Determining and provisioning paths within a network of communication elements
First Claim
1. A provisioning system for establishing a path within a network, said network being comprised of network links and network elements, said system comprising:
- an inventory subsystem for modeling the network as a graph of nodes and links that interconnect the nodes;
a routing engine that uses the graph for determining the path between points in the network; and
a service activation system for invoking the routing engine to determine the path between the network points and for determining from the determined path and the network model a set of network element cross-connections to establish a virtual connection over said path;
wherein the links of said graph represent network links, wherein each node of said graph represents a partial network element, a single network element, or a group of network elements, wherein each partial network element, a single network element, or group of network elements represented by a given node has edge ports, and wherein any combination of edge ports that are associated with a given node and that are capable of being interconnected can be interconnected.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A graph of a network is created by efficiently modeling the network elements, and the network links and virtual trunks that interconnect these elements. The network elements are model as one or more routing nodes wherein each routing node represents part of an element or a set of one or more elements, and has the characteristic that any ingress and egress ports of the network element or network elements associated with the routing node can be interconnected. The network links and virtual trunks are both modeled as routing links, wherein routing links interconnect the routing nodes to create the graph of the network. The graph is subsequently used for determining routing paths through the network for the provisioning of virtual trunks and circuits.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. A provisioning system for establishing a path within a network, said network being comprised of network links and network elements, said system comprising:
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an inventory subsystem for modeling the network as a graph of nodes and links that interconnect the nodes; a routing engine that uses the graph for determining the path between points in the network; and a service activation system for invoking the routing engine to determine the path between the network points and for determining from the determined path and the network model a set of network element cross-connections to establish a virtual connection over said path; wherein the links of said graph represent network links, wherein each node of said graph represents a partial network element, a single network element, or a group of network elements, wherein each partial network element, a single network element, or group of network elements represented by a given node has edge ports, and wherein any combination of edge ports that are associated with a given node and that are capable of being interconnected can be interconnected. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A provisioning system for establishing a path within a network, said network being comprised of network links and network elements, said system comprising:
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an inventory subsystem for modeling the network as a graph of nodes and links that interconnect the nodes; a routing engine that uses the graph for determining the path between points in the network; and a service activation system for invoking the routing engine, wherein the path determined by the routing engine is an initial path, wherein the routing engine additionally determines one or more secondary paths upon being invoked by the service activation system, wherein the service activation system chooses from among the initial and secondary paths a preferred path, and wherein the service activation system determines a set of network element cross-connections to establish a virtual connection over said preferred path; wherein the links of said graph represent network links, wherein each node of said graph represents a partial network element, a single network element, or a group of network elements, wherein each partial network element, single network element, or group of network elements represented by a given node has edge ports, and wherein any combination of edge ports that are associated with a given node and that are capable of being interconnected can be interconnected. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8)
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9. A method for creating a graph of a network used for network routing, said network comprising network elements and network links, said method comprising the steps of:
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determining a routing model associated with the network element, wherein the routing model indicates how ports of the network element can be interconnected among themselves and other network elements; based on the determined routing model, determining for the network element whether the element should be associated with a plurality of network elements and represented collectively as a routing node, wherein routing nodes represent a partial network element or one or more network elements and have the characteristic that any edge ports of the represented partial network element or one or more network elements that are capable of being interconnected can be interconnected; if the network element should be associated with a plurality of network elements, determining if a routing node has been created for the plurality of network elements, and if no routing node has been created, determining, based on the network element and its corresponding routing model, if a routing node should be created; if the network element should not be associated with a plurality of network elements, determining, based on the network element'"'"'s routing model, whether the network element should be represented as one routing node or a plurality of routing nodes, and creating the one or the plurality of routing nodes; representing each network link as a routing link, wherein a routing link interconnects routing nodes; and associating each routing link with two routing nodes, thereby creating the graph of the network, wherein the two associated routing nodes represent the two network elements interconnected by the network link represented by the muting link. - View Dependent Claims (10)
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11. A method for determining a path between points within a network, said network comprising a plurality of elements and a plurality of network links, said method comprising the steps of:
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modeling the plurality of elements as one or more routing nodes wherein each routing node represents a partial element, a single element, or a set of elements, wherein each partial element, single element, or a set of elements represented by a given routing node has edge ports, and wherein any combination of edge ports that are associated with a given routing node and that are capable of being interconnected can be interconnected; modeling each physical link as a routing link, wherein routing links interconnect routing nodes; and determining the path by determining a set of routing nodes and routing links that interconnect the points. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method for determining a path between points within a network, said network comprising a plurality of elements and a plurality of network links, said method comprising the steps of:
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modeling the plurality of elements as one or more routing nodes wherein each routing node represents a partial element, a single element, or a set of elements, wherein each partial element, single element, or a set of elements represented by a given routing node has edge ports, and wherein any combination of edge ports that are associated with a given routing node and that are capable of being interconnected can be interconnected; modeling each physical link as a routing link, wherein routing links interconnect routing nodes; determining the path by determining a set of routing nodes and routing links that interconnect the points; determining from the determined set of routing nodes and routing links a set of network element cross-connections to provision a virtual connection over said path; provisioning the cross-connections of the virtual connection; maintaining the status of each cross-connection, said status indicating whether the cross-connection was successfully or unsuccessfully provisioned; and if the virtual connection is not successfully provisioned because one or more cross-connections failed, attempting to provision the failed cross-connections in order to re-provision the virtual connection.
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23. A provisioning system for establishing a path within a network, said network being comprised of network links and network elements, said system comprising:
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an inventory subsystem for modeling the network as a graph of nodes and links that interconnect the nodes; and a routing engine that uses the graph for determining the path between points in the network; wherein the links of said graph represent network links, wherein each node of said graph represents a partial network element, a single network element, or a group of network elements, wherein each partial network element, single network element, or group of network elements represented by a given node has edge ports, and wherein any combination of edge ports that are associated with a given node and that are capable of being interconnected can be interconnected. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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Specification