Method for automatically discovering a bus system in a multipoint transport network, multipoint transport network and network node

• US 7,764,630 B2
• Filed: 10/23/2006
• Issued: 07/27/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/25/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: WSOU Investments, LLC (WSOU Holdings, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Alcatel SA (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Bunse, Stephan
• Primary Examiner(s): Ton, Dang T
• Assistant Examiner(s): RANDHAWA, MANDISH K
• Application Number:
  US11/584,627
• Publication Number:
  US 20070115854A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,373 Days
• Field of Search: 370/252, 370/255, 370/400, 370/389, 370/228, 370/237, 370/380, 370/351
• US Class Current: 370/255
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/40169 Flexible bus arrangements arrangements for maintenance or administration involving management of faults; events, alarms H04L41/06; automatic restoration of network faults H04L41/0654
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies

Abstract

A method for automatically discovering a bus system in a multipoint transport network (MTN) is described, which MTN is a two-dimensional arrangement of a plurality of nodes, wherein each node potentially can be logically connected with a plurality of adjacent nodes via a potential link connection. The method includes the steps of placing a first test signal in the GPF layer overhead by the GPF termination functions in order to first gain a relation between all GFP termination functions and the corresponding termination points; deriving the relations between all connection points of the MTN bus by using local knowledge about the status of the GFP adaptation functions, which needs a communication between all nodes of the MTN bus concerning the status of the GFP adaptation functions; and employing an adapted link management protocol (LMP) between all connection points of the MTN bus. Furthermore a multipoint transport network to be used to execute said method, plus a network node to be used in such a multipoint transport network is described.

Claims

1. A method for automatically discovering a bus system in a multipoint transport network (MTN), which the MTN is a two-dimensional arrangement of a plurality of nodes, wherein each node potentially can be logically connected with a plurality of physically adjacent nodes via a potential link connection, comprising the steps of:

placing a first test signal in Generic Framing Procedure (GFP) layer overhead by GFP termination functions in order to first gain at least one relation between all GFP termination functions and corresponding termination points;

deriving at least one of the relations between all connection points of the MTN bus by using local knowledge about the status of GFP adaptation functions, which needs a communication between all nodes of the MTN bus concerning the status of the GFP adaptation functions; and

employing an adapted link management protocol (LMP) between all connection points of the MTN bus, wherein the LMP is adapted such that the placing step is further defined by detecting Termination Connection Point (TCP) to TCP relations using the standard LMP, the deriving step is further defined by exchanging messages for inferring a client layer link connection, wherein within said messages parameters are adapted in order to provide required information at the end of the, discovery process to each node, and wherein the employing step is further defined by forming a new MTN bus message containing the at least one of the relations and sending the new bus message along the MTN bus, and wherein discovery of conditions of the nodes takes place in the control plane such that to discover the conditions of at least one potential connection between the nodes, the data plane is checked against the control plane.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that exchanging information follows a hierarchy beginning at the first node within said bus system.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that each node acknowledges said information the very moment information comprising conditions of other nodes has been received.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the MTN bus is realized in a GFP layer that is set upon an Optical Data Unit (ODU) layer.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the messages adapted in the deriving step are further defined by a MTN bus ID, wherein the MTN bus ID is unique for each node of the plurality of nodes, a MTN server link, wherein the MTN server link indicates which links on the server layer such as the GFP layer are forming the bus. wherein the server links also indicate a placement of the nodes along the MTN bus, particularly the handling of time to drop counters, and MTN bus client links.

6. The method according to claim 5, Wherein the MTN bus client links are further defined by sub-network termination point (SMTP) to STMP relations determined by the deriving step.