JP2018074194A - Network switch, external module, and method for determining port property - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a network switch capable of properly operating for an external module connected to the machine thereof.SOLUTION: The present invention relates to a network switch 10 capable of setting a connection configuration between a plurality of ports, the network switch comprising a plurality of ports 1-N to which a plurality of kinds of external module can be connected, and a control part 22 which acquires device information on the external modules connected to ports having been linked up from the external modules, and determines properties of the ports upon the basis of the acquired device information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a network switch, an external module, and a port attribute determination method executed by the network switch.

  In Patent Document 1, a basic device configuration of an optical line terminal (OLT) of a PON (Passive Optical Network) (FIG. 1 of Patent Document 1) and a control unit of the OLT include a plurality of ONUs (Optical Network Units). A bandwidth allocation method (claim 1 of Patent Document 1) that is executed for an OSU (Optical Subscriber Unit) to be integrated is described.

  In Non-Patent Document 1, the functions of a dedicated communication device such as an OLT are classified into three types of component categories: “software component”, “general-purpose hardware”, and “external module” (hereinafter referred to as “external module”). A new access system architecture (Flexible Access System Architecture: hereinafter referred to as “FASA”) has been proposed in which the necessary dedicated communication devices are virtually constructed by dividing them freely. “FASA” is a trademark of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation.

JP 2013-176138 A

“Propose a new concept FASA for future access systems”, [online], [searched September 26, 2016], Internet <URL: http://www.ntt.co.jp/news2016/1602/160208a.html >

As general-purpose hardware conforming to the above-mentioned FASA concept, it is conceivable to employ a network switch capable of installing application software for realizing a part of the control function of the dedicated communication device.
In this case, the network switch executes PON control over the data link layer of the OLT control function, and the physical layer control function of the OLT control function is connected to any port of the network switch. If it is assumed that the module bears, the OLT can be virtualized by connecting the two.

However, in the above network switch, the user can freely set the connection form between a plurality of ports, and the port attributes are not fixed. Therefore, when configuring a virtual OLT as described above, simply connecting an external module to an arbitrary port of the network switch does not recognize the network switch as a port corresponding to the type of the external module, and is connected. May not work properly with external modules.
The present invention has been made in view of such conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a network switch or the like that can appropriately operate with respect to an external module connected to the own device.

  (1) An apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention is a network switch capable of setting a connection form between a plurality of ports, and a plurality of the ports to which a plurality of types of external modules can be connected and the ports that are linked up An acquisition unit that acquires the device information of the external module connected to the external module from the external module, and a control unit that determines the attribute of the port based on the acquired device information.

  (7) An apparatus according to another aspect of the present invention is an external module connected to a network switch capable of setting a connection form between a plurality of ports, and the link-up port is connected to the port capable of connecting the network switch. The network switch connected to the port includes a transmission unit that transmits device information of the own device.

  (8) A method according to an aspect of the present invention is a port attribute determination method executed by a network switch capable of setting a connection form between a plurality of ports, and device information of an external module connected to the linked-up port From the external module, and determining the attribute of the port based on the acquired device information.

The present invention can be realized not only as a system and apparatus having the above-described characteristic configuration, but also as a program for causing a computer to execute such characteristic configuration.
Further, the present invention can be realized as a semiconductor integrated circuit that realizes part or all of the system and apparatus.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the network switch which can operate | move appropriately with respect to the external module connected to the own machine is obtained.

It is a block diagram of the network switch which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram of the external module which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a sequence diagram which shows an example of the communication procedure performed between three persons, a general purpose switch, an external module, and a management apparatus. It is the schematic of the optical communication system which concerns on the 1st structural example containing a general purpose switch and a PON module. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a port attribute determination result and a connection configuration setting result when the optical communication system of the first configuration example of FIG. 4 is configured. It is the schematic of the optical communication system which concerns on the 2nd structural example containing a general purpose switch and a PON module. It is a figure which shows the determination result of a port attribute, and the setting result of a connection form when the optical communication system of the 2nd structural example of FIG. 6 is comprised. It is the schematic of the optical communication system which concerns on the 3rd structural example containing a general purpose switch, a PON module, and a BBU module. It is a figure which shows the determination result of a port attribute, and the setting result of a connection form when the optical communication system of the 3rd structural example of FIG. 8 is comprised.

<Outline of Embodiment of the Present Invention>
Hereinafter, an outline of embodiments of the present invention will be listed and described.

  (1) An apparatus according to an aspect of the present embodiment is a network switch capable of setting a connection form between a plurality of ports, and is linked up with the plurality of ports to which a plurality of types of external modules can be connected. An acquisition unit that acquires the device information of the external module connected to the port from the external module; and a control unit that determines an attribute of the port based on the acquired device information.

  According to the network switch of the present embodiment, the acquisition unit acquires device information of the external module connected to the linked-up port from the external module, and the control unit determines the port attribute based on the acquired device information. Therefore, just by connecting an external module to an arbitrary port, the network switch automatically determines the attribute of the port. For this reason, it can operate | move appropriately with respect to the external module connected to the own machine.

(2) In the network switch of the present embodiment, it is preferable that the control unit sets a connection form between the ports based on the determined attribute of the port.
In this way, setting of the connection form between the ports is automatically performed, so that the setting work of the network switch can be simplified.

(3) In the network switch of the present embodiment, it is preferable that the control unit sets a connection form between the ports by applying a predetermined connection standard to the determined attribute of the port.
In this case, the network switch stores the connection criteria desired by the user (for example, all connections or one-to-one connection, etc.), so that the network switch can be set as desired by the user.

(4) In the network switch of the present embodiment, it is preferable that the control unit sets a connection form between the ports in accordance with an instruction from a management apparatus that receives a user setting input.
In this way, the connection form between the ports can be set by the user's setting input. For this reason, the setting result determined by the control unit of the network switch can be changed, or the user can execute the setting of the connection form from the beginning.

(5) In the network switch according to the present embodiment, it is preferable that the acquisition unit includes a reception unit that receives device information of the external module using a communication frame transmitted by the external module connected to the linked up port.
In this way, the device information of the external module can be acquired from the communication frame received from its own port. Accordingly, it is not necessary to separately provide a communication path for transmitting the device information, and the device information can be easily acquired from the external module.

(6) In the network switch of the present embodiment, the control unit executes a part of the communication control function corresponding to the determined attribute of the port (for example, the control function of the data link layer or higher performed by the PON OLT). It is preferable to launch application software for doing this.
In this way, when an external module is connected to the network switch and a dedicated communication device (for example, OLT and BBU) is virtually configured, there is no need to manually start up application software necessary for the network switch. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the labor required for virtualization of the dedicated communication device.

  (7) An apparatus according to another aspect of the present embodiment is an external module connected to a network switch capable of setting a connection form between a plurality of ports, and is linked up with a port to which the network switch can be connected. A transmission unit configured to transmit device information of the own device to the network switch connected to the port.

According to the external module of the present embodiment, the transmission unit transmits the device information of the own device to the network switch connected to the linked up port, so the device information of the own device is transmitted to the network by the communication frame transmitted from the own port. Can be provided to the switch.
Therefore, it is not necessary to separately provide a communication path for transmitting the device information, and the device information can be easily provided to the network switch.

(8) A method according to an aspect of the present embodiment relates to a port attribute determination method executed by the network switch according to the above (1) to (6).
Therefore, the determination method of this embodiment has the same effects as the network switch described in the above (1) to (6).

<Details of Embodiment of the Present Invention>
Hereinafter, details of embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In addition, you may combine arbitrarily at least one part of embodiment described below.

[Network switch configuration]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a network switch 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
A network switch 10 shown in FIG. 1 includes a network switch capable of installing application software that realizes a part of the control function of the dedicated communication device. That is, the network switch 10 of the present embodiment is a network switch that allows the user to freely select various software related to the dedicated communication device.

  Accordingly, the network switch 10 in FIG. 1 operates as a “layer 2 switch” that performs data transfer based on data link layer information (such as a MAC (Media Access Control) address) according to application software installed by the user. Or can operate as a “layer 3 switch” that performs data transfer based on network layer information (such as an IP (Internet Protocol) address). Therefore, hereinafter, the network switch 10 of the present embodiment is also referred to as a “general-purpose switch 10”.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a network switch (general-purpose switch) 10 includes a plurality of optical transceivers 11, a transmission unit 12, a reception unit 13, a frame transfer unit 14, a link monitoring unit 15, a control unit 16, a storage unit 17, and a management interface. 18 and a housing 19 on which these are mounted.

The optical transceiver 11 is an optical device including a circuit for transmitting and receiving an optical signal, and includes, for example, an SFP (Small Form-factor Pluggable) module.
The optical transceiver 11 has a connection port (port) exposed to the outside of the housing 19. The optical fiber 20 can be detachably connected to the connection port of the optical transceiver 11. A plurality (for example, 12 to 32) of optical transceivers 11 are provided for one general-purpose switch 10.

The optical transceiver 11 mutually converts an optical signal and an electrical signal. That is, the optical transceiver 11 converts an optical signal from the external module 30 (see FIG. 2) into an electrical signal, and converts an electrical signal from the transmission unit 12 into an optical signal.
The same number of transmitters 12 and receivers 13 as the optical transceiver 11 are provided, and are electrically connected to the optical transceiver 11 inside the housing 19.

The transmission unit 12 is composed of an integrated circuit that converts a communication frame (in this embodiment, Ethernet frame: “Ethernet” is a registered trademark) according to a predetermined communication standard into an electrical signal having a predetermined transmission rate.
The transmission unit 12 converts the communication frame input from the frame transfer unit 14 into an electrical signal, and outputs the converted electrical signal to the optical transceiver 11.

The receiving unit 13 includes an integrated circuit that reconstructs a communication frame (Ethernet frame in the present embodiment) that conforms to a predetermined communication standard from an electrical signal.
The receiving unit 13 reconstructs a communication frame from the electrical signal input from the optical transceiver 11 and outputs the reconfigured communication frame to the frame transfer unit 14.

The frame transfer unit 14 includes a concentrator that determines an output destination of an input communication frame according to a connection form between ports designated by the control unit 16.
For example, as indicated by a broken line arrow in FIG. 1, when there is a connection relationship between “port 1” and “port 2”, the frame transfer unit 14 transmits the communication frame input from the reception unit 13 of port 1 to the port 2 To the transmission unit 12. Conversely, the frame transfer unit 14 outputs the communication frame input from the reception unit 13 of the port 2 to the transmission unit 12 of the port 1.

When a control frame (for example, “information acquisition request” in FIG. 3) is input from the management unit 22, the frame transfer unit 14 outputs the control frame to the transmission unit 12 of the port being linked up.
In the frame transfer unit 14, the communication frame input from the receiving unit 13 of the port 1 is a control frame (for example, “information acquisition response” in FIG. 3) transmitted by the information management unit 47 of the external module 30. The control frame is output to the management unit 22.

The control unit 16 includes a control device including an arithmetic processing device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The number of CPUs constituting the control unit 16 may be one or more. The control unit 16 may include an integrated circuit such as an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) or an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit).
The control unit 16 includes a RAM (Random Access Memory). The RAM is composed of a memory element such as SRAM (Static RAM) or DRAM (Dynamic RAM), and temporarily stores a computer program executed by the CPU and data necessary for the execution.

The storage unit 17 includes a storage device including a nonvolatile memory element such as a flash memory or an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory).
The storage unit 17 stores a network OS and various application software 24 and 25 (hereinafter abbreviated as “application”) that operate on the OS.
The applications 24 and 25 stored in the storage unit 17 include management software 24 for management control on the external module 30 connected to the own machine, and dedicated software 25 corresponding to the type of the external module 30 connected to the own machine. Etc. are included.

As indicated by a virtual line arrow in FIG. 1, the management unit 22 is configured in the control unit 16 by the CPU executing the management software 24 read from the storage unit 17. The management unit 22 can communicate with the management interface 18.
The management interface 18 is a communication device that communicates with the management apparatus 23 in accordance with a predetermined communication standard. The management interface 18 communicates with the management device 23 via a public communication network, a local communication network, or the like or by direct communication.

The management device 23 is composed of, for example, a server computer device operated by a user such as a network administrator of a communication carrier.
The management device 23 is communicably connected to the management interface 18 of the general-purpose switch 10. Communication between the management device 23 and the management interface 18 may be either wired communication or wireless communication.

The link monitoring unit 15 includes a signal generator that generates a status signal related to an operation state including link up and link down of each optical transceiver 11.
The link monitoring unit 15 is connected to all the optical transceivers 11 provided in the housing 19. The optical transceiver 11 outputs a link-up signal to the link monitoring unit 15 when communication is possible due to the connection of the optical fiber 20, and when the optical fiber 20 is extracted and becomes unable to communicate, the link-down signal is link-monitored. To the unit 15.

The link monitoring unit 15 constantly monitors the operating state of the optical transceivers 11 of all port numbers. When there is a change in the operation state of one or a plurality of optical transceivers 11, the link monitoring unit 15 notifies the management unit 22 of the changed operation state.
As shown in FIG. 1, the link monitoring unit 15 may be a signal generator that is separate from the control unit 16, or may be configured by an integrated circuit such as a CPU that configures the control unit 16.

The dedicated software 25 includes an application for PON control. This application is an application for realizing PON control including the following functions, which is communication control of the data link layer and higher that the PON OLT is responsible for.
1) OAM (Operations, Administration, Maintenance) function 2) MPCP (Multi-Point Control Protocol) function 3) Bandwidth control function such as dynamic bandwidth allocation

Therefore, as indicated by a virtual line arrow in FIG. 1, the CPU executes the application of the dedicated software 25 for the PON control read from the storage unit 17 so that the PON control including the functions 1) to 3) described above is performed. The PON control unit 26 is configured in the control unit 16.
The application of the dedicated software 25 can be added and changed according to the type of the external module 30 connected to the general-purpose switch 10.

For example, in the dedicated software 25, the control unit 16 executes communication control (hereinafter referred to as “BBU control”) of the data link layer or higher that is handled by the baseband unit (BBU) that performs optical communication with the remote radio head (RRH). An application for making it possible may be included.
The user may install an application of the dedicated software 25 corresponding to the type of the external module 30 connected to the general-purpose switch 10 in the storage unit 17 of the general-purpose switch 10.

For example, when connecting the PON module 30 </ b> A (see FIG. 2) to the port of the general-purpose switch 10, the user may install an application of the dedicated software 25 for PON control in the storage unit 17.
Further, when connecting the BBU module 30B (see FIG. 8) to the port of the general-purpose switch 10, the user may install an application of the dedicated software 25 corresponding to the BBU control in the storage unit 17.

  Note that the computer program executed by the control unit 16 (computer program installed in the storage unit 17) can be transferred while being recorded on a recording medium such as a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM, or a computer such as a server computer. It can also be transferred by information transmission (downloading) from the device.

[Configuration of external module (PON module)]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the external module 30 according to the embodiment of the present invention.
The external module 30 shown in FIG. 2 includes a PON module 30A. The PON module 30 </ b> A is a communication module that performs communication control of a physical layer (including an RS sublayer (Reconciliation Sublayer)) carried by the PON OLT.

  Therefore, when one or a plurality of PON modules 30A (FIG. 2) are connected to the general-purpose switch 10 (FIG. 1) by the optical fiber 20, the general-purpose switch 10 and the PON are connected, for example, as shown by a broken line frame in FIGS. A “virtualized OLT” that performs the function of the OLT, which is a kind of dedicated communication device, is configured in cooperation with the module 30A.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the PON module 30A includes an optical transceiver 31, a receiving unit 32, a PON frame converting unit 33, an encryption unit 34, a PON transmitting unit 35, a PON receiving unit 36, a decrypting unit 37, a communication frame converting unit 38, A transmission unit 39, an optical transceiver 40, a control unit 41, and a housing 42 in which these are mounted.

The optical transceiver 31 is a general-purpose switch-side optical transceiver. As in the case of the general-purpose switch 10, the optical transceiver 31 is composed of, for example, an SFP module.
The optical transceiver 31 has a connection port (port) exposed to the outside of the housing 42. The optical fiber 20 connected to the general-purpose switch 10 can be detachably connected to the connection port of the optical transceiver 31. One optical transceiver 31 is provided for one PON module 30A.

The optical transceiver 40 is an optical transceiver on the PON side. The optical transceiver 40 is an optical device including a circuit for transmitting and receiving an optical signal used in the PON, and includes, for example, an SFP module.
The optical transceiver 40 has a connection port (port) exposed to the outside of the housing 42. A PON line optical fiber 43 can be detachably connected to the connection port of the optical transceiver 40. One optical transceiver 40 is provided for one PON module 30A.

The optical transceiver 31 mutually converts an optical signal and an electrical signal. That is, the optical transceiver 31 converts the optical signal from the general-purpose switch 10 (see FIG. 1) into an electrical signal, and converts the electrical signal from the transmission unit 39 into an optical signal.
The transmitter 39 and the receiver 32 are electrically connected to the optical transceiver 31 inside the housing 42.

The optical transceiver 40 mutually converts an optical signal and an electrical signal. That is, the optical transceiver 40 converts an upstream optical signal from the PON line into an electrical signal, and converts an electrical signal from the PON transmission unit 35 into a downstream optical signal.
The PON transmitter 35 and the PON receiver 36 are electrically connected to the optical transceiver 40 inside the housing 42.

The receiving unit 32 is composed of an integrated circuit that reconstructs a communication frame (an Ethernet frame in this embodiment) in accordance with a predetermined communication standard from an electrical signal.
The receiving unit 32 reconstructs a communication frame from the electrical signal input from the optical transceiver 31 and outputs the reconfigured communication frame to the PON frame conversion unit 33.

The PON frame conversion unit 33 includes an integrated circuit that converts the signal format of the communication frame into the signal format of the PON frame.
The PON frame conversion unit 33 converts the communication frame input from the reception unit 32 into a PON frame, and outputs the converted PON frame to the encryption unit 34.

The encryption unit 34 includes an encryption circuit that performs predetermined encryption on the PON frame.
The encryption unit 34 performs predetermined encryption on the PON frame input from the PON frame conversion unit 33 and outputs the encrypted PON frame to the PON transmission unit 35.

The PON transmission unit 35 includes an integrated circuit that converts a PON frame in accordance with the PON communication standard into an electrical signal having a predetermined transmission rate.
The PON transmission unit 35 converts the encrypted PON frame (downstream frame) input from the encryption unit 34 into an electrical signal, and outputs the converted electrical signal to the optical transceiver 40. The downstream optical signal transmitted from the optical transceiver 40 to the optical fiber 43 of the PON line is transmitted to the ONU.

The PON receiving unit 32 includes an integrated circuit that reconstructs a PON frame in accordance with the PON communication standard from an electrical signal.
The PON reception unit 32 reconstructs a PON frame from the electrical signal (downstream signal) input from the optical transceiver 40 and outputs the reconstructed PON frame to the decoding unit 37.

The decryption unit 37 includes a decryption circuit that decrypts a predetermined encryption applied to the PON frame.
The decoding unit 37 outputs the decoded PON frame input from the PON receiving unit 36 to the communication frame conversion unit 38.

The communication frame conversion unit 38 includes an integrated circuit that converts the signal format of the PON frame into a signal format of a communication frame (Ethernet frame in the present embodiment) in accordance with a predetermined communication standard adopted by the general-purpose switch 10.
The communication frame conversion unit 38 converts the PON frame input from the decoding unit 37 into a communication frame, and outputs the converted communication frame to the transmission unit 39.

The transmission unit 39 is composed of an integrated circuit that converts a communication frame into an electrical signal having a predetermined transmission rate.
The transmission unit 39 converts the communication frame input from the communication frame conversion unit 38 into an electric signal, and outputs the converted electric signal to the optical transceiver 31. The upstream optical signal transmitted from the optical transceiver 31 to the optical fiber 20 on the general-purpose switch side is transmitted to the general-purpose switch 10.

The control unit 41 includes a control device including an arithmetic processing device such as a CPU. The number of CPUs constituting the control unit 16 may be one or more. The control unit 41 may include an integrated circuit such as an FPGA or an ASIC.
The control unit 41 includes a RAM. The RAM is composed of a memory element such as an SRAM, and temporarily stores a computer program executed by the CPU and data necessary for the execution.

  The control unit 41 includes a link monitoring unit 46 and an information management unit 47. These processing units 46 and 47 are configured by the CPU executing a predetermined computer program read from a storage device (not shown) included in the PON module 30A.

The link monitoring unit 46 includes a signal generator that generates a status signal regarding an operation state including link up and link down of the optical transceiver 31.
The link monitoring unit 46 is connected to the general-purpose switch-side optical transceiver 31 provided in the housing 42. The optical transceiver 31 outputs a link-up signal to the link monitoring unit 46 when communication is possible due to the connection of the optical fiber 20, and when the optical fiber 20 is extracted and becomes unable to communicate, the link-down signal is link-monitored. To the unit 46.

The link monitoring unit 46 constantly monitors the operating state of the optical transceiver 31. When the operation state of the optical transceiver 11 is changed, the link monitoring unit 46 notifies the information management unit 47 of the changed operation state.
As shown in FIG. 2, the link monitoring unit 46 may be an integrated circuit such as a CPU constituting the control unit 16, or may be a signal generator separate from the control unit 16.

The information management unit 47 can communicate with the management unit 22 of the general-purpose switch 10 via the optical fiber 20. That is, the information management unit 47 and the management unit 22 of the general-purpose switch 10 can transmit and receive predetermined information using a control frame for management control.
For example, if the communication frame reconstructed from the received signal is a control frame (such as an information acquisition request) from the management unit 22, the reception unit 32 outputs the control frame to the information management unit 47. The information management unit 47 executes predetermined processing according to the input control frame, and outputs a control frame for response (such as an information acquisition response) to the transmission unit 39.

When there is an information acquisition request, the information management unit 47 includes its own device information (hardware information) in the acquisition response. The device information includes the name of the device, the name of the vendor, and the product number. The device information may be the attribute itself of the own device.
Even when the information management unit 47 does not receive an information acquisition request from the management unit 22, the information management unit 47 uses the opposite device to transmit a control frame including the above-described device information in response to acquisition of a link-up signal from the link monitoring unit 46 of the own device. You may decide to transmit to a certain general purpose switch 10.

[Type of external module]
In FIG. 2, the configuration of the PON module 30A, which is a kind of the external module 30, is illustrated. However, the external module 30 that can be connected to the general-purpose switch 10 includes a host device 30U (see FIGS. 4, 6, and 8) and a BBU. A module 30B (see FIG. 8) and the like are included.

  The host device 30U is a terminating device of a host network (not shown). Accordingly, the upper level device 30U executes a relay process of relaying the upstream communication frame received from the general-purpose switch 10 to the higher-level network and relaying the downstream communication frame received from the higher-level network to the general-purpose switch 10.

The BBU module 30B is a communication module that performs communication control of the physical layer that the BBU is responsible for.
Therefore, when one or a plurality of BBU modules 30B are connected to the general-purpose switch 10 (FIG. 1) by the optical fiber 20, the general-purpose switch 10 and the BBU module 30B cooperate with each other as shown by a broken line frame in FIG. A “virtualized BBU” that fulfills the function of a BBU that is a type of device is configured.

The host device 30U and the BBU module 30B include a control unit 41 including a link monitoring unit 46 and an information management unit 47, like the PON module 30A.
Therefore, these external modules 30U and 30B can communicate with the management unit 22 of the general-purpose switch 10 by the control frame for management. For example, the host device 30U and the BBU module 30B can notify the management unit 22 of the general-purpose switch 10 of the device information of its own device in response to an information acquisition request from the general-purpose switch 10 or autonomously.

The types of external modules 30 that constitute the lower network in cooperation with the general-purpose switch 10 are not limited to the PON module 30A and the BBU module 30B described above.
For example, when the communication control function of a dedicated communication device that the user desires to virtualize can be separated between the data link layer and higher and the physical layer, the external module 30 executes communication control of the physical layer that the dedicated communication device assumes Any communication module may be used.

[Sequence of communication procedure]
FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a communication procedure performed between the general switch 10, the external module 30, and the management device 23 when a plurality of external modules 30 are connected to the general switch 10.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the management unit 22 of the general-purpose switch 10 is configured so that the link monitoring unit 15 of the own device among the ports i (i = 1 to N) of all the optical transceivers 11 mounted on the own device is linked up. “Information acquisition request” is transmitted from the port j (j = 1 to M: M ≦ N) that detects (step ST1).

The information acquisition request is transmitted to each of external modules j (j = 1 to M), which are opposing devices connected to the optical fiber 20 of the port j.
The information management unit 47 of the external module j that has received the information acquisition request returns an “information acquisition response” to the management unit 22 of the general-purpose switch 10 (step ST2). The information acquisition response returned from each external module j includes the device information of the external module j.

Next, the management unit 22 of the general-purpose switch 10 executes “port attribute determination processing” using the device information acquired from each external module j (step ST3).
The “port attribute determination process” is a process for determining the attribute of the linked-up port j based on the device information acquired from the external module j connected to the port j.

For example, when the device attribute of the external module 1 identified from the device information notified from the external module 1 is “upper device”, the management unit 22 sets the attribute of the port 1 connected to the external module 1 to “SNI”. judge.
Similarly, when the device attribute of the external module 2 identified from the device information notified from the external module 2 is “PON module 30A”, the management unit 22 sets the attribute of the port 2 connected to the external module 2 to “PON”. Is determined.

  Similarly, when the device attribute of the external module 3 identified from the device information notified from the external module 3 is “BBU module 30B”, the management unit 22 sets the attribute of the port 3 connected to the external module 3 to “BBU”. Is determined.

Next, the management unit 22 of the general-purpose switch 10 executes “connection configuration setting processing” based on the determination result of the port attribute (step ST4).
The “connection form setting process” is a process for determining a connection form (topology) between ports in the frame transfer unit 14 in accordance with a predetermined connection standard for a plurality of ports j whose attributes are found. For example, the following “connection standard 1” and “connection standard 2” are conceivable as the predetermined connection standard when the determined port attributes are “SNI” and “PON”.

(Connection standard 1)
1) SNIs are not connected to each other.
2) Do not connect PONs.
3) SNI and PON are connected.
4) When there are a plurality of SNIs and a plurality of PONs (however, both are the same number), each PON is connected to all SNIs (all connections).

(Connection standard 2)
For example, the following “connection standard 2” may be adopted as the predetermined connection standard.
1) SNIs are not connected to each other.
2) Do not connect PONs.
3) SNI and PON are connected.
4) When there are a plurality of SNIs and a plurality of PONs (however, both are the same number), each PON is connected to one SNI (one-to-one connection).

In connection standard 1, a plurality of SNIs and a plurality of PONs are all connected, so that one PON module 30A is connected to all the host devices 30U. Therefore, if the connection standard 1 is followed, it will be the connection form which gave the redundancy to the maximum.
In connection standard 2, since the SNI and the plurality of PONs are connected one-to-one, one PON module 30A is connected to one host device 30U. Therefore, according to the connection standard 2, the connection form does not have redundancy.

For example, the following “connection standard 3” is conceivable as the predetermined connection standard when the determined port attributes are “SNI”, “PON”, and “BBU”.
(Connection standard 3)
1) SNIs are not connected to each other.
2) Do not connect PONs.
3) Do not connect BBUs.
4) BBU and PON are not connected.

5) SNI and PON are connected.
6) SNI and BBU are connected.
7) Connect SNI and PON on a one-to-one basis.
8) When there is a surplus of SNI, the surplus SNI and BBU are connected on a one-to-one basis.

In connection standard 3, SNI, PON, and BBU are connected on a one-to-one basis, so one PON module 30A and one BBU module 30B are connected to one upper apparatus 30U. Therefore, according to the connection standard 3, the connection form does not have redundancy.
In connection standard 3, SNI and PON are preferentially connected, but the priority order may be reversed.

When the connection type setting process is completed, the management unit 22 of the general-purpose switch 10 transmits a “confirmation request” including the setting result to the management device 23 (step ST5).
The management device 23 that has received the confirmation request presents the setting result of the connection mode determined by the general-purpose switch 10 to the user, for example, by displaying the setting result included in the received confirmation request on a display. During this presentation, the management device 23 receives a change input of the setting result by the user (step ST6).

When there is an input for changing the setting result, the management device 23 transmits a “confirmation response” including the input change information to the management unit 22 of the general-purpose switch 10 (step ST7).
When there is an input for approving the setting result, the management device 23 transmits a “confirmation response” including the input approval information to the management unit 22 of the general-purpose switch 10 (step ST7).
The management unit 22 of the general-purpose switch 10 that has received the confirmation response determines whether or not to change the setting result of the connection form determined by itself based on the content of the confirmation response.

Specifically, when change information is included in the confirmation response, the management unit 22 changes the connection form between ports applied to the frame transfer unit 14 according to the content of the change information. For example, when the change information is a command indicating that “port 1 and port 2 are connected”, the management unit 22 changes the connection mode of the frame transfer unit 14 so that the port 1 and the port 2 are connected. change.
When the acknowledgment information is included in the confirmation response, the management unit 22 does not change the connection mode between the ports applied to the frame transfer unit 14 and maintains the setting result of the connection mode determined by itself.

After changing or maintaining the setting result according to the confirmation response, the management unit 22 of the general-purpose switch 10 executes “dedicated software startup processing” (step ST8).
The dedicated software startup process is a process of starting an application of the dedicated software 25 corresponding to the type of the external module 30 connected to the general-purpose switch 10 and adding a control function executed by the control unit 16.

For example, when the connected external module 30 includes the PON module 30A, the management unit 22 reads the application of the dedicated software 25 for PON control from the storage unit 17, and the PON control unit 26 (see FIG. 1). The control unit 16 is configured.
When the connected external module 30 includes the BBU module 30B, the management unit 22 reads the application of the dedicated software 25 for BBU control from the storage unit 17, and controls the BBU control unit (not shown) to the control unit 16. Configure.

[First Configuration Example of Optical Communication System]
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the optical communication system according to the first configuration example including the general-purpose switch 10 and the PON module 30A.
The first configuration example in FIG. 4 is an optical communication system configured by performing the following connection operations A1 to A4 on the ports 1 to 4 of the general-purpose switch 10, respectively.

Connection task A1: Connect host device 1 to port 1 Connect task A2: Connect host device 2 to port 2 Connect task A3: Connect PON module 1 to port 3 Connect task A4: Connect PON module 2 to port 4

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a port attribute determination result and a connection configuration setting result when the optical communication system of the first configuration example of FIG. 4 is configured.
As shown in FIG. 5, the display format of the determination result is, for example, a management table. The display format of the connection relationship between the ports is, for example, a connection diagram in which the connection relationship between the ports is indicated by a bidirectional arrow. The management table and connection diagram of FIG. 5 are displayed on the display of the management device 23 and the like.

The management table includes columns of “port number”, “link state”, “device attribute”, and “port attribute”. In “port number”, an identification number of each port i (i = 1 to N) is written. “Link status” describes the monitoring status of the link monitoring unit 15 (up = link up, down = link down).
In “device attribute”, the attribute of the external module i specified by the management unit 22 from the device information is described. In the “port attribute”, the attribute of the port i determined by the management unit 22 from the device information is described. The above points are the same in the case of FIGS. 7 and 9 described later.

In the first configuration example of FIG. 4, “higher level device 1” is connected to port 1, “higher level device 2” is connected to port 2, “PON module 1” is connected to port 3, and “PON module 2” is connected to port 4. Are connected.
Therefore, as shown in the management table of FIG. 5, the management unit 22 of the general-purpose switch 10 determines the port attribute of the port 1 as “SNI”, determines the port attribute of the port 2 as “SNI”, and sets the port 3 Is determined as “PON”, and the port attribute of port 4 is determined as “SNI”.

If the management unit 22 executes the connection type setting process (step ST4 in FIG. 3) based on the above-mentioned “connection standard 1” based on the management table in FIG. 5, the setting result is the connection diagram in FIG. It becomes as shown in.
That is, since all the PON and SNI are connected in connection standard 1, port 1 (SNI) is connected to port 3 (PON) and port 4 (PON) and port 2 (SNI) as shown in FIGS. ) Is also connected to port 3 (PON) and port 4 (PON).

  When the user presented with the connection diagram of FIG. 5 thinks that there is no need to provide redundancy for the connection between the SNI and the PON, for example, the connection between the port 1 (SNI) and the port 4 (PON), and the port A confirmation response (step ST7 in FIG. 3) including change information for releasing the connection between 2 (SNI) and port 3 (PON) may be transmitted to the management unit 22 of the general-purpose switch 10.

[Second Configuration Example of Optical Communication System]
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an optical communication system according to a second configuration example including the general-purpose switch 10 and the PON module 30A.
The second configuration example of FIG. 6 is an optical communication system configured by performing the following connection operations B1 to B4 on the ports 1 to 4 of the general-purpose switch 10, respectively.

Connection work B1: Connection of host device 1 to port 1 Connection work B2: Connection of PON module 1 to port 2 Connection work B3: Connection of PON module 2 to port 3 Connection work B4: Connection of device 2 to port 4

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating port attribute determination results and connection mode setting results when the optical communication system of the second configuration example of FIG. 6 is configured.
As shown in FIG. 7, the display format of the determination result is, for example, a management table. The display format of the connection relationship between the ports is, for example, a connection diagram in which the connection relationship between the ports is indicated by a bidirectional arrow. The management table and connection diagram of FIG. 7 are displayed on the display of the management device 23 and the like.

In the second configuration example of FIG. 6, “higher level device 1” is connected to port 1, “PON module 1” is connected to port 2, “PON module 2” is connected to port 3, and “higher level device 2” is connected to port 4. Are connected.
Therefore, as shown in the management table of FIG. 7, the management unit 22 of the general-purpose switch 10 determines the port attribute of the port 1 as “SNI”, determines the port attribute of the port 2 as “PON”, and sets the port 3 Is determined as “PON”, and the port attribute of port 4 is determined as “SNI”.

If the management unit 22 executes the connection configuration setting process (step ST4 in FIG. 3) based on the above-mentioned “connection standard 2” based on the management table in FIG. 7, the setting result is the connection diagram in FIG. It becomes as shown in.
That is, since the PON and the SNI are connected one-to-one in the connection standard 2, the port 1 (SNI) is connected to the port 3 (PON) and the port 2 (PON) is connected to the port as shown in FIGS. 4 (SNI).

  When the user presented with the connection diagram of FIG. 7 thinks that the connection between the SNI and the PON needs to be redundant, for example, the connection between the port 1 (SNI) and the port 2 (PON), and the port An acknowledgment (step ST7 in FIG. 3) including change information for adding a connection between 3 (PON) and port 4 (SNI) may be transmitted to the management unit 22 of the general-purpose switch 10.

[Third configuration example of optical communication system]
FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of an optical communication system according to a third configuration example including the general-purpose switch 10, the PON module 30A, and the BBU module 30B.
The third configuration example of FIG. 8 is an optical communication system configured by performing the following connection operations C1 to C6 on the ports 1 to 6 of the general-purpose switch 10, respectively.

Connection operation C1: Connection of host device 1 to port 1 Connection operation C2: Connection of host device 2 to port 2 Connection operation C3: Connection of host device 3 to port 3 Connection operation C4: Connection of BBU module 30B to port 4 Connection operation C5: Connect GE-PON module to port 5 Connection work C6: Connect 10G-EPON module to port 4

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a port attribute determination result and a connection configuration setting result when the optical communication system of the third configuration example of FIG. 8 is configured.
As shown in FIG. 9, the display format of the determination result is, for example, a management table. The display format of the connection relationship between the ports is, for example, a connection diagram in which the connection relationship between the ports is indicated by a bidirectional arrow. The management table and connection diagram of FIG. 9 are displayed on the display of the management device 23 and the like.

  In the third configuration example of FIG. 8, “higher level device 1” is connected to port 1, “higher level device 2” is connected to port 2, “higher level device 3” is connected to port 3, and “BBU module 30B” is connected to port 4. Are connected, the port 5 is connected to the “GE-PON module 30A”, and the port 6 is connected to the “10G-EPON module 30A”.

  Therefore, as shown in the management table of FIG. 9, the management unit 22 of the general-purpose switch 10 determines the port attribute of the port 1 as “SNI”, determines the port attribute of the port 2 as “SNI”, and sets the port 3 Is determined as “SNI”, the port attribute of the port 4 is determined as “BBU”, the port attribute of the port 4 is determined as “PON”, and the port attribute of the port 4 is determined as “PON”.

If the management unit 22 executes the connection configuration setting process (step ST4 in FIG. 3) based on the above-mentioned “connection standard 3” based on the management table in FIG. 9, the setting result is the connection diagram in FIG. It becomes as shown in.
That is, in the connection standard 3, PON, BBU, and SNI are connected on a one-to-one basis. Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, port 1 (SNI) is connected to port 4 (BBU) and port 2 (SNI). Is connected to port 5 (PON), and port 3 (SNI) is connected to port 6 (PON).

  When the user presented with the connection diagram of FIG. 9 thinks that the connection between the SNI and the PON needs to be redundant, for example, the connection between the port 2 (SNI) and the port 6 (PON), and the port An acknowledgment (step ST7 in FIG. 3) including change information for adding a connection between 3 (SNI) and port 5 (PON) may be transmitted to the management unit 22 of the general-purpose switch 10.

[Effect of this embodiment]
As described above, according to the network switch 10 of the present embodiment, the reception unit 13 receives the device information of the external module j connected to the linked-up port j from the external module j, and the management unit 22 of the control unit 16 Then, the attribute of the port j is determined based on the received device information (step ST3 in FIG. 3).

For this reason, the network switch 10 can automatically determine the attribute of the port j simply by connecting the external module j to an arbitrary port, and operates appropriately for the external module j connected to the own device. can do.
That is, for example, when the user connects the PON module 30A to any port of the network switch 10, the network switch 10 automatically determines that the port is a PON port, so the PON module 30A is connected to the network switch 10. The network switch 10 can appropriately operate as a component of the virtual OLT simply by connecting.

Further, according to the network switch 10 of the present embodiment, the determination result by the automatic determination is presented to the user. Specifically, the management tables and connection diagrams of FIGS. 5, 7, and 9 are transmitted to the management device 23 and displayed on the display of the management device 23.
For this reason, it becomes possible for the user to recognize the attribute of the port j in advance, and the erroneous connection of the external module j can be prevented.

[Other variations]
The above-mentioned embodiment is an illustration and restrictive at no points. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, the general-purpose switch 10 may execute a port attribute determination process (step ST3 in FIG. 3) and notify the management device 23 of the determination result.
In this case, the management device 23 may execute the connection configuration setting process (step ST4 in FIG. 3) based on the determination result of the port attribute. The user may manually set the connection form by setting input to the management device 23.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the communication medium that connects the general-purpose switch 10 and the external module 30 is the optical fiber 20, but the communication medium that connects the two may be a metal cable (for example, a coaxial cable or the like).
In this case, a coaxial cable transceiver may be employed as a substitute part for the optical transceivers 11 and 31 of the general-purpose switch 10 and the external module 30. In other words, the transceivers 11 and 31 may employ devices according to the type of communication medium (cable).

10 Network switch (general-purpose switch)
11 Optical Transceiver 12 Transmitter 13 Receiver (Acquisition Unit)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 14 Frame transfer part 15 Link monitoring part 16 Control part 17 Memory | storage part 18 Management interface 19 Case 20 Optical fiber 22 Management part 23 Management apparatus 24 Management software 25 Dedicated software 30 External module 30A PON module 30B BBU module 30U Host apparatus 31 Optical transceiver 32 reception unit 33 frame conversion unit 34 encryption unit 35 PON transmission unit 36 PON reception unit 37 decryption unit 38 communication frame conversion unit 39 transmission unit 40 optical transceiver 41 control unit 42 casing 43 optical fiber 46 link monitoring unit 47 information management unit

Claims (8)

A network switch capable of setting a connection form between a plurality of ports,
A plurality of ports to which a plurality of types of external modules can be connected;
An acquisition unit for acquiring the device information of the external module connected to the linked up port from the external module;
And a control unit that determines an attribute of the port based on the acquired device information.   The network switch according to claim 1, wherein the control unit sets a connection form between the ports based on the determined attribute of the port.   The network switch according to claim 2, wherein the control unit sets a connection form between the ports by applying a predetermined connection criterion to the determined attribute of the port.   4. The network switch according to claim 2, wherein the control unit sets a connection form between the ports in accordance with an instruction from a management apparatus that accepts a user's setting input. 5.   The said acquisition part consists of a receiving part which receives the apparatus information of the said external module with the communication frame which the said external module connected with the said port which linked up transmitted. Network switch.   The network switch according to claim 1, wherein the control unit starts up application software for executing a part of the communication control function corresponding to the determined attribute of the port. An external module connected to a network switch capable of setting a connection form between a plurality of ports,
A port to which the network switch can be connected;
An external module comprising: a transmission unit that transmits device information of the own device to the network switch connected to the port that has been linked up. A port attribute determination method executed by a network switch capable of setting a connection form between a plurality of ports,
Acquiring device information of an external module connected to the linked up port from the external module;
Determining a port attribute based on the acquired device information.

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