Switch for dynamically rerouting traffic due to detection of faulty link
First Claim
1. A switch for use in a communications network, said network comprising a plurality of switches interconnected in a ring by communication links, each of said switch comprising:
- one or more transceivers for being connected to associated links to one or more other switches;
a switch fabric for routing information to and from said one or more transceivers;
a routing table; and
one or more processors, said one or more processors for controlling said switch to;
test the quality of links between switches, wherein said one or more processors control said switch to periodically transmit and receive test messages to and from neighboring switches in said ring and detect the quality of links carrying said test messages;
detect that one or more first links, when connected to said switch, do not meet a quality threshold;
transmit information from said switch to other switches to identify said one or more first links;
determine reroute paths for incoming traffic to said switch, such that the rerouted traffic does not traverse said one or more first links, due to said one or more first links being faulty, wherein each of said plurality of switches in the communications network determines said reroute paths independently of the other switches in the communications network;
revise said routing table to reroute traffic according to the reroute paths; and
route traffic to a destination switch, based on a revised routing table, so as to route said traffic in a direction around said ring different from a direction that the traffic would have traveled to said destination switch had said one or more first links not been faulty.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The disclosed network includes two rings, wherein a first ring transmits data in a clockwise direction, and the other ring transmits data in a counterclockwise direction. The traffic is removed from the ring by the destination node. During normal operations (i.e., all spans operational), data between nodes can flow on either ring. Thus, both rings are fully utilized during normal operations. The nodes periodically test the bit error rate of the links (or the error rate is constantly calculated) to detect a fault in one of the links. The detection of such a fault sends a broadcast signal to all nodes to reconfigure a routing table within the node so as to identify the optimum routing of source traffic to the destination node after the fault.
90 Citations
32 Claims
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1. A switch for use in a communications network, said network comprising a plurality of switches interconnected in a ring by communication links, each of said switch comprising:
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one or more transceivers for being connected to associated links to one or more other switches; a switch fabric for routing information to and from said one or more transceivers; a routing table; and one or more processors, said one or more processors for controlling said switch to; test the quality of links between switches, wherein said one or more processors control said switch to periodically transmit and receive test messages to and from neighboring switches in said ring and detect the quality of links carrying said test messages; detect that one or more first links, when connected to said switch, do not meet a quality threshold; transmit information from said switch to other switches to identify said one or more first links; determine reroute paths for incoming traffic to said switch, such that the rerouted traffic does not traverse said one or more first links, due to said one or more first links being faulty, wherein each of said plurality of switches in the communications network determines said reroute paths independently of the other switches in the communications network; revise said routing table to reroute traffic according to the reroute paths; and route traffic to a destination switch, based on a revised routing table, so as to route said traffic in a direction around said ring different from a direction that the traffic would have traveled to said destination switch had said one or more first links not been faulty. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A method for rerouting traffic in a communications network, the communications network comprising a plurality of links between a plurality of switches, comprising the steps of:
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(a) detecting a faulty link by one of the plurality of switches, wherein the plurality of switches are interconnected in a ring; (b) transmitting information from the one switch to the remaining of the plurality of switches to identify the faulty link; (c) determining reroute paths for the traffic by the plurality of switches, such that the rerouted traffic does not traverse the faulty link, wherein each of the plurality of switches determines the reroute paths independently of the other switches; (d) revising a routing table at each of the plurality of switches according to the reroute paths; and (e) routing the traffic to a destination switch based on the revised routing tables of the plurality of switches, wherein routing the traffic to a destination switch comprises, (e1) determining if the traffic is protected traffic or unprotected traffic; (e2) routing the traffic to the destination switch, such that protected traffic is less affected by the faulty link than the unprotected traffic. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A non-transitory computer readable medium with program instructions for rerouting traffic in a communications network, the communications network comprising a plurality of links between a plurality of switches, comprising the instructions for:
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(a) detecting a faulty link by one of the plurality of switches, wherein the plurality of switches are interconnected in a ring; (b) transmitting information from the one switch to the remaining of the plurality of switches to identify the faulty link; and (c) determining reroute paths for incoming traffic to the plurality of switches by the plurality of switches, such that the rerouted traffic does not traverse the faulty link, wherein each of the plurality of switches determines the reroute paths independently of the other switches; (d) revising a routing table at each of the plurality of switches according to the reroute paths; and (e) routing the traffic to a destination switch based on the revised routing tables of the plurality of switches, wherein routing the traffic to a destination switch comprises, (e1) determining if the traffic is protected traffic or unprotected traffic; (e2) routing the traffic to the destination switch, such that protected traffic is less affected by the faulty link than the unprotected traffic.
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Specification