JPH04260245A - Subscriber transmission line capacity display system in asynchronous transfer mode - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To realize an economical terminal equipment displaying operating state capacity information of a subscriber transmission line to which an asynchornous transfer mode is applied by allowing an exchange side to grasp a cell number in a packet exchange network and to inform it to the terminal equipment. CONSTITUTION:A flow monitor circuit 205 counts a flow of an input cell by each line identifier and informs it to a header conversion circuit 206 when the count exceeds a predetermined quantity. The header conversion circuit 206 implements conversion such as display of a flow excess cell and replacement of a line identifier based on the information from an information table 204 and the flow monitor circuit 205. Moreover, a signal cell insertion circuit 207 extracts the required information from the information table 204 to compose cells and send them to the transmission line. Thus, each terminal equipment recognizes information such as contract capacity and line capacity in addition to a line charge relating to its own communication based on the information of the cell sent by the signal cell insertion circuit 207.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[Industrial Application Field] The present invention is directed to an asynchronous transfer mode (A
TM; Asynchronous Transfer
The present invention relates to a subscriber line transmission line capacity display method for displaying the capacity of a subscriber line transmission line on a terminal device connected via a subscriber line transmission line to a communication network using the subscriber line transmission line.

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Current communication networks use circuit switching technology and packet switching technology. The circuit switching technology described above is used in telephone networks, where a terminal device occupies a certain capacity of the connected circuit, regardless of whether there is data to send or receive. On the other hand, packet switching technology is used for data communication, and communication information is sent and received in packets, so the communication capacity occupied by a terminal device is equivalent to the number of packets used, and if the communication volume exceeds the line capacity, In the past, packets were temporarily stored to avoid overshooting the line capacity.

[0002] Therefore, in the case of circuit switching, the line usage fee was determined by the product of the line capacity and the usage time, and in the case of packet switching, it was determined in proportion to the number of packets sent and received. Furthermore, in the case of circuit switching, the maximum communication capacity that can be used on the terminal side corresponds to the capacity of the connected line, and in the case of packet switching, it is calculated from the maximum number of packets that can be transmitted. In addition, the margin of line capacity in packet switching, its utilization efficiency, etc. are understood from the above-mentioned line capacity value and used capacity value.

[0003]Recently, an asynchronous transfer mode is being considered as a faster and more versatile switching technology for multimedia communications. In the asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), communication information is transmitted and received in fixed-length packets called cells, and the line capacity on the terminal side is calculated from the number of transmitted cells. FIG. 3 is a connection diagram showing the configuration from the ATM switch to the terminal side in a communication network to which the above ATM is applied. A transmission line termination device 2 is placed on the terminal side, and is connected to the ATM exchange 1 by, for example, an optical fiber transmission line. The transmission line termination device 2 includes a plurality of access units 3.
and a display, camera,
Terminals such as workstations are accommodated.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In ATM, the cell length is a few thousandths of the conventional packet length, the line speed is several hundred to several thousand times faster, and the number of cells changes over time. It was difficult to calculate the line capacity by counting the number of transmitted cells on the side. Furthermore, at ATMs,
Since communications with different speeds and characteristics coexist simultaneously on one transmission path, it has become even more difficult to grasp the above-mentioned line capacity. An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems by applying an asynchronous transfer mode that can display the line capacity in use in a terminal device connected to an ATM communication network via a subscriber line transmission line. An object of the present invention is to provide a subscriber line transmission line capacity display method in asynchronous transfer mode.

[0005]

[Means for solving the problem] In order to achieve the above object, the number of cells input to the exchange side through the line is
Means for classifying and counting by source and means for transmitting the results for each corresponding terminal are provided, and the terminal side is provided with means for displaying the transmitted content as the line capacity in use. Further, the terminal device adds the contracted capacity value, line capacity value, etc. of the subscriber line transmission line to the cell information and transmits it to the exchange, and the exchange The contract capacity value, line capacity value, etc. of the subscriber line transmission line is transmitted to each terminal device, and the terminal device displays the above counting result and the contract capacity value, line capacity value, etc. of the subscriber line transmission line. Make it.

[0006] Also, in response to a transmission request from the terminal device, the exchange transmits the used capacity value, contracted capacity value, line capacity value, etc. of the subscriber transmission line. Further, the exchange transmits the used capacity value, contracted capacity value, line capacity value, etc. of the subscriber transmission line at predetermined time intervals. Further, the contract capacity value, line capacity value, etc. are stored and displayed on the terminal device.

[0007]

[Operation] The exchange identifies the terminal information contained in the cell header, and determines the number of cells transferred on the line within a certain period of time.
Alternatively, the used capacity value of the subscriber transmission line to which the terminal is connected is divided and measured for each terminal based on the transfer time of a certain number of cells. Furthermore, the exchange places these measured values in the information section of the cell, attaches an identifier for the terminal in question to the header section, and transmits them each time communication occurs or in response to a request from the terminal shell.
Or send it periodically. The terminal side recognizes the above identifier, captures the cell, converts the value into the used capacity of the line, and displays the value. Additionally, the terminal simultaneously displays information such as the contracted capacity, line capacity, etc. in addition to the used capacity of the line.

[0008]

[Examples] Next, the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to Examples. (1) Configuration of the exchange side In the present invention, the ATM exchange side classifies and counts the number of cells input through the line within a predetermined time by destination and source, and transmits the results to each corresponding terminal. I'll do what I do. The exchange side is equipped with a cell flow rate monitor circuit in order to control traffic and charge charges. The cell flow rate is determined by counting the line identifiers in the headers of the cells that flow. Since the flow rate monitor circuit is a relatively large-scale circuit including a memory and a timer, it is uneconomical to provide it on the user terminal side. Therefore, in the present invention, a flow rate monitor circuit is provided in the exchange, and a new identifier is attached to the counted value obtained there, and the result is notified to the user terminal via the transmission line.

[0009] The above-mentioned new identifier may be a value predetermined as a user network interface, and for example, one of the signaling identifiers under consideration at CCITT can be used. Hereinafter, this will be referred to as the flow rate notification cell. The above flow rate monitoring results are stored in an information table within the exchange, and the exchange extracts the necessary count values from there, creates a flow rate notification cell, inserts it into the line, and sends it to the user.
Notify the terminal.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the ATM switch. The ATM exchange 1 is composed of a plurality of local units 11-1 to 11-k that form interfaces with lines, and a tandem unit 12 that interconnects them.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the configuration of the local unit. The data of each line 8a-1 to 8a-n accommodated in the switch section in the ATM exchange is stored in the line corresponding section 7-1 to 7-7.
-n to the unit self-routing switch 51a, and sent to the tandem unit 12 via signal lines 9a-1 to 9a-q. Further, the unit self-routing switch 51b receives data on the signal lines 9b-1 and 9b-q and outputs it to the downlink lines 8b-1 to 8b-n. The signal processing units 52 and 53 are connected between the input and output lines of each self-routing switch, and the central control unit 6 performs call control of each line corresponding unit and each signal processing unit.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the configuration of the line corresponding sections 7-1 to 7-n. Signals from the transmission line are routed to line termination circuit 2.
01, physical termination such as clock extraction, frame detection, bit phase synchronization, etc. is performed, and the information stream is sent to the cell phase synchronization circuit 202 as an information stream. Cell phase synchronization circuit 2
02 detects the phase of cells input from each line and performs phase synchronization for each cell, and a header detection circuit 203 detects header information of each cell and inputs it into an information table 204. Also, based on the line identifier included in the header, related exchange information and flow rate control information are extracted and the flow rate monitor circuit 2
05, input to the header conversion circuit 206.

The flow rate monitor circuit 205 counts the flow rate of input cells for each line identifier, and notifies the header conversion circuit 206 if the counted value exceeds a predetermined amount. The header conversion circuit 206 connects the information table 204 and the flow rate monitor circuit 205.
Based on this information, header conversion operations such as changing line identifiers and displaying cells with excess flow rate are performed. Further, the signal cell insertion circuit 207 extracts necessary information from the information table, assembles cells, and sends them out to the transmission path. The cell information sent out by the signal cell insertion circuit 207 allows each user terminal to know information such as contract capacity, line capacity, etc., in addition to the above-mentioned line usage related to its own communication.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of the flow rate monitor circuit 205. When a cell arrives at the exchange, a line identifier is sent from the header detection circuit 203. In FIG. 7, the number of input cells for each line identifier is stored in the cell counting memory 601 in the information table 204 using this identifier as an address. The contents of the cell counting memory 601 are rewritten by an adder 604 by adding the number of headers each time the same identifier arrives. Further, the comparator 606 compares the cell flow rate A with the user-reported value B, and if larger, sends flow rate excess information to the violation cell processing circuit 608. In response, the violating cell processing circuit 608 may, for example, discard the cell or mark the flow control signal and send it to the header conversion circuit 206.

A subtracter 605 measures the elapsed time by subtracting the time signal of the timer 610 from the time set by each subscriber at the time of call setup stored in the timer memory 602, and a comparator 607 determines whether the time has exceeded. Furthermore, the declared value memory 603 records the cell flow rate and flow rate control information for each line identifier declared by the user. FIG. 8 is an example of information stored in the information table 204.

(2) Display of Line Capacity at Subscriber Terminal In the present invention, the used line capacity is displayed at the user terminal using the flow rate notification cell sent out from the exchange. FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the transmission line terminating device 2 shown in FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. Data arriving from the transmission path is converted into an electrical signal by the optical/electrical conversion circuit 21 and input to the frame processing section 23, and the output of the frame processing section 23 is converted into an optical signal by the electrical/optical conversion circuit 22. and output to the transmission line. The frame processing unit 23 performs necessary frame processing and the like to terminate the transmission path, and the synchronization processing unit 24a
4b etc. synchronize cells so that cells can be sent and received with the access unit. Further, the control unit 25 controls the operation of each block.

FIG. 10 is an internal configuration diagram of the access unit 3 and cell disassembly and assembly device 4 on the terminal side. The flow rate notification cell on the terminal side is received and identified by the access unit 3 and the cell disassembly and assembly device 4, and is converted into display information. The identifier of the above-mentioned flow rate notification cell is registered in the address filter 32 in the access unit when the call is set up for that terminal, and the received flow rate notification cells are collated and only cells addressed to the terminal accommodated by the access unit are passed through. . Further, cells addressed to terminals or transmission line termination devices accommodated by other access units 3 are outputted via the access control 33.

The cell disassembly and assembly section 4 extracts communication information from the arriving cell and sends it to the terminal, and the cell assembly section (CLA) 41 assembles the communication information from the terminal into a cell and sends it to the access unit 3. For example, if the terminal is
0, when there are multiple channels such as two data channels and one signal channel, the cell decomposition unit 4
2 is provided for each channel. The same applies to the cell assembly section 41. The multiplexer 43, arbiter 45, empty cell generation section 44, etc. perform operations to multiplex cells of each channel and send them out to the line.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the configuration of the cell disassembly section 42. As shown in FIG. The information sent from access unit 3 is VC
It is checked by the T filter 71 whether it is addressed to itself or not, and it is temporarily stored in the cell buffer 72. Since the exchange may send the above information divided into several cells, the number and order of the cells are initialized by 78, and checked by the comparator 76 via the sequence counter 77.
If it passes, it will be output. Since the output signal of the cell disassembly section 42 includes information such as line capacity, contract capacity, and used capacity, the computer or workstation on the terminal side analyzes this information as shown in FIG. Convert it to a capacitance indicator signal so that it can be displayed on the terminal display.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the structure of the cell assembly section 41. After the information sent from the terminal is temporarily stored in a buffer 61, a cell number is added to it by a sequence counter 62, a virtual line identifier is added to it by 63, and the output timing is adjusted by a register 64, and then sent to the access unit. Sent. As described above, each terminal can display information on the line capacity in use. The terminal user can display this information all the time, periodically, or only when necessary, and can also display it only when a predetermined capacity is exceeded.

[0021]

Effects of the Invention According to the present invention, since the number of cells in a packet switching network is grasped on the exchange side and notified to the terminal side, which was difficult to do on the terminal side in the past, subscribers applying the asynchronous transfer mode It is possible to provide an economical terminal device that can display information on the capacity in use of a line transmission line. As a result, the terminal side can know the line usage charges at any time, and can also grasp the situation such as how many lines can be connected and whether the line capacity is being used efficiently, so the line can be used efficiently. It can be operated.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a terminal display displaying used line capacity according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a simulation diagram of display contents according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a communication network.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an ATM switch according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a local unit of an ATM switch according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a line support section according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a flow rate monitor circuit according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing an example of an information table according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a transmission line termination device.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an access unit and a cell disassembly and assembly section according to the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a cell disassembly section according to the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a cell assembly section according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols] 1 ATM switch 2 Transmission line termination device 3 Access unit 4 Cell disassembly and assembly unit 5-1 Signal processing section 6 Central control section 7-1 Line support department 11-1 Local unit 12 Tandem unit 31 Synchronization processing section 32 Address filter 33 Access control section 41 Cell assembly department 42 Cell disassembly section 45 Arbiter 62 Sequence counter 63 Virtual line identifier generation section 71 VCI filter 72 Cell buffer 78 Initial setting device 203 Header detection circuit 204 Information table 205 Flow rate monitor circuit 206 Header conversion circuit 207 Signal cell insertion circuit 601 Cell counting memory 602 Timer memory 603 Declared value memory 608 Violating cell processing circuit

Claims (6)

[Claims] Claim 1: In a communication network in which a terminal device is connected to an exchange to which an asynchronous transfer mode is applied via a subscriber line transmission line, the exchange has at least the number of cells that are fixed-length packets input by the asynchronous transfer mode. means for classifying and counting for each terminal device, and means for transmitting the counting result for each terminal device as the used capacity of the subscriber line transmission line; 1. A subscriber line transmission line capacity display method in an asynchronous transfer mode, characterized by comprising display means. 2. In claim 1, the terminal device adds at least the contracted capacity value of the subscriber line transmission line to the cell information and transmits it to the exchange, and the exchange determines the use of the subscriber line transmission line. Means is provided for transmitting a contract capacity value of the subscriber line transmission line in addition to the capacity for each terminal device, and further, the terminal device displays the contract capacity value of the subscriber line transmission line in addition to the counting result. 1. A subscriber line transmission line capacity display method in an asynchronous transfer mode, characterized in that the subscriber line transmission line capacity display method is provided with a means for 3. In claim 2, the exchange further comprises means for transmitting the circuit capacity value of the subscriber line transmission line for each terminal device, and the terminal device further comprises means for transmitting the line capacity value of the subscriber line transmission line. A subscriber line transmission line capacity display method in an asynchronous transfer mode, characterized by comprising means for displaying a capacity value. 4. According to any one of claims 1 to 3, the terminal device includes means for generating a transmission request for at least the usage capacity value of the subscriber transmission path, and the switching equipment transmits at least the subscriber transmission capacity value in response to the transmission request. 1. A subscriber line transmission line capacity display method in an asynchronous transfer mode, characterized by comprising means for transmitting a used capacity value of the line. 5. A subscriber in an asynchronous transfer mode according to claim 1, wherein said exchange comprises means for transmitting at least a used capacity value of said subscriber transmission line at predetermined time intervals. Line transmission line capacity display method. 6. The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the terminal device comprises at least means for storing a contracted capacity value of the subscriber line transmission line, and means for displaying the contracted capacity value of the subscriber line transmission line. transmission line capacity display method.