Management and control of multi-layer networks
First Claim
1. A method of allocating resources in a network having multiple resource-allocation transport layers and in which a first transport layer requires resources provided by a second of said transport layers, the method comprising the steps of:
- providing an indication, from said first transport layer to the second transport layer, of said required resources to be allocated from said second transport layer;
automatically offering, at said second transport layer, said required resource together with a condition for use of those resources; and
determining, at said first transport layer, if the condition for use of the offered resources is acceptable and, if so, automatically accepting the offered resources from the second transport layer.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A communications network has multiple resource-allocation layers and incorporates a management structure for allocating resources to allocate resources requested by a first layer of said layers from a second of said layers. At a first layer, the management structure provides an indication to a second layer of the required resources that are to be allocated from the second layer. The second layer automatically offers the required resource together with a condition for use of those resources. This condition includes a notional price factor which is dependent on current demand. Under the control of the manager, the first layer determines if the condition for use of the offered resources is acceptable and, if so, automatically accepts the offered resources from the second layer. In a preferred embodiment, ingress to an underlying multi-wavelength transport layer of the network is controlled via a virtual port which allocates traffic to real ports one for each wavelength supported by the transport layer.
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Citations
32 Claims
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1. A method of allocating resources in a network having multiple resource-allocation transport layers and in which a first transport layer requires resources provided by a second of said transport layers, the method comprising the steps of:
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providing an indication, from said first transport layer to the second transport layer, of said required resources to be allocated from said second transport layer; automatically offering, at said second transport layer, said required resource together with a condition for use of those resources; and determining, at said first transport layer, if the condition for use of the offered resources is acceptable and, if so, automatically accepting the offered resources from the second transport layer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of allocating resources in a communications network having a hierarchy of transport layers, each said transport layer having its own resource capacity, the method comprising;
- determining within said transport layer whether that transport layer has sufficient resources to support a request for service, and, where that transport layer has insufficient resources to support a request for service, automatically requesting further resources from one or more other said transport layers, wherein a demand oriented price for requested resource use is determined by each said transport layer, and wherein said price is offered by that layer to any other layer requesting use of that resource.
- View Dependent Claims (14, 15)
- 16. A method of managing a communications network having a multi-layer hierarchical transport structure having a hierarchy of transport layers in which each transport layer of the hierarchy can provide a transport service to one or more other layers of the network, the method comprising negotiating between said transport layers to determine a network resource allocation and a resource price to be offered to a customer for admission to the network and utilization of said resource allocation.
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18. A method of managing a communications network having a multi-layer hierarchical transport structure having a hierarchy of transport layers in which each transport layer of the hierarchy can provide a transport service to one or more other layers of the network, the method comprising negotiating automatically between said transport layers to determine a network resource allocation and a resource price to be offered to a customer for admission to the network and utilisation by the customer of said resource allocation.
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19. A communications network having a multi-layer hierarchical transport structure having a hierarchy of transport layers in which each transport layer of the hierarchy can provide a transport service to one or more other layers of the network, and having a management arrangement for negotiating automatically between said transport layers to determine a network resource allocation and a resource price to be offered to a customer for admission to the network and utilisation by the customer of said resource allocation.
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20. A layered resource-allocation transport system comprising:
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a first transport layer comprising a topology manager arranged to provide an indication of resources required by the first transport layer and an indication of willingness to pay for said required resources; a second transport layer comprising a service manager arranged to provide said resources responsive to a comparison between said willingness to pay and a price of said required resources.
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21. A communications network having multiple resource-allocation transport layers and incorporating a management structure for allocating resources to allocate resources requested by a first transport layer of said transport layers from a second of said transport layers, the management structure being arranged to:
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at said first transport layer, provide an indication to the second transport layer of said required resources to be allocated from said second transport layer; at said second transport layer automatically offer said required resource together with a condition for use of those resources; and at said first transport layer determine if the condition for use of the offered resources is acceptable and, if so, automatically accept the offered resources from the second layer.
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- 22. A communications network having multiple resource-allocation transport layers and incorporating a resource allocation management structure for allocating requested resources between said transport layers, one of said multiple resource-allocation transport layers being a multi-wavelength transport layer to which controlled access is provided via one or more virtual ports, wherein each said virtual port provides access to a plurality of real ports one for each wavelength transported on the multi-wavelength transport layer, and wherein said virtual port distributes traffic to said real ports so as to balance the loading of the real ports.
- 26. A multi-layer communications network, comprising an upper Internet protocol (IP) layer, a multi-protocol label switched (MPLS) layer, a synchronous transport (SDH) layer, and an underlying multi-wavelength optical transport layer, wherein each said layer has a respective manager arranged to manage resources within that layer, to respond to requests for service from other layer managers, to set a price for those service requests, and to request service from the other layer managers, and wherein an interlayer manager responsible for controlling the resource allocation and resource pricing of each said layer manager so as to optimize use of the resources within each said layer.
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32. A computer readable medium encoded with software for allocating resources in a communications network having a hierarchy of transport layers each said transport layer having its own resource capacity, the software being arranged to perform the method of;
- determining within said transport layer whether that transport layer has sufficient resources to support a request for service, and where that transport layer has insufficient resources to support a request for service, automatically requesting further resources from one or more other said transport layers, wherein the software is arranged to determine a demand oriented price for requested resource use for each said transport layer, and wherein the software is arranged to offer said price on behalf of that layer to any other layer requesting use of that resource.
Specification