Abstract:
The invention is directed to a method and system for bulk provisioning of telecommunications services on a live network and is suited to migrating telecommunications services from a legacy network to another network. Customer service data files can be imported, and validated against customer service rules and against live configuration data of the live network. Actions are logged and can be rolled back when errors are encountered.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    The present application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/437,191, entitled “Auto-Binding SDP RSVP LSP Tunnel” (Proulx et al.), and filed on May 7, 2009, the entire content of which is incorporated by reference into the present application. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The invention is directed to packet switching communication networks, and particularly to bulk provisioning of services on such networks. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    Telecommunications networks are upgraded periodically to accommodate growth and to replace legacy equipment. Migrating an existing network from legacy equipment to new equipment can be very labor-intensive and requires documenting all the existing customers and their services and provisioning these services on the new network. This process is typically carried out manually 
         [0004]    Therefore, a means for providing an improved migration is highly desirable. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    One aspect of an embodiment of the present invention is directed to a method for bulk provisioning of telecommunications services onto a first network. The method comprises steps of: importing customer service data at a service platform, from a second telecommunications network; validating at a service platform, format of the customer service data; validating at a service platform, compatibility of the customer service data with the first network; provisioning customer services on the first network corresponding to the customer service data; and activating the customer services on the first network. 
         [0006]    Some embodiments of the present invention further comprise a step of performing diagnostics on the first network. 
         [0007]    Some embodiments of the present invention further comprise steps of logging the steps of importing, provisioning and activating. 
         [0008]    Some embodiments of the present invention further comprise steps of rolling back one or more of the steps of activating, provisioning and importing. 
         [0009]    In some embodiments of the present invention the step of importing customer service data comprises reading a data file. 
         [0010]    In some embodiments of the present invention the data file is in the format of a spreadsheet file. 
         [0011]    In some embodiments of the present invention the step of importing customer service data further comprises steps of: extracting the customer service data from said second telecommunications network via a network management entity; and storing said customer service data in said data file. 
         [0012]    In some embodiments of the present invention the customer service data represents customer services comprising layer 2 services. 
         [0013]    In some embodiments of the present invention the layer 2 services comprise services selected from: Virtual Leased Line (VLL) services; and Ethernet Virtual Private Network (VPN) services. 
         [0014]    In some embodiments of the present invention the customer services comprise layer 3 services. 
         [0015]    In some embodiments of the present invention the layer 3 services comprise services selected from: Virtual Private Routed Network (VPRN) services; and Internet Protocol-Virtual Private Network (IP-VPN) services. 
         [0016]    Another aspect of an embodiment of the present invention is directed to a system for bulk provisioning of telecommunications services onto a first network. The system comprises: a network management entity configured to manage network nodes and services on the network; a service platform in communication with the network management entity; wherein the service platform is configured to: import customer service data at a service platform, from a second telecommunications network; validate at a service platform, format of the customer service data; validate at a service platform, compatibility of the customer service data with the first network; provision customer services on the first network corresponding to the customer service data; and activate the customer services on the first network. 
         [0017]    In some embodiments of the present invention the service platform is further configured to perform diagnostics on the first network. 
         [0018]    In some embodiments of the present invention the service platform is further configured to log the steps of importing, provisioning and activating. 
         [0019]    In some embodiments of the present invention the service platform is further configured to roll back one or more of said steps of activating, provisioning and importing. 
         [0020]    In some embodiments of the present invention the service platform is further configured to import customer service data by reading a data file. 
         [0021]    In some embodiments of the present invention the data file is in the format of a spreadsheet file. 
         [0022]    In some embodiments of the present invention the service platform is further configured to extract the customer service data from the second telecommunications network via a network management entity; and store the customer service data in the data file. 
         [0023]    In some embodiments of the present invention the customer service data represents customer services selected from, Virtual Leased Line (VLL) services, Ethernet Virtual Private Network (VPN) services, Virtual Private Routed Network (VPRN) services; and Internet Protocol-Virtual Private Network (IP-VPN) services. 
         [0024]    Another aspect of an embodiment of the present invention is directed to a program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform method steps described above. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0025]    Some embodiments of apparatus and/or methods in accordance with embodiments of the present invention are now described, by way of example only, and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: 
           [0026]      FIG. 1  illustrates a network configuration for bulk provisioning of services in a telecommunications network in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0027]      FIG. 2  illustrates a flowchart for a method for bulk provisioning of services in a telecommunications network according to the embodiment depicted in  FIG. 1 ; and 
           [0028]      FIG. 3  illustrates a state diagram for bulk provisioning of services in a telecommunications network in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
       [0029]    In the figures like features are denoted by like reference characters. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0030]      FIG. 1 , illustrates a network configuration  100  for bulk provisioning of services in a telecommunications network and especially suited to bulk provisioning in the context of migrating customer services from a legacy network to a new network. Internet Protocol (IP) network  102  has network elements  104 ,  106 ,  108  providing customer services such as Virtual Private Routed Network (VPRN) “A”  130 ,  132  carried on transport tunnels  126 ,  128 . Network management system  110  is communicatively coupled to the network elements in the network via communication link  112 . The network management system  110  is capable of performing operation, administration and maintenance (OAM) type functions on the network elements. The network configuration  100  also includes a service platform  114  that is communicatively coupled to the network management system  110  via an open operating system (OS) interface  116 . The service platform  114  executes a service application such as migration tool  118  in communication with customer rules  122  stored on the service platform  114 . Other types of service applications can provide various tools for streamlining OAM tasks and diagnostic tools. The service platform  114  can also provide various user interfaces to allow access to these tools via terminals, computers, portable devices or handheld devices either directly connected or connected remotely (either wired or wirelessly) to the Network Management System  110 . Using the open OS interface  116 , the service platform  114  can issue OAM control commands to the network management system  110  including commands to effect provisioning changes at the network elements  104 ,  106 ,  108 . Migration tool  118  is configured to read bulk file  120  which contains a list of all customer services to be provisioned on network  102 . Bulk file  120  can be in the form of a spreadsheet for example a Microsoft excel .XML file. A spreadsheet is a convenient form for exporting details of customer services from a legacy network in order to migrate those customer services to new network  102 . It will be understood by persons skilled in the art that other data formats for detailing and exporting customer service information would also work. Migration total  118  can extract live configuration data  124  via network management entity  110 . 
         [0031]    An embodiment of the process of the present invention will be described with reference to  FIG. 1 ,  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3 , where  FIG. 2  illustrates a flow chart of an embodiment of the process of the invention and  FIG. 3  illustrates a state diagram of an embodiment of the invention. A user, typically service personnel for a telecommunications service provider, accesses a Migration tool  118  on service platform  114  and initiates the migration process. The process starts at step  202  where the system is in “Start” state  302 . At step  204 , the migration tool  118  imports a list of existing customer services into a database on the service platform  114 , by loading bulk file  120  containing a list of all customer services to be provisioned on network  102 . In some embodiments, the bulk file  120  is a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. This system is now in “Loaded” state  306 . At step  206  migration tool  118  performs a validation of the data in the bulk file to ensure that no fields are missing data and that all mandatory fields for each service are correctly populated and in the correct format. The migration tool validates parameters such as customer ID, Router IP, ingress QoS policy, source port, destination port to ensure they conform to customer rules  122  stored on the service platform  114 . Thus each customer service entry is compared to the relevant customer rules. 
         [0032]    The migration tool reports any missing parameters by reporting the name of the missing parameter, and the row and column in the bulk file. 
         [0033]    At step  208  if the migration tool  118  reports errors then the process proceeds to step  210  to allow the user to correct errors in the bulk file at step  210 . Also, modifications can be made to the bulk file such as adding additional routers or other network elements or services. The process then returns to step  206  to validate the local data again. 
         [0034]    If there are no errors due process continues to step  212 . At step  212  the migration tool  118  retrieves live configuration data  124  from network elements on the live network via the network management entity  110 . The migration tool  118  is thus in synchronization with the live network. In some embodiments the live configuration data is previously stored at the network management entity  110 . Migration tool  118  then performs a network data validation by comparing the local data provided in the bulk file with the live configuration data  124 . The network and data validation can verify that: required network elements such as routers exist; that required ports are configured; that network nodes are accessible; that customer names are unique; that maximum transmission unit (MTU) sizes are appropriate; that appropriate Quality of Service (QoS) policies exist; etc. 
         [0035]    At step  214  if the migration tool  118  reports errors, then the process proceeds to step  216  to allow the user two correct errors and discrepancies. The process then returns to step  212  to perform network data validation again. 
         [0036]    If there are no errors at step  214  then the process continues to step  218 . At step  218  the migration tool  118  can instruct the network management entity to  110  to provision the customer services from the bulk file  120  onto the live network  102 . The system is then in “Provisioned” state  314 . If errors occur during the provisioning process then at step  220  the migration tool  118  allows the user to un-provision the provisioned services at step  222 . 
         [0037]    The migration tool  118  logs all of the activities of this process to permit seamless rollback. Thus the un-provision step  222  can return the system to its previous “Loaded” state  306 . Because all activities of this process are logged, a log of all actions can be displayed to the user for documentation, confirmation and for trouble shooting. 
         [0038]    If the provisioning was determined to be successful at step  220 , then the process continues to step  224  where the migration tool  118  allows the user to instruct the migration tool to activate the provisioned services on the network, after which, the system is now in “Activated” state  320 . Note that typically, the activation step is performed after physical cables are connected to the live network  102 , or in the case of a migration from a legacy network, after physical cables are switched over from the legacy network to the new network  102 . 
         [0039]    At step  226  for the migration tool  118  verifies that the activate step  224  was a successful. If errors are detected the migration tool  118  allows the user to roll back or deactivate the activation of the customer services at step  228 , after which the process returns to step  224 . This will protect against partial deployment in the network. 
         [0040]    If the migration tool  118  determines how that if there were no errors in the activation of customer services than the process proceeds to step  230  to where the migration tool  118  allows the user to perform Operations, Administration and Maintenance (OAM) tests on the provisioned and activated customer services on network  102 , to verify the performance of the network and the customer services. Examples of tests include measuring the delay, and jitter of new services in the network, and validating that they are within acceptable Service Level Agreement (SLA) specifications. The process then ends at step  232 . 
         [0041]    This system can simplify workflows and stream line laborious manual user processes for bulk provisioning of new networks or for migrating customer services from a legacy network to a new network. In this manner multiple customer services can be auto-provisioned. This system allows thousands of services to be provisioned within minutes 
         [0042]    The migration tool also permits bulk deletion of services so that services that were misconfigured during this process or misconfigured previously, can be deleted easily. 
         [0000]    Various customer services can be processed by embodiments of the present invention, layer 1 services such as Ethernet wireline services, layer 2 services such as Virtual Leased Line (VLL) services; and Ethernet Virtual Private Network (VPN) services, layer 3 services such as Virtual Private Routed Network (VPRN) services; and Internet Protocol Virtual Private Network (IP-VPN) services. 
         [0043]    A person of skill in the art would readily recognize that steps of various above-described methods can be performed by programmed computers. Herein, some embodiments are also intended to cover program storage devices, e.g., digital data storage media, which are machine or computer-readable and encode machine-executable or computer-executable programs of instructions, wherein said instructions perform some or all of the steps of said above-described methods. The program storage devices may be, e.g., digital memories, magnetic storage media such as a magnetic disks and magnetic tapes, hard drives, or optically readable digital data storage media. The embodiments are also intended to cover computers programmed to perform said steps of the above-described methods. 
         [0044]    The description and drawings merely illustrate the principles of the invention. It will thus be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to devise various arrangements that, although not explicitly described or shown herein, embody the principles of the invention and are included within its spirit and scope. Furthermore, all examples recited herein are principally intended expressly to be only for pedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the principles of the invention and the concepts contributed by the inventor(s) to furthering the art, and are to be construed as being without limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions. Moreover, all statements herein reciting principles, aspects, and embodiments of the invention, as well as specific examples thereof, are intended to encompass equivalents thereof. 
         [0045]    The functions of the various elements shown in the Figures, including any functional blocks labeled as “processors”, may be provided through the use of dedicated hardware as well as hardware capable of executing software in association with appropriate software. When provided by a processor, the functions may be provided by a single dedicated processor, by a single shared processor, or by a plurality of individual processors, some of which may be shared. Moreover, explicit use of the term “processor” or “controller” should not be construed to refer exclusively to hardware capable of executing software, and may implicitly include, without limitation, digital signal processor (DSP) hardware, network processor, application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), field programmable gate array (FPGA), read only memory (ROM) for storing software, random access memory (RAM), and non volatile storage. Other hardware, conventional and/or custom, may also be included. Similarly, any switches shown in the FIGS. are conceptual only. Their function may be carried out through the operation of program logic, through dedicated logic, through the interaction of program control and dedicated logic, or even manually, the particular technique being selectable by the implementer as more specifically understood from the context. 
         [0046]    It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that any block diagrams herein represent conceptual views of illustrative circuitry embodying the principles of the invention. Similarly, it will be appreciated that any flow charts, flow diagrams, state transition diagrams, pseudo code, and the like represent various processes which may be substantially represented in computer readable medium and so executed by a computer or processor, whether or not such computer or processor is explicitly shown. 
         [0047]    Numerous modifications, variations and adaptations may be made to the embodiment of the invention described above without departing from the scope of the invention, which is defined in the claims.