Patent Abstract:
A Fault Tolerant Dial Router (FTDR) includes redundant subsystem resources that operate independently of telephone line interface connections. The redundant resources are switched active when a failure is detected in an activated dial router subsystem. Switching out subsystem failures is fully automated under software control, providing uninterrupted service to users with limited performance loss. The FTDR includes a switching mechanism that selectively switches out the telephone interfaces or other subsystem resources inside the dial router box detected as having failures. The subsystem resources include line framers, controllers and modem modules.

Full Description:
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10/000,424, filed Oct. 31, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,999,408, which is a continuation of prior application Ser. No. 09/099,877, filed Jun. 18, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,330,221, both disclosures are herein incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates a high density dial router and more particularly to a Fault Tolerant Dial Router (FTDR) that can be automatically reconfigured around faults while other independently operating subsystems in the dial router continue to process calls. 
     A dial router processes telephone calls from a Public Service Telephone Network (PSTN). The dial router formats received telephone calls into IP packets and routs the packets over a packet-based Local Area Network (LAN) or Wide Area Network (WAN). The PSTN serially multiplexes multiple telephone calls together into either PRI, channelized T1 (CT1), or channelized T3 (CT3) data streams or the European equivalent of CT1, which are referred to as CE1. The dial router accordingly includes PR1, CT1, CE1 and/or CT3 feature boards that separate out the individual calls from the data streams. Modems extract digital data from the individual telephone line channels. The router then encapsulates the digital data into packets that are routed onto the packet-based network, such as a fast-Ethernet LAN. 
     Some dial router architectures break the dial router system into many very small subsystems cards. Each subsystem has a complete set of line interface units. When a failure occurs, the whole subsystem card is decommissioned and manually swapped by an operator with a standby subsystem card at a later time. Even if a line interface unit is partially operational, it is fully decommissioned if a failure is detected. Another problem is that the number of boards in the dial router is substantially increased since one redundant card is provided for each subsystem card. This redundant architecture results in large and bulky dial routers. 
     Current dial routers provide little or no fault tolerance against failures that occur in the field. Upon encountering a failure, field service engineers typically swap out the entire dial router box. For example, when a single modem module in the dial router fails, the entire dial router box is turned off and the modem card replaced. When the dial router is shut down, all calls coming into the dial router are disrupted. Because the dial router handles a large number of calls at the same time, any failure, no matter how small, disrupts all the information (data, voice, etc.). 
     Accordingly, a need remains for a simple dial router architecture that reduces the disruption of calls caused by failures. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A fault tolerant dial router (FTDR) includes redundant subsystem resources that operate independently of telephone line interface connections, such as PRI, CT1, CE1 and CT3 interfaces. The redundant subsystem resources are switched active when a failure is detected in a currently activated dial router subsystem. Subsystem failures are automatically switched out under software control, providing uninterrupted service to users with limited performance loss. 
     The FTDR selectively detaches the PRI, CT1 or CT3 line interfaces from the “pool” of other subsystem resources inside the dial router box. The subsystem “pool” includes line framers, controllers and modem modules. The “pool” of resources typically include some redundancy so that one extra subsystem can be standing by for a given number of active subsystems. 
     Failures often occur in the line interface units, especially the CT3 line interface that can handle up to 672 calls. The FTDR switches out a failed line interface unit and automatically switches in a redundant line interface unit. 
     The FTDR detaches the line interfaces from the “pool” of subsystem resources by using a DS1 cross-connect switch (DCCS). The PRI, CT1, CE1 or CT3 line interface units converts modem, telephone, facsimiles or other types of calls to discrete DS1 data streams. The DCCS is pre-programmed to route individual DS1 data streams to subsystems and backup subsystems in the same feature card or to subsystems in other feature cards in the FTDR. DS1 I/O lines connects together all the DCCS switches in the FTDR. 
     When a failure is detected anywhere in the system, the DCCS is automatically reconfigured to route the DS1 data stream around the failed subsystem to another subsystem located elsewhere in the FTDR. If more failures are detected, the DCCS connects the DS1 data stream around the new fault to another available subsystem resource. The DCCS reduces call disruptions in the dial router due to failures and requires substantially less standby hardware than other dial routers. The invention is targeted, but not limited to, dial routers. For example, the FTDR is ideal for use by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to increase call reliability and reduce system down time. 
     The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a prior art dial router. 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram of a Fault Tolerant Dial Router (FTDR) according to the invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a block diagram of a DS1 cross-connect switch (DCCS) according to the invention. 
         FIG. 4  is a detailed diagram of a matrix element in the DCCS shown in  FIG. 3 . 
         FIG. 5  is a detailed circuit diagram of the DCCS shown in  FIG. 3 . 
         FIG. 6  is a flow diagram showing how the DCCS is reconfigured for a line interface failure. 
         FIG. 7  is a flow diagram showing how the DCCS is reconfigured for a subsystem failure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a prior art dial router  12 . Multiple telephone calls  15  in a PSTN  14  are aggregated by a multiplexer  16  into either channelized T1 (CT1) data streams or Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) PRI data streams. In Europe, the multiple telephone calls  15  are aggregated into channelized E1 data streams (CE1). The T1 channels are partitioned into 24 DS0 time slots that each carry a separate telephone call. More calls are aggregated together by multiplexer  18  to form a channelized T3 (CT3) data stream. The CT3 channel is partitioned into 28 DS1 time slots that each carry 24 DS0 channels. Channelized T1 has a bandwidth of 1.54 million bits per seconds (bps) and channelized T3 has a bandwidth of 45.736 million bps. 
     A T1 Line Interface Unit (LIU)  23  in the dial router  12  receives multiple calls on multiple T1 lines  17 . A subsystem  22  includes a HDLC controller, framers and modems modules. The framer is coupled directly to the T1 LIU  23  and converts the T1 channel into separate DS0 channels. The modems in subsystem  22  extract digital data from the DS0 channel. The packets are sent from the modems in subsystem  22  over a backplane  30  to a router/controller  28  that then encapsulates the data into packets and sends the packets out a packet based network, such as a LAN or WAN  32 . A T3 Line Interface Unit (LIU)  24  receives the DS1 data stream from the CT3 line  19 . A framer in subsystem  26  separates the DS1 data stream into separate DS0 channels. Modem modules in subsystem  26  extract digital data from the DS0 channels. Router/controller  28  converts the digital data into packets and sends the packets out to the LAN/WAN  32 . 
     The LIU&#39;s  23  and  24  are connected directly to the subsystems  22  and  26 , respectively. Any failure in the T1 LIU  23  or associated subsystem  22  disconnects up to 30 ports (port=DS0 channel). The only way to restore service to the  30  ports is to physically replace the function card (board) containing LIU  23  and subsystem  22 . If a failure occurs in the T3 LIU  24  or associated subsystem  26 , even more calls are disconnected. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , a Failure Tolerant Dial Router (FTDR)  12  according to the invention includes DS1 cross-connect switches (DCCS&#39;s)  32 A-C in each feature card  46 A- 46 C, respectively. A T3 Line Interface Unit (LIU)  20 A in feature card  46 A receives a CT3 line  17  and outputs DS1 data streams  21  to the DCCS  32 A. Alternatively, the LIU  20 A is configured to receive ISDN PRI lines. The DCCS  32 A is originally configured to connect the DS1 data streams  21  to a DS1 framer  34 A. The framer  34 A converts the DS1 data stream into DS0 calls that are connected to modem modules  40 A through a DS0 cross-connect switch  36 A. The modem modules  40 A extract digital data from the DS0 calls and then sends the digital data to a router/controller  28  over bus  44 . DS1 I/O lines  33 A are coupled from DCCS  32 A to DCCS  32 B and  32 C on the other feature card  46 B and  46 C through the backplane  30 . The different functional elements such as the framer  34 A and modems  40 A on the right side of the DCCS  32 A are referred to generally as a conversion subsystem  35 . A processor  42 A monitors the functional elements in feature card  46 A for failures. 
     A standby feature card  46 B has the same functional elements as feature card  46 A. The standby feature card  46 B is coupled to the CT3 line  17  in parallel with the feature card  46 A. A CT1 or PRI feature card  46 C is coupled to multiple CT1 lines  19  by individual CT1 LIU modules  20 C. Alternatively, the LIU modules  20 C provide an interface for CE1 lines. The LIU modules  20 C are coupled to a DCCS  32 C. The subsystem to the right of DCCS  32 C is similar to the subsystem  35  in feature card  46 A. A T1 standby feature card  46 F is similar to the CT1 feature card  46 C and is coupled to the CT1 lines  19 . The functional elements in the feature cards, other than the DCCS&#39;s  32 A-C and the DS1 I/O lines  33 A-C are known to those skilled in the art and are, therefore, not described in further detail. 
     Any combination of feature cards can be used in the FTDR  12 . The configuration shown in  FIG. 2  is only one implementation shown for illustrative purposes. For example, there may be multiple CT3 feature cards  46 A and multiple CT1 feature cards  46 C. There may be one standby feature card  46 B connected in parallel to each active CT3 feature card  46 A or only one standby feature card  46 B used as backup for multiple CT3 feature cards  46 A. 
     Typically there is one-to-one redundancy for the CT3 feature cards  46 A. This means that there is one standby CT3 card  46 B for each normally operational CT3 card  46 A. This is typically less redundancy, say 7-to-1 redundancy, for the CT1 feature cards  46 C. This means there is only one standby CT1 feature card  46 F for  7  normally operating CT1 feature cards  46 C. 
     Referring back to feature card  46 A, if a failure occurs on the CT3 lines  17 , a relay in LIU  20 B (not shown) is closed connecting CT3 line  17  to LIU  20 B. DCCS  32 B is automatically configured to connect LIU  20 B over DS1 I/O lines  33 A. At the same time, the DCCS  32 A in the normally active feature card  46 A is reconfigured to switch out LIU  20 A and switch in the DS1 I/O lines  33 A. 
     The traffic on CT3 line  17  is in turn routed around LIU  20 A to LIU  20 B. The DCCS  32 B connects LIU  20 B to DCCS  32 A so that the traffic on CT3 line  17  goes through LIU  20 B, DCCS  32 B and DCCS  32 A to framer  34 A. 
     If a DS1 failure occurs in the conversion subsystem  35  (framer  34 A, DS0 cross-connect switch  36 A, or modem modules  40 A), the DCCS  32 A connects the DS1 channels either to the redundant module in the same feature card  46 A or connects through the DS1 I/O lines  33 A to another feature card. For example, if a fault occurs in framer  34 A, the DCCS  32 A can reconnect the LIU  20 A to redundant framer  34 D in the same feature card  46 A. If both framers  34 A and  34 D fail, the DCCS  32 A can connect the LIU  20 A through DS1 I/O lines  33  and backplane  30  to DCCS  32 B or DCCS  32 C. The DCCS  32 B or  32 C connect LIU  20 A to framer  34 B or framer  34 C in one of the other features cards  46 B or  46 C, respectively. 
     By adding the DCCS&#39;s  32 A- 32 C and the auxiliary DS1 I/O lines  33  in the DS1 domain, reconnecting telephone channels to different feature cards is faster and easier to control. If the DCCS&#39;s  32 A- 32 C were inserted in the DS0 domain (to the right of framers  34 A- 34 C), the cross-connect circuitry would be more difficult to control and require more complex circuitry. 
     The DCCS&#39;s  32 A- 32 C in combination with the DS1 I/O lines  33 A- 33 C provide connectivity at the DS1 level between all the feature cards  46 A- 46 C. A major advantage provided by the DCCS&#39;s  32 A- 32 C is that faults in subsystem  35  can be isolated from faults in the LIU&#39;s  20 A- 20 C. This allows a substantially greater number of reconfiguration possibilities and, as a result, more effective utilization of redundant dial router resources when a fault is detected. 
     Another advantage of the FTDR  12  is that more functional elements in different cards can be used to provide redundancy for faults in any other card. For example, in an alternative configuration, feature card  46 B is not a standby card coupled to CT3 line  17  but an active feature card connected to a separate CT3 line  37 . If the subsystem  35  in feature card  46 A fails, calls on T3 line  19  can be reconnected by DCCS  32 A through DS1 I/O line  33 A to DCCS  32 B. Redundant framer and modem modules in the feature card  46 B subsystem can then be used to convert the DS1 data stream from line  17  into digital packets. Feature cards that normally operate independently can now provide additional redundancy for other feature cards. 
     There are two versions of the cross-connect switch. One version for the T3 feature card(s)  46 A and  46 B and the other version for the T1/PRI/E1 feature cards  46 C and  46 F. Both are functionally equivalent but the DCCS on the T3 feature cards  46 A and  46 B support more DS1 channels. 
     The DCCS&#39;s  32 A- 32 C are typically implemented using field programmable gate arrays (FPGA&#39;s). The DCCS&#39;s  32 A- 32 C provide a 3-way switch matrix function. The DCCS  32 C cross-connects the framer  34 C or redundant framer  34 F to each one of six LIU&#39;s  20 C on the same feature card  46 C. In a second configuration, the DCCS  32 C cross-connects the two framers  34 C and  34 F to the DS1 I/O lines  33 C. In a third configuration, the DCCS  32  cross-connects the six LIU&#39;s  20 C to the DS1 I/O lines  33 C. 
       FIG. 3  is a block diagram of the DCCS  32 C. Each functional element including LIU&#39;s  20 C, DS1 I/O lines  33 C and framers  34 C and  34 F that connect to the DCCS  32 C has 2 pair of associated signals. R_Data and R_Clock are (Receive) signals input to the DCCS  32 C and T_Data and T_Clock are output (Transmit) signals. The DCCS  32 C connects the different functional elements  20 C,  33 C,  34 C,  34 F and  34 C together according to control registers  43  programmed by software via the processor  42 . 
       FIG. 4  shows a simplified implementation for a portion of the DCCS  32 C used for switching the R_CLK signals received from the subsystem elements  20 C,  33 C and  34 C. The processor  42  loads a value in one of the control registers  43  that generates clock select signal SEL_CLK[1 . . . 0]. The asserted SEL_CLK[1 . . . 0] signal enables a multiplexer  46  to output one of the three receive clocks R_CLK1, R_CLK2, or R_CLK3 as the T_CLK1 clock. The receive clocks are generated by the LIU  20 C, backplane I/O  33 C or framer  34 C, respectively. 
       FIG. 5  is a detailed circuit diagram of the DCCS  32 C. The circuit shown in  FIG. 5  is replicated n times, where n is the number of inputs and outputs supported in the feature cards  46 A- 46 C. The following terms refer to the different signals received from and transmitted by the different elements in each feature card  46 A- 46 C. 
     LIU_R data[5:0]: Line Interface Unit  20 C receive data; 
     LIU_T Data[5:0]: Line Interface Unit  20 C transmit data; 
     LIU_RCLK[n]: Line Interface Unit  20 C receive clock; 
     LIU_TCLK[n]: Line Interface Unit  20 C transmit clock; 
     FRMR_RData[n]:Framer  34 C receive data; 
     FRMR_TData[n]:Framer  34 C transmit data; 
     FRMR_RCLK[n]:Framer  34 C receive clock; 
     FRMR_TCLK[n]:Framer  34 C transmit clock; 
     BKPLN_DS1_RData[n]: Backplane DS1 I/O  33 C receive data; BKPLN_DS1_TData[n]: Backplane DS1 I/O  33 C transmit data; 
     BKPLN_DS1_RCLK[n]: Backplane DS1 I/O  33 C receive clock. 
     BKPLN_DS1_TCLK[n]: Backplane DS1 I/O  33 C transmit clock. 
     The upper block in  FIG. 5  shows DCCS  32 C data control circuitry  52  and the lower block in  FIG. 5  shows DCCS  32 C clock control circuitry  54 . Power and reset signals BRD_PWROK, BRD_RESET_L and Global_decoded_OE are used for resetting and enabling the DCCS  32 C. A multiplexer (mux)  58  outputs either the BKPLN_DS1_R or LIU_R receive signal as the FRMR_R Data[n] signal to the framer  34 C. A mux  60  selects one of the LIU_RData[5:0] signals for outputting as the BKPLN_DS1_RData[n] signal. A mux  62  selects one of the FRMR_Data[n] signals for outputting as the BKPLN_TData[n] signal. The clock circuitry  54  works in a similar manner for the clock signals switched between the different functional elements in the feature card  46 C. 
       FIG. 6  shows how the DCCS  32 A is reconfigured for a CT3 line failure in the feature card  46 A ( FIG. 2 ). In step  70  the feature card  46 A is activated while the standby feature card  46 B remains in a standby mode. The activate feature card  46 A is continuously monitored by processor  42 A for any line failures in LIU  20 A. If a failure is detected in LIU  20 A, the processor  42 A reports the fault to controller  28 . The standby LIU  20 D can be activated, if available. If a standby LIU  20 D is not available, controller  28  in step  74  deactivates the active feature card  46 A and activates the standby feature card  46 B. The DCCS  32 A is then reconfigured in step  76  to receive the DS1 channels from the now active feature card  46 B over the DS1 I/O lines  33 A. The subsystem  35  in feature card  46 A then converts the DS1 data stream into digital packets. Alternatively, the DCCS  32 B and subsystem in card  46 B is used for converting the CT3 calls into packets. 
       FIG. 7  shows how the DCCS  32 A is configured for a failure that occurs in the subsystem  35  to the right of DCCS  32 A. For example, a failure that occurs in the framer  34 A or in one or more of the modem modules  40 A. The DCCS  32 A is configured in step  78  to connect the LIU  20 A to framer  34 A. The DS0 switch  36 A is configured to connect the DS0 calls from framer  34 A to the modem modules  40 A. If a failure is detected in decision step  80 , the router/controller  28  is notified by the local processor  42  in step  82 . 
     If the failure is a DS0 modem failure, the DS0 switch  36 A can be reconfigured in step  90  to connect the DS0 calls to spare modem modules  40 A in step  90 . If a DS1 modem failure is identified in decision step  86 , then the entire bank of modem modules  40 A have failed. The DS0 switch  36 A is then reconfigured to by-pass all the local modem modules  40 A in step  92 . Alternatively, step  92  reconfigures the DCCS  32 A to bypass framer  34 A and modem modules  40 A altogether and connects the LIU  20 A through the DS1 I/O lines  33  to another feature card. If a failure is detected in framer  34 A, step  88  reconfigures the DCCS  32 A to bypass the framer  32 A and connects the LIU  20 A either to the spare framer  34 D on the same feature card  46 A or to a framer on another feature card via DS1 I/O lines  33 A. 
     As mentioned above, the DCCS provides a wide variety of different dial router configurations that isolate faults without having to shut down the entire dial router  12 . Because more dial configurations are possible, more redundancy is provided while using less hardware. Thus, the dial router is more fault tolerant. 
     Having described and illustrated the principles of the invention in a preferred embodiment thereof, it should be apparent that the invention can be modified in arrangement and detail without departing from such principles. I claim all modifications and variation coming within the spirit and scope of the following claims.

Technology Classification (CPC): 7