System, device, and method for bandwidth management in an optical communication system
First Claim
1. An apparatus to provide bandwidth management services to a user in an optical communication system, the apparatus comprising:
- a network device with an optical service agent including;
an application programming interface stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium and executed to perform steps including receiving input from a user application indicative of application-specific bandwidth management service requirements;
a user-to-network interface (UNI) stored on non-transitory computer readable storage medium and executed to perform steps including interfacing with an optical communication network in which data is processed and transported only in optical form;
a peer-to-peer interface stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium and executed to perform steps including interfacing with peer users; and
optical service logic stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium and executed to perform steps including interacting with the application programming interface and the optical communication network via the UNI and with the peer users via the peer-to-peer interface for providing said application-specific bandwidth management services for the user, including provision of a new optical communication path between specified nodes in the optical communication network, the optical service logic comprising bandwidth relinquishing logic for relinquishing excess bandwidth for a connection, the bandwidth relinquishing logic relinquishing excess bandwidth for the connection upon determining that bandwidth utilization on the connection is below a predetermined level; and
an optical service server which authenticates the user, obtains network topological information, and employs the network topological information on behalf of the optical service agent for providing bandwidth management services such that the network topological information is not exposed to the user.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system, device, and method for bandwidth management in an optical communication system uses an optical service agent to provide bandwidth management services on behalf of a user. The optical service agent may monitor bandwidth utilization on a connection, control bandwidth utilization on a connection, obtain additional bandwidth for a connection, relinquish excess bandwidth for a connection, and allocate bandwidth among multiple connections, to name but a few. The optical service agent may interact with an optical communication network and/or various peer users in order to obtain and reserve communication services.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. An apparatus to provide bandwidth management services to a user in an optical communication system, the apparatus comprising:
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a network device with an optical service agent including; an application programming interface stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium and executed to perform steps including receiving input from a user application indicative of application-specific bandwidth management service requirements; a user-to-network interface (UNI) stored on non-transitory computer readable storage medium and executed to perform steps including interfacing with an optical communication network in which data is processed and transported only in optical form; a peer-to-peer interface stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium and executed to perform steps including interfacing with peer users; and optical service logic stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium and executed to perform steps including interacting with the application programming interface and the optical communication network via the UNI and with the peer users via the peer-to-peer interface for providing said application-specific bandwidth management services for the user, including provision of a new optical communication path between specified nodes in the optical communication network, the optical service logic comprising bandwidth relinquishing logic for relinquishing excess bandwidth for a connection, the bandwidth relinquishing logic relinquishing excess bandwidth for the connection upon determining that bandwidth utilization on the connection is below a predetermined level; and an optical service server which authenticates the user, obtains network topological information, and employs the network topological information on behalf of the optical service agent for providing bandwidth management services such that the network topological information is not exposed to the user. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. An apparatus comprising,
a network device including: -
a user application requiring communication services from an optical communication network in which data is processed and transported only in optical form; and an optical service agent stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium and executed to perform steps including, responsive to signaling from the user application, communicating with the optical communication network and providing application-specific optical communication network bandwidth management services for the user application, including provision of a new optical communication path between specified nodes in the optical communication network, the optical service agent having; a user-to-network interface UNI for interfacing with the optical communication network and a peer-to-peer interface for interfacing with peer users; and optical service logic for interacting with the optical communication network via the UNI and with the peer users via the peer-to-peer interface for providing said bandwidth management services for the user application, the optical service logic comprising; bandwidth relinquishing logic for relinquishing excess bandwidth for a connection, the bandwidth relinquishing logic relinquishing excess bandwidth for the connection upon determining that bandwidth utilization on the connection is below a predetermined level; and an optical service server which authenticates the user application and obtains network topological information which is employed on behalf of the optical service agent for providing bandwidth management services such that the network topological information is not exposed to the user application. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 30)
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19. A system comprising:
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an optical communication network in which data is processed and transported only in optical form; a first network user coupled to the optical communication network, wherein the first network user comprising; an optical service agent stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium and executed to perform steps including; responsive to signaling from a user application, obtaining application-specific optical communication services from the optical communication network via a user-to-network interface (UNI) communicating with the optical communication network and for providing application-specific bandwidth management services for the first network user, including provision of a new optical communication path between specified nodes in the optical communication network, the optical service agent having optical service logic for interacting with the optical communication network via the UNI for providing said bandwidth management services for the user application, the optical service logic comprising bandwidth relinquishing logic for relinquishing excess bandwidth for a connection;
the bandwidth relinquishing logic relinquishing excess bandwidth for the connection upon determining that bandwidth utilization on the connection is below a predetermined level; andan optical service server which authenticates the first network user and network topological information which is employed on behalf of the optical service agent for providing bandwidth management services such that the network topological information is not exposed to the first network user. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A computer program product, comprising a non-transitory computer usable medium having a computer readable program code embodied therein, said computer readable program code adapted to be executed to implement a method for managing bandwidth for a user application in an optical communication system in which data is processed and transported only in optical form, the-method comprising:
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monitoring bandwidth utilization, using an optical service agent associated with the user application, on a connection in the optical communication system; controlling bandwidth utilization, using the optical service agent associated with the user application, on the connection in the optical communication system in response to signaling from the user application to provide application-specific bandwidth utilization control; obtaining additional bandwidth, using the optical service agent associated with the user application, for the connection in the optical communication system in response to signaling from the user application to provide application-specific additional bandwidth, including provision of a new optical communication path between specified nodes in the optical communication system; relinquishing unused bandwidth, using the optical service agent in the user application, for the connection in the optical communication system in response to signaling from the user application to provide application-specific relinquishing of bandwidth; and allocating bandwidth, using the optical service agent, among multiple connections in the optical communication system, prior to which an optical service server executes the following steps; authenticating the user application; obtaining network topological information; and employing the network topological information on behalf of the optical service agent to provide bandwidth management services such that the network topological information is not exposed to a first network user. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29)
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Specification