Protocols for out-of-band communication
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A transceiver module comprising:
- a transmitter configured to transmit a first command, including a data packet command instructing a receiving transceiver to respond with a packet which corresponds to an acknowledge message;
a receiver configured to receive responses from the receiving transceiver;
a memory and a processor configured to record on the memory an indicator that the transceiver module is in a point-to-point network upon the receiver receiving a response corresponding to the first command from the receiving transceiver;
the transmitter further configured to transmit one or more subsequent commands upon the receiver failing to receive the response corresponding to the first command from the receiving transceiver, wherein each of the one or more subsequent commands includes instructions to the receiving transceiver to retransmit the acknowledge message;
the processor further configured to record on the memory an indicator that the transceiver module is in a ring network upon the receiver receiving a response corresponding to the one or more subsequent commands from the receiving transceiver, the response corresponding to the one or more subsequent commands including wrappers generated by a plurality of transceiver modules of the ring network; and
the processor further configured to record on the memory recording an indicator that the transceiver module is not in a point-to-point network or a ring network upon the receiver failing to receive the response corresponding to the first command from the receiving transceiver and the receiver failing to receive a response corresponding to the one or more subsequent commands from the receiving transceiver.
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Abstract
Methods for managing an optical network through out-of-band communication between optical transceiver modules in a heterogeneous network fabric are disclosed. The disclosed methods include methods for performing fabric discovery, communicating error messages, detecting intrusion. Methods are also disclosed for communicating between transceivers of differing protocol versions and memory capacity.
3 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A transceiver module comprising:
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a transmitter configured to transmit a first command, including a data packet command instructing a receiving transceiver to respond with a packet which corresponds to an acknowledge message; a receiver configured to receive responses from the receiving transceiver; a memory and a processor configured to record on the memory an indicator that the transceiver module is in a point-to-point network upon the receiver receiving a response corresponding to the first command from the receiving transceiver; the transmitter further configured to transmit one or more subsequent commands upon the receiver failing to receive the response corresponding to the first command from the receiving transceiver, wherein each of the one or more subsequent commands includes instructions to the receiving transceiver to retransmit the acknowledge message; the processor further configured to record on the memory an indicator that the transceiver module is in a ring network upon the receiver receiving a response corresponding to the one or more subsequent commands from the receiving transceiver, the response corresponding to the one or more subsequent commands including wrappers generated by a plurality of transceiver modules of the ring network; and the processor further configured to record on the memory recording an indicator that the transceiver module is not in a point-to-point network or a ring network upon the receiver failing to receive the response corresponding to the first command from the receiving transceiver and the receiver failing to receive a response corresponding to the one or more subsequent commands from the receiving transceiver. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method for discovering a network fabric including a plurality of transceiver modules, the method comprising:
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transmitting a first knock knock command from a first transceiver module of the plurality of transceiver modules; evaluating whether the first transceiver module receives a response corresponding to the first knock knock command; if the first transceiver module receives the response corresponding to the first knock knock command, then recording an indicator that the first transceiver module is in a point-to-point network; and if the first transceiver module does not receive the response corresponding to the first knock knock command, then transmitting one or more subsequent knock knock commands including; transmitting a subsequent knock knock command including instructions to forward the subsequent knock knock command L times, wherein L is a positive integer; if the first transceiver module receives a response corresponding to the subsequent knock knock command that includes wrappers generated by others of the plurality of transceiver modules, then recording an indicator that the first transceiver module is in a ring network; if the first transceiver module does not receive a response corresponding to the subsequent knock knock command, then determining if L is less than a maximum value; if L is not less than the maximum value, then recording an indicator that the first transceiver module is in a star network; and if L is less than the maximum value, then incrementing L and repeating the transmitting of the one or more subsequent knock knock commands. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification