Monitoring link aggregation links

• US 7,929,448 B2
• Filed: 10/17/2006
• Issued: 04/19/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/17/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Wellbrock, Glenn, Lee, James D., Chiu, Howard H., Bencheck, Michael U., Kotrla, Scott R., Turlington, Matthew W., Pitchforth, Donald Jr., Schell, Richard C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Yao; Kwang B
• Assistant Examiner(s): Skripnikov; Alex
• Application Number:
  US11/550,085
• Publication Number:
  US 20080089235A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,645 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 370/244
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0659 by isolating or reconfiguring faulty entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0805 by checking availability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/16 Threshold monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/245 Link aggregation, e.g. trunking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/41 by acting on aggregated flows or links
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/50 in wire-line communication networks, e.g. low power modes or reduced link rate

Abstract

A device detects a signal condition for a link aggregation group (LAG) link, compares the detected signal condition to a signal threshold range, and enables one of a disabled state or a disabled timer state for the LAG link if the detected signal condition is outside the signal threshold range.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

detecting, via a network device, a signal condition for a link aggregation group (LAG) link, where an associated LAG arranges multiple links, including the LAG link, into a logical port;

comparing, via the network device, the detected signal condition to a signal threshold range;

enabling, via the network device, one of a disabled state or a disabled timer state for the LAG link if the detected signal condition is outside the signal threshold range, where enabling, the one of the disabled state or the disabled timer state includes performing maintenance on the LAG link; and

ending the one of the disabled state or the disabled timer state in response to an earliest occurring one of;

completion of the maintenance, or

a determination that none of the multiple links, in the LAG, is active.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating an alert for the LAG link if the detected signal condition is outside the signal threshold range.

3. The method of claim 1, where the signal condition includes a signal degrade condition and the signal threshold range includes a signal degrade threshold range.

4. The method of claim 3, where the signal degrade condition is detected based on errored frames.

5. The method of claim 3, where the signal degrade condition is detected based on an 8B/10B code violation rate.

6. The method of claim 3, where the signal degrade threshold range is configurable and is based on errored frames.

7. The method of claim 6, where the signal degrade threshold range is configurable from about 1 to about 1,000 errored frames in about 100,000 to about 1,000,000 received frames.

8. The method of claim 3, where the signal degrade threshold range is configurable and is based on an 8B/10B code violation rate.

9. The method of claim 8, where the signal degrade threshold range is configurable from about 10⁻

5 to about 10<sup>−

9</sup>.

10. The method of claim 1, where the signal condition further includes a signal failure condition and the signal threshold range includes a signal failure threshold range.

11. The method of claim 10, where the signal failure condition is detected based on errored frames.

12. The method of claim 10, where the signal failure condition is detected based on an 8B/10B code violation rate.

13. The method of claim 10, where the signal failure threshold range is configurable and is based on errored frames.

14. The method of claim 13, where the signal failure threshold range is configurable from about 1 to about 1,000 errored frames in about 1,000 to about 100,000 received frames.

15. The method of claim 10, where the signal failure threshold range is configurable and is based on an 8B/10B code violation rate.

16. The method of claim 15, where the signal failure threshold range is configurable from about 10⁻

3 to about 10<sup>−

5</sup>.

17. A device comprising:

a plurality of links; and

a processor to;

define a link aggregation group (LAG) from two or more of the plurality of links, where the LAG arranges two or more of the plurality of links into a logical port,

detect a signal condition for a LAG link, of the two or more of the plurality of links in the LAG,

compare the detected signal condition to a signal threshold range,

enable one of a disabled state or a disabled timer state for the LAG link if the detected signal condition is outside the signal threshold range, where enabling, the one of the disabled state or the disabled timer state includes performing maintenance on the LAG link, and

ending the one of the disabled state or the disabled timer state in response to an earliest occurring one of;

completion of the maintenance, or

a determination that none of the two or more of the plurality of links, in the LAG, is active.

18. The device of claim 17, where the processor is further to:

generate an alert for the LAG link if the detected signal condition is outside the signal threshold range.

19. The device of claim 17, where the signal condition includes a signal degrade condition and the signal threshold range includes a signal degrade threshold range.

20. The device of claim 19, where the signal degrade condition is detected based on one of errored frames or an 8B/10B code violation rate, and the signal degrade threshold range is configurable and is based on one of errored frames or the 8B/10B code violation rate.

21. The device of claim 20, where the signal degrade threshold range based on errrored frames is configurable from about 1 to about 1,000 errored frames in about 100,000 to about 1,000,000 received frames, and the signal degrade threshold range based on the 8B/10B code violation rate is configurable from about 10⁻

5 to about 10<sup>−

9</sup>.

22. The device of claim 17, where the signal condition includes a signal failure condition and the signal threshold range includes a signal failure threshold range.

23. The device of claim 22, where the signal failure condition is detected based on one of errored frames or an 8B/10B code violation rate, and the signal failure threshold range is configurable and is based on one of errored frames or the 8B/10B code violation rate.

24. The device of claim 23, where the signal failure threshold range based on errored frames is configurable from about 1 to about 1,000 errored frames in about 1,000 to about 100,000 received frames, and the signal failure threshold range based on the 8B/10B code violation rate is configurable from about 10⁻

3 to about 10<sup>−

5</sup>.

25. A system comprising:

means for detecting a condition for a link aggregation group (LAG) link, where a LAG arranges multiple links, including the LAG link, into a logical port;

means for comparing the detected condition to a threshold range;

means for generating an alert for the LAG link if the detected condition is outside the threshold range;

means for enabling one of a disabled state or a disabled timer state for the LAG link in response to the alert;

means for performing maintenance on the LAG link while the LAG link is in one of the disabled state or the disabled timer state, where performing maintenance on the LAG link includes transmitting test traffic on the LAG link; and

means for ending the one of the disabled state or the disabled timer state in response to an earliest occurring one of;

an indication from the comparing means that the test condition for the test traffic is within the threshold range,

completion of the maintenance, or

a determination that none of the multiple links, in the LAG, is active.