This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese patent application No. 2007-245186, filed on Sep. 21, 2007, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a network system, a network administration apparatus, a communication apparatus, a path setting method and a program that can set a path by autonomous distributed control in an environment including both communication apparatuses being adapted to the autonomous distributed control and communication apparatuses not being adapted to the autonomous distributed control.
2. Description of Related Art
However, a network including both communication apparatuses being adapted to the autonomous distributed control (hereinafter, referred to as autonomous distributed control adaptive apparatuses) and communication apparatuses not being adapted to the autonomous distributed control (autonomous distributed control non-adaptive apparatuses) (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 2006-352297) has the following problems.
A first problem is that in adapting a large-scale network in operation to the autonomous distributed control, the network cannot smoothly transit to an autonomous distributed control adaptive network since it is difficult to adapt all communication apparatuses to the autonomous distributed control in a short period of time.
A second problem is that an autonomous distributed control non-adaptive apparatus does not have a mechanism for processing an autonomous distributed control signaling message or a mechanism for advertising a link of the apparatus, so that it cannot set a path by the autonomous distributed control through an autonomous distributed control non-adaptive apparatus and hence it cannot receive a benefit of path setting through the autonomous distributed control in the network including both autonomous distributed control adaptive apparatuses and autonomous distributed control non-adaptive apparatuses.
In view of the above circumstances, it is an exemplary object of the present invention to provide a network system, a network administration apparatus, a communication apparatus, a path setting method and a program that can set a path by autonomous distributed control through an autonomous distributed control non-adaptive apparatus in a network including both an autonomous distributed control adaptive apparatus and an autonomous distributed control non-adaptive apparatus.
To achieve the above exemplary object, the present invention has the following features.
A first exemplary aspect of a network system according to the present invention includes both an autonomous distributed control adaptive network and an autonomous distributed control non-adaptive network, and includes a network administration apparatus that can set predetermined paths in the autonomous distributed control adaptive network and the autonomous distributed control non-adaptive network, wherein the network administration apparatus sets an autonomous distributed control non-adaptive path as part of an autonomous distributed control adaptive path based on information indicating the autonomous distributed control non-adaptive path being set in the autonomous distributed control non-adaptive network.
A second exemplary aspect of a network system according to the present invention includes both an autonomous distributed control adaptive network and an autonomous distributed control non-adaptive network, and includes a network administration apparatus that can set predetermined paths in the autonomous distributed control adaptive network and the autonomous distributed control non-adaptive network, wherein the network administration apparatus sets an autonomous distributed control adaptive path as part of an autonomous distributed control non-adaptive path based on information indicating the autonomous distributed control adaptive path being set in the autonomous distributed control adaptive network.
A first exemplary aspect of a network administration apparatus according to the present invention sets an autonomous distributed control non-adaptive path as part of an autonomous distributed control adaptive path based on information indicating the autonomous distributed control non-adaptive path being set in an autonomous distributed control non-adaptive network if there are both an autonomous distributed control adaptive network and the autonomous distributed control non-adaptive network.
A second exemplary aspect of a network administration apparatus according to the present invention sets an autonomous distributed control adaptive path as part of an autonomous distributed control non-adaptive path based on information indicating the autonomous distributed control adaptive path being set in an autonomous distributed control adaptive network if there are both an autonomous distributed control adaptive network and the autonomous distributed control non-adaptive network.
A first exemplary aspect of a communication apparatus according to the present invention is a communication apparatus being arranged in an autonomous distributed control adaptive network and adapted to autonomous distributed control, including: a virtual link registration unit that is requested by a network administration apparatus to register an autonomous distributed control non-adaptive path being set in an autonomous distributed control non-adaptive network as a virtual link, and, when receiving virtual link information indicating the virtual link, that registers the autonomous distributed control non-adaptive path as the virtual link based on the virtual link information; and an autonomous distributed control adaptive path setting unit that sets an autonomous distributed control adaptive path containing the virtual link, when requested by the network administration apparatus to set an autonomous distributed control adaptive path.
A second exemplary aspect of a communication apparatus according to the present invention is a communication apparatus being arranged in an autonomous distributed control non-adaptive network and not adapted to autonomous distributed control, including: a virtual link registration unit that is requested by a network administration apparatus to register an autonomous distributed control adaptive path being set in an autonomous distributed control adaptive network as a virtual link, and, when receiving virtual link information indicating the virtual link, that registers the autonomous distributed control adaptive path as the virtual link based on the virtual link information; and an autonomous distributed control non-adaptive path setting unit that sets an autonomous distributed control non-adaptive path containing the virtual link, when requested by the network administration apparatus to set an autonomous distributed control non-adaptive path.
A first exemplary aspect of a path setting method according to the present invention sets an autonomous distributed control non-adaptive path as part of an autonomous distributed control adaptive path based on information indicating the autonomous distributed control non-adaptive path being set in an autonomous distributed control non-adaptive network if there are both an autonomous distributed control adaptive network and the autonomous distributed control non-adaptive network.
A second exemplary aspect of a path setting method according to the present invention sets an autonomous distributed control adaptive path as part of an autonomous distributed control non-adaptive path based on information indicating the autonomous distributed control adaptive path being set in an autonomous distributed control adaptive network if there are both an autonomous distributed control adaptive network and the autonomous distributed control non-adaptive network.
A third exemplary aspect of a path setting method according to the present invention includes: a step of being requested by a network administration apparatus to register an autonomous distributed control non-adaptive path being set in an autonomous distributed control non-adaptive network as a virtual link, and if virtual link information indicating the virtual link is received, registering the autonomous distributed control non-adaptive path as the virtual link based on the virtual link information; and a step of setting an autonomous distributed control adaptive path containing the virtual link if it is requested by the network administration apparatus to set an autonomous distributed control adaptive path.
A fourth exemplary aspect of a path setting method according to the present invention includes: a step of being requested by a network administration apparatus to register an autonomous distributed control adaptive path being set in an autonomous distributed control adaptive network as a virtual link, and if virtual link information indicating the virtual link is received, registering the autonomous distributed control adaptive path as the virtual link based on the virtual link information; and a step of setting an autonomous distributed control non-adaptive path containing the virtual link if it is requested by the network administration apparatus to set an autonomous distributed control non-adaptive path.
A program according to the present invention causes a computer to execute any of the first to fourth exemplary aspects of the path setting method according to the present invention.
The exemplary objects and features of the present invention will become more apparent from the consideration of the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
The following will describe the best mode to carry out the present invention in detail with reference to the attached drawings.
The overview of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described.
The exemplary embodiment of the present invention is characterized by enabling path setting through the autonomous distributed control in a network including both autonomous distributed control adaptive apparatuses, such as the GMPLS and ASON, and autonomous distributed control non-adaptive apparatuses. In
In
In
The NMS 1 is a system (network administration apparatus) being an interface between an operator and a network, including a function of requesting each communication apparatus to set or disconnect a path and a function of registering a virtual link for the autonomous distributed control adaptive apparatus. The NMS 1 and the respective communication apparatuses are connected to each other by the management links MLs 1 to 8, through which the respective communication apparatuses are set.
The autonomous distributed control adaptive network shown in
The autonomous distributed control non-adaptive network shown in
Next, the operation of this exemplary embodiment (one exemplary embodiment of the path setting method according to the present invention) will be described in detail with reference to
First, “path setting in autonomous distributed control non-adaptive network” (procedures <1> and <2>) will be described.
In
Next, “virtual link registration” (procedures <3> to <5>) will be described.
The NMS 1 according to this exemplary embodiment is characterized by including a mechanism for administering the path (NE 201-NE 202) being set in the autonomous distributed control non-adaptive network as virtual links to create virtual links in the autonomous distributed control non-adaptive network. In the description herein, the NMS 1 administers the path (NE 201-NE 202) being set in the autonomous distributed control non-adaptive network as virtual links. For this purpose, the NMS 1 registers virtual link information in the “virtual link information (NMS) administration table” shown in
Next, as shown in procedures <4> and <5>, the NMS 1 transmits the above virtual link information (
When the autonomous distributed control adaptive apparatuses NE 102 and NE 103 receive the virtual link registration request and the virtual link information from the NMS 1, they register the virtual link (step S4 in
The following description will be made by taking the NE 102 as an example. The “virtual link processing unit” of the NE 102 records an actually used link ID and an actually used label of the VL 401 in the “virtual link information administration table” shown in
On the other hand, also in the NE 103, the VL 401 is registered similarly to the NE 102. The “virtual link processing unit” of the NE 103 records an actually used link ID and an actually used label of the VL 401 in the “virtual link information administration table” shown in
In this manner, the virtual link VL 401 is recorded in the “link information administration table” at the NE 102 and the NE 103 being both end point nodes of the virtual link. The recorded virtual link VL 401 is advertised in the autonomous distributed control network and used for route computation, similarly to a general link (physically connected link). After the virtual link VL 401 is registered, a network recognized by the autonomous distributed control adaptive apparatus has the logical configuration shown in
Finally, “autonomous distributed control path setting” (procedure <6>) will be described.
After the virtual link is registered, the NMS 1 transmits a request to set an autonomous distributed control path to the autonomous distributed control adaptive apparatus NE 101 being a source of the path (from the NE 101 to NE 105) which the operator wishes to set (step S5 in
As described in the above, according to this exemplary embodiment, the path can be set through the autonomous distributed control in the network including both autonomous distributed control adaptive apparatuses and autonomous distributed control non-adaptive apparatuses. Therefore, even the network including both autonomous distributed control adaptive apparatuses and autonomous distributed control non-adaptive apparatuses can receive benefits of reduction of the operation cost, flexible selection of a path route and providing failure recovery means, for example, as the benefits of the path setting through the autonomous distributed control. It is because the NMS includes the mechanism for handling the paths being set in the autonomous distributed control non-adaptive apparatus as the virtual link, and the autonomous distributed control adaptive apparatus includes the mechanism for handling the virtual link as a normal link.
Next, in addition to the state in the first exemplary embodiment described in the above, an exemplary embodiment will be described to register a virtual link NE 102-NE 201-NE 203-NE 106, as shown in
First, “path setting in autonomous distributed control non-adaptive network” will be described.
In a method similar to the operation of the first exemplary embodiment described in the above, the NMS 1 performs the XC registration for the respective communication apparatuses NE 201 and NE 203 in the autonomous distributed control non-adaptive network, as shown in
Next, “virtual link registration” will be described.
The NMS 1 administers the path (NE 201-NE 203) being set in the autonomous distributed control non-adaptive network as the virtual link VL 402 among the NEs 102-106 similarly to the above first exemplary embodiment. For this purpose, the NMS 1 registers the virtual link information in the “virtual link information (NMS) administration table” shown in
When the autonomous distributed control adaptive apparatuses NE 102 and NE 106 receive the virtual link registration request and virtual link information (
The following description will be made by taking the NE 102 as an example. The “virtual link processing unit” of the NE 102 records a link ID and a used label of the VL 402 in the “virtual link information administration table” shown in
On the other hand, also in the NE 106, the “virtual link processing unit” registers the VL 402 based on the destination information in the virtual link information received from the NMS 1, similarly to the NE 102.
After both the NE 102 and the NE 106 being both end point nodes of the virtual link record the virtual link VL 402, the autonomous distributed control network has the logical configuration shown in
According to the above first and second exemplary embodiments, the NMS 1 previously performs the XC registration for the autonomous distributed control non-adaptive apparatuses NE 201 to NE 203 to register the virtual link, so that the autonomous distributed control realizes the path setting. According to this exemplary embodiment, in addition to the above, the NMS 1 can previously perform the XC registration for each of the autonomous distributed control adaptive apparatuses NEs 101 to 107 to register the virtual link. The configuration and operation of this exemplary embodiment are basically similar to those of the above first and second exemplary embodiments, so they will not be further described herein. This exemplary embodiment has effects in that the link information advertised in the autonomous distributed control network decreases, and the scalability of the autonomous distributed control network improves.
The above first to third exemplary embodiments have described the case in that the autonomous distributed control non-adaptive path is set as part of the autonomous distributed control adaptive path based on the information indicating the autonomous distributed control non-adaptive path being set in the autonomous distributed control non-adaptive network. On the contrary, the autonomous distributed control adaptive path can be set as part of the autonomous distributed control non-adaptive path based on the information indicating an autonomous distributed control adaptive path being set in the autonomous distributed control adaptive network.
The control operation according to the exemplary embodiments described in the above may be executed in hardware or software or a combination of the both.
To execute the software processing, a program recording a processing sequence on it may be installed to a memory in a computer embedded in dedicated hardware for execution, or the program may be installed to a general-purpose computer that can execute various processing for execution.
For example, the program may be previously recorded in a hard disk or a ROM (Read Only Memory) as a recording medium. Alternatively, the program may be temporally or persistently stored (recorded) in a removable recording medium such as a floppy (R) disc, a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory), an MO (Magneto optical) disc, a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), a magnetic disc, or a semiconductor memory.
Such a removable recording medium can be provided as so-called packaged software.
The program is not only installed from the removable recording medium as described in the above to the computer, but also wirelessly transferred from a download site to the computer, or transferred to the computer via a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network) or the Internet through wired connection. The computer can receive the transferred program and install the program to a recording medium such as a built-in hard disk.
Additionally, the program is not only executed time-sequentially according to the processing operation described in relation to the above exemplary embodiments, but may also be constructed so as to be executed in parallel or independently depending on the throughput of an apparatus for executing the processing, or as necessary.
Furthermore, the system described in relation to the above exemplary embodiments can be configured as a logical group of a plurality of apparatuses, or constructed so as to include functions of the respective apparatuses.
The respective exemplary embodiments described in the above are preferable exemplary embodiments of the present invention. They are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention only to the above exemplary embodiments, but those skilled in the art can modify or alter the exemplary embodiments in the above to implement exemplary embodiments with various changes without deviating from the subject of the present invention.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2007-245186 | Sep 2007 | JP | national |