Alcatel Lucent

Andrew Snowden Lange

Scott William Nelson

Wim Henderickx

L Michele Goodwin

Alexey Dmitriyevich Zinin

An auditing function detects and corrects reservation and routing topology map errors by monitoring the operation of an advanced bandwidth manager (ABM). A session/call admission controller (S/CAC) attached to a network manages loading with policy enforcement points (PEP's) when the network nears or exceeds its capacity. Ever-changing network topology information is monitored, modeled, and analyzed from remote listeners. A correct model of how traffic is being routed through various parts of the network is critical to admission control. The PEP's at the network edges provide short-term, application-aware controls on their own that are applied to the corresponding network ingress traffic. The S/CAC uses the path tables to calculate whether particular PEP's can admit more traffic, or should they shed sessions/calls to keep service up for the existing application traffic. Long-term controls are periodically downloaded as admission tables from the S/CAC to the PEP's.

Advanced bandwidth management audit functions

A network includes an advanced bandwidth manager (ABM) to manage loading when a network nears or exceeds its capacity due to changes in the network, e.g., component failures or incremental growth. The ABM gathers strategic information from remote listeners about how traffic is being routed over the whole network, and is abstracted into point-to-point tables. The information gathered also helps to provide long term service planning. Autonomous policy enforcement points (PEP's) provide short term controls on their own. Intelligent action can be taken by the ABM through the PEP's by downloading admission tables based in the point-to-point abstractions. The goal is to keep the highest level of service up for the most users and prevent total failures. Requested network connections are either admitted or denied to these ends.

Quality of service admission control network

An advanced bandwidth manager (ABM) comprises a session/call admission controller (S/CAC) to manage network ingress traffic when a packet-switched network nears or exceeds its capacity due to changes in the network, e.g., component failures or incremental growth. Ever-changing network topology information is gathered from remote listeners about how traffic is being routed through various parts of the network. These reports are harmonized to build a single view of the network topology, and the point-to-point connections are abstracted into path tables. Autonomous policy enforcement points (PEP's) provide short-term, application-aware controls on their own that are applied to the corresponding network ingress traffic. The S/CAC uses the path tables constructed to calculate whether the PEP's can admit more or should shed sessions/calls to keep service up for all existing application traffic. Long-term controls are periodically downloaded as admission tables from the S/CAC to the PEP's.

Advanced bandwidth management

Storing subscriber state information is disclosed. It is determined whether a subscriber state information associated with a DHCP lease communication is stored in a persistent storage. If the subscriber state information is not stored in the persistent storage, a shortened time that is shorter than a normal DHCP lease time is included in the DHCP lease communication.

Shortened DHCP lease time

An application-aware policy enforcement point (PEP) attaches to the edge of a packet-switched network to manage loading when the network nears or exceeds its capacity due to changes in the network, e.g., component failures or incremental growth. An advanced bandwidth manager (ABM) comprises a session/call admission controller (S/CAC) that monitors and maps ever-changing network topology information gathered from remote listeners about how traffic is being routed through various parts of the network. These reports are harmonized to build a single view of the network topology, and the point-to-point connections are abstracted into path tables. Autonomous PEP's at the network's edges provide short-term, application-aware controls on their own that are applied to the corresponding network ingress traffic. The S/CAC uses the path tables to calculate whether particular PEP's can admit more traffic, or should they shed sessions/calls to keep service up for the existing application traffic. Long-term controls are periodically downloaded as admission tables from the S/CAC to the PEP's.

Application-aware policy enforcement

A policy enforcement point (PEP) attaches to the edge of a network to manage loading when the network nears or exceeds its capacity due to changes in the network, e.g., component failures or incremental growth. Autonomous PEP's at the network's edges provide short-term, application-aware controls on their own that are applied to the corresponding network ingress traffic. Path tables are used to calculate whether particular PEP's can admit more traffic, or should they shed sessions/calls to keep service up for the existing application traffic. Long-term controls are periodically downloaded as admission tables from a session/call admission controller to the PEP's.

Policy enforcement points

A method for video-on-demand (VoD) admission control at a network edge assigns to a triple-play network virtual topology lesser resources than there exists in a corresponding underlying physical link bandwidth. This prevents video-on-demand (VoD) starvation of data-class traffic. At least one policy enforcement point (PEP) is attached to an edge of the network, providing for autonomous short-term, application-aware controls to be applied to corresponding network ingress traffic, and also providing for long-term controls on corresponding network ingress traffic. The network ingress traffic to the network comes under management when the traffic nears or exceeds network capacity. It is enabled to do so by computations of current network routing topology and bandwidth reservations. Path tables are used to calculate if a PEP may admit more, or must shed, sessions/calls to maintain service for other existing application traffic. The PEP and a session/call admission controller (S/CAC) may be independently located within the topology of the network, and together implement admission controls that differentiate between triple-play video, voice, and data traffic classes.

Under-assigning resources to video in triple-play virtual topologies to protect data-class traffic

A policy enforcement point (PEP) attaches to the edge of a packet-switched network to manage loading when the network nears or exceeds its capacity due to changes in the network, e.g., component failures or incremental growth. Autonomous PEP's at the network's edges provide short-term, application-aware controls on their own that are applied to the corresponding network ingress traffic. Changes become necessary when a network event results in a loss of resilient bandwidth that effects the traffic class under admission control. Or, when an unexpected surge in traffic exceeds the PEP's reserved resources to a particular destination. The resources available across the network are recalculated for minimizing impact on existing sessions or calls, and it informs the PEP's of the new resources available. If the new maximum exceeds the current utilization to that destination, the PEP invokes a local priority drop mechanism to back off the traffic until it is under the new limit. A media gateway handling voice calls can keep all emergency calls up, and then invoke a local algorithm, such as random drop, for the remaining calls until calls to the constrained destination are under the new limit. In the second case, where there is an unexpected surge in demand, the PEP can request from the bandwidth manager additional resources to a particular destination.

Low-impact call connection request denial

Example embodiments are directed to methods of configuring a virtual private local area network service for an enterprise. At least one method includes assigning a virtual private local area network instance to a first node within a network. A first node attempts to establish a label distribution protocol session between the first node and at least one other node within the network based on an interior gateway protocol map. The interior gateway protocol map identifies the at least one other node and nodes connected to the at least one other node. The virtual private local area network service is established based on the label distribution protocol sessions that are established.

Enterprise virtual private LAN services

In a communication network or system, cables that interconnect systems or subsystems are provided with RFID tags embedded or affixed at least at one endpoint of each cable. An installed or portable RFID reader in the proximity of an RFID tag of a given cable enables a unique cable endpoint identifier contained in the RFID tag to be read. The identifier is combined with a unique port identifier of the port to which the cable endpoint is attached at the message is sent to a far-end system or subsystem connected to the other end of the cable. That system reads the message and the information contained therein along with a unique port identifier of its own port connected to the given cable, enables positive confirmation of the communicative connection between the two ports and also the cable providing the connection. It also enables communication of the physical routing information to an operations support system for cable management.

Determining endpoint connectivity of cabling interconnects

The invention is directed to encoding information in radio frequency identifier (RFID) tags disposed on cabling interconnects for the purpose of easier identification of the cables, especially when ascertaining the physical routing and connectivity of the cables. The encoding can be performed before, during, or after installation of the cable. The encoded information can then be read at any time using an RFID reader, for example to identify the cable at various positions along it, thereby enabling easy determination of the routing of the cable.

RFID encoding for identifying system interconnect cables

Techniques to ascertain physical cabling connections of electronic systems are provided for situations where there are numerous systems interconnected by a very large number of electrical or optical cables. A cable identifying code is inserted into a message sent from a local endpoint system to remote endpoint system over the identified cable. Each intermediate system that is in the interconnection path between the two endpoint systems of interest appends its code for the cable connected to the I/O port from which the message will egress that system and be sent to the next system along the path. The remote endpoint system receives the message which now contains codes for all the cables transited along the path, extract the codes, and thereby determines the exact cabling used in the interconnection of the two endpoint systems.

System and method for tracing cable interconnections between multiple systems

A technique for configuring a pseudowire involves extending the functionality of the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP). In an embodiment, pseudowire configuration information is embedded into DHCP messages that are communicated between a customer edge (CE) device and a provider edge (PE) device and used to configure a pseudowire between the two devices. The pseudowire configuration information may include an indication of the pseudowire capabilities of the CE device, the types of pseudowires desired by the CE device, the types of pseudowire encapsulations supported by the CE device, the types of pseudowires that are to be configured, the pseudowire encapsulations that are to be used, and pseudowire labels. Pseudowire configuration information can be embedded into the options field of a DHCP message using a new option, using multiple new options, or by overloading an existing option.

Method and system for configuring pseudowires using dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) messages

In a communication network or networked system, cables that interconnect systems or parts of a system are provided with RFID tags embedded at periodic intervals along their lengths. A network of GPS-enabled RFID readers with triangulation capabilities enables the determination of the physical routing of cables within an area of interest. It also enables communication of the physical routing information to an operations support system for cable management.

Growing community of inventors

Culver City, CA, United States of America

Andrew Snowden Lange