JP2002261705A - Media converter system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To confirm a system state by only an information transmission from a station side line concentrator in an optical communication system, simply and for a short time. SOLUTION: When an SNMP unit 3 requests a loop back test to a station side media converter 2b per request from an SNMP manager 7, the station side media converter 2b prohibits transmission and reception of a signal from a TP 5a and transmits a request message to a user side media converter 8. The user side media converter 8 prohibits transmission and reception with a terminal 10 and transmits a confirmation message in a loop back state to a station side media converter 2a. When test data is transmitted from the station side media converter 2a to the user side media converter 8, the user side media converter 8 replies the test data to the station side media converter 2a by return, based on a MAC address function. When the test is completed, it is notified to the SNMP unit 3 and confirmed by the SNMP manager 7.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an optical communication system, and more particularly, to a media converter system including a media converter for performing mutual conversion between an electric signal and an optical signal.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art High-speed communication networks using optical communication systems have begun to spread. FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of a network system to which an optical communication system is applied. Concentrator 51
Are installed on the communication carrier side, and the station side concentrator 51 has a plurality of station side media converters 52a, 52b, 52
c is incorporated. These station side media converters 52a, 52b, 52c are connected to a LAN (Local Area Network) 54 by metal twisted pair wires (hereinafter abbreviated as TP) 53a, 53b, 53c. In addition, the station side media converter 52b includes an optical cable 56.
Is connected to a media converter 55 installed on a remote user side. Further, a TP 58 is connected from the user-side media converter 55 to a terminal 57 such as a personal computer operated by the user.

[0003] Although not shown in the figure, other station-side media converters 52a, 52 in the station-side concentrator 51.
Similarly, c is connected to a media converter on the user side via an optical cable. With such a configuration, the terminals 57 and the line concentrator 51 on the plurality of users to be dispersed are arranged.
Optical communication is performed between the terminals, and each terminal is connected to the LAN 54 via the line concentrator 51.

[0004]

By the way, in the optical communication system having the above-mentioned configuration, from the station side media converter 52b to the user side media converter 55 is under the control of the station side communication carrier. Is customary. In such a case, it is necessary for the communication company to perform an operation check as to whether a signal is normally transmitted from the station side media converter 52b to the user side media converter 55.

[0005] However, from the viewpoint of the telecommunications carrier managing the system, since the media converter on the user side is installed in a remote place, it is easy to confirm the condition of the media converter and the optical cable on the user side. Can not. Therefore, when the optical cable 56, the user-side media converter 55, and the like break down, it is necessary to go to each site and check the fault situation, and there is a problem that it takes time to check and restore the line status. .

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and has as its object to simply and quickly check the state of a communication path from a concentrator at a station to a media converter at a user. It is an object of the present invention to provide a media converter system.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a media converter system according to the present invention comprises a plurality of media converters for performing photoelectric conversion processing in a media converter system for performing optical communication by photoelectric conversion. A configuration for confirming the state of the communication function between the plurality of media converters by transmitting and receiving a loopback test signal between the plurality of media converters (for example, a control unit 24, a data generation unit 20, a transmission processing unit 21, It is characterized by having a reception processing unit 22, a data reception unit 23, a changeover switch 13, a MAC switch 39, a data reception unit 41, a data transmission unit 43, a control unit 42, and components corresponding to the changeover switch 33).

That is, according to the media converter system of the present invention, for example, when test data is transmitted from a station-side media converter to a remote user-side media converter, the transmitted test data is automatically transmitted to the station-side media converter. Will be replied to. With this, if a line failure or a device failure occurs in the optical cable connecting the office-side media converter and the user-side media converter or the user-side media converter, the failure status can be checked without having to go to the site. be able to. Therefore, it is possible to promptly check the line status and perform a recovery operation.

Further, in the media converter system of the present invention, in the above invention, among the plurality of media converters, at least the media converter that returns the test signal has a MAC address identification function and is transmitted and received between the plurality of media converters. The test signal comprises a MAC frame, and the media converter that loops back the test signal
The test signal is looped back to a predetermined media converter based on the MAC address information assigned to the MAC frame. As a specific embodiment, a media converter that returns a test signal is provided with a switch function, and the switch function is switched based on the MAC address information added to the MAC frame, and the test signal is transmitted to a predetermined media converter. What is necessary is just to make it wrap.

That is, according to the media converter system of the present invention, for example, when test data having a MAC address is transmitted from an office-side media converter to a remote-side user-side media converter, the switch is automatically switched based on the address information. The function is switched, and the transmitted test data is returned to the station side media converter.
As a result, the line status can be checked quickly and accurately.

Further, in the media converter system according to the present invention, in the above invention, the media converter as a transmission source of the test signal transmits a test signal based on an instruction from a host device, and performs a test based on the returned test signal. The result is notified to a host device. That is, according to the media converter system of the present invention, at the time of installation of the media converter system or at the time of occurrence of an abnormality, a request from the SNMP manager, which is a higher-level device,
The return communication of the test signal is performed with the opposing user-side media converter, the state of each media converter and the line is confirmed, and the result can be notified to the SNMP manager.

Further, in the media converter system according to the present invention, in the above-mentioned invention, the test signal includes a notice signal for notifying a notice of a test and a data signal for executing the test, and The converter is
A data signal is transmitted based on a return result of the notice signal, and a test result is determined based on the returned data signal. That is, according to the media converter system of the present invention, by the notice signal,
If a loop-back state (a signal return state) is established, a data signal for the test is transmitted thereafter, and this signal is returned, an accurate and efficient test can be performed.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The embodiments of the media converter system according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of a network system to which a media converter according to the present invention is applied. In FIG. 1, a station-side line concentrator 1 includes a plurality of station-side media converters 2 each of which mutually converts an electric signal-optical signal.
a, 2b, 2c... and a network management protocol (Sim
PLE Network Management Protocol) and each station side media converter 2a, 2b, 2c
. Are connected to a switch hub (SW-HUB) 4. Each station side media converter 2a,
Are connected to the LAN 6 via the SW-HUB 4. SW-HUB4 is connected to LAN6 by TP5a. Similarly, SNMP unit 3
Are also connected to the LAN 6 by the TP 5b. Also,
The LAN 6 has an SNMP manager 7 for centrally managing SNMP units of all the concentrators in the LAN.
Is connected.

On the other hand, the station side media converter 2 b and the user side media converter 8 are connected via an optical cable 9. The user-side media converter 8 and a terminal 10 such as a personal computer operated by the user are connected via a TP 5c. The other station-side media converters 2a, 2c,... Of the station-side line concentrator 1 are similarly connected to the media converters installed on the user side via optical cables.

In such a configuration, LAN 6
The electric signal transmitted to the station side media converter 2b by P5a is converted into an optical signal by the station side media converter 2b and transmitted to the user side media converter 8 via the optical cable 9. Then, after the optical signal is converted into an electric signal by the user-side media converter 8, the optical signal is transmitted to the terminal 9 via the TP5c by Ethernet (registered trademark) which is a standard LAN connection means. Similarly, in the reverse route, a mutual transmission process of an electric / optical signal is performed and a signal transmission is performed. This enables optical communication between the station side media converter 2b and the user side media converter 8.

In the following, the operation of this embodiment will be described for the case where a communication path under the control of a communication carrier is tested. An outline of the operation will be described with reference to FIG. This test is performed by first transmitting test data from the station to the user. When transmitting the test data, the SNMP manager 7 issues a loopback test request to the SNMP unit 3. Then, the SNMP unit 3 requests a loopback test to the station side media converter 2b. Office media converter 2b receiving this request
Then, transmission and reception of signals from the TP 5a are prohibited. Then, the request message is transmitted from the station-side media converter 2 b to the user-side media converter 8 via an optical cable 9 by an optical signal. Upon receiving the request message, the user-side media converter 8
Transmission / reception with 0 is prohibited and a loopback state is set.

Further, a confirmation message of the loop-back state is transmitted from the user-side media converter 8 to the station-side media converter 2a via the optical cable 9 by an optical signal to notify that the loop-back state has been entered. Then, a test data signal is transmitted from the station-side media converter 2 a to the user-side media converter 8 by an optical signal via the optical cable 9. User side media converter 8
Returns the test data to the station side media converter 2a based on the MAC address identification function. When the transmission and reception of the test data are performed in this manner, the transmission of the loopback test data is stopped, and the loopback state is released. Then, the completion of the loopback test is notified to the SNMP unit 3, and the test result is confirmed by the SNMP manager 7.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a media converter system according to the present invention, which will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. That is, FIG. 2 shows the configuration of one system of the user side media converter and the station side media converter in the network system in FIG. 1 described above. That is, the station-side media converter 11 and the user-side media converter 31 are connected by the optical cable 30, the station-side media converter 11 is connected to the LAN by the TP, and the user-side media converter 31 is connected to the terminal by the TP. I have. The station-side media converter 11 is configured to be able to communicate with the SNMP unit.

Next, the configuration will be described. First, the configuration of the station side media converter 11 will be described. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 12 denotes a connector for connecting a TP to the LAN, and reference numeral 13 denotes a changeover switch for switching a signal path between a normal communication path and a communication path for a test. Reference numeral 14 denotes a reception processing unit conforming to the 100BASE-TX standard for receiving an electric signal from the changeover switch 13 and performing processing by a protocol at a physical layer level. Reference numeral 15 denotes a signal received from the reception processing unit 14. For processing by the protocol at the physical layer level and sending it to the outside
The transmission processing unit conforms to the 00BASE-FX standard.
Reference numeral 16 denotes an electric / optical conversion unit for converting an electric signal from the transmission processing unit 15 into an optical signal,

Reference numeral 17 denotes an optical / electrical converter for converting an optical signal from the user-side media converter 31 into an electric signal. Reference numeral 18 denotes a reception processing unit conforming to the 100BASE-FX standard for receiving an electric signal from the optical / electrical conversion unit 17 and performing processing by a protocol at a physical layer level, and reference numeral 19 denotes a reception processing unit 18 This is a transmission processing unit conforming to the 100BASE-TX standard for processing an electric signal received from the CDMA by a physical layer level protocol and transmitting the processed signal to the outside.

Reference numeral 20 denotes a data generation unit for generating test data, and reference numeral 21 denotes a 100BASE-TX for processing the data generated by the data generation unit 20 by a physical layer level protocol and transmitting the processed data to the outside. A transmission processing unit 22 conforming to the standard receives the test data and performs processing by a protocol at the physical layer level.
-Reception processing unit conforming to the TX standard. Symbol 23 is
Reference numeral 24 denotes a data receiving unit that receives data from the reception processing unit 20, and a control unit that has a control function of the station-side media converter 11 as a whole and an SNMP interface function of exchanging signals with the SNMP unit 3. Reference numeral 25 denotes an optical connector 25 for connecting the optical cable 30.

Next, the configuration of the user-side media converter 31 will be described. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 32 denotes a connector for connecting a TP to a terminal, and reference numeral 33 denotes a changeover switch for turning back a signal path during a test.
Normally, the reception processing unit 34 and the transmission processing unit are connected to the connector 32. Reference numeral 34 denotes a reception processing unit conforming to the 100BASE-TX standard for receiving a signal from the changeover switch 33 and performing processing by a protocol at a physical layer level, and reference numeral 35 denotes a signal received from the reception processing unit 34. A transmission processing unit conforming to the 100BASE-FX standard for processing by a layer-level protocol and transmitting the data to the outside.

Reference numeral 36 denotes an electric / optical conversion unit for converting an electric signal from the transmission processing unit 35 into an optical signal;
Is an optical / electrical converter for converting an optical signal from the station side media converter 11 into an electric signal. Symbol 38
Is a 100 BAS for receiving an electric signal from the optical / electrical conversion unit 37 and performing processing by a protocol at a physical layer level.
A reception processing unit conforming to the E-FX standard, reference numeral 39 denotes a MAC (media access control) switch that identifies the address of the received signal and distributes the signal, and reference numeral 40 denotes a signal received from the MAC switch 39 by a physical switch. A transmission processing unit conforming to the 100BASE-TX standard for processing using a layer-level protocol and transmitting the data to the outside.

Reference numeral 41 denotes a data receiving unit for receiving address data from the MAC switch 39, and reference numeral 42 denotes a changeover switch 33 based on data from the data receiving unit 41.
A reference numeral 43 denotes a data transmission unit for receiving a loopback test acknowledgment signal from the control unit 42 and transmits the signal to the MAC switch 39, and a reference numeral 44 supplies the data to each unit of the user-side media converter 31. Voltage 12
It is a voltage converter for converting V to 3.3V. The power to the voltage conversion unit 44 is 100 V AC and DC 12 V
Is supplied by an AC adapter 45 that generates
The arrows in the figure show the flow of each signal.

Next, the operation of the media converter system configured as described above will be described. When the media converter system is in a normal state, TP
After being received by the connector 32 of the user-side media converter 31, the electric signal transmitted through the switch 33, the reception processing unit 34, and the transmission processing unit 35 is transmitted to the optical signal by the electric / optical conversion unit 36. Converted,
The data is transmitted to the station side media converter 11 via the optical cable 8. Then, the light /
The electric signal is converted into an electric signal by the electric conversion unit 17, and is passed through the reception processing unit 18, the transmission processing unit 19, and the changeover switch 13.
Sent to LAN via TP.

On the other hand, an electric signal transmitted from the LAN through the TP is also received by the connector 12, passes through the changeover switch 13, the reception processing unit 14, and the transmission processing unit 15, and is converted into an optical signal by the electric / optical conversion unit 16. And transmitted from the optical connector 25 to the user-side media converter 31 via the optical cable 30. Further, in the user-side media converter 31, the optical signal is converted into an electric signal by the optical / electrical conversion unit 37, and the electric signal is transmitted through the reception processing unit 38, the MAC switch 39, the transmission processing unit 40, and the changeover switch 33.
It is transmitted to the user terminal through the TP.

Next, a method of a loopback test for confirming whether each communication path of the media converter system is normal will be described. In the embodiment of the present invention, normal data communication is stopped during the loopback test. When performing this loopback test, first, the SNMP manager 7 shown in FIG. 1 issues a loopback test request to the SNMP unit 3. Upon receiving this request, the SNMP unit 3 requests a loopback test from the station side media converter 11 shown in FIG.

Upon receiving the request for the loopback test, the control unit 24 switches the changeover switch 13 of the station side media converter 11 to prohibit transmission / reception from the TP interface to which the LAN is connected. Start the completion timer and loopback test timer. The data generation unit 20 sends a loopback request (LB_r
eq) signal and this loopback request (LB_r
eq) The signal passes through the transmission processing unit 21, the changeover switch 13, the reception processing unit 14, and the transmission processing unit 15, is converted into an optical signal by the electric / optical conversion unit 16, and is transmitted via the optical cable 8 to the user side. Sent to media converter 31.

When the user-side media converter 31 receives the loopback request (LB_req) signal, the signal is converted into an electric signal by the optical / electrical conversion section 37 and transmitted from the reception processing section 38 to the MAC switch 39.
Then, the MAC switch 39 sets the M of the received electric signal to M.
The destination of the signal is identified based on the AC address, and this loopback request (LB_req) signal is
Send to 1. The data receiving unit 41 transmits the received loopback request (LB_req) signal to the control unit 42. The control unit 42 switches the changeover switch 33 based on the received loopback request (LB_req) signal, prohibits transmission / reception from the TP interface to which the terminal 9 is connected, and sets the line to the loopback state.

When the line is set to the loopback state,
The control unit 42 of the user-side media converter 31 sends a loopback acknowledge (LB_ack) signal, which is an acknowledgment signal of the loopback state, to the MA via the data transmission unit 43.
Transmit to C switch 39. The MAC switch 39 identifies the MAC address of the loopback acknowledge (LB_ack) signal, converts the signal to an optical signal by the electric / optical converter 36 via the transmission processor 35, and transmits the optical signal to the station-side media converter 11 from the optical cable 30. Send to notify that loopback state has been entered. At this time, the user-side media converter 31 starts a loop-back test timer (not shown).

That is, the station side media converter 11
The received loopback acknowledgment (LB_ack) signal is converted into an electric signal by the optical / electrical conversion unit 17, and is transmitted via the reception processing unit 18-the transmission processing unit 19-the changeover switch 13-the reception processing unit 22 to the data receiving unit 23. Send to The data receiving unit 23 receives the loopback acknowledge (LB_a
ck) Notify the control unit 24 of the signal. As a result, the station side media converter 11 recognizes that the user side media converter has entered the loopback state.

Next, the data generation section 20 of the station side media converter 11 generates a loopback data (LB_data) signal which is data for a loopback test, and this loopback data (LB_data) signal is transmitted to the transmission processing section. 21-
After being transmitted to the electrical / optical converter 16 via the changeover switch 13 -the reception processor 14 -the transmission processor 15 and converted into an optical signal, the optical signal is transmitted to the user-side media converter 31 via the optical cable 30. .

When the user-side media converter 31 receives the loopback data (LB_data) signal, this signal is converted into an electric signal by the optical / electrical converter 37,
The data is transmitted from the reception processing unit 38 to the MAC switch 39.
Then, the destination of the received signal is identified by the address identification function of the MAC switch 39, and the loopback data (LB_data) signal is returned by the changeover switch 33 after passing through the transmission processing unit 40. Then, via the transmission processing unit 34-the reception processing unit 35, the electrical / optical conversion unit 3
After being converted into an optical signal by 6, the optical signal is returned to the station side media converter 11 via the optical cable 30.

The station-side media converter 11 converts the loop-back data (LB_data) signal received from the user-side media converter into an electric signal by the optical / electrical conversion unit 17, and performs a reception processing unit 18-a transmission processing unit 19-. The data is transmitted to the data receiving unit 23 via the changeover switch 13 and the reception processing unit 22. The data receiving unit 23 notifies the control unit 24 of this loopback data (LB_data) signal.

Next, when the loopback test timer of the station side media converter 11 times out, the data generator 20 stops generating the loopback data (LB_data) signal, and thereafter transmits and receives the loopback data (LB_data) signal. Is stopped. In addition, the loop-back test timer of the user-side media converter 31 also times out, the loop-back state is released, and the apparatus enters a normal communication state. Thereafter, the loopback completion timer of the station side media converter 11 times out, the loopback test state is completed, and the control unit 24 transmits a loopback test completion notification to the SNMP unit. S shown in FIG.
The NMP manager 7 stores test result information such as whether the loopback test result was normal or abnormal, in the MIB.
(Management Information Base) Each SNM as information
Obtain from P unit.

The embodiment described above is an example for explaining the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention. is there. For example, the loopback request (LB_req) signal, the loopback acknowledge (LB_ack) signal, and the loopback data (LB_dat) in the above embodiment.
a) If each of the signals is in the form of a MAC frame having a MAC address, it is not necessarily limited to the signal route of the above embodiment. Further, the destination MAC address, the transmission destination MAC address, and other fields may be all independent specifications.

[0037]

As described above, according to the media converter system of the present invention, test data having a MAC address is transmitted from a station side media converter to a remote user side media converter based on an instruction from an SNMP manager. Is transmitted, if there is no failure in the communication path, the transmitted test data is returned to the station side media converter. In this way, if a line failure or equipment failure occurs in the optical cable connecting the office-side media converter and the user-side media converter or the user-side media converter, the failure status can be confirmed without having to go to the site. be able to. Therefore, it is possible to promptly check the line status and perform a recovery operation.

Further, according to the media converter system of the present invention, information unique to the opposing media converter,
For example, since the MAC address information of each media converter is not required, there is no need to set individual devices, and any device can be used in combination. Further, since each of the TP interface portions of the opposing media converters is disconnected from the external network, M included in the data for the loopback test is included.
Since the AC frame does not leak outside, security is sufficiently ensured. Since the media converter system of the present invention uses a MAC frame,
The present invention can be applied to a media converter having a switch function.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of a network system to which a media converter is applied in the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a media converter system according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of a network system in an optical communication system generally applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Central office line concentrator, 2a, 2b, 2c, 11 ... Central office media converter, 3 ... SNMP unit, 4 ... Switch hub (SW-HUB), 5a, 5b, 5c ... Twisted pair line (TP), 6 ... LAN , 7 ... SNMP manager,
8, 31 ... user side media converter, 9, 30 ... optical cable, 10 ... terminal, 12, 32 ... connector, 13,
33 ... changeover switches, 14, 18, 22, 34, 38 ...
Reception processing unit, 15, 19, 21, 35, 40 transmission processing unit, 16, 36 electric / optical conversion unit, 17, 37 optical / electric conversion unit, 20 data generation unit, 23, 41 data reception Unit, 24, 42 ... control unit, 25 ... optical connector, 39 ...
MAC switch, 43: data transmission unit, 44: voltage conversion unit, 45: AC adapter.

Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat II (Reference) H04N 7/22 H04L 13/00 315A (72) Inventor Katsuyuki Arai 1440 Mutsuzaki, Sakura City, Chiba Prefecture Fujikura Sakura Works F term (reference) 5C064 EA02 EA05 5K002 AA05 EA06 EA32 FA01 5K033 AA05 CB04 CC04 DA01 DA15 DB20 DB22 EA03 EA07 EC03 5K035 BB01 CC01 CC05 DD03 EE21 FF02 GG02 GG05 GG09 GG10 HH01 HO10 LA11

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A media converter system for performing optical communication by photoelectric conversion, comprising: a plurality of media converters for performing a photoelectric conversion process; A media converter system having a configuration for checking a state of a communication function between media converters. 2. The plurality of media converters,
At least, the media converter that wraps the test signal has a MAC address identification function, the test signal that is transmitted and received between the plurality of media converters has a MAC frame, and the media converter that wraps the test signal is the MAC
Based on the MAC address information given to the frame,
2. The media converter system according to claim 1, wherein the test signal is looped back to a predetermined media converter. 3. The media converter that returns a test signal has a switch function, switches the switch function based on MAC address information given to the MAC frame, and returns the test signal to a predetermined media converter. The media converter system according to claim 2. 4. A media converter serving as a transmission source of a test signal transmits a test signal based on an instruction from a higher-level device, and notifies the higher-level device of a test result based on the returned test signal. The media converter system according to any one of claims 1 to 3. 5. The test signal includes a notice signal for notifying a notice of a test, and a data signal for executing a test, and a media converter serving as a transmission source of the test signal outputs a return result of the notice signal. The media converter system according to claim 1, wherein the data signal is transmitted based on the data signal, and a test result is determined based on the folded data signal.