Port re-enabling by monitoring link status

• US 7,417,953 B2
• Filed: 12/30/2004
• Issued: 08/26/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/01/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: RPX Corporation
• Original Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent SA (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Bhatia, Jagjeet, Hicks, Timothy, Ghang, Phil
• Primary Examiner(s): Ngo; Ricky
• Assistant Examiner(s): Samuel; DeWanda
• Application Number:
  US11/028,351
• Publication Number:
  US 20060165002A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,335 Days
• Field of Search: 370/248, 370/228, 370/256, 370/230, 370/278, 370/222, 370/285, 370/235, 709/238
• US Class Current: 370/235
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/437 Ring fault isolation or reconfiguration for SDH/SONET ring networks H04J3/085
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/44 Star or tree networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0806 for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0816 the condition being an adaptation, e.g. in response to network events
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0866 Checking the configuration
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0817 by checking functioning

Abstract

The present invention features embodiments of automatically re-enabling a disabled port or physical media interface by monitoring the link status of the physical layer interface. Any change in the link status automatically re-enables a previously disabled port, thereby permitting data coming in through the previously disabled port to be admitted into the switch and automatically forwarded or routed/switched, without the network administrator manually issuing any commands to manually re-enable the port.

Claims

1. A method of automatically unblocking a blocked port in a forwarding device for operatively coupling to a communication network, the blocked port associated with a block-port indicator adapted to indicate whether the blocked port is blocked or unblocked, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving one or more data units from an interface associated with the blocked port;

monitoring a link status of the interface;

resetting the block-port indicator to indicate unblocked, when there is a change in the monitored link status;

admitting the one or more data units received from the interface when the associated block-port indicator indicates unblocked;

receiving one or more policies of the communication network;

setting the block-port indicator to indicate a blocked port based on the received one or more policies;

dropping the one or more data units received from the interface when the block-port indicator indicates a blocked port; and

wherein the resetting step is resetting an ingress indicator of the block-port indicator and the setting step is setting the ingress indicator of the block-port indicator.