Abstract:
A method for translating control messages between a network manager and a router. The method includes intercepting an input command message intended for the router, where the router partitioned into a plurality of logical router partitions, and the input command message expressed in terms of logical router partitions. Each logical router partition expression of the input command message is translated into a physical router expression, and the input command message, including any translated expressions, is propagated toward the router.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCES  
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of United States Provisional Application Serial No. 60/274,009, filed Mar. 7, 2001, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     
       TECHNICAL FIELD  
         [0002]    The present invention relates to optical virtual private networks and, more particularly, to a translator that enables an interface between a network manager and many network elements using a single network switch.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    As demand for transferring electronic data grows, major global carriers seek city-to-city connectivity in their global data networks. The hardware for implementing this and other network connectivity includes computer and networking equipment. Furthermore, the communications industry is rapidly moving to fiber optic mediums, which are faster than conventional copper wired mediums. As with most new technologies, the fiber optic mediums are expensive to procure.  
           [0004]    For example, a global carrier may provide network connectivity between the cities of New York City, Los Angeles, Seattle, Tokyo, and Osaka. In this instance, each city requires computer and networking equipment, such as servers and routers (i.e., switches). In this instance, a total of five optical routers would be required to provide connectivity between all five cities.  
           [0005]    As more cities are connected to the global data network, additional infra-structure and intra-structure is required. In particular, an additional optical router is required for each location added to the global network, which drives up the purchasing expenses for the global carrier.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0006]    Other and further aspects of the present invention will become apparent during the course of the following description by reference to the accompanying drawing. In particular, the present invention includes a method and apparatus for routing control messages between a network manager and a single router to control connectivity between at least two network elements through the single router.  
           [0007]    A method and apparatus according to one embodiment comprises a translator, which intercepts an input command message intended for the router, where the router is partitioned into a plurality of logical router partitions, and the input command message is expressed in terms of the logical router partitions. Each logical router partition of the input command message is translated into a physical router expression, and the translated input command message, including any translated expressions, is then propagated toward the router.  
           [0008]    In response to the input command message, the router provides a return message (e.g., command response message or acknowledgement) to the network manager. The translator intercepts the return message from the router, where the return message is expressed in terms of the physical router. The translator translates the physical router expression of the return message into a logical router partition, and then propagates the translated return message toward the network manager. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING  
       [0009]    [0009]FIG. 1 depicts a block diagram of a communications network having a network manager-to-router translator program of the present invention;  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 2 depicts a block diagram of a host computer facilitating the translator program in the communications network of FIG. 1;  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 3 depicts a block diagram of the router suitable for use in the network of FIG. 1;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 4 depicts a block diagram of a plurality of program modules of a translator program;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 5 depicts a flow diagram of a method of exchanging and translating TL 1  input command and return messages between a network manager and a logically partitioned router using a translator program; and  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 6 depicts a flow diagram of a method of exchanging and translating TL 1  autonomous messages between the logically partitioned router and network manager via the translator program. 
     
    
       [0015]    To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have been used, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common to the figures.  
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0016]    The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for using a single router in a network and logically defining the router as multiple routers from the perspective of networking management software. Specifically, a translator program, according to an embodiment of the present invention, is utilized to partition and map a single optical router to function as multiple independent routers in a communications network for routing transaction language messages between a network manager and the router. The translator program operates in tandem with, or as part of, an operating system on a host computer device interfacing between the network manager and the single partitioned router. The transaction language messages are administrative commands generated by an administrator of the network manager to illustratively, establish a connection between at least two external nodes (i.e., network elements) coupled together through the single router. Once the network element connections in the router are established, the single router is capable of routing data (e.g., video data) therebetween.  
         [0017]    As described in detail herein, aspects of the preferred embodiment pertain to specific method steps that are implemented on computer systems. In one embodiment, the invention may be implemented as a computer software product for use with a computer system. The programs of the software product define the functions of the preferred embodiment and may be delivered to a computer via a variety of signal-bearing media, which include, but are not limited to, (a) information permanently stored on non-writable storage media (e.g., read-only memory devices within a computer such as CD-ROM disks readable by CD-ROM drive); (b) alterable information stored on writable storage media (e.g., floppy disks within diskette drive or hard-disk drive  114 ); or (c) information conveyed to a computer by a communications medium, such as through a computer or telephone network, including wireless communications. Such signal-bearing media, when carrying computer-readable instructions that direct the functions of the present invention, represent alternative embodiments of the present invention. Alternate embodiments may include implementation of the inventive translator software program as an application program stored on the computer, as program code stored in a device driver or on an output device itself, or on a network device such as a server or firewall, as discussed in further detail below.  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 1 depicts a block diagram of a communications network  100  having a single router  130  and a translator program  124  according to the present invention. In one embodiment, the communications network  100  comprises a workstation  102  for hosting a network manager  104 , a host computer  120  for hosting a translator program  124 , and a single router  130 , which is coupled between a plurality of network elements  140 . The workstation  102  is networked to the host computer  120 , illustratively, through Ethernet wiring  112 . The host computer  120  is similarly coupled to the router  130 , illustratively, through Ethernet wiring  128 . Alternately, the host computer  120  may communicate between the workstation  102  and router  130  through a wireless communications standard, illustratively, operating under the “Bluetooth”, IEEE 802.11 family standards, Open Air industry standards, Shared Wireless Access Protocol (SWAP), and HiperLAN family standards, which are hereby incorporated by reference herein. For example, both the Bluetooth and the 802.11 standards provide for wireless technology that supports both point-to-point and point-to-multipoint connections. The router  130  is coupled between various network elements  140  to route data traffic between like and unlike local/wide area networks (LAN/WAN).  
         [0019]    The network manager may be the WAVESTAR™ optical service manager (hereinafter “network manager”), manufactured by Lucent Technologies, Inc., of Murray Hill, N.J., which manages the connectivity between the various nodes and network elements  140 . The router  130  may be Lucent&#39;s LAMBDAROUTER™ all optical switch (hereinafter “router”), which comprises micro electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) that steer light from an input port to a particular output port. The translator program  124  may be implemented as, for example, a software tool that intercepts and modifies particular information that is exchanged between the network manager  104  and the router  130  in order to “trick” the network manager  104  to see multiple routers  130 .  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 2 depicts a block diagram of an exemplary host computer  120 , which is coupled between the workstation  102  and router  130  of FIG. 1. Although FIG. 2 is depicted and described in terms of the host computer  120 , it should be understood that the workstation  102  also comprises similar components and software thereof. For example, in one embodiment, the workstation  102  comprises Microsoft&#39;s WINDOWS® operating systems (e.g., Windows NT®), which is capable of providing graphical user interfaces (GUI) for user interaction.  
         [0021]    Referring to FIG. 2, the host computer  120  comprises at least one system interconnect, e.g., bus  203 , to which various components are coupled and communicate with each other. Specifically, a processor  205 , storage device  208 , memory such as random access memory (RAM)  204 , read only memory (ROM)  210 , input/output (I/O) ports  212 , and other support circuits  206  (e.g., power supplies, clocks, bus controllers, graphics display, and the like) are coupled to the system bus  203 . Furthermore, one or more output devices  216 , such as a display, as well as one or more input devices  214  such as a keyboard and/or pointing device are respectively coupled to the I/O ports  212 . The input and output devices  214  and  216  permit user interaction with the host computer  120 . Additional input/output devices include one or more network interface cards (NIC)  218   1  through  218   t  (collectively network interface cards  218 ). The NICs  218  provide connectivity to the one or more communications networks such as the LAN/WAN  112 . In FIG. 2, the first and second NICs are, illustratively, ETHERNET® adapter card.  
         [0022]    The RAM  204  is volatile memory (e.g., SRAM, DRAM, and the like). The contents of the RAM  204  may be retrieved from the storage device  208  as required. Illustratively, the RAM  204  is shown with the operating system  220  and application programs  230  “A” through “P” concurrently stored therein. The program code of the operating system  220  and/or application programs  230  is sent to the RAM  204  from ROM  208  for temporary storage and subsequent execution by the processor  205 .  
         [0023]    The operating system (OS)  220  may illustratively be any one of IBM&#39;s operating systems (e.g., OS/ 400 ) or Microsoft&#39;s WINDOWS® operating systems (e.g., Windows NT®), or any other operating system  220  that provides graphical user interfaces (GUI) for user interaction (e.g., the Apple® systems). In one embodiment, the operating system  220  is a Linux based operating system. The operating system  220  is capable of interfacing with all of the hardware components of the host computer  120 .  
         [0024]    The applications programs  230  are specialized programs, such as anti-virus programs, web browsers, and the like. Executable and library files (not shown) of the operating system  220  and application programs  230  are individually transferred from the storage device  208  to the RAM  204  for processing as needed. The transfer of the executable files may be controlled by a memory management system such as on-demand paging. Thus, the RAM  204  is capable of storing files from the operating system  220 , as well as files from one or more applications programs  230   1  through  230   p  (collectively applications programs  230 ).  
         [0025]    Referring to FIG. 1, the translator program  124  of the present invention is stored at the host computer  120  for interfacing between the network manager  104  in the workstation  102  and a controller  132  on the router  130 . For purposes of clarity and understanding the invention, the translator program  124  is discussed as being a separate application program  230 . The translator program  124  may be loaded into the RAM  204  upon user activation of such application program or automatically during boot-up of the host computer  120 .  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 3 depicts a block diagram of the router  130  of FIG. 1 suitable for use in the network. The optical router  130  physically comprises one or more shelves, each shelf having a plurality of slots, where each slot comprises at least one port. The network manager  104  communicates with the router software, via a TCP/IP (socket) connection transmitting machine-to machine program language, such as transaction language (TL 1 ) messages. However, the present invention provides a translator program  124  to monitor and intercept the TL 1  application messages exchanged between the network manager  104  and the router software  302 .  
         [0027]    One function of the translator program  124  is to logically divide or partition the single router  130  into a plurality of logical routers  302 . In FIG. 3, the single router  130  is illustratively partitioned into three logical routers  302   1  through  302   3 . Each logical router  302  comprises a plurality of optical channels (OCH), where a port defines each optical channel. In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 3, the first logical router  302   1  comprises four input optical channels  304   1  through  304   4  and four output optical channels  306   1  through  306   4 . The second logical router  302   2  comprises three input optical channels  304   5  through  304   7  and three output optical channels  306   5  through  306   7 . Lastly, the third logical router  302   3  illustratively comprises two input optical channels  304   8  and  304   9  and two output optical channels  306   8  and  306   g . Although only three logical routers  302   1  through  302   3  (and the respective input and output optical channels  304  and  306 ) are shown in FIG. 3, such number should not be considered as limiting.  
         [0028]    Each port is provided with an access identification (AID) designation. For example, an AID designation of OCH 1 13  5 13  2 refers to the optical channel located at shelf  1 , slot  5 , and port  2 , which also corresponds to logical partition TID- 2  of the router in FIG. 3. FIG. 3 illustratively depicts a single shelf having at least nine slots. Each of the slots illustratively comprises two ports, which respectively define an input and output optical channel  304  and  306 . As such, the exemplary router  130  depicted in FIG. 3 comprises a total of  18  ports and  18  respective AIDs. One skilled in the art will appreciate that the number of shelves, slots per shelf, and the number of ports per slot may vary. For example, Lucent Technology&#39;s LAMBDAROUTER™ All Optical Switch (e.g., AOS  128 ) comprises four ports per slot. Furthermore, the entire router is scalable, for example, from  128  ports to  256  ports, and to  1024  ports.  
         [0029]    Once a system administrator (user) logically partitions the router  130 , the network manager  104  interprets the single physical router  130  as being a plurality of independent routers. In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 3, the network manager  104  “sees” three independent routers, while only one physical router  130  actually exists. Each logical partition  302  acts as an isolated switch serving the network elements  140  coupled to the associated ports of the respective optical channels  304  and  306  of each logical partition  302 . As such, messages may only be transferred between the respective input optical channels  304  and output optical channels  306  of a particular logical partition  302 . For example, network elements  140  coupled to the ports of input optical channels OCH 13  1 13  5 13  1 through OCH 13  1 13  7 13  1  304   5  to  304   7  and the ports of the output optical channels OCH 13  1 13  5 13  2 through OCH 13  1 13  7 13  2  306   5  to  306   7  of the second partition  302   2 , may only exchange information therebetween. That is, information traveling over optical channels from one partition may not be transferred to optical channels dedicated to another partition.  
         [0030]    The invention contemplates assigning target identification numbers (TID) to each partition  302  in the router  130 . For example, TID- 1  represents the first logical partition  302   1 , TID- 2  represents the second logical partition  302   2 , and TID- 3  represents the third logical partition  302   3 . Thus, in the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 3, the network manager  104  sees three independent routers and is unaware that each TID represents a partition. Furthermore, the translator program  124  allows the router  130  to see only a single TID for itself (e.g., TID- 0 ), and is unaware of being partitioned. The translator program  124  operates by remapping the TIDs of all TL 1  messages sent between the network manager  104  and the router  130  as discussed below.  
         [0031]    There are four types of transaction language (TL 1 ) messages, which include input command messages, command response messages, acknowledgements, and autonomous messages. The input command messages are administrative commands generated by an administrator (user) of the network manager  104 . The network manager  104  is illustratively utilized to establish a connection between two external nodes (i.e., network elements  140 ) coupled together through a router  130 . Such input command messages include, but are not limited to, adding or deleting a session, an external node, a port, a router, a link (e.g., trail), a user, a user group, and/or the like. The most common command is to add/delete a session, which is a connection between two external nodes passing through the optical router  130 . In order to add a new session, the user must provide a source node and port, a destination node and port, bandwidth supported by the session, direction (e.g., unidirectional or bi-directional), and a description of the session. The input command message is the only type message in the input command category, while the other three TL 1  messages are directed to output or return commands.  
         [0032]    The command response messages are generated in response to a command from the operating system or user. The command response messages provides a detailed reply or set of replies to an input command message, and contains information indicating whether the command was executed successfully and any data that needs to be returned to the network manager  104  or user. In one embodiment, the command response messages include responses such as COMPLD (completed) and DENY messages.  
         [0033]    The acknowledgements may be considered as a subset of the command response messages. The acknowledgements originate from the network element  140  and are directed to the network manager  104  as a short reply from the network element  140  to indicate that an input command message is being acted upon or has been immediately rejected. The acknowledgement comprises an acknowledgement code, correlation tag (c-tag), and terminator. The acknowledgement code identifies the reason for the acknowledgement. The c-tag identifies the associated input command, and the terminator indicates the completion of the acknowledgement.  
         [0034]    Autonomous messages are generated by the optical cross-connect network elements  140  and propagated towards the network manager  104 , independent of the user input. The autonomous messages may be generated by a network element  140  on a periodic timed basis or to report some unusual occurrence (e.g., fault detection). Alternately, the optical router  130  may detect a weak signal from a network element  140 , and generate a fault message (i.e., alarm message). The general structure of a TL 1  autonomous message comprises a header, auto ID, text block, and terminator. The header represents information common to all output response and autonomous messages. The auto ID identifies the severity and the nature of the autonomous message via an alarm code. The optional text block represents specific information to the particular autonomous message, and the terminator indicates the completion or continuation of the autonomous message.  
         [0035]    [0035]FIG. 4 depicts a block diagram of a plurality of program modules of a translator program of FIG. 3. In one embodiment, the translator program  124  is written using “C++” program language and comprises six program modules  401 . One skilled in the art will appreciate that any other programming language may also be utilized. The exemplary program modules  401  include an in 13  from 13  sw module  402 , a trans 13  to 13  OXC module  404 , an out 13  to 13  OXC module  406 , an in 13  from 13  OXC module  408 , a trans 13  to 13  sw module  410 , and an out 13  to 13  sw module  412 . The in 13  from 13  sw module  402  monitors and intercepts the socket (e.g., Ethernet) connection from the network manager (e.g., SOFTWAVE)  104  to the host computer  120  of the translator  124  for TL 1  messages generated by the user. In particular, the in 13  from 13  sw module  402  intercepts input command messages from the network manager  104 .  
         [0036]    The trans 13  to 13  OXC module  404  parses the TL 1  messages (input command messages) passed thereto from the in 13  from 13  sw module  402  to change the logically partitioned TIDs (e.g., TID- 2 ) to the physical TID (e.g., TID- 0 ) recognized by the router  130 . The out 13  to 13  OXC module  406  passes the altered TL 1  message coming from the trans 13  to 13  OXC module  404  out of the socket of the host computer  120  to the router  130 . These three modules  402 ,  404  and  406  form a command message path from the network manager  104  to the router  130 . In an alternate embodiment, a single module may be used to provide the functionality of the in 13  from 13  sw module  402 , the trans 13  to 13  OXC module  404 , and the out 13  to 13  OXC module  406 .  
         [0037]    The in 13  from 13  OXC module  408  monitors and intercepts the socket (Ethernet) connection from the router  130  to the host computer  120  for TL 1  messages generated by the network elements  140  for the network manager  104 . In particular, the in 13  from 13  OXC module  408  intercepts acknowledgements, as well as command response messages coming from the router  130 . Recall that command response messages are generated by the network elements  140  in response to an input command message from a user (e.g., COMPLD). Similarly, acknowledgements originate from the network element  140  and are directed to the operating system (i.e., network manager  104 ) as a short reply from the network element  140  to indicate that an input command message is being acted upon or has been immediately rejected. Furthermore, the in 13  from 13  OXC module  408  intercepts autonomous messages, which are generated by the network elements, independent of user input commands, as discussed with regard to FIG. 6 below.  
         [0038]    The trans 13  to 13  sw module  410  parses the TL 1  messages passed by the in 13  from 13  OXC module  408  and alters the router physical TID (e.g., TID- 0 ) to a logical TID (e.g., TID- 2 ) as recognized by the network manager  104 . The trans 13  to 13  sw module  410  alters the TID in the message based on either the c-tag or access identification (AID), as discussed in further detail below. The out 13  to 13  sw module  412  passes the altered TL 1  messages coming from the trans 13  to 13  sw module  410  to the network manager  124 . These three modules  408 ,  410  and  412  form a return path from the router  130  to the network manager  104 . In an alternate embodiment, a single module may be used to provide the functionality of the in 13  from 13  OXC module  408 , the trans 13  to 13  sw module  410 , and the out 13  to 13  sw module  412 .  
         [0039]    [0039]FIG. 5 depicts a flow diagram of a method  500  of exchanging and translating TL 1  input command and return messages between a network manager  104  and a logically partitioned router  130  using a translator program  124 . FIG. 5 is divided into three columns  502 ,  504 , and  506 . The first column  502  represents activity associated with the network manager  104 . The second column  504  represents activity associated with the translator  124 , and the third column  506  represents activity associated with the router  130  and/or network elements  140 .  
         [0040]    The method  500  starts at step  508  when, for example, an administrator (user) logs in to the network manager (e.g., WAVESTAR™) to initiate an input command message to, illustratively, add a session, which requires configuring the network. Control messages (i.e., TL- 1  messages) are sent across a control and signaling network, which is distinct from the data network. That is, the data actually carried through the router  130  is typically end-user data, such as streaming video. Each input command message includes the command word, logical TID, and other modifiers.  
         [0041]    For example, an input command message to log the network manager  104  into a network element  140  has a syntax “ACT-USER:tid:uid:ctag:pid;”, where the modifiers tid is the logical target identification, uid is the user identifier, ctag is the correlation code that uniquely identifies every TL 1  message sent from the network manager  104  to the router  130 , and pid is the password identifier. Other input command messages include, but are not limited to, CANC-USER, which logs the network manager  104  off the network element  140 ; DLT-CRS, which deletes an existing cross connect in the network element; ENT-CRS, which creates a cross connection in the network element; and RTRV-CRS, which retrieves information on the existing cross connection; and RTRV-rr, which retrieves information on a specific optical port.  
         [0042]    Once the input command message is sent to the router  130  at step  510 , the method  500  proceeds to step  512 , where the translator program  124  intercepts the input command message. In particular, the in 13  from 13  sw module  402  intercepts the input command message and sends it to the trans 13  to 13  OXC module  404 . The trans 13  to 13  OXC module  404  parses the message to identify the logical TID and ctag of the intercepted message. The translator  124  comprises a mapping table (not shown), which correlates the logical TID&#39;s with the ctag of each message. At step  514 , the translator program  124  writes (i.e., indexes) each logical TID with its associated ctag value into the mapping table. Thus, for each input command message, the table contains an index correlating the ctag and respective logical TID. The method  500  then proceeds to step  516 .  
         [0043]    At step  516 , the translator program  124  changes the logical TID in the input command message to the TID of the router  130 . Recall that the router TID (i.e., TID- 0 ) always remains the same value. For example, if the input command message has a logical TID of TID- 3 , the translator program  124  changes the logical TID to TID- 0 , which signifies the unique target identifier of the optical router  130 . The method  500  then proceeds to step  518 , where the altered input command message is sent to the router  130 . In particular, the out 13  to 13  OXC module  406  sends the altered message to the router  130 .  
         [0044]    The router software  302  then sends the command response message or acknowledgement (i.e., return message) back to the network manager  104 . Specifically, at step  520 , the router  130  generates either a command response message or acknowledgement, and at step  522 , the router software  302  sends such generated return message back to the network manager  104 , via the translator program  124 . The command response message or acknowledgement includes the TID of the router (e.g., TID- 0 ) plus a copy of the ctag value originally sent in the input command message. Recall that the ctag uniquely identifies every TL 1  message sent from the network manager  104  to the router  130 . That is, a-ctag is used to identify a particular input command message.  
         [0045]    At step  524 , the translator program  124  intercepts the command response message or acknowledgement sent to the network manager  104 . Specifically, the in 13  from 13  OXC module  408  intercepts the return message and transfers the return message to the trans 13  to 13  sw module  410 . At step  526 , the translator program  124  changes the router TID (i.e., TID- 0 ) in the return message back to the logical TID value (e.g., TID- 3 ). Specifically, the translator program  124  uses the ctag in the return message to look up the logical TID in the mapping table corresponding to the input command message originally sent by the network manager  104 . As such, the ctag is said to have a bi-directional flow, since it is attached to both the TL 1  input command messages and return messages (i.e., acknowledgements and command response messages). The method  500  then proceeds to step  528 .  
         [0046]    At step  528 , the ctag entry in the mapping table is permanently deleted. That is, since the return message (i.e., acknowledgement or command response message) to a particular input command message has been identified and sent back to the network manager  104 , the ctag entry is no longer required. The method  500  then proceeds to step  530 .  
         [0047]    At step  530 , the altered return message is sent back to the network manager  104 . In particular, the out 13  to 13  sw module  412  transfers the altered message to the network manager  104 . At step  532 , the network manager  104  receives the return message having the logical TID, and responds as required or waits for a new input command message. The method  500  then proceeds to step  534 , where the method  500  ends.  
         [0048]    [0048]FIG. 6 depicts a flow diagram of a method  600  of exchanging and translating TL 1  autonomous messages between the logically partitioned router  130  and network manager  104  via the translator program  124 . FIG. 6 is divided into three columns  602 ,  604 , and  606 . The first column  602  represents activity associated with the router  130  and/or network elements  140 . The second column  604  represents activity associated with the translator  124 , and the third column  606  represents activity associated with the network manager  104 .  
         [0049]    The method  600  starts at step  608  and proceeds to step  610 , where a network element  140  sends an autonomous message to the network manager  104 . Recall, that autonomous messages are generated by the network element on a periodic timed basis or to report some unusual occurrence (e.g., fault detection). There is no ctag value associated with the autonomous references, since they do not originate from the network manager  104  as an input command message. Rather, each autonomous message contains an access identifier (AID), which identifies the optical channel  304  or  306  that the message is being sent. That is, each autonomous message contains the optical channel (OCH) values of the shelf, slot, and port of the router  130  for which the message is destined. Unlike the bi-direction ctag, the AID&#39;s have only a unidirectional flow path. That is, an AID is used only for messages going from a particular network element  140  to the network manager  104 .  
         [0050]    In one embodiment, one type of autonomous message is used to report an alarm condition of a network element  140  to the network manager  104 . An exemplary syntax for an alarm code comprises the command “REPT-ALM” plus modifiers, such as source identification, date, time, alarm code, access identifier (AID), notification code, condition type, service effect, occurrence date and time, and the like. Similarly, a second type of autonomous message reports database changes to the network element. An exemplary syntax for a database change message comprises the command “REPT-DBCHG” plus modifiers, such as source identification, date, time, alarm code, access identifier (AID), and the like.  
         [0051]    At step  612 , the translator program  124  intercepts the autonomous message sent by the router  130  to the network manager  104 . In particular, the in 13  from 13  OXC module  408  intercepts the autonomous message and transfers the autonomous message to the trans 13  to 13  sw module  410 . At step  614 , the translator program  124  uses the access identifier (AID) in the autonomous message to correlate the precise circuit pack (i.e., optical channel port) to the corresponding logical TID. In particular, the mapping table of the translator program  124  lists all of the optical channels and their respective ports, and also identifies each to an associated logical TID. For example, referring to FIG. 3, an autonomous message having an AID of OCH 13  1 13  8 13  1 is associated with the logical TID- 3 .  
         [0052]    Once the translator program  124  associates the AID to the logical TID, at step  616 , the method  600  changes the TID in the autonomous message from router TID to the logical TID value (e.g., TID- 0  to TID- 2 ). The method  600  then proceeds to step  618 , where the altered autonomous message is sent to the network manager  104 . In particular, the out 13  to 13  sw module  412  of the translator  124  passes the altered TL 1  autonomous message coming from the trans 13  to 13  sw module  410  to the network manager  124 . At step  620 , the network manager  104  receives the autonomous message and responds as required (e.g., notifies a user of an alarm condition). The method  600  then proceeds to step  622 , where the method  600  ends.  
         [0053]    The translator program  124  provides a reliable and inexpensive alternative to adding individual routers, which are costly to purchase and setup in a network as the network grows. The translator program  124  allows a network to be configured from a single location and to partition a single optical router into multiple logical switches. As network nodes  140  increase or decrease on different networks, the single logical router may be repartitioned to accommodate such changes. For example, if, in FIG. 3, the first logical partition  302   1  had a decrease in network elements  140 , while the third logical partition  302   3  had an increase in network elements  140 , then the router  130  may be repartitioned illustratively into three 3×3 partitions, instead of the current 4×4, 3×3, and 2×2 partitions, as illustratively shown.  
         [0054]    Additionally, if a new network were to be added to the current network, additional circuit packs (i.e., optical channels) need only be added to the existing router  130 , rather than having to purchase an entirely new router. That is, additional circuit packs may be inserted into open slots on the existing shelf. Alternately, the additional circuit packs may be inserted into another shelf (e.g., OCH 2 13  1 13  1-4 and OCH 2 13  2 13  1-4).  
         [0055]    Although the teachings of the present invention that have been shown and described in detail herein, those skilled in the art can readily devise other varied embodiments that still incorporate the teachings and do not depart from the spirit of the invention.