Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US7912087?dq=6,952,563
Timestamp: 2014-12-27 15:15:03
Document Index: 555883385

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 110', 'art 120', 'art 111', 'art 110', 'art 112', 'art 110', 'art 120', 'art 120', 'art 1000', 'art 1000', 'art 120', 'art 230', 'art 213', 'art 211', 'art 210', 'art 212']

Patent US7912087 - Capacity variable link apparatus and capacity variable link setting method - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign inAdvanced Patent SearchPatentsA capacity variable link apparatus including a main signal system and a control signal system is provided. The main signal system includes: an upper layer signal accommodation part; a lower layer path termination part; and a signal switching part for dividing the upper layer signal to lower layer signals...http://www.google.com/patents/US7912087?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US7912087 - Capacity variable link apparatus and capacity variable link setting methodAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUS7912087 B2Publication typeGrantApplication numberUS 10/347,339Publication dateMar 22, 2011Filing dateJan 21, 2003Priority dateJan 22, 2002Also published asCA2416659A1, CA2416659C, DE60302076D1, DE60302076T2, EP1330084A1, EP1330084B1, US20030137937, US20110128848Publication number10347339, 347339, US 7912087 B2, US 7912087B2, US-B2-7912087, US7912087 B2, US7912087B2InventorsYukio Tsukishima, Tetsuo Takahashi, Atsushi Watanabe, Yasutaka OkazakiOriginal AssigneeNippon Telegraph And Telephone CorporationExport CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (22), Non-Patent Citations (4), Referenced by (3), Classifications (17), Legal Events (1) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetCapacity variable link apparatus and capacity variable link setting methodUS 7912087 B2Abstract A capacity variable link apparatus including a main signal system and a control signal system is provided. The main signal system includes: an upper layer signal accommodation part; a lower layer path termination part; and a signal switching part for dividing the upper layer signal to lower layer signals in a lower layer path group having a capacity that is determined according to an amount of traffic of the upper layer signal. The control system includes: a traffic amount measuring part for measuring the amount of traffic of the upper layer and for determining whether the capacity of the lower layer path group is to be increased or decreased according to the amount; and a signal switching management part for controlling the signal switching part according to the result of the determination.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a capacity changeable link apparatus and a capacity changeable link setting method for using network resources efficiently by changing the capacity of the lower layer path group according to the amount of traffic of the upper layer.
First Embodiment FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a capacity variable link apparatus in the first embodiment of the present invention. The capacity variable link apparatus shown in the figure includes a control system 100 and a main signal system 200. The control system 100 includes a traffic amount measuring part 110 and a signal switching management part 120.
In this specification, �link� is an upper layer link for carrying the upper layer signal in which the capacity is variable. In the present invention, in order to allow the capacity of the upper layer link to be variable, the capacity of the lower layer path group that accommodates the upper layer link is increased or decreased. �Link capacity� is a capacity that is provided to the upper layer link by the lower layer path group, in which the link capacity is the same as the total sum of capacities of lower layer paths in the lower layer path group.
Second Embodiment FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the capacity variable link apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In the following embodiments, the same numerals are assigned to the same parts as those of FIG. 1. The capacity variable link apparatus shown in FIG. 2 includes a throughput measurement or packet discard ratio measurement part 111 having a throughput measurement or packet discard ratio measurement function as the traffic amount measuring part 110 in the control system 100.
Third Embodiment FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the capacity variable link apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention. The capacity variable link apparatus shown in FIG. 3 includes a measurement and averaging part 112 for performing measurement and averaging of traffic as the traffic amount measuring part 110 in the control system 100.
Forth Embodiment FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the capacity variable link apparatus according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. A network management operation system 700 is connected to the signal switching management part 120 of the capacity variable link apparatus of FIG. 4. That is, the capacity variable link apparatus has means for accessing the network management operation system 700, and has a function for passing data obtained by giving the system 700 access to the signal switching management part 120. In addition, the capacity variable link apparatus includes means for uploading information on increases/decreases of the lower layer paths to a database of network management system.
Fifth Embodiment FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the capacity variable link apparatus according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention. A G (Generalized)-MPLS protocol core 800 is implemented in the control system 100 of the capacity variable link apparatus of FIG. 5. The G-MPLS protocol core can be implemented as software, firmware or the like.
Sixth Embodiment FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the capacity variable link apparatus according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention. The capacity variable link apparatus shown in FIG. 6 manages a capacity variable lower layer path group as a virtual concatenation path. Accordingly, capacity variable lower layer paths having the same end points can be operated and managed as one path in the lower layer. The control of the paths as a virtual concatenation path can be performed in the signal switching part and the lower layer path termination part, for example.
Seventh Embodiment FIG. 7 is a block diagram of the capacity variable link apparatus according to the seventh embodiment of the present invention. The capacity variable link apparatus shown in FIG. 7 includes a trunking part 1000. By the trunking part 1000, the capacity variable link apparatus can treat a signal group sent from the signal switching management part 120 to the lower layer path termination part 230 as a logical link that is trunked in the upper layer. According to this operation, links having the same destination points can be regarded as one link logically, so that operability and manageability can be improved.
Eighth Embodiment FIG. 8 is a block diagram of the capacity variable link apparatus according to the eighth embodiment of the present invention. The capacity variable link apparatus shown in FIG. 8 includes a LSP accommodation part 213 for processing a LSP signal. In this embodiment, a label switch path (LSP) signal of MPLS is used as an upper layer signal. In this case, a LSP editing part is used as the signal switching part. A label switch router (LSR) can be used as the LSP accommodation part and the LSP editing part.
Ninth Embodiment FIGS. 9-12 are block diagrams of the capacity variable link apparatus according to the ninth embodiment of the present invention. In the ninth embodiment, a lower layer path termination part applicable to a specific lower layer path is provided.
Tenth Embodiment In the tenth embodiment, as shown in FIG. 13, an Ethernet signal accommodation part 211 for processing an Ethernet signal is used as the upper layer signal accommodation part 210. In addition, in this embodiment, detailed configurations of the signal switching part and the like will be described when an Ethernet signal is used as the upper layer signal.
In the example shown in FIG. 17, although a 10 Gbit/s Ethernet signal is used as the upper layer signal, the configuration of the example can be applied to another signal accommodated in an ODU3 signal of 40 Gbit/s, an Ethernet signal of another speed, a fibre channel signal, and LSP in MPLS. In addition, in the configuration of FIG. 17, an optical transport network signal can be used as the lower layer signal. Therefore, �OCh in conformity with ITU-T G.709� and �ODU1-Xv� can be replaced by �OCh in conformity with ITU-T G.872�.
FIG. 18 shows a configuration in which the fibre channel signal is used. In this configuration, a fibre channel signal accommodation part 212 is used as the upper layer signal accommodation part. In addition, a fibre channel switch is used as the signal switching part. More particularly, in the above-mentioned configuration using the Ethernet, �VLAN� is replaced by zoning or VSAN (Virtual Storage Area Network), and �trunking� is replaced by trunking or TSL (Inter-Switch Link)-Trunking. By using this configuration, the same operation can be realized as that in the case of using the Ethernet.
Eleventh Embodiment In embodiments after the eleventh embodiment, capacity changeability of the lower layer paths is realized in a network including a plurality of nodes. In the eleventh embodiment, the capacity variable link apparatus is provided in a node in the hierarchical network. A start point node, a relay point node and an end point node communicate and cooperate, so as to increase or decrease lower layer paths. The hierarchical network is a network in which a link of an upper layer is formed by a plurality of paths of the lower layer.
Twelfth Embodiment Next, the twelfth embodiment will be described. In this embodiment, different from the before-mentioned eleventh embodiment, determination of increase or decrease of the number of lower layer paths is performed between the start point node and the end point node. Assuming that a path carrying traffic from the start point node to the end point node is an upward path, and a path carrying traffic from the end point node to the start point node is a downward path, a pair of the upward path and downward path is regarded as a lower layer path in this embodiment, and the number of the lower layer paths is increased or decreased. Accordingly, a lower layer path can be torn down while avoiding unnecessary loss of traffic.
Thirteenth Embodiment In the following, the thirteenth embodiment of the present invention will be described.
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