Method and system for automatically rerouting logical circuit data from a logical circuit failure to dedicated backup circuit in a data network

• US 7,466,646 B2
• Filed: 04/22/2004
• Issued: 12/16/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 04/22/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Taylor, William, Massengill, David, Hollingsworth, John
• Primary Examiner(s): Shah, Chirag G
• Assistant Examiner(s): Shivers, Ashley L
• Application Number:
  US10/829,795
• Publication Number:
  US 20050237925A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,699 Days
• Field of Search: 370/217, 370/218, 370/219, 370/220, 370/221, 370/222, 370/225, 370/227, 370/228, 370/231, 370/235, 370/242, 370/244, 370/247, 370/248, 370/249, 370/250, 370/251, 370/252, 370/310.1, 370/310.2, 370/351, 370/352, 370/353, 370/354, 370/355, 370/356, 370/357, 370/397, 370/399, 370/395.32, 370/409
• US Class Current: 370/216
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2002 where interconnections or communication control functionality are redundant flexible arrangements for bus networks involving redundancy H04L12/40176
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0654 using network fault recovery ring fault isolation or reconfiguration in loop networks without recovery actions by a network management system H04L12/437
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/10 Routing in connection-oriented networks, e.g. X.25 or ATM
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/22 Alternate routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/28 using route fault recovery

Abstract

A method and system are provided for automatically rerouting logical circuit data from a physical circuit failure in a data network. When a failure in a logical circuit is detected, a label or services name associated with the logical circuit is automatically associated with a logical circuit identifier utilized for identifying the logical circuit in the data network. Once the logical circuit is associated with the logical circuit identifier, the logical circuit data may be automatically rerouted to a “failover network,” thereby minimizing lost data until the failure in the logical circuit is resolved. The logical failover circuit may be an already existing logical circuit provisioned over a dedicated backup physical circuit in the data network.

Claims

1. A method of automatically rerouting logical circuit data from a logical circuit failure to a dedicated backup circuit in a data network, the method comprising:

determining a failure in a logical circuit in the data network, the logical circuit comprising a communication path for communicating data and at least one logical connection, wherein determining the failure in the logical circuit comprises;

obtaining a status by transmitting at least one “

clean”

test signal to at least one test access point which “

loops back”

the at least one “

clean”

test signal for detection, wherein the status includes a committed information rate or a committed burst size, and

analyzing the status for the at least one logical connection, wherein analyzing the status information comprises determining if the committed information rate or the committed burst size has been exceeded;

when either the committed information rate or the committed burst size has been exceeded, accessing a database to associate a label assigned to and identifying the failed logical circuit with a logical circuit identifier, utilized for identifying the logical circuit in the data network, for the failed logical circuit without manual intervention;

identifying an existing logical failover circuit comprising an alternate communication path for communicating the data from the failed logical circuit; and

rerouting the data from the failed logical circuit to the logical failover circuit in the data network.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

after rerouting the data to the logical failover circuit, determining whether the failure in the logical circuit has been corrected; and

if the failure in the logical circuit has been corrected, then rerouting the data from the logical failover circuit to the logical circuit in the data network.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the logical circuit identifier is a data link connection identifier (DLCI).

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the logical circuit identifier is a virtual path/virtual circuit identifier (VPI/VCI).

5. The method of claim 1, wherein rerouting the data to the logical failover circuit in the data network comprises rerouting the data to a backup physical circuit for communicating the data for the logical failover circuit.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the logical circuit is a permanent virtual circuit.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the logical circuit is a switched virtual circuit.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the data network is a frame relay network.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the data network is an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network.

10. A system for automatically rerouting logical circuit data from a logical circuit failure to a dedicated backup circuit in a data network, the system comprising:

a network device for establishing a data communication path for a logical circuit in the data network;

a logical element module, in communication with the network device, for storing a database, the database comprising a label assigned to and identifying the logical circuit and a logical circuit identifier, utilized for identifying the logical circuit in the data network, associated with the logical circuit;

a test module for transmitting at least one “

clean”

test signal to at least one test access point which “

loops back”

the at least one “

clean”

test signal for detection by the test module; and

a network management module, in communication with the logical element module, for;

determining a failure in the logical circuit, wherein determining the failure in the logical circuit comprises;

obtaining the test module, wherein the test module includes a committed information rate or a committed burst size, and

analyzing the committed information rate or the committed burst size, wherein analyzing the committed information rate or the committed burst size comprises determining if the committed information rate or the committed burst size has been exceeded;

accessing the database to associate the logical circuit identifier with the assigned label for the failed logical circuit without manual intervention;

identifying an existing logical failover circuit comprising an alternate communication path for communicating the data from the failed logical circuit;

when either the committed information rate or the committed burst size has been exceeded, rerouting the data from the failed logical circuit to the logical failover circuit in the data network;

after rerouting the data to the logical failover circuit, determining whether the failure in the logical circuit has been corrected; and

if the failure in the logical circuit has been corrected, then rerouting the data from the logical failover circuit to the logical circuit in the data network.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the logical circuit identifier is a data link connection identifier (DLCI).

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the logical circuit identifier is a virtual path/virtual circuit identifier (VPI/VCI).

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the network management module, in rerouting the data to the logical failover circuit in the data network, is operative to reroute the data to a backup physical circuit for communicating the data for the logical failover circuit.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the logical circuit is a permanent virtual circuit.

15. The system of claim 10, wherein the logical circuit is a switched virtual circuit.

16. The system of claim 10, wherein the data network is a frame relay network.

17. The system of claim 10, wherein the data network is an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network.