Network switching system

A network switching system is used for monitoring an operation status of an in-line device, including an operating voltage of a hardware unit of the in-line device, an operating system running in the in-line device and at least one application running in the operating system. Once an abnormal status is detected in any of the operating voltage of the hardware unit, the operating system and the application, the network switching system switches a working mode of the in-line device from a normal mode to a bypass mode, to ensure normal communication between first and second network devices connected to the in-line device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the priority of Republic of China Patent Application No. 106127514 filed on Aug. 14, 2017, in the State Intellectual Property Office of the R.O.C., the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The invention relates to optical communication network technologies, and more particularly, to a network switching system.

Descriptions of the Related Art

In-line device is commonly used between two or more network devices. It allows associated applications in the in-line device to analyze network packets when all the network devices connected to the in-line device communicate with each other by transmitting the network packets. This is to filter the network packets to remove threatening network packets and forward secure network packets to a target network device according to the analysis result so as to ensure communication security between the network devices.

The in-line device protects communication security between the network devices as described above. However, when the in-line device does not function properly, for example, an abnormal situation (its power goes off or it goes down) occurs, the network devices connected to the in-line device lose network connection.

Accordingly, a common in-line device is usually provided with a bypass mode. The bypass mode involves a physical link based protection technique. Physical link normally includes two working statuses: normal mode and bypass mode. The bypass mode allows the network devices connected to the in-line device to be directly physically turned on under a specific trigger status and without the need of any associated system of the in-line device. The bypass mode works when the in-line device malfunctions, so as to assure that the network devices connected to the in-line device communicate with each other properly.

In the current technology, most in-line devices automatically switch to the bypass mode only when their power goes off or they go down. Practically, an abnormal situation encountered by an in-line device making it fail to provide normal network connection for the network devices connected to the in-line device however is not limited to the above two cases: power off or down, but can be caused by many reasons. What often happens is that, when the in-line device has an abnormal situation other than power off or down, it does not automatically switch to the bypass mode, thereby leading to abnormal communication between the network devices connected to the in-line device.

In view of this, how to provide a network switching control mechanism, improve the abnormal monitoring effect of the in-line device, and ensure normal communication between the network devices is the technical problem to be solved by the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the above drawbacks in the conventional technology, a primary object of the invention is to provide a network switching system. It allows a working mode of an in-line device to be switched if an abnormal status is detected in any of an operating voltage, an operating system and an application of the in-line device, so as to ensure normal communication between all network devices connected to the in-line device.

According to another purpose of the invention, a network switching system of the invention is integrated in an external circuit board, thereby reducing device size and fabrication costs thereof.

To achieve the above and other objects, a network switching system applied to an in-line device is provided in the invention. The in-line device including a hardware unit built in the in-line device, an operating system running in the in-line device and at least one application running in the operating system, the in-line device being connected to a switch, the switch further being connected to a first network device and a second network device respectively to switch network channels between the first and second network devices, the network switching system including: a first detector for detecting an operating voltage of the hardware unit and for outputting a first trigger signal when it detects that the operating voltage of the hardware unit is abnormal; a second detector for detecting an operating status of the operating system and for outputting a second trigger signal when it detects that the operating status of the operating system is abnormal; a third detector including a monitoring program running in the operating system, for detecting an operating status of the application, wherein when it detects that the operating status of the application is abnormal, the third detector outputs a third trigger signal; and a controller connected to the switch, wherein the switch is in a normal mode by default, making the first and second network devices communicate with each other through the in-line device, and wherein when the controller receives any of the first, second and third trigger signals, it controls the switch to switch from the normal mode to a bypass mode, allowing the first and second network devices to communicate without the in-line device so as to ensure normal communication between the first and second network devices when the in-line device operates abnormally.

Preferably, in the network switching system said above, the first detector, the second detector and the controller are provided in an external circuit board, and the external circuit board includes a communication interface for communication connection with the in-line device.

Preferably, in the network switching system said above, the communication interface is PCIE interface.

Preferably, in the network switching system said above, the first detector outputs the first trigger signal when it detects that a supply voltage of the hardware unit is lower than a predetermined voltage threshold.

Preferably, in the network switching system said above, the second detector further includes a trigger unit for performing a timing operation, wherein when the operating system operates normally, it periodically sends a reset signal to the trigger unit, wherein the trigger unit detects if the reset signal from the operating system is received within trigger threshold time, and if the reset signal is not received within the trigger threshold time, the second trigger signal is outputted.

Preferably, in the network switching system said above, the trigger unit is a watch dog timer (WDT).

Preferably, in the network switching system said above, the controller is MCU.

Preferably, in the network switching system said above, the in-line device further includes at least one inspection program running in the operating system, and the monitoring program detects if the operating status of the application is abnormal according to an execution status of the inspection program.

Preferably, in the network switching system said above, the inspection program is for performing a network management inspection task and a data packet exchange inspection task, wherein the network management inspection task is for inspecting if the application is abnormal for network management, and the data packet exchange inspection task is for inspecting if the application is abnormal for data packet exchange.

In comparison to prior arts, the network switching system of the invention is respectively detecting the operating voltage of the hardware unit of the in-line device, the operating system running in the in-line device and the application running in the operating system. When the abnormal operating situation is detected in any of the above three, the network switching system controls the in-line device to switch from the normal mode to the bypass mode, so as to ensure normal communication between the network devices connected to the in-line device.

Moreover, the network switching system of the invention is integrated in the external circuit board (such as PCIE card) and is plugged into a communication interface of the in-line device to detect any abnormal operating situation of the in-line device, such that it can be widely used and has advantages of small device size and low costs.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1is an architectural diagram of a network switching system according to a first embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, the network switching system100is applied to an in-line device20. The in-line device20includes a hardware unit21(such as motherboard) built in the in-line device20, an operating system (OS)22running in the in-line device20, and at least one application23running in the operating system22.

The in-line device20is further connected to a switch30, and there are a first network device31and a second network device32respectively connected to the switch30, wherein the switch30is used to switch network channels between the first and second network devices31,32. It should be noted that, the number of the first and second network devices31,32connected to the switch30can be adjusted flexibly according to practical requirements.

Referring toFIG. 1, the network switching system100in this embodiment includes a first detector110, a second detector120, a third detector130and a controller140.

The first detector110is used to detect an operating voltage of the hardware unit21and to output a first trigger signal when it detects that the operating voltage of the hardware unit21is abnormal. The first detector110detects if a current operating voltage of the hardware unit21is lower than a predetermined voltage threshold, and decides to output the first trigger signal when the current operating voltage of the hardware unit21is abnormal as being lower than the predetermined voltage threshold. In this embodiment, providing that the hardware unit21detected by the first detector110is a motherboard (not shown) of the in-line device20, the predetermined voltage threshold is 11.2V, and a normal operating voltage of the motherboard is for example 12V, the first detector110would output the first trigger signal when it detects that the operating voltage of the motherboard drops from 12V to lower than 11.2V.

The second detector120is used to detect an operating status of the operating system22of the in-line device20and to output a second trigger signal when it detects that the operating status of the operating system22is abnormal. In this embodiment, the second detector120detects if kernel of the operating system22crashes so as to accordingly determine if operation of the operating system22is abnormal.

The third detector130includes a monitoring program131stored therein which runs in the operating system22of the in-line device20. The third detector130utilizes the monitoring program131to detect an operating status of an associated application23installed in the operating system22, and outputs a third trigger signal when it detects that the operating status of the application23is abnormal. It should be noted that, the number and type of the application23monitored by the monitoring program131are preset by the factory or can be set by a user of the in-line device20according to practical requirements. The application23is selectively used for bandwidth management, packet inspection, hacking prevention and ring network device management.

The controller140is connected to the switch30. The switch30is in a normal mode by default, and thus the first and second network devices31,32communicate with each other through the in-line device20. When the controller140receives any of the first, second and third trigger signals, it controls the switch30to switch from the normal mode to a bypass mode, allowing the first and second network devices31,32to communicate without the in-line device20, so as to ensure normal communication between the first and second network devices31,32if the in-line device20operates abnormally.

Particularly, when the in-line device20functions properly, the switch30is in the normal mode, it means that the first and second network devices31,32connected to the switch30communicate with each other through the in-line device20that provides communication security between the first and second network devices31,32. When the controller140receives the first, second or third trigger signal, it means that the network switching system100detects an abnormal operating status in any of the operating voltage of the hardware unit21in the in-line device20, the operating system22running in the in-line device20and the application23running in the operating system22. As such abnormal operating status causes interruption of network communication between the first and second network devices31,32, the controller140controls the switch130to switch from the normal mode to the bypass mode, such that the first and second network devices31,32may communicate without the in-line device20, thereby preventing communication interruption of the first and second network devices31,32caused by abnormal operation of the in-line device20.

FIG. 2is an architectural diagram of the network switching system100according to a second embodiment of the invention. In the network switching system100of the second embodiment, its software part, that is, the monitoring program131of the third detector130, is provided in the in-line device20, while its hardware part, including the first and second detectors110,120and the controller140, is provided in an external circuit board10, wherein the external circuit board10includes a communication interface11for communication connection with the in-line device20. The in-line device20further includes a PCIE interface (not shown), and the external circuit board10is for example a PCIE add-on card having a PCIE communication interface, which can be plugged into the PCIE interface of the in-line device20to be electrically connected to the in-line device20, such that the in-line device20may provide power for each hardware unit in the external circuit board10. Moreover, the switch30for controlling the working mode of the in-line device20is also integrated in the external circuit board10.

The controller140is for example MCU140. In this embodiment, the motherboard of the in-line device20follows standard ATX power supply sequencing control. When the in-line device20performs a power-on operation, the order of power supply sequencing includes: when not powered on (waiting for power-on), the motherboard of the in-line device20only has 3.3 AUX standby voltage; after pressing a power button of the in-line device20, the in-line device20performs the power-on operation, and 12V and 3.3V voltages are generated in the motherboard. When the in-line device20performs a shutdown operation, the order of power supply sequencing is just the opposite, wherein the motherboard drops from its normal operating voltage 12V to 3.3V, and until the in-line device20completes the shutdown operation, the motherboard only has 3.3 AUX standby voltage. As the operating voltage of MCU is supplied by 3.3 AUX, before the in-line device20performs the power-on operation, MCU140may start working, while when the in-line device20is powered off (shut down), MCU140is also the last hardware unit that stops working. Accordingly, when the first detector110detects that the operating voltage of the motherboard of the in-line device20drops abnormally, for example from 12V to 11.2V, it outputs the first trigger signal to MCU140that may still operate normally under such operating voltage, such that MCU140can allow the switch30to switch from the normal mode to the bypass mode successfully before the motherboard's voltage drops to the final 3.3 AUX, thereby ensuring normal communication between the first and second network devices31,32.

It should be noted that the hardware unit21detected by the first detector110is not limited to the above motherboard, but can be any other hardware unit in the in-line device20according to practical requirements. For example, the first detector110may detect if the operating voltage of the PCIE interface of the in-line device20is normal so as to determine if the working mode of the in-line device20should switch to the bypass mode.

Further referring toFIG. 2, in this embodiment, the second detector120also includes a trigger unit121for detecting if the kernel of the operating system22of the in-line device20crashes during a timing operation. Particularly, when the operating system22functions normally, it periodically sends a reset signal to the trigger unit121. The trigger unit121detects if the reset signal from the operating system22is received within trigger threshold time. If the reset signal is not received within the trigger threshold time, the second trigger signal is outputted.

In this embodiment, the trigger unit121is a watch dog timer (WDT) for performing the timing operation and generating timing time. When the operating system22functions normally, it periodically sends the reset signal to the trigger unit121, making the trigger unit121clear currently generated timing time and restart timing. When currently generated timing time exceeds the trigger threshold time, it means the operating system22does not periodically output the reset signal, such that the second detector120may accordingly decide that the operating system22operates abnormally (that is, the kernel of the operating system22crashes) and output the second trigger signal.

In another embodiment of the invention, the in-line device20further includes at least one inspection program24running in the operating system22, for inspecting an operating status of each application23running in the in-line device20. The monitoring program131of the invention thus may indirectly detect if the operating status of the application23is abnormal according to an execution status of the inspection program24.

Particularly, the inspection program24is provided by a supplier of the in-line device20or application23, and is used to perform a network management inspection task and a data packet exchange inspection task, wherein the network management inspection task is for inspecting if the application23is abnormal for network management, and the data packet exchange inspection task is for inspecting if the application23is abnormal for data packet exchange. For example, the network management task includes performing SNMP traps and requests, and the data packet exchange inspection task includes performing load-balancing algorithm. In this embodiment, the monitoring program131may directly work with the inspection program24of the in-line device20to determine if the application23runs abnormally according to the inspection result from the inspection program24. Using the existing inspection program24in the in-line device20to monitor the operating status of the application23not only reduces costs on developing monitoring programs for monitoring operation of the application23, but also further reduces the overall fabrication costs of the invention.

Therefore, when any of the operating voltage of the in-line device, the operating system running in the in-line device and the application running in the operating system encounters an abnormal operating situation, it would cause communication interruption between all network devices connected to the in-line device. The network switching system of the invention is provided with the first, second and third detectors for respectively detecting the operating voltage of the hardware unit of the in-line device, the operating system running in the in-line device and the application running in the operating system. When the abnormal operating situation is detected in any of the above three, the network switching system controls the in-line device to switch from the normal mode to the bypass mode, so as to ensure normal communication between the network devices connected to the in-line device.

Moreover, the network switching system of the invention, except its software, is integrated in the external circuit board, and the external circuit board is plugged into the communication interface of the in-line device to monitor an operating status of each part of the in-line device. Thus, the invention is applicable to various in-line devices, has a wide application range, and has advantages of small device size and low fabrication costs.

The examples above are only illustrative to explain principles and effects of the invention, but not to limit the invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications and variations can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Therefore, the protection range of the rights of the invention should be as defined by the appended claims.