Fault diagnosis in relaying data among a plurality of networks
First Claim
1. A network relay apparatus located at one node of a network, said relay apparatus comprising:
- a plurality of input ports and a plurality of output ports, each of said input and output ports being communicably connected to a link of a network;
a plurality of paths, each oath connecting one of the input ports to at least one of the output ports;
a producing unit which produces a diagnostic data file having a target address which indicates a target output port that is one part of a target node of the network to which the diagnostic data file is to be delivered;
a port selecting unit that reads the target address in the diagnostic data file to select a target output port that is at least one of the output ports through which the diagnostic data file is to be outputted to the target node;
a path selecting unit that selects one of the paths as a selected path along which the diagnostic data file is to be carried to the target output port;
an output unit which sends the diagnostic data file produced by the producing unit to the target output port selected by the port selecting unit via the selected path; and
a fault diagnostic unit which detects which one of the output ports the diagnostic data file has arrived at to determine whether or not a fault has occurred in at least one of the port selecting unit, the path selecting unit and the plurality of paths in the network relay apparatus based on consistency between the output port at which the diagnostic data file has arrived and the target output port.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A network relay apparatus relays data accompanied by additional information among plural networks through input ports and output ports. In the apparatus, a deciding unit decides, from the output ports, an objective output port to which the data inputted via any one of the input ports is to be inputted, on the basis of the additional information of the data inputted. An output unit outputs the inputted data through the decided objective output port. A producing unit produces diagnostic data to which the additional information including information indicating the decided objective output port is added, and a providing unit provides the deciding unit with the produced diagnostic data. Further, a fault diagnostic unit is provided to determine whether a fault has occurred in the network relay apparatus on the basis of information concerning the diagnostic data and the decided objective output port.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. A network relay apparatus located at one node of a network, said relay apparatus comprising:
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a plurality of input ports and a plurality of output ports, each of said input and output ports being communicably connected to a link of a network; a plurality of paths, each oath connecting one of the input ports to at least one of the output ports; a producing unit which produces a diagnostic data file having a target address which indicates a target output port that is one part of a target node of the network to which the diagnostic data file is to be delivered; a port selecting unit that reads the target address in the diagnostic data file to select a target output port that is at least one of the output ports through which the diagnostic data file is to be outputted to the target node; a path selecting unit that selects one of the paths as a selected path along which the diagnostic data file is to be carried to the target output port; an output unit which sends the diagnostic data file produced by the producing unit to the target output port selected by the port selecting unit via the selected path; and a fault diagnostic unit which detects which one of the output ports the diagnostic data file has arrived at to determine whether or not a fault has occurred in at least one of the port selecting unit, the path selecting unit and the plurality of paths in the network relay apparatus based on consistency between the output port at which the diagnostic data file has arrived and the target output port. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A computer-readable storage medium containing a computer program for execution by a computer in a network relay apparatus located at a network node, said relay apparatus having a plurality of input ports and a plurality of output ports, each of said plurality of input ports and said plurality of output ports communicably connecting to a link of said network, and wherein a plurality of paths each connect a respective one of the input ports to at least one of the output ports;
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said computer program, when executed by said computer, causes the network relay apparatus to; produce a diagnostic data file having a target address which indicates target output port that is part of a target node of the network to which the diagnostic data file is to be delivered; read the target address in the diagnostic data file and select a target output port that is at least one of the output ports through which the diagnostic data file is to be outputted to the target node; select one of the paths as a selected path along which the diagnostic data file is to be carried to the target output port; send the diagnostic data file to the selected target output port via the selected path; and detect which one of the output ports the diagnostic data file has arrived at as an actual output port to determine whether or not a fault has occurred in at least one of the port selecting step, the path selecting step, and the plurality of the paths of the network relay apparatus based on consistency of the actual output port with the target output port.
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Specification