Simultaneously testing connectivity to multiple remote maintenance endpoints of the same maintenance association
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- simultaneously executing, with a first network device, a first maintenance session and a second maintenance session different from the first maintenance session for a same maintenance association, wherein the maintenance association comprises a logical grouping of at least the first network device and a second network device that are established to verify the integrity of a single service instance;
maintaining a first session identifier that uniquely identifies the first maintenance session within the first network device and a second session identifier that uniquely identifies the second maintenance session within the first network device;
generating, with the first network device, an outgoing maintenance message such that the outgoing maintenance message includes a session identifier field specifying the first session identifier when the outgoing maintenance message is associated with the first maintenance session and specifying the second session identifier when the outgoing maintenance message is associated with the second maintenance session, wherein the outgoing maintenance message conforms to a maintenance protocol that does not specify session identifiers for inclusion in the outgoing maintenance message;
transmitting, with the first network device, the outgoing maintenance message to a second network device included within the maintenance association;
receiving, with the first network device, a response maintenance message from the second network device in response to the outgoing maintenance message, wherein the response maintenance message includes the same session identifier field, unmodified by the second network device, specifying either the first or the second session identifier;
parsing, with the first network device, the response maintenance message to determine whether the session identifier field stores either the first or the second session identifier; and
forwarding, with the first network device, the response maintenance message to the first or the second maintenance session based on the determination.
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Accused Products
Abstract
In general, techniques are described for simultaneously testing connectivity to same or different remote maintenance endpoints of the same maintenance association. Specifically, a network device may include a control unit that simultaneously executes both a first and a second maintenance session. The control unit maintains first and second session identifiers that uniquely identifies the first and second maintenance sessions. The control unit receives via the first maintenance session input that specifies parameters for a maintenance message and generates the maintenance message in accordance with the parameters such that the maintenance message includes the first session identifier. The network device also includes an interface card that forwards the maintenance message to another network device in order to determine connectivity between these two network devices. By generating the maintenance message to include the first session identifier, the control unit may upon receiving a response to the maintenance message resolve to which of the maintenance session the response corresponds.
305 Citations
29 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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simultaneously executing, with a first network device, a first maintenance session and a second maintenance session different from the first maintenance session for a same maintenance association, wherein the maintenance association comprises a logical grouping of at least the first network device and a second network device that are established to verify the integrity of a single service instance; maintaining a first session identifier that uniquely identifies the first maintenance session within the first network device and a second session identifier that uniquely identifies the second maintenance session within the first network device; generating, with the first network device, an outgoing maintenance message such that the outgoing maintenance message includes a session identifier field specifying the first session identifier when the outgoing maintenance message is associated with the first maintenance session and specifying the second session identifier when the outgoing maintenance message is associated with the second maintenance session, wherein the outgoing maintenance message conforms to a maintenance protocol that does not specify session identifiers for inclusion in the outgoing maintenance message; transmitting, with the first network device, the outgoing maintenance message to a second network device included within the maintenance association; receiving, with the first network device, a response maintenance message from the second network device in response to the outgoing maintenance message, wherein the response maintenance message includes the same session identifier field, unmodified by the second network device, specifying either the first or the second session identifier; parsing, with the first network device, the response maintenance message to determine whether the session identifier field stores either the first or the second session identifier; and forwarding, with the first network device, the response maintenance message to the first or the second maintenance session based on the determination. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A network device comprising:
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a control unit that simultaneously executes a first maintenance session and a second maintenance session different from the first maintenance session for a same maintenance association, wherein the maintenance association comprises a logical grouping of at least the network device and another network device that are established to verify the integrity of a single service instance, maintains a first session identifier that uniquely identifies the first maintenance session within the first network device and a second session identifier that uniquely identifies the second maintenance session within the first network device and generates an outgoing maintenance message such that the outgoing maintenance message includes a session identifier field specifying the first session identifier when the outgoing maintenance message is associated with the first maintenance session and specifying the second session identifier when the outgoing maintenance message is associated with the second maintenance session, wherein the outgoing maintenance message conforms to a maintenance protocol that does not specify session identifiers for inclusion in the outgoing maintenance message; and at least one interface card that transmits the outgoing maintenance message to the other network device included within the maintenance association and receives a response maintenance message from the other network device in response to the outgoing maintenance message, wherein the response maintenance message includes the same session identifier field, unmodified by the other network device, specifying either the first or the second session identifier, wherein the control unit parses the response maintenance message to determine whether the session identifier field stores either the first or the second session identifier and forwards the response maintenance message to the first or the second maintenance session based on the determination. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A network system comprising:
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a first network that includes a first network device; and a second network that includes a second network device, wherein the first network device and the second network device logically belong to a maintenance association that enables the first network device to troubleshoot connectivity between the first network device and the second network device that belong to the same maintenance association, wherein the first network device includes; a first control unit that simultaneously executes a first maintenance session and a second maintenance session different from the first maintenance session for the same maintenance association, maintains a first session identifier that uniquely identifies the first maintenance session within the first network device and a second session identifier that uniquely identifies the second maintenance session within the first network device and generates an outgoing maintenance message such that the outgoing maintenance message includes a session identifier field specifying the first session identifier when the outgoing maintenance message is associated with the first maintenance session and specifying the second session identifier when the outgoing maintenance message is associated with the second maintenance session, wherein the outgoing maintenance message conforms to a maintenance protocol that does not specify session identifiers for inclusion in the outgoing maintenance message; and a first interface card that transmits the outgoing maintenance message to the second network device included within the maintenance association, wherein the second network device includes; a second interface card that receives the outgoing maintenance message from the first network device, wherein the outgoing message includes a destination address identifying the second network device and a source address identifying the first network device; and a second control unit that generates a response maintenance message to the outgoing maintenance message by swapping the destination address with the source address and changing an opcode to indicate a type of the message as a response message without further modifying the outgoing maintenance message, wherein the second interface card forwards the response maintenance message to the first network device, wherein the first interface card receives the response maintenance message from the second network device, wherein the response maintenance message includes the same session identifier field, unmodified by the second network device, specifying either the first or the second session identifier, and wherein the first control unit parses the response maintenance message to determine whether the session identifier field stores either the first or the second session identifier and forwards the response maintenance message to the first or the second maintenance session based on the determination. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28)
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29. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that cause a programmable processor to:
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simultaneously execute, with a first network device, a first maintenance session and a second maintenance session different from the first maintenance session for a same maintenance association, wherein the maintenance association comprises a logical grouping of at least the first network device and a second network device that are established to verify the integrity of a single service instance; maintain a first session identifier that uniquely identifies the first maintenance session within the first network device and a second session identifier that uniquely identifies the second maintenance session within the first network device; generate, with the first network device, an outgoing maintenance message such that the outgoing maintenance message includes a session identifier field specifying the first session identifier when the outgoing maintenance message is associated with the first maintenance session and specifying the second session identifier when the outgoing maintenance message is associated with the second maintenance session, wherein the outgoing maintenance message conforms to a maintenance protocol that does not specify session identifiers for inclusion in the outgoing maintenance message; transmit, with the first network device, the outgoing maintenance message to a second network device included within the maintenance association; receive, with the first network device, a response maintenance message from the second network device in response to the outgoing maintenance message, wherein the response maintenance message includes the same session identifier field, unmodified by the second network device, specifying either the first or the second session identifier; parse, with the first network device, the response maintenance message to determine whether the session identifier field stores either the first or the second session identifier; and forward, with the first network device, the response maintenance message to the first or the second maintenance session based on the determination.
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Specification