Patent ID: 6963916

Claim:
A network management system for configuring a network connection between a first service access point and a second service access point over a network including a plurality of subnets, each subnet having a corresponding element type and including at least one programmable element of that type, each element type having a corresponding element manager, the system comprising: an information manager including routing information for the network, and operative to determine a route made up of links over the network from the first point to the second point, wherein a network-to-network link connects a pair of adjacent subnets having elements of different types and a network logical link provides a path across a subnet; and a configuration manager operative to establish a connection across each subnet on the route by sending a request to the corresponding element manager to program the at least one subnet element in accordance with the network logical link across that subnet, and operative to establish a network-to-network connection between adjacent subnets on the route in accordance with the network-to-network link between those adjacent subnets to provide the network connection between the first point and the second point.