Cisco Technology, Inc.

Leo Pereira

Andrew George Harvey

Hsuan-Chung Lee

Shankar Natarajan

Vipin Rawat

Ikramullah Mohammad

Tohru Kao

Sudha Sundaresan

Steven Howard Berl

Masum Z Hasan

Ulrica Tam

Dario Calia

David Scott McCowan

Mukunda Murthy

John David Billings

A feedback-based adaptive network is described wherein at least a portion of the network elements report operating information relating to network conditions to a centralized data store. The information which is reported to the data store is analyzed by a policy engine, and updated control information may be generated. The updated control information may be fed back to selected network elements to thereby affect operation of the selected elements. In this way, the dynamic and automatic feedback control of network elements is provided. Events relating to changing conditions in the network may also be reported to selected elements. Additionally the adaptive, feedback-based network may include a network quality monitoring system for evaluating performance characteristics or other aspects of the network. If it is determined that a particular characteristic of the network does not conform with the standards established for that characteristic, the policy which controls that particular characteristic of the network may be automatically and dynamically modified to thereby affect the network performance.

Technique for providing dynamic modification of application specific policies in a feedback-based, adaptive data network

A feedback-based adaptive network is described wherein at least a portion of the network elements report operating information relating to network conditions to a centralized data store. The information is analyzed by a policy engine which includes a plurality of specific plug-in policies for analyzing selected information from the data store and for computing updated control information which is fed back to affect operation of selected network elements. In this way the dynamic and automatic feedback control of network elements is provided to allow the network to adapt to events relating to changing conditions. The adaptive, feedback based network may include a network quality monitoring system for evaluating performance characteristics based upon predetermined standard or criteria. If it is determined that a particular characteristic of the network does not conform, the policy which control that particular characteristic of the network may be automatically and dynamically modified to affect network performance.

A feedback-based adaptive network is described wherein at least a portion of the network elements report operating information relating to network conditions to a centralized data store. The information which is reported to the data store is analyzed by a policy engine which includes a plurality of application specific plug-in policies for analyzing selected information from the data store and for computing updated control information based upon the analysis of the information. The updated control information is fed back to selected network elements to thereby affect operation of the selected elements. Typically, when the operation of a network element has been affected, its corresponding operating information will change. The new or changed network element operating information is then reported to the data store and analyzed by the policy engine. The policy engine may then generate new or updated control information for affecting the operation of selected elements in the network. In this way, the dynamic and automatic feedback control of network elements is provided in order to allow the network to adapt to changing conditions. Events relating to changing conditions in the network may be reported to selected elements in the network using an event notification service. Additionally the adaptive, feedback-based network of the present invention may include a network quality monitoring system for evaluating performance characteristics or other aspects of the network based upon predetermined standards or criteria. If it is determined that a particular characteristic of the network does not conform with the standards established for that characteristic, the policy which controls that particular characteristic of the network may be automatically and dynamically modified to thereby affect the network performance.

Systems and methods are provided for generating an Internetworking Operating System (IOS) Command Line Interface (CLI) configuration model and a logical topology from an IOS CLI configuration base. The method includes representing structure and cross-CLI dependencies in a formal specification format, such as Extended Backus-Naur Form (EBNF), and translating the representation into a machine-processable structure and code referred to as the IOS CLI Dependency Tree (ICDT). The ICDT is the configuration model. The ICDT optionally may be manipulated to generate configuration models in other formats, such as Java classes or XSD (eXtensible markup language Schema Definition). The method further includes generating the logical topology from the ICDT.

Auto-generation of configuration and topology models

A system and an apparatus are disclosed for carrying out automatic network device provisioning and configuration. A configuration service receives a request from a network device to provide configuration information. The configuration service retrieves a template describing the device configuration, where the template associates one symbolic reference to one parameter that may receive values specific to particular devices. Based at least on the symbolic reference and the request, the configuration service retrieves a value of the parameter that is specific to the network device. A device-specific instance of the configuration information is created and stored based at least one the template and the value of the parameter. The configuration information is stored in XML format and conforms to an XML DTD.

Method and apparatus for provisioning network devices using instructions in Extensible Markup Language

A method of automatically subscribing a network device to a plurality of events applicable to a logical group, of which the network device is a member, is disclosed. The method involves first creating and storing a mapping that associates a plurality of network devices with a logical group and that associates the logical group with one or more events that can pass over an event bus to which the network device is logically coupled. At runtime, a device identifier of one of the network devices in the logical group is received, an event identifier of an event that is among the one or more events that are in the second mapping is received. Based on the mapping, the method causes the network device to receive all events that are associated in the mapping with the logical group that includes the network device. As a result, a network device receives all events that pertain to it without having to store a list of the logical groups in which it participates and without having to know what events pertain to it or the groups.

Method and apparatus for mapping network events to names of network devices

A method is disclosed for carrying out network device provisioning and configuration, and communication of other information to a network device, automatically and in an assured manner. A configuration service receives a request from a network device to provide configuration information. The configuration service retrieves a template representing the configuration from a storage location, e.g., a directory service. The configuration service also retrieves one or more parameter values specific to the device. Device-specific values are instantiated for the generic parameters in the template, based on the retrieved values. The resulting configuration is stored in XML format using XML tags to delimit configuration commands, tested for well-formed-ness, and syntax checked. A reliable transport protocol carries the configuration information to the device. At the device, a configuration agent syntax checks the embedded configuration information, and then applies the configuration information to the device. As a result, automatic network provisioning may be accomplished remotely, without requiring a skilled technician to visit customer premises to carry out configuration. The process may be integrated with an event service to enable multiple devices to concurrently receive re-configuration without special synchronization logic.

Method and apparatus for provisioning network devices using instructions in extensible markup language

A feedback-based adaptive network is described wherein at least a portion of the network elements report operating information relating to network conditions to a centralized data store. The information which is reported to the data store is analyzed by a policy engine which includes a plurality of application specific plug-in policies for analyzing selected information from the data store and for computing updated control information based upon the analysis of the information. The updated control information is fed back to selected network elements to thereby affect operation of the selected elements. Additionally the adaptive, feedback-based network of the present invention may include a network quality monitoring system for evaluating performance characteristics or other aspects of the network based upon predetermined standards or criteria.

Technique for collecting operating information from network elements, and for controlling network element behavior in a feedback-based, adaptive data network

Dynamically adaptive network element in a feedback-based data network

Policy engine which supports application specific plug-ins for enforcing policies in a feedback-based, adaptive data network

Technique for providing automatic event notification of changing network conditions to network elements in an adaptive, feedback-based data network

Dynamic adjustment of network elements using a feedback-based adaptive technique

A feedback-based adaptive network is described wherein at least a portion of the network elements report operating information relating to network conditions to a centralized data store. The information which is reported to the data store is analyzed by a policy engine which includes a plurality of application specific plug-in policies for analyzing selected information from the data store and for computing updated control information based upon the analysis of the information. The updated control information is fed back to selected network elements to thereby affect operation of the selected elements. Typically, when the operation of a network element has been affected, its corresponding operating information will change. The new or changed network element operating information is then reported to the data store and analyzed by the policy engine. The policy engine may then generate new or updated control information for affecting the operation of selected elements in the network. In this way, the dynamic and automatic feedback control of network elements is provided in order to allow the rework to adapt to changing conditions. Events relating to changing conditions in the network may be reported to selected elements in the network using an event notification service. Additionally the adaptive, feedback-based network of the present invention may include a network quality monitoring system for evaluating performance characteristics or other aspects of the network based upon predetermined standards or criteria. If it is determined that a particular characteristic of the network does not conform with the standards established for that characteristic, the policy which controls that particular characteristic of the network may be automatically and dynamically modified to thereby affect the network performance.

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Fremont, CA, United States of America

Leo Pereira