Patent ID: 8948045
Filing Date: 2015-02-03
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A method of reconfiguring, for performing neighbor discovery, a network element in a communication system, the network element comprising a plurality of communication interfaces, each communication interface being defined by a plurality of parameters, said network element including a network termination card comprising first data storage storing together a discrete set of parameters, the parameters in said discrete set consisting only of parameters in which each parameter of the set is common to and contributes to the definition of each interface of a group of said plurality of interfaces, said discrete set of parameters including parameters for transmission from said network element to and for configuring and controlling another network element in performing neighbor discovery, said discrete set having a set identifier for identifying said discrete set of parameters, whereby each of said parameters of the discrete set is associated with said set identifier, each of the communication interfaces of the group comprising a respective interface data storage on said network termination card storing a respective data set defining each communication interface of the group, each interface data storage being separate from said first data storage such that said discrete set of parameters is stored separately from each data set, wherein each data set includes the identifier of the discrete set of parameters, the identifier serving as a substitute in each data set for the parameters in said discrete set of parameters, wherein each communication interface of the group is configured to access said parameters in said discrete set by referring to said identifier, and to generate and transmit to another network element a message containing one or more parameters in said discrete set of parameters, the method comprising accessing the set of parameters and modifying a setting of one or more parameters in the set, thereby reconfiguring each interface of said group of interfaces to perform neighbor discovery in accordance with the modified set of parameters.