Patent Application
20070025256
The present application is related to concurrently filed application Ser. No. ______ , entitled, “Address Resolution Mechanism For Ethernet Maintenance Endpoints”, which is assigned to the assignee of the present application.
The present invention relates generally to data communications systems; more specifically, to service provider (SP) networks with Ethernet access domains that support Operations and Management (OAM) functions.
Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) technology is widely-used today for increasing the bandwidth of digital data transmissions over the existing telephone network infrastructure. In a typical system configuration, a plurality of DSL subscribers are connected to a service provider (SP) network through a Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer (DSLAM), which concentrates and multiplexes signals at the telephone service provider location to the broader wide area network (WAN). Basically, a DSLAM takes connections from many customers or subscribers and aggregates them onto a single, high-capacity connection. The DSLAM may also provide additional functions such as Internet Protocol (IP) address assignment for the subscribers, IP Access Control Lists (ACLs), etc.
Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) protocol networks have traditionally been utilized for communications between DSLAM devices and Broadband Remote Access Servers (BRAS) that provide authentication and subscriber management functions. A BRAS is a device that terminates remote users at the corporate network or Internet users at the Internet service provider (ISP) network, and commonly provides firewall, authentication, and routing services for remote users. Next generation BRAS devices are frequently referred to as Broadband Network Gateway (BBNG) devices. The ATM protocol is an international standard in which multiple service types (such as voice, video, or data) are conveyed in fixed-length “cells” over point-to-point network connections. Data packet cells travel through the ATM switches from the user network interface (UNI) to the network node interface (NNI) through a process called Virtual Path Identifier/Virtual Channel Identifier (VPI/VCI) translation. The VPI/VCI identifiers are used by the ATM switches to switch/direct the subscriber traffic to a given feature server, and in the reverse direction to forward server traffic to a given DSLAM/subscriber, without ambiguity. Furthermore, the VPI/VCI mechanism is used by the feature server to identify the subscriber.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,801,533, for example, teaches a system and method for proxy signaling in a DSLAM and generally describes a DSL network that includes communication transfer of signals from a DSLAM to a remote access server over a high-speed ATM network. Transmission of packet data over an ATM network is also taught in U.S. Pat. No. 6,785,232. U.S. Pat. No. 5,818,842 teaches a communication system with an interface device that connects a plurality of interconnected ATM switches to Local Area Network (LAN) interface adapters for connection to LAN networks.
Ethernet is a technology that originated based on the idea of peers on a network sending messages in what was essentially a common wire or channel. Each peer has a globally unique key, known as the Media Access Control (MAC) address to ensure that all systems in an Ethernet have distinct addresses. Most modern Ethernet installations use Ethernet switches (i.e., “bridges”) to implement an Ethernet “cloud” or “island” that provides connectivity to the attached devices. The switch functions as an intelligent data traffic forwarder in which data packet frames are sent to ports where the destination device is attached. Examples of network switches for use in Ethernet network environments are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,850,542, 6,813,268 and 6,850,521.
The use of Ethernet as a metropolitan and WAN technology has driven the need for a new set of OAM protocols. Two main areas that have been the subject of recent attention are Service OAM and Link OAM protocols. Service OAM provides monitoring and troubleshooting of end-to-end Ethernet service instances, while Link OAM allows a service provider to monitor and troubleshoot an individual Ethernet link. Much of the work on Service OAM protocols is found in the IEEE 802.1ag specification, which specifies protocols and procedures to support connectivity fault management (CFM) used for discovery and verification of the path, through bridges and LANs, taken for data frames to and from specified network users. The 802.1ag standard basically allows service providers to manage each customer service instance, or Ethernet Virtual Connection (EVC), individually. Since Service OAM typically operates on a per-EVC basis irrespective of the underlying transport mechanism, 802.1ag essentially enables the SP to determine if an EVC has failed.
Ethernet CFM, as defined in 802.1ag, relies on a functional model consisting of hierarchical maintenance or administrative domains that are defined by provisioning which switch/router ports are interior to the particular domain. In addition, maintenance end points (MEPs) are designated on the edge nodes of a domain (each EVC), and maintenance intermediate points (MIPs) are designated on relevant interior ports.
One of the drawbacks of Ethernet CFM as defined in 802.1ag is that it presumes that every node in the network (CE-to-CE in
Therefore, what is a needed is a method and apparatus for performing connectivity checks from the provider or operator level to the customer domain level in networks where the CPE nodes do not operate in compliance with 802.1ag.
By way of further background, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2005/0099951 teaches a method of detecting a fault on an Ethernet network using OAM connectivity check functions in which connectivity check frames are generated and sent to either a specific unicast destination address or a multicast destination address. United Patent Publication No. 2005/0099949 describes a further method that defines OAM domains by defining reference points on the Ethernet network, and using the reference points to insert and extract Ethernet OAM frames. A system for interworking between a broadband system such as an ATM system and a GR-303 format system for telecommunication calls is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,667,982.
The present invention will be understood more fully from the detailed description that follows and from the accompanying drawings, which however, should not be taken to limit the invention to the specific embodiments shown, but are for explanation and understanding only.
A mechanism that allows interworking between legacy broadband access link level OAM schemes and IEEE 802.1ag Ethernet connectivity fault management is described. In the following description specific details are set forth, such as device types, protocols, configurations, etc., in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, persons having ordinary skill in the networking arts will appreciate that these specific details may not be needed to practice the present invention.
A computer network is a geographically distributed collection of interconnected subnetworks for transporting data between nodes, such as intermediate nodes and end nodes. A local area network (LAN) is an example of such a subnetwork; a plurality of LANs may be further interconnected by an intermediate network node, such as a router, bridge, or switch, to extend the effective “size” of the computer network and increase the number of communicating nodes. Examples of the end nodes may include servers and personal computers. The nodes typically communicate by exchanging discrete frames or packets of data according to predefined protocols. In this context, a protocol consists of a set of rules defining how the nodes interact with each other.
As shown in
In a typical networking application, packets are received from a framer, such as an Ethernet media access control (MAC) controller, of the I/O subsystem attached to the system bus. A DMA engine in the MAC controller is provided a list of addresses (e.g., in the form of a descriptor ring in a system memory) for buffers it may access in the system memory. As each packet is received at the MAC controller, the DMA engine obtains ownership of (“masters”) the system bus to access a next descriptor ring to obtain a next buffer address in the system memory at which it may, e.g., store (“write”) data contained in the packet. The DMA engine may need to issue many write operations over the system bus to transfer all of the packet data.
In one aspect, the present invention provides a so-called “virtual Maintenance Endpoint (vMEP)” which emulates a MEP, as defined in the IEEE 802.1ag specification, on a broadband access node. Through the use of vMEPs, a broadband access node may check the integrity of the subscriber line by issuing a legacy OAM loopback message (e.g., ATM or 802.3ah loopback), and then signal the response state within the Ethernet access network using 802.1ag continuity check messages (CCMs). This allows for both reactive monitoring (where the operator polls the port status of an access node) and proactive monitoring (where the access node signals the “health” of the access line using standard CFM messages). It also permits seamless interworking between 802.1ag CFM and legacy link level OAM schemes used commonly used between the CPE and broadband access nodes.
In
Each MEP also has an exterior facing function (EFF) that sends signals in the opposite direction of the MEP, e.g., for an alarm indication signal (AIS) that provides notification to other elements that there is a fault in the Ethernet network. Each MEP also has a virtual interior facing function (VIFF) that maintains a database by relying on the physical level or link level OAM (e.g., MPLS OAM, ATM OAM, 802.3ah OAM, etc.) For instance, MEP 41 on access port 21 receives line status signals at Level 7 through its VIFF. The EFF on MEP 41 at Level 7 can send an alarm indication signal (AIS) that will bubble up to Level 0 to reach BBNG 25.
The network diagram of
After the DSLAM sends out and receives the ATM loopback message response back from the RG (block 33), thereby confirming connectivity with the subscriber at the link level, the vMEP on the DSLAM generates an 802.1ag loopback reply (LBR) message (block 34) that is transmitted back to the BBNG (block 35). Note that from the standpoint of the BBNG, the translation process that occurs at the DSLAM is completely transparent. Thus, through the use of virtual MEPs the BBNG router can send a connectivity check message at the Ethernet domain Level which results in a remote ATM loopback (via the VIFF function) on the DSL line. In the example of
It is appreciated that in the reactive case described above, both the LBM and LBR messages are unicast messages, destined to the vMEP and BBNG MAC addresses, respectively.
In another aspect of the present invention, instead of reactive monitoring of the line between the subscriber and the DSLAM, the vMEPs on the access node may proactively issue periodic “heart-beat” messages that allow the vMEPs to continuously check the “health” of the link level connection to the RG. In other words, the access node operates to continuously monitor the link level connectivity with the RG, basically emulating the MEP on the RG. The vMEP on the access node may also operate to send out 802.1ag CCM multicast messages which are received by the BBNG MEP. The BBNG uses these CCMs to determine the continuity towards the RG.
Alternatively, in certain implementations or network configurations, the CCM functionality provided by the vMEPs may be disabled.
It should be understood that elements of the present invention may be provided as a computer program product which may include a machine-readable medium having stored thereon instructions which may be used to program a computer (e.g., a processor or other electronic device) to perform a sequence of operations. Alternatively, the operations may be performed by a combination of hardware and software. The machine-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, floppy diskettes, optical disks, CD-ROMs, and magneto-optical disks, ROMs, RAMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnet or optical cards, propagation media or other type of media/machine-readable medium suitable for storing electronic instructions. For example, elements of the present invention may be downloaded as a computer program product, wherein the program may be transferred to a node or switch by way of data signals embodied in a carrier wave or other propagation medium via a communication link (e.g., a modem or network connection).
Additionally, although the present invention has been described in conjunction with specific embodiments, numerous modifications and alterations are well within the scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.
