USE OF 1:1 PROTECTION STATE MACHINE FOR LOAD SHARING AND ALTERNATIVE PROTECTION SCHEMES

• US 20100309778A1
• Filed: 06/09/2009
• Published: 12/09/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 06/09/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ciena Corporation
• Original Assignee: GridPoint System Inc.
• Inventors: Young, Kenneth W.
• Granted Patent: US 8,665,709 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/219
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0817 by checking functioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/22 Alternate routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/28 using route fault recovery
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/125 by balancing the load, e.g. traffic engineering

Abstract

A system is provided for sharing a protection path between at least two protection groups in a network. The system includes at least one working path associated with each of the protection groups, and at least one working maintenance entity group (“WMEG”) monitoring the status of each of the working paths. Each WMEG notifies the protection group associated with the monitored working path of changes in the status of the monitored working path. At least one protection entity group (“PMEG”) monitors the status of the protection path and notifies each of the protection groups of changes in the status of the protection path. Each of the protection groups is switchable to the protection path in response to the receipt of notifications from the WMEG of changes to a non-operational status for the respective working paths associated with each of the protection groups.

Claims

1. A system for sharing a protection path between at least two protection groups in a network, said system comprising

at least one working path associated with each of said protection groups,

at least one working maintenance entity group (“

WMEG”

) monitoring the status of each of said working paths, each WMEG notifying the protection group associated with the monitored working path of changes in the status of said monitored working path,

at least one protection maintenance entity group (“

PMEG”

) monitoring the status of said protection path, each PMEG notifying each of said at least two protection groups of changes in the status of said protection path, and

each of said protection groups being switchable to said protection path in response to the receipt of a notification from said WMEG of a change to a non-operational status for the respective working paths associated with said protection groups.

2. The system of claim 1 in which each of said protection groups is automatically or manually switchable to said associated working path in response to the receipt of a notification a change to an operational status for the respective working paths associated with said protection groups.

3. The system of claim 1 which includes a scheduling algorithm providing differentiated access to the bandwidth of the protection path based on configured differentiation parameters.

4. A method of sharing a protection path between at least two protection groups in a network, said method comprising

associating at least one working path with each of said protection groups,

monitoring the status of each of said working paths with at least one working maintenance entity group (“

WMEG”

), each WMEG notifying the protection group associated with the monitored working path of changes in the status of the monitored working path,

monitoring the status of said protection path with at least one protection maintenance entity group (“

PMEG”

), each PMEG notifying each of said at least two protection groups of changes in the status of said protection path, and

switching a selected one of said protection groups to said protection path in response to the receipt of a notification from said WMEG of a change to a non-operational status for the working path associated with said selected protection group.

5. The method of claim 4 which includes automatically or manually switching a selected one of said protection groups to an associated working path in response to the receipt of a notification a change to an operational status for the working path associated with said selected protection group.

6. The method of claim 4 which includes using a scheduling algorithm to provide differentiated access to the bandwidth of the protection path based on configured differentiation parameters.

7. A system for sharing a protection path between at least two protection groups in a network, said system comprising

a protection path associated with each of said protection groups,

a protection maintenance entity group (“

PMEG”

) monitoring the status of each of said protection paths and notifying each of said at least two protection groups of changes in the status of the monitored protection paths,

a working path associated with each of said protection groups,

a working maintenance entity group (“

WMEG”

) monitoring the status of each of said working paths, each WMEG notifying the protection group associated with the monitored working path of changes in the status of the monitored working path, and

each of said protection groups being switchable to said protection path in response to the receipt of a notification from said WMEG of a change to a non-operational status for the respective working paths associated with said protection groups.

8. The system of claim 7 in which each of said protection groups is automatically or manually switchable to an associated working path in response to the receipt of a change to an operational status for the respective working paths associated with said protection groups.

9. The system of claim 7 which includes a scheduling algorithm providing differentiated access to the bandwidth of the working path based on configured differentiation parameters.

10. A method of sharing a protection path between at least two protection groups in a network, said method comprising

associating a protection path with each of said protection groups,

monitoring the status of each of said protection paths with a protection maintenance entity group (“

PMEG”

) and notifying each of said at least two protection groups of changes in the status of the monitored protection paths,

associating a working path with each of said protection groups,

monitoring the status of each of said working paths with a working maintenance entity group (“

WMEG”

) and notifying the protection group associated with the monitored working path of changes in the status of the monitored working path, and

switching a selected one of said protection groups to said protection path in response to the receipt of a notification from said WMEG of a change to a non-operational status for the respective working paths associated with said selected protection group.

11. The method of claim 10 which includes automatically or manually switching a selected one of said protection groups to an associated working path in response to the receipt of a notification of a change to an operational status for the working path associated with said selected protection group.

12. The method of claim 10 which includes using a scheduling algorithm to provide differentiated access to the bandwidth of the working path based on configured differentiation parameters.

13. A system for sharing at least two protection paths between at least two protection groups in a network, said system comprising,

a working path associated with each of said protection groups,

a working maintenance entity group (“

WMEG”

) monitoring the status of each of said working paths, each WMEG providing the status of the monitored working path to the associated protection group,

a protection maintenance entity group (“

PMEG”

) monitoring the status of each of said protection paths, said PMEG providing the status of the monitored protection path to each of said protection groups, and

each protection group maintaining a list of operational protection paths and switching to one of said protection paths in said list in response to the receipt of a notification from said WMEG of a change to a non-operational status for the respective working paths associated with said protection groups.

14. The system of claim 13 in which said protection group is switchable to a working path automatically or manually upon receipt of a notification of a change to an operational status for an associated working path.

15. The system of claim 13 in which a scheduling algorithm is used to provide differentiated access to the bandwidth of a protection path based on configured differentiation parameters.

16. The system of claim 13 in which said list of operational protection paths is prioritized.

17. The system of claim 13 in which said protection path to which a protection group is switched is randomly selected from said list of operational protection paths.

18. A system for load sharing working and protection paths between first and second protection groups in a network, said system comprising,

a first working path associated with said first protection group,

a second working path associated with said second protection group,

a first maintenance entity group monitoring the status of said first working path and notifying said first and second protection groups of changes in the status of said first working path,

a second maintenance entity group monitoring the status of said second working path and notifying said first and second protection groups of changes in the status of said second working path,

said first protection group being switchable to said second working path upon receipt of a non-operational status notification from said first maintenance entity group, and

said second protection group being switchable to said first working path upon receipt of an non-operational status notification from said second maintenance entity group.

19. The system of claim 18 in which said first or second protection group is automatically or manually switchable to said first or second working path upon receipt of a notification of a change to an operational status for the respective working paths associated with said protection groups.

20. The system of claim 18 which includes a scheduling algorithm providing differentiated access to the bandwidth of the working path based on configured differentiation parameters.