Methods and systems for detecting malfunctioning nodes in a telecommunication network

• US 7,567,563 B2
• Filed: 03/11/2005
• Issued: 07/28/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 03/12/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: RPX Corporation
• Original Assignee: Alcatel SA (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Galand, Damien, Marce, Olivier
• Primary Examiner(s): Moe, Aung S
• Assistant Examiner(s): Pasia, Redentor M
• Application Number:
  US11/076,899
• Publication Number:
  US 20050201374A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,600 Days
• Field of Search: 370248-250, 370/349, 370/351, 370/389, 370/390, 370/392, 370/395.3, 370/395.31, 370464-465, 370/471, 370/218, 370/225, 370236-242, 370/432, 370/472, 709/203, 709/234, 709/245, 709/238, 709220-222
• US Class Current: 370/389
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/00 Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks routing or path finding in wireless networks H04W40/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/22 Alternate routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/28 using route fault recovery

Abstract

The request for the response from the sender to the receiver is dynamically routed via a first route traversing the network nodes. Addresses of the traversed network nodes are recorded in an order of traversing in the request. A second route is determined based on the recorded addresses of the nodes. A supplemental packet is generated. The supplemental packet is transmitted to the sender of the request via the determined second route, from a node address to a node address. The response is dynamically routed to the sender of the request by reversely traversing the first route.

Claims

1. A method of transmitting data packets in a telecommunication network made up of network nodes for dynamically routing successive packets sent by a sender to a receiver along different routes and using a protocol, by which the receiver receiving a request transmits a response to the sender of said request, the method comprising:

transmitting the request for the response via a first route traversing the network nodes;

recording addresses of the traversed network nodes in an order of traversing in the request;

determining a second route based on a reverse order of the recorded addresses of the network nodes;

generating a supplemental packet;

contemporaneously transmitting the supplemental packet from the receiver to the sender of said request via the determined second route, from one node address to another node address, and dynamically routing the response from the receiver to the sender by reversely traversing the first route;

receiving the supplemental packet at receiving intermediate network nodes traversed by the request in the reverse order based on the recorded addresses;

generating an additional packet at each receiving intermediate network node; and

forcibly forwarding the supplemental packet from each receiving intermediate network node to a next node in the reverse traversing order based on the recorded addresses and dynamically routing the generated additional packet from each receiving intermediate network node to the sender of the request by reversely traversing the first route.

2. The method claimed in claim 1, wherein said supplemental packet comprises a body identical to a body of said response.

3. The method claimed in claim 1, wherein said network node includes a router using dynamic routing tables and further comprising:

forwarding a packet as a function of parameters including at least one of transmission delay or network traffic.

4. The method claimed in claim 1, wherein said telecommunications network includes Internet.

5. The method claimed in claim 1, wherein recording addresses comprise recording the addresses of the network nodes in a table and wherein determining the second route comprises modifying the table by deleting a last address from the table and further comprising:

transmitting the supplemental packet to the last address in the modified table.

6. The method claimed in claim 1, further comprising:

modifying the addresses at each receiving intermediate network node by deleting a last address comprising the address of a current receiving network node; and

forcibly forwarding the supplemental packet from the current receiving network node to a new last address comprising the address of the next node in the reverse order of traversing based on the recorded addresses.

7. The method claimed in claim 1, further comprising:

comparing the dynamically routed packets received at the sender to the forcibly forwarded packets; and

identifying a malfunction in one of the network nodes based on comparing.

8. The method claimed in claim 1, further comprising:

comparing the dynamically routed packets received at the sender to the forcibly forwarded packets; and

identifying a malfunctioning node if the dynamically routed additional packet sent from the network nodes preceding the malfunctioning node is lacking at the sender.

9. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the network nodes preceding a malfunctioning node traversed by the request in the traversing order are not traversed by one of the dynamically routed response or the additional packet.

10. The method as claimed in claim 9, further comprising:

identifying the malfunctioning node based on an absence of one of the response or the additional packet at the sender.

11. A server for transmitting data packets in a telecommunication network made up of network nodes for dynamically routing successive packets sent by a sender to a receiver along different routes and using a protocol, by which the receiver receiving a request transmits a response to the sender of said request, the server comprising:

means for transmitting the request for the response by traversing the network nodes via a first route;

means for recording addresses of the traversed network nodes in an order of traversing in the request;

means for determining a second route based on a reverse order of the recorded addresses of the network nodes;

means for generating a supplemental packet;

means for dynamically routing said response from the receiver to said sender by reversely traversing the first route and contemporaneously forcibly transmitting a the supplemental packet, from one node address to another node address, from the receiver to the sender of said request via the determined second route;

means for receiving the supplemental packet at receiving intermediate network nodes traversed by the request in the reverse order based on the recorded addresses;

means for generating an additional packet at each receiving intermediate network node; and

means for forcibly forwarding the supplemental packet from each receiving intermediate network node to a next node in the reverse traversing order based on the recorded addresses and contemporaneously dynamically routing the generated additional packet from each receiving intermediate network node to the sender of the request by reversely traversing the first route.

12. The server claimed in claim 11, wherein said supplemental packet comprises a body identical to a body of said response.

13. The server claimed in claim 11, wherein said network node includes a router using dynamic routing tables to forward the packet as a function of parameters including at least one of transmission delay or network traffic.

14. The server claimed in claim 11, wherein said telecommunications network includes Internet.