Method for supporting new network element software versions in an element management system without upgrading

• US 20060271914A1
• Filed: 05/27/2005
• Published: 11/30/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 05/27/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Ward, David D., Sun, Jiong, Ramamoorthy, Sai V., Gopal, Niraj
• Granted Patent: US 7,926,033 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/122
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/658 Incremental updates; Differential updates

Abstract

A method and apparatus for configuring an element management system server (an EMS server) to support new network element service application versions without upgrading the EMS server software is provided. The EMS stores base version data that describes the data model of a first version of a service application installed on a network element. When a second version of the service application is available, incremental version data describing changes to the data model from the first version to the second version is obtained and stored. In response to receiving a client request involving a service application on a particular network element, the EMS may apply incremental version data, associated with the version of the service application installed on the particular network element, to the base version data to form merged version data that describes the data model of the version of the service application installed on the particular network element.

Claims

1. A machine-implemented method for configuring a device, comprising the steps of:

storing, at a server, base version data that describes a first data model of a first version of a software application used by the server to provision a service on a network element;

receiving, at the server, incremental version data that describes changes to the first data model with respect to a second data model of a second version of the software application; and

correlating, at the server, the incremental version data with the base version data to form merged version data that describes the second data model.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of correlating the incremental version data with the base version data is performed in response to receiving a request to perform an operation involving the second version of the software application on a particular network element.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

identifying which version of the software application is installed on the particular network element referenced by the request; and

identifying a particular set of incremental version data, among a plurality of sets of incremental version data stored at the server, that is associated with the particular network element referenced by the request.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing the merged version data; and

in response to receiving a request to perform an operation involving the second version of the software application on a particular network element;

retrieving the merged version data.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the incremental version data contains information for use by a client to dynamically generate a GUI for use in configuring how to provision the service on the network element using the second version of the software application.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the merged version data, the incremental version data, and the merged version data are expressed using an XML schema.

7. A machine-readable medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions for configuring a device, wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions by one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform the steps of:

storing, at a server, base version data that describes a first data model of a first version of a software application used by the server to provision a service on a network element;

receiving, at the server, incremental version data that describes changes to the first data model with respect to a second data model of a second version of the software application; and

correlating, at the server, the incremental version data with the base version data to form merged version data that describes the second data model.

8. The machine-readable medium of claim 7, wherein the step of correlating the incremental version data with the base version data is performed in response to receiving a request to perform an operation involving the second version of the software application on a particular network element.

9. The machine-readable medium of claim 8, wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions by the one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform the steps of:

identifying which version of the software application is installed on the particular network element referenced by the request; and

identifying a particular set of incremental version data, among a plurality of sets of incremental version data stored at the server, that is associated with the particular network element referenced by the request.

10. The machine-readable medium of claim 7, wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions by the one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform the steps of:

storing the merged version data; and

in response to receiving a request to perform an operation involving the second version of the software application on a particular network element;

retrieving the merged version data.

11. The machine-readable medium of claim 7, wherein the incremental version data contains information for use by a client to dynamically generate a GUI for use in configuring how to provision the service on the network element using the second version of the software application.

12. The machine-readable medium of claim 7, wherein the merged version data, the incremental version data, and the merged version data are expressed using an XML schema.

13. An apparatus for configuring a device, comprising:

means for storing, at a server, base version data that describes a first data model of a first version of a software application used by the server to provision a service on a network element;

means for receiving, at the server, incremental version data that describes changes to the first data model with respect to a second data model of a second version of the software application; and

means for correlating, at the server, the incremental version data with the base version data to form merged version data that describes the second data model.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the means for correlating the incremental version data with the base version data correlates the incremental version data with the base version data in response to receiving a request to perform an operation involving the second version of the software application on a particular network element.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising:

means for identifying which version of the software application is installed on the particular network element referenced by the request; and

means for identifying a particular set of incremental version data, among a plurality of sets of incremental version data stored at the server, that is associated with the particular network element referenced by the request.

16. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising:

means for storing the merged version data; and

means for retrieving the merged version data in response to receiving a request to perform an operation involving the second version of the software application on a particular network element.

17. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the incremental version data contains information for use by a client to dynamically generate a GUI for use in configuring how to provision the service on the network element using the second version of the software application.

18. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the merged version data, the incremental version data, and the merged version data are expressed using an XML schema.

19. An apparatus for configuring a device, comprising:

one or more processors; and

a machine-readable medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions for configuring a device, wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions by one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform the steps of;

storing, at a server, base version data that describes a first data model of a first version of a software application used by the server to provision a service on a network element;

receiving, at the server, incremental version data that describes changes to the first data model with respect to a second data model of a second version of the software application; and

correlating, at the server, the incremental version data with the base version data to form merged version data that describes the second data model.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the step of correlating the incremental version data with the base version data is performed in response to receiving a request to perform an operation involving the second version of the software application on a particular network element.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions by the one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform the steps of:

identifying which version of the software application is installed on the particular network element referenced by the request; and

identifying a particular set of incremental version data, among a plurality of sets of incremental version data stored at the server, that is associated with the particular network element referenced by the request.

22. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions by the one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform the steps of:

storing the merged version data; and

in response to receiving a request to perform an operation involving the second version of the software application on a particular network element;

retrieving the merged version data.

23. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the incremental version data contains information for use by a client to dynamically generate a GUI for use in configuring how to provision the service on the network element using the second version of the software application.

24. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the merged version data, the incremental version data, and the merged version data are expressed using an XML schema.