Patent ID: 7680033
Filing Date: 2010-03-16
Classification: H04J

Abstract:
1. A method for identifying a path that has been provisioned in a communications network, the network having a plurality of nodes that are connected to each other through links that carry time division multiplexed signals divided into a set of predetermined timeslots, said method comprising: receiving a request to identify a path that has been provisioned in the network, wherein the request is responsive to a fault condition comprising corruption of a network configuration database, and wherein the path that has been provisioned in the network comprises data transmitted utilizing a protocol between one or more terminal devices; retrieving information from nodes in the network that indicate a respective configuration of the predetermined timeslots; identifying at least one pair of boundaries of the path based on the configuration of the predetermined timeslots, wherein identifying at least one pair of boundaries of the path based on the configuration of the predetermined timeslots comprises determining whether a timeslot is configured as a pass-through cross-connect or an add/drop, and wherein the identifying the least one pair of boundaries is performed by conducting a query of all or part of each node in the communications network for a first boundary, tracing the predetermined timeslots from the first boundary through one or more nodes in the network, and conducting a narrowed query of all or part of each node in the communications network for a second boundary, wherein the narrowed query is narrowed responsive to the results of the query for the first boundary; determining a list of nodes comprising each of the nodes in the path and a list of which of the set of determined timeslots the path utilizes at each of the nodes in the path; and performing one of creating and modifying a path object for the path in the network configuration database responsive to the identifying and determining steps; wherein the method is executed on an element management system associated with a SONET/SDH network to reconcile circuit data between a database associated with the element management system and provisioning information of each of the plurality of nodes.