Adtran Gmbh

Andrew T Ruble

Darrin L Gieger

Troy Wayne White

Jamie S Kelly

Byron L Young

Richard Lee Goodson

Richard Paul King

Brent Priddy

Joseph Lee Boyd

Jason N Morgan

Charles E Polk, Jr

Marc Kimpe

Daniel Josiah Barnes

Eric Malcolm Rives

Milton Jay Johnson

Chad Anthony Dieselberg

Jacqueline M Zoucha

Douglas T Albright

Frank Below

Stefan Diener

Roger Loh

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for communication resilience in a Ring Network Topology. In some aspects, a top Ethernet node, implemented in a Ring Network Topology ('RNT') that includes multiple additional Ethernet nodes, receives downstream traffic having a virtual local area network (“VLAN”) service address. The top Ethernet node can determine that the downstream traffic is destined for a given device serviced by a given Ethernet node, from among the multiple additional Ethernet nodes, that terminates a given Ethernet Ring Protection Switching (“ELPS”) group. The top Ethernet node can determine a given VLAN subnetwork that has been mapped to the given ELPS group, and transmit the downstream traffic through the RNT using the given VLAN subnetwork.

Communication resilience in a ring network topology

Methods and systems for resilient network communication are provided. In one aspect, a network includes multiple West NEs, spine elements, and East NEs. Each element has multiple physical communication interfaces. A working communication path connects the West NE to the East NE through a spine element. A protection communication path connects that West NE to that East NE through a different spine element. The working and protection communication paths terminate at the West NE and East NE at maintenance end points. A protection group is formed of the working communication path and the protection communication path. The protection group maintains a state designating an active path and a standby path. Maintenance groups at the spine elements monitor continuity messaging for their associated maintenance end points to determine network health. Faults between the West NEs and East NEs are detected through RDI and CCM.

Communication resilience in a network

Methods and systems for resilient network communication are provided. In one aspect, a network includes multiple edge network elements, core network elements, and off-network network elements. Each network element has multiple ports. Communication paths exist between edge network elements, traversing core network elements. A maintenance domain maintains communication resiliency in the network through maintenance domain entities that detect network communication faults. Maintenance domain entities are associated with ports of edge network elements. VLAN service provision to subscribers occurs over the network by mapping services to VLAN tags such that the service VLAN includes information about the resilient network. VLAN service assignment to maintenance domains is balanced.

Methods and apparatus for communicating synchronous digital signals through an asynchronous domain are disclosed. In one aspect a method includes receiving a first synchronous digital signal of a first domain, wherein the first synchronous digital signal is generated by a first device for communication to a second device; encapsulating the first synchronous digital signal of the first domain into a first asynchronous packet of a second domain; and transmitting the first asynchronous packet to an asynchronous network of the second domain.

Synchronous digital signal encapsulation

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for managing configurations of telecommunications nodes. In one aspect, a system includes a file server; a subtending device coupled to the file server, and a telecommunications node coupled to the subtending device. The subtending device can include one or more line cards that connect one or more telecommunications nodes to a network. The telecommunications device receives, from the file server and based on provisioning information provided by the subtending device, a first configuration file and replaces a wildcard value in the first filename with a unit-specific identifier. A unit-specific configuration file is requested from the file server, and used to configure the node. A change is detected to the configuration, and an updated unit-specific configuration file is posted to the file server using the first filename.

Telecommunications node configuration management

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for managing configurations of telecommunications nodes. In one aspect, a system includes a file server; a subtending device coupled to the file server, and a telecommunications node coupled to the subtending device. The subtending device can include one or more line cards that connect one or more telecommunications nodes to a network. The telecommunications device receives, from the file server and based on provisioning information provided by the subtending device, an auto-config file for the telecommunications node and parses the auto-config file to identify a first filename of a unit-specific configuration file. A wildcard value in the first filename is replaced with a unit-specific identifier, and a unit-specific configuration file is requested from the file server. One or more parameters of the telecommunications node are configured based on a response to the request.

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for managing device firmware. In one aspect, a system includes a file server; a subtending device coupled to the file server, and a telecommunications node coupled to the subtending device. The subtending device can include one or more line cards that connect one or more telecommunications nodes to a network. The telecommunications node receives, from the subtending device, a group name and replaces a wildcard in a firmware filename to derive a first network path of firmware files. The telecommunications node installs the firmware files and subsequently receives an updated group name. The telecommunications node replaces the wildcard with the updated group name to derive an updated path, and obtains different firmware files from the updated path. The firmware installed on the telecommunications node is managed based on the first firmware and the different firmware.

Methods, systems, and apparatus for selecting frame loss measures are disclosed. In one aspect, a Synthetic Loss Measurement (SLM) report for a given interval for a network managed entity that includes at least two network nodes is received. A Loss Measurement Message (LMM) report for a given interval for the network managed entity is received. For the given interval and from the SLM and LMM reports, a reporting measurement for the network managed entity is selected based, at least in part, on a frame rate of data transmitted over the network managed entity during the given interval or an occurrence of a specified network event during the given interval. Frame loss information for the given interval for the network managed entity based on the selected reporting measurement is reported.

Selecting frame loss measurement

A system for handling address resolution protocol (ARP) messages has a plurality of communication modules for communicating via a network. Each such communication module has a separate link layer address (e.g., MAC address). Control logic in communication with each of the modules serves as an ARP proxy for the modules. Rather than using its own link layer address in the overhead of the ARP messages, the control logic uses the link layer addresses of the communication modules, thereby causing the network to learn these link layer addresses during ARP processing. Therefore, once ARP messaging between a communication module and a remote network device has been performed, the network has established a data path between the communication module and the remote network device, thereby helping to prevent or reduce message flooding when the two devices begin to communicate.

Systems and methods for handling ARP messages in modular network devices

The present disclosure generally pertains to systems and methods for enabling leaf isolation in a multi-node tree network. In one exemplary embodiment, an Ethernet virtual network (EVC) system has a multi-node E-Tree network comprising a plurality of nodes (e.g., switches), including at least one ingress node and at least one egress node. The ingress node is configured to receive a data packet to be communicated through the E-Tree network and to modify a field, such as the tag protocol identifier (TPID), in the packet's header to indicate whether the data packet is received by the ingress node via a leaf port. As the data packet is communicated through the E-Tree network, the nodes determine the leaf status of the packet based on the modified field thereby enabling the nodes to enforce leaf isolation rules. The egress node upon receiving the packet is configured to adjust the modified field as appropriate such that the field on egress matches the field on ingress. Accordingly, the use of the field as a leaf indicator in the E-Tree network should not affect the ability of downstream components to properly handle the data packet.

Systems and methods for enabling leaf isolation in a multi-node tree network

A system for dynamically learning virtual local area network (VLAN) tags comprises a switching element having a VLAN table and a media access control (MAC) table. For at least one VLAN, the switching element is configured to dynamically learn VLAN tags for packets carried by the VLAN in order to build the VLAN table and to then use mappings of the VLAN table, rather than mappings of the MAC table, to make forwarding decisions for all types of packets carried by the VLAN. The MAC table is not used for forwarding decisions for packets carried by the VLAN, but it can be used to help learn the VLAN tags. In particular, the switching element can use the MAC table to selectively trap packets when they are useful for learning VLAN tags and to prevent MAC learning traps for packets carrying VLAN tags previously learned by the switching element.

Systems and methods for dynamically learning virtual local area network (VLAN) tags

The present disclosure generally pertains to systems and methods for provisioning nodes of a packet network. Rather than requiring a user to individually set the configuration parameters of each node to achieve a desired behavior, the user is presented with options of various predefined network behaviors and/or the option of customizing a network behavior, such as a queuing, scheduling, or shaping profile, and each node is configured to automatically provision its configuration parameters to implement the desired behavior. Information is passed from node-to-node so that each node can automatically provision its settings to implement such behavior. Thus, the network is automatically provisioned thereby facilitating the provisioning process. Automatic provisioning also helps to ensure a correct network configuration. Indeed, since the provisioning is automatic, at least some manual provisioning errors may be prevented.

Systems and methods for provisioning nodes of a packet network

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally pertain to systems and methods for policing packet networks. A system in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure includes an enqueue policer positioned within an intermediate node of a packet network prior to at least one egress queue. The enqueue policer utilizes information related to destination end-point capacity limits for a given customer in order to police packets based on such information at a relatively early point in the packet network. Thus, a packet that would have been dropped by an egress node due to capacity limits is dropped by the intermediate node thereby preventing the packet from needlessly consuming bandwidth of the network beyond the intermediate node.

Enqueue policing systems and methods

The present disclosure generally pertains to network systems and methods that efficiently drop packets carried by virtual circuits. In one exemplary embodiment, a packet network has at least a first node having a first port that is coupled directly to a second port of a second node. A virtual circuit is established such that a virtual connection exists between the two ports. The first node communicates with the second node to determine whether the second node is provisioned such that the second port is a member of the virtual circuit. If the second node is not provisioned such that the second port is a member of the virtual circuit, then the first node drops the data packets that (1) are carried by the virtual circuit and (2) are to be forwarded to the first port, as indicated by virtual circuit (VC) mapping data in the first node. Thus, the dropped packets are prevented from usurping capacity that otherwise could be used to transmit other packets between the two nodes.

Network systems and methods for efficiently dropping packets carried by virtual circuits

The present disclosure generally pertains to systems and methods for providing service admission control in telecommunication networks. In one exemplary embodiment, a system comprises a network access control (SAC) element that is coupled to at least one node of a network segment. The SAC element communicates with each network node within the network segment to discover its configuration and capacity. The SAC element also stores information indicative of performance requirements, such as terms of SLAs pertaining to traffic that passes through the network segment. When a new service is to be added, the SAC element receives information indicative of the new service and its requirements, such as the SLA terms for the new service. The SAC element then automatically determines whether the network segment has sufficient capacity to add the new service without violating the SLAs of any of the services using the network segment. The SAC element then provides an output indicating whether the new service can be so added. Accordingly, the SAC element can be used to ensure SLA compliance.

Growing community of inventors

Elkmont, AL, United States of America

Andrew T Ruble