Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT OF MULTIPLE NETWORKS WITH DIFFERENT -
TOPOLOGIES
This invention relates to the integrated management of
multiple networks of different topologies, and in
particular through hierarchical pass-through routing and
multi-network service management.
Newbridge Networks Corporation's 4602/46020 Main~treet~
Intelligent NetworkStation provides ~ully integrated
network management of Newbridge's ~AN, 36xx Time Division
Multiplexing (TDM~, Frame Relay, and Asynchronous
Transfer Mode (ATM) products, with a rich Graphical User
Interface ~GUI3 showing network topology and network
element drawings, real-time status monitoring and fault
1~ management, and full path ~service) management and
service recovery capabilities.
In many networks however, the network is not a
homogeneous New~ridge network. ~ere, the Newbridge
network is overlayed onto a backbone netwo~k, which is
typically composed of non-Newbridge higher order
~andwidth equipment. Without integrated management of
the ~ackbone network(s), the operators of the network
~typically telcos) cannot efficiently manage the entire
network and service recovery around backbone network
failures requires manual human intervention. Turnaround
- times to recover from network failures may be very long.
Accordingly the present invention provides an integrated
network management system for multiple networks of
different order topology domains comprising at least one
network manager, characterized in that said networ~
manager manages the multiple networks and establishes
links within a topology domain by implementing
hierarchical pass-through routing within a higher order
domain in the network and initiates recovery actions in
the event of service failure starting at the highest
order bandwidth domain.
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Integrated network management of multiple networks of
differen~ topologies using Hierarchical Pass-Through
~outing and Multi-Network Service Management provides a
much more e~ficient means of management and service
recovery.
Thus in accordance with the invention hierarchical Pass-
Through Routing and Multi-Network Service Management are
combined to provide integrated management of multiple
network of different topologies with a rich Graphical
User Interface ~GUI) showing network topology and network
element drawings, real-time status monitoring and fault
management, and full path ~service) management and
service recovery capabilities.
The invention also provides a method o~ managing multiple
networks of dif~erent order topology dom~i~s with at
least one network manager, characterized in that links
within a topology domain are established ~y implementing
hierarchical pass-through routing within a higher order
domain in the network and that in the event of service
failure, recovery action is initiated starting from the
highest order domain.
The invention will now be described in more detail, by
way of example only, with reference to the accompanying
drawings, in which:-
Figure 1 shows 3/1 and 3~1/0 domain networks;
Figure 2 shows 3/3 and 3/1 domain networks;
Figure 3 shows 3/3, 3~1, and 3/1/0 domain networks;
Figure 4 shows 3/3 and 3/1 domain networks;
Figure S shows SONET and 3/1~0 domain networks;
Figure 6 shows ~ierarchical Management applied to theNewbridge 46020 network management system;
Figure 7 shows Multiple 46020 Hierarchical Management;
Figure 8 shows Multiple 3/1/0 Networks;
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Figure 9 shows 3/1 Transport for Multiple 3/1/0 Networks;
Figure 10 shows Multiple 3/1/0 NetworksService Management
View;
Figure 11 shows Multiple 3/1/0 Network Path ~outlng;
Figure 12 shows Multiple 3~1/0 Network Path Segments;
Figure 13 shows Multiple 3J1/0 Networ~ Management,
Fig'ure 14 shows Hierarchical and Multiple 3/1/0 Network
Management;
Figure 15 shows Hierarchical and Multiple 3J3 Network
Management; and
Figure 16 shows Integrated Hierarchical and Multiple
Network Management.
Hierarchical Pass-Through can be used to integrate the
management of 3~3, 3~1, and 1/0 Dlgital Cross-Connect
Switches ~DCS~ with Newbridge products from Newbridge's
46020 network management system. A 3/3 digital cross-
connect switch tDCS) t~rmin~tes interfaces and switches
at the DS3 level, a 3~1 DCS terminates interfaces and
switches at the DS1 level, while a 3~1/0 DCS terminates
interfaces and switches at the DS0 level, a DS0 link
being at 64 kbits/sec, a DSl link being at 1.544 Mb/sec,
and a DS3 link being at 44.736 Mbits/sec, as is well
~nown in the art.
Examples of non-Newbridge DCSs that may be managed by the
46020 include.
~ Tadiran's T::DAX and T::DAX100 (3/1)
~ AT&T's DACS II (1/0)
~ DSC's DEX CSlL (1~0~
~ AT&T's DACS III (3~3), and DACS IV (3/1)
~ Alcatel's 1631SX (3/1) and 1633SX (3/3)
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~ Referring now to Figure 1, this shows a 3/1 ~m~; n 1
having a plurality of 3/1 digital cross connects switches
(DCs) 2, and a 3~1/0 ~om~in 3 of 3/1/0 Dcs 4, which are
Newbridge Networks Corp. 36XX e~ nt for example,
5 M~in~treet~ 3600 bandwidth managers.
The network is managed by Newbridge Networ~s Corp. 46020
Mainstreet~ network manager running on, for example, a Sun
workstation, as will be described in more detail below.
In the 3/1/0 ~om~in 3, the DS1 links between DCs are in
many cases, DS1 paths 6 ro~ted through another domain 1,
which is, for example, an inter-office network. These
links are considered Pass-Through Links ~PTL), which
appear as DS1 ca~les 7 in the 3/1/0 domain view and as
DS1 paths 6 in the 3/1 ~om~;n view.
The integrated management of ~oth the 3/1/0 and 3/1
networks from the 46020 network manager provides for
optimized fault management and service recovery in the
above system. In the event of a failure of DS1 PTL 7,
recovery actions are first taken in the 3/1 network 1,
i.e. by rerouting the DSl path. If the DS1 PTL 7 cannot
be rerouted, then recovery actions are taken in the 3/1/0
network, i.e. by rerouting the DS0 paths riding the DS
PT~. Without integrated management of the 3/1/0 and 3/1
networks, failures in the 3/1 backbone network 1 might
not be detected by the network management system for the
3/1/0 network 3.
In a 3/1 network of 3/1 DCSs (such as Tadiran's T..DAX,
.. .
AT&T's DACS IV and Alcatel's 1631 SX), as shown in Figure
2, the DS3 links are typically DS3 paths 8 routed through
a "backbone" 10 of 3/3 equipment including 3/3 DCs 11.
These links are considered Pass-Through ~inks, which
appear as DS3 cables 12 in the 3/1 domain view and as the
DS3 paths 8 in the 3/3 ~om~i n view.
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~The integrated management of the both the 3/1 and 3~3
networks from the 46020 provides for optimized service
recovery. In the event of a DS3 PTL failure, recovery
actions are first taken in the 3/3 network (DS3 path 8 is
rerouted). If the DS3 path cannot be rerouted, then
recovery actions are taken in the 3J1 network IDS1 paths
riding the DS PTL are rerouted).
These technology ~om~ i ~ planes allow the ~6020 network
manager to view and manage 3/1/0, 3/1, and 3/3 networks
as distinct and separate networ~s, while a~ the same
time, providing integration of these ~om~ins ~see Figure
3). This hierarchical management provides for the most
efficient service recovery, with recovery actions
starting at the highest-order ~andwidth do~ain
The 3/1/0 domain 3 may have a DS3 link that is a DS3 path
18 switched in the 3~3 ~om~in, thereby bypassing the 3/1
network. This arrangement is illustrated in Figure 4.
The concept of Hierarchical Pass-Through Routing can also
be extended to provide integrated management of SONET ADM
equipment. This is shown in Figure 5, where a SONET ring
20 in SONET ~o~ n 25 provides DS1 transport for a 3/1/0
domain 3. In Figure 5, DSl paths 21 provide the DS1 links
for the 3/1/0 domain 3.
This Hierarchical Pass-Through ~outing management of
SONET ADM equipment can also be used where a SONET ring
~ provides DS1/DS3/OC-n transport for the ATM technology
domain.
The integrated management of different technology domains
can be accomplished through the same 46020 which is
managing the New~ridge networ~ elements (see Figure 6).
In this mode, the different domain networks 1, 3, 10 can
be represented as separate views on a graphical user
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interface (GUI~. The domains are managed by a 46020
network manager, for example, running on Sun workstation
30 connected to the dom~in~ via links 31 and associated
with database 32.
Alternatively, the integrated management of the different
technology domains can be achieved using multiple 46020s
30; (i.e., one for each of the SONET, 3/3, 3/1,-
asynchronous, and Newbridge networks) connected to the
respective domains via links 31. This is shown in Figure
7. In this mode, information is shared via links 33
between the ~6020s to correlate the state of services in
one network which provide transport facilities in
another.
For scalability and/or administrative purposes, where
there may ~e multiple networks of the same technology
domain, each managed by a dedicated 46020 network
manager. Service provisioning across multip~e networks
of the same technology domain is achieved using the
concept of Multi-Network Service Management.
An example of inter-connected 3/1/0 networks is shown in
Figure 8.
The inter-network links (i.e., DS1 links) between the
~ 3/1/0 networks are routed through a 3/1 domain network
(as DS1 Pass-Through ~inks), as shown in Figure 9. The
internetwork pass-through links 60, 61 are routed through
the 3/1 domain 1 as DS1 paths 63, 64.
From the perspective of the Multi-Network Service Manager
for the 3/1~0 domain 3, the networks may he represented
as "network" elements which are inter-connected by
network links. The path-ends of a network (which are
located on many different network elements in the
network) are viewed as path-ends on the network element
W096J09707 PCT/CA95100522
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representing the network. The inter-network links appear
as links between the network elements 70, 7r in this
service management view (see F_gure 10).
Service provisioning across ne~works is performed from
the Multi-Network Service Management view. This is shown
in Figure 11, where the "network" elements are
represented as nodes through which "cross-connections"
are chosen in the path route.
These cross-connection commands are sent to the 4602
network managers that manage the individual networks as
"path" requests between the path-ends of the networks to
the timeslots of the terminating ports of the inter-
network links, as shown in Figure 12.
The route chosen for the multi-network path is based on.
1~ ~ the costs of the inter-network links (assigned values
in the Multi-Network Service Manager database)
~ the fixed costs for establishing cross-connections
(paths) through the individual networks - the costs are
assigned values in the Multi-Network Service Manager
database
The mechanisms for route selection, prior~tized service
recovery using dynamic automatic alternate re-routing
(AAR) when a failure in the network affects services, and
service recovery when network repairs are based on
existing 46020 bandwidth allocation functionality.
From a management perspective, the 46020-based Multi-
Network Service Manager 33 is a separate from the
individual 46020s 30 which control the individual 3/1/0
networks as shown in Figure 13
The Multi-Network Service Manager can manage multiple
networks of the same technology domain to provide the
wos6los707 PCT/CA95/00522
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~ same routing capability for multiple 3/1 networks, ~/3
networks, SONET networks, etc.
The combination of the 46020 Hierarchical Pass-Through
Routing and Multi-Networ~ Service Management concepts in
the following architecture provides integrated management
of multiple networks of different technology ~o~in~,
Figure 14 shows an example of a Multi-Network Service
Manager 33 managing multiple 3/1/0 networks 3. A Multi-
Networ~ Service Manager is used at each technology domain
wherever manage~ment of multiple networks is required An
example of a Multi-Network Service Manager 33 managing
multiple 3~3 networks is shown in Figure 15.
Multi-Network Service Managers 33 for different
technology dom~;ns may be used in conjunc~ion (i.e., 3/3
and 3/1~0 Multi-Network Service Managers), as shown in
Figure 16.
When Multi-Network Service Managers are used in
conjunction with the Hierarchical Pass-Through Routing
~602s in an architecture as described above, the service
requests are routed directly to the appropriate 46020
(for services within a network) or to the appropriate
Multi-Network Service Manager (for services across
domains~. -
Glossary
25 AA~ Automatic Adaptive ~outing. The term used
to describe the dynamic operation of A~B
protection switching.
ATM Asynchronous Transfer Mode.
BWA Bandwidth Allocator. Software process
that runs on the 4602/46020 that
determines the optimum path for a circuit
~ W096/09707 2 2 o o 2P~A95100s22 - - -
g _
and handles the re-routing o~ paths in the
case of a network failure.
DACS Digital Access and Cross-Connect System.
DCS Digital Cross-Connect System.
5 DS Digital Signal. Digital facilities that
- carry 24 (DS1), 96 (DS2), or 672 (DS3)
~ simultaneous voice or voice~and data
channels, each operating at 64 kbps tDS0).
PTL Pass-Through Link.
10 PTR Pass-Through Routing.
SONET Synchronous Optical Network.
STS Synchronous Transport Signal.
TDM Time Division ~ultiplexing.
VT Virtual Tributary.
