, which form a network service management device cluster, based on each service request from a customer;

the bandwidth broker for registering said domain information and service information in said service broker device, and determining, in cooperation with said workflow server, whether a subject for executing a subsequent process due to the service request from the customer is the service broker device which is an external system or the network service management device cluster which is an internal system; and

an internal processing system for detecting setting information for a communication device and the status of provisioning, and performing setting and control so as to satisfy the required quality level from the customer.

2. The quality assured network service provision system compatible with a multi-domain network according to claim 1, wherein

said bandwidth broker and said workflow server have a means for deciding, based on logic, whether the subject for executing a subsequent process due to the customer service request is in the external system or the internal system,

said bandwidth broker has a means for deciding a domain in cases where the subject for executing a subsequent process is in the external system, and

said workflow server has a means for deciding an internal processing system of a forward destination in cases where the subject for executing a subsequent process is in the internal system.

3. The quality assured network service provision system compatible with a multi-domain network according to claim 1, wherein

said service broker device has:

a means for referring to the service information which can be provided by the respective domains which is output from the network service management device and stored in a service storage section, the service information including resource information managed by the design server, provisioning information managed by the policy server, and network configuration information, and deciding whether the subject for executing the subsequent process due to the customer service request is the service broker device which is the external system or the network service management device cluster which is the internal system;

a means for deciding an external forward destination in cases where the subject for executing a subsequent process is in the external system; and

a means for deciding an internal processing system of a forward destination from among the customer care server, the design server, the policy server, and the bandwidth broker in cases where the subject for executing a subsequent process is in the internal system.

4. The quality assured network service provision system compatible with a multi-domain network according to claim 1, wherein

said internal system comprises:

the customer care server;

the design server;

the policy server; and

a network management device,

the customer care server manages service order information received from customers,

the design server manages network resources of an operations management network of a provider,

the policy server reads pre-recorded policy information, as well as converts said policy information into the setting information for a communication device of a specific vendor, and performs provisioning of a communication device for the provision of a service, and

the network management device provides a network fault management function for a configuration management and open channel incorporating communication devices within an operations management network of a provider and connection configuration of circuitry for connecting said communication devices,

each of which is connected to said workflow server.