Claims
- 1. A method of automatically discovering port mapping between neighboring optical nodes in a switched optical network, the method employing a handshaking protocol between the nodes to discover fiber connections therebetween.
- 2. The method according to claim 1 wherein said handshaking protocol performs connection fault diagnostics.
- 3. The method according to claim 1 wherein said handshaking protocol includes the transfer of connection discovery messages.
- 4. The method according to claim 1 wherein said handshaking protocol is transferred between the nodes utilizing a dedicated wavelength channel.
- 5. The method according to claim 3 wherein said connection discovery messages include connected port pair (CPP) information.
- 6. The method according to claim 5 wherein said CPP information includes node name and port number.
- 7. The method according to claim 5 wherein said CPP information includes connection status information.
- 8. The method according to claim 5 wherein said CPP information includes diagnostic information.
- 9. The method according to claim 1 wherein a receiver unit at each node scans each specified ingress port for incoming connection discovery messages.
- 10. The method according to claim 9 wherein the receiving unit monitors an ingress port until a sender unit at the node finishes scanning of egress ports on the node.
- 11. A system for automatically discovering port mapping between neighbouring optical nodes in a switched optical network comprising a sender unit at each node for sending a connection discovery message to said other node, and a receiver unit at each node for receiving a connection discovery message for said other node, whereby connection port pair information is encoded into said messages.
- 12. The system according to claim 11 wherein said neighbouring optical nodes are interconnected via a bundle of optical fibers.
- 13. The system according to claim 12 wherein each node has a plurality of ports, with an optical fiber connecting ports on respective nodes.
- 14. The system according to claim 13 wherein each port has a port name and a unique port number.
- 15. The system according to claim 14 wherein each sender unit and each receiver unit sends and receives connection discovery messages over a message channel.
- 16. The system according to claim 15 wherein each node has scanning means to send messages to selected ports over said message channel.
- 17. The system according to claim 12 wherein said optical nodes have performance testing functionality to determine quality of the connection between said optical nodes.
- 18. The system according to claim 17 wherein said performance testing functionality is provided by a Bit Error Rate Test Set (BERTS).
- 19. The system according to claim 17 wherein said performance testing functionality is provided by a Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) pay load.
Parent Case Info
[0001] This invention claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/274,612 filed Mar. 12, 2001.
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60274612 |
Mar 2001 |
US |