JPH0944534A - Network management and design system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide network design environment which enables a data structure to be managed and altered, a packaged network application to be selected, and function modules in the application to be selected. SOLUTION: The network management and design system has a common network data storage part 2 which holds data that network applications use in common, data communication parts 3-1 and 3-2 for a communication between the network applications, a common data structure definition part 4 which specifies a data structure defined in the common network data storage part 2, a common data structure alteration part 5 which alters the structure of the common data according to the contents of the common data structure definition part 4, a common data transfer part 6 which performs data transfer between the network applications 10 and common network data storage part 2, and a network application management mechanism 7.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a system for managing and designing a communication network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various network design systems have been provided. One example is the "ATM network design / evaluation system" (IN94-1) at the Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers Information Network Study Group held in November 1994.
22) (hereinafter referred to as Prior Art 1). In the network design system disclosed in the prior art 1, a design / evaluation unit and an editor unit are fixedly defined as a network application. further,
The structure of common data is also fixed. In such a state, the network design system disclosed in Prior Art 1 realizes data communication between network applications. However, this network design system was not scalable.

Further, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 64-54574 (hereinafter referred to as Prior Art 2) discloses a newly defined functional circuit module by combining an unregistered functional circuit module and operation specifications of a defined functional circuit module. The "automatic generation method of the functional circuit module" that enables the automatic generation of the newly defined functional circuit module by defining the operation specification of is disclosed.

FIG. 6 shows an apparatus for realizing the automatic generation method of the functional circuit module disclosed in the prior art 2. This device includes an input / output device 41, a storage device 42,
It is constituted by the processing device 43. In the storage device 42, a new definition function circuit module operation specification storage unit 44,
A predefined functional circuit module functional specification storage unit 45, a new defined functional circuit module detailed operation specification storage unit 46, and a new defined functional circuit module network information storage unit 47 are provided. Further, in the processing device 43, a functional circuit module operation specification analysis unit 48 and a functional circuit module network information analysis unit 49 are provided.

In such a configuration, the logic designer
The operating specifications of the functional circuit module to be designed are input via the input / output device 41 including a keyboard, a CRT and the like. This operation specification is stored in the newly defined functional circuit module operation specification storage unit 44 in the storage device 42. Further, the operation specifications of primitive defined functional circuit modules such as registers, buses, and ALUs are stored in advance in the defined functional circuit module functional specification storage unit 45. The functional circuit module operation specification analysis unit 48 in the processing device 43 stores the operation specification of the newly defined functional circuit module stored in the newly defined functional circuit module operation specification storage unit 44 in the already defined functional circuit module function specification storage unit 45. Analysis is performed using the stored functional specifications of the predefined functional circuit module, and the functional specification group of the predefined functional circuit module that satisfies and realizes the operation specifications of the new defined functional circuit module is extracted, and the result is the new defined function. It is stored in the circuit module detailed operation specification storage unit 46. The functional circuit module network information analysis unit 49 in the processing device 43 extracts network information between each defined functional circuit module from the detailed operation specifications stored in the newly defined functional circuit module detailed operation specification storage unit 46,
The result is stored in the newly defined functional circuit module network information storage unit 47.

Further, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 64-67683 (hereinafter referred to as prior art 3) is provided with means for storing rules and means connected to means for storing data. Discloses a "network design system" that allows a plurality of authenticated users to describe the design data contents. This prior art 2 has a device that stores rules for meeting design conditions and a mechanism that is connected to the device and that stores a memory for dynamically revising those rules. There is also provided a device for storing data and a mechanism connected to the device for storing the data for revising the data. The requester has the ability to access all the rules and revise part of the data, and the designer has the ability to access all the rules and revise another part of the data. This allows only a few requesters to create cable descriptions, and only a few cable designers
A digital system is obtained which allows the design of a corridor network of completed cable descriptions.

FIG. 7 shows the overall configuration of the network design system disclosed in Prior Art 3. In FIG.
Cable description information 50 is digitally entered by the requesting group (not shown) and then completed by the cable designer (not shown). This descriptive data 58 initially resides on the computer system and replaces the conventional manual method.
The software that initiates and maintains the record blueprint (POR) 56, the description data entry, and the completed network description are referred to as WIRELIST 52. This WIR
The ELIST program 52 runs on a virtual machine (VM) operating system.

The WIRELIST VM data entry program 52 (hereinafter referred to as WIRELIST) has two major functions: a) recording and archiving the recording design 56, and b) collecting a description of each cable,
A mechanical design automatic (MA
D) Transmission to the system. WIRELIST
52 allows the requester to supply complete descriptive information at an early stage and allows the cable designer to begin cable design before being able to begin geometry creation. WIRELIST 52 is an expert system capable of providing a list of acceptable answers in the form of default value files.
Program 52 verifies that the requester and cable designer are following their record blueprint 56. The record blueprint 56 can only be changed through specific approval.

WIRELIST 52 allows only the requester to supply data to one field and only the cable designer to supply data to another designer. further. The program 52 guarantees that no one will provide complete information and under the responsibility of his or her class of users. Further, anyone can provide at least one overlapping field of data. WIRELIST52 also
Check to ensure that there is no data loss.

When the WIRELIST cable description data is transmitted by the transmission device (XMIX) 60, it is automatically included as a member in the data set 66 partitioned by the time division option (TSO) 62 with the letter P. A member name equal to the 7-character part number following is added. The general content of the cable description 58 is a physical description.

Starting a particular cable description 66 from WIRELIST 52, the user selects
It runs a series of software programs called LIST64. These programs 64 are geometric CA
Obtain the length data for a particular cable from the TIA model 90 and add that length data to the cable description 66,
Part number data for all parts is found, and all management data on the cable is loaded into the CADAM model 70 and filed. The user indicates the cable part number to process and the appropriate CATIA model name. That same name is used as the resulting CADAM model name. The CATIA FILE name, which is also the user's CADAM subgroup, is entered by the user in response to the SELECTOR LIST and indicates by the user the selected desired note to be added to the final CADAM diagram. The procedure for labeling wires in CATIA model 90 for addition to cable description 66 is described below. The main part of the above sequence of the program 64 is S described later.
This is the ELECTOR program, which will be SEL
I will call it CTOR. The purpose of SELECTOR is to describe the cable description 6 to determine the required part number.
6 is to match the physical data from 6 with a cable-like part number database (not shown).

SELECTOR generates five types of management data required for release drawings. SEL
ECTOR also formats the results in preparation for loading into CADAM model 70.

The second process in FIG. 7 is the later CADA.
With download to M system. Geometrical cable design in CATIA system 74. The CATIA portion of this description is shown in flowchart form and is identified by the reference numeral 74. The cable design that affects the frame elements and other geometries is 3 in step 76.
Collected in a single CATIA model called a dimensional template. These items are solids created beforehand by other designers. The wires are then routed along the frame structure and associated paths using CATIA lines and similar one-dimensional geometry at step 78. These configurations are concatenated in step 82 to form a single CATIA arc for each wire. The software then collects the actual length data and incorporates it into the descriptive data 66 so that the material specifications describe the amount of wire required. In step 80, CATIA
Bulk cable analysis is performed by using the PIPE function and the wire as the center of the cable. This PIPE function is later used in step 84 to create an isometric view for CADAM. This geometry is parsed in CATIA in step 86 and recorded on a screen copy of note 91 for later capture in CADAM 72. Once this is complete, in step 88 the designer first enters the CADAM system 89,
Download the isometric view of the wire and then the isometric view of the wire with the background. This initial download is combined with descriptive data from the management process to create a cable assembly drawing. The second download is used as the basis for the cable path diagram. Both figures are CAD
Resident during AM FILE. Both models pass the REDRAFT program 94 described later and CADA.
It can be sent to the M-file 96. However, this is an option and depends on the particular design technique. Sizing is performed using CADAM system 72. The CATIA process 74 described above results in a CATIA model 90.

Although the programs described above can be executed in any order, the preferred order is as follows. That is, ie, WIRELIST 52 should be performed first, and then cable description 58 should be completed. The cable should be designed in CATIA 74 and the model 90 should be saved. The SELECTOR LIST 62 should then be executed and the CATIA geometry should be downloaded to the CADAM file 89 at step 88. Finally,
The result is SELC to produce the final data 73.
It should be combined with the result 70 of the TOR LIST.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 1-190047 (hereinafter referred to as prior art 4) defines a state space for a link failure of a network, and describes each state in the state space, that is, each link. By calculating all the link capacities other than the faulty link so that the average packet transmission delay becomes less than or equal to a predetermined threshold for the fault pattern of
A "link capacity allocation method in network design" that ensures the quality of service is disclosed.

FIG. 8 shows the method disclosed in the prior art 4. In block 100, it is first declared that network state 0 is considered, and a counter variable k indicating the number of connected network states is initialized. The network state i is denoted by P _i . Further, P ₀ is in a state where no trouble occurs. When this process ends, 101
In the block, check whether the network is connected. If not, check the next state. In the case of connection, capacity allocation is performed so that the average packet transmission delay becomes less than or equal to a predetermined threshold in the network state and the network cost is minimized. The capacity of the link j obtained here is denoted as C (i, J). In block 103, the number of the state determined to be connected is stored and the counter value is incremented by one. In block 104, the number of links is set to m, and it is checked whether all the states are connected and whether capacity allocation has been performed. If not for all states, select the next state at block 106 and return to block 101. When it is determined that the block 104 has been subjected to the connection check and the capacity allocation in all the states, the capacity C ( _i) obtained in each state is determined as the capacity C _i of the link i in the initial design in the block 105. i, J) is weighted by the occurrence probability of the state and a constant value a _ij , and a weighted average of all the states determined to be connected is used. When the capacity allocation is determined for all the links, the capacity allocation process ends.

Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 5-128090 (hereinafter referred to as prior art 5) discloses that in an information system captured at a company level, when planning the storage structure of the entire data, top-down is performed without relying on empirical rules. "Data model creating method and system thereof" for logically and data modeling is disclosed.

FIG. 9 shows a data model creating system disclosed in the prior art 5. The illustrated data model creation system includes a processing device 201, an input / output device 202, a data table storage file 203, and a printer 204. The processing device 201 has a file input / output program 205, a matrix creation program 206, a matrix data screen input / output program 207, and a matrix output program 208.

The processing device 201 inputs / outputs a data table and matrix data from / to the input / output device 202 and the data table storage file 203, and outputs the matrix data to the printer 204. The input / output device 202 displays matrix data on its screen,
Performs data input to the matrix. The data table storage file 203 is a business activity definition table,
Management entity definition table, information flow table and E
The R matrix, the business activity / management entity relation matrix, the information flow matrix, the information flow / management entity relation matrix, and the management entity / information flow relation matrix are stored. Printer 204 prints the resulting global conceptual data model. The file input / output program 205 inputs / outputs each definition table and each matrix between the data table storage file 203 and the matrix creation program 206. The matrix creation program 206 creates each matrix for analysis from the definition table input from the file input / output program 205. The matrix creation program 206 inputs and outputs each matrix for analysis with the matrix data screen input / output program 207, and further, the matrix output program 2
The ER matrix is output to 05. The matrix data screen input / output program 207 outputs each analysis matrix input from the matrix creation program 206 to the input / output device 2
03 is output. Further, the matrix data screen input / output program 207 sets the data input from the input / output device 203 to the corresponding position of each analysis matrix. The matrix output program 208 converts the ER matrix input from the matrix creation program 206 into a global conceptual data model and outputs it to the printer 204.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5-242151 (hereinafter referred to as prior art 6) reduces design materials that cannot be structured and design materials due to a definition place, and facilitates design specification change. "Structured method of technical information" that can be dealt with is disclosed.

FIG. 10 shows a structuring system of technical information disclosed in the prior art 6. Master structure database 21
Reference numeral 1 is a database whose structure is defined so as to cover all design objects which are structural elements of development objects. The structure definition mechanism 212 defines the structure of the technical information database 213 corresponding to a specific development target based on the master structure database 211. Design target unit operation mechanism 214
When the technical information database 213 is created, the entity of the design material is added to the technical information database 213 whose structure is defined for each design target unit. Further, the design target unit operation mechanism 214 accesses the design target unit when accessing the technical information database 213.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5-252133 (hereinafter, referred to as prior art 7) relates to a time division multiplexing apparatus used for digital communication, and by inputting network information, network design and automatic equipment It discloses an "intelligent time division multiplexer" that can be designed.

FIG. 11 shows an intelligent time division multiplexer disclosed in the prior art 7. The time-division multiplexer shown in the figure is a shelf 2 in which a line conforming package 220 for interfacing with digital lines, a terminal conforming package 230 for interfacing with terminals, and lines and terminal conforming packages 220, 230 are mounted.
40 and a housing 250 on which the shelf 240 is mounted. The network information input mechanism unit 251 inputs basic information about the network. The network information design mechanism unit 252 uses the basic information input to the network information input mechanism unit 251 to obtain the necessary line and terminal compatible packages 220 and 230, the shelf 240, and the housing 25.
The type and quantity of 0 are automatically calculated, and the mounting inside the housing 250 is designed. The network information design mechanism unit 253 automatically sets the line compatible package 220, the terminal compatible package 230, the shelf 240, and the housing 250.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5-324778 (hereinafter referred to as prior art 8) discloses a "manufacturing equipment designing apparatus" in which the equipment can be automatically set and the equipment can be easily designed.
Is disclosed.

FIG. 12 shows the configuration of the product / apparatus designing apparatus disclosed in the prior art 8. The illustrated product / apparatus design apparatus is a CAD apparatus 310 for product design, an operation easiness evaluation apparatus 320 for evaluating the easiness of processing and assembling various parts of the product, a CAD apparatus 310 for product design, and an easy operation. Design / evaluation apparatus 33 for designing and evaluating manufacturing equipment based on data from the property evaluation apparatus 320, etc.
0, a simulation device 340 for simulating a designed manufacturing facility, and a facility design / evaluation device 33.
C for auxiliary equipment design to design parts that could not be designed with 0
An AD device 360, a common database 350 for storing data used in these devices or created data, an input device 370 for inputting various data, and the like,
An output device 380 that outputs various data and the like, and a network 390 that connects these are configured.

[0026]

In the network design system of Prior Art 1, for example, the data structure common to the design section and the editor section is fixed, and the network application to be mounted is also determined in advance. .
Therefore, operations such as changing the data structure and adding, deleting, and exchanging network applications have not been easy.

That is, since the application to be executed is fixed and does not have an interface for adding the application, for example, the design department and the network application such as the network management system (NMS) are connected online, Instantly redesign based on NMS aggregate information or NMS with the design result as it is
Can not be reflected in the network via.

Further, in order to change the design system for different network services such as ATM and frame relay service, in addition to the change of the design unit, the change of the structure of other common data is also involved. For example, even if there is a class whose data structure does not change when the target network service is changed, such as a node or link, recreate the data structure without reusing it and change to the source program according to the new data structure. I have to do it.

Further, the function of the network application is fixed, and in order to change a part of the function modules, it is assumed that the function modules are divided for each function, and the function is provided according to the user's request. Since there is no function for selecting a module and automatically generating a network application, it is not easy to change the function.

An object of the present invention is to provide a network management / design system capable of changing a common data structure according to user selection.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a network management / design system in which a network application to be mounted can be easily added and deleted.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a network management / design system that allows a user to select, add, delete, replace, or reconfigure a function module in a network application.

Prior art 2 automatically generates a new defined functional circuit module by combining the unregistered functional circuit module and the operational specifications of the predefined functional circuit module to define the operational specification of the newly defined functional circuit module. The present invention discloses an automatic generation method of a functional circuit module that enables the above, and is different from the network management / design system targeted by the present invention.

In prior art 3, a plurality of authenticated users describe design data contents (revise rules).
The present invention discloses a cable design system that enables the above, and the technical idea is obviously different from the present invention in which the common data structure can be changed by the user's selection.

In the prior art 4, even when a link failure occurs and the traffic on the failed link is diverted to another link,
Disclosed is a method of determining the capacity of each link so that the average packet transmission delay becomes equal to or less than a threshold value at the time of initial setting and the network design cost determined by the link installation cost does not increase significantly. The technical idea is obviously different from that of the present invention in which the common data structure can be changed by selection.

The prior art 5 discloses a method for easily and relatively accurately creating an ER diagram (global conceptual data model) which is a conceptual data model at a company level, and has a common data structure according to user selection. The technical idea is obviously different from that of the present invention in which the above can be changed.

In the prior art 6, by designing the technical information by focusing on the design object, the design material which cannot be structured when designing a set of design materials (technical information) or the design material having trouble in the defined place It discloses a method of structuring technical information that makes it easier to deal with changes in design specifications and facilitates access to the technical information database. The technical idea is obviously different from that of the present invention in which the common data structure can be changed.

Prior art 7 discloses an intelligent time-division multiplexer capable of automatically performing network design and automatic design of equipment by inputting network information. Common data is selected by a user. The technical idea is obviously different from that of the present invention in which the structure can be changed.

The prior art 8 can automatically set the equipment by designing the equipment used for the equipment by using CAD data and machining / assembling operation data of parts when designing the equipment. Disclosed is a manufacturing facility designing device capable of designing a facility without imposing a burden on a person, and the technical idea is obviously different from the present invention in which a common data structure can be changed by user's selection. .

[0040]

A network management / design system according to the present invention uses common network data for storing common data among network applications that control a network using network information such as nodes, links, and paths. A storage unit, an inter-network-application data communication unit for transmitting and receiving data between the network applications, and a common data structure definition unit that defines or changes the structure of data read from and written to the common network data storage unit by the network application. , A data structure used in the network application and the common network data storage unit based on the data structure defined by the common data structure definition unit, and when each network application is generated Between the common data structure updating unit for updating the data to be used, and the inter-network application data communication unit connected to each network application based on the data structure generated by the common data structure updating unit and the common network data storage unit. Common data transfer unit for transferring the data and a network application management mechanism for managing the internal function of the application for each network application and changing the internal function.

The above network management / design system is
Further, a network application definition unit that defines a network application connected to the network application data communication unit and a network application data communication unit that is created or deleted based on the network application information registered by the network application definition unit. It is preferable to include a network application information updating unit that updates menu information for activating each network application.

The network application management mechanism of the network management / design system includes information on each block obtained by dividing an application into a plurality of blocks according to functions and a plurality of modules implementing different calculation methods and algorithms provided in each block. The application module definition part that defines information, the module selection part that selects the module registered for each block by this application module definition part, and the application selected from the modules selected for each functional block in this module selection part It is desirable to have an application generating unit for generating.

[0043]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a network management / design system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The illustrated network management / design system is a common network data storage unit 2.
And the data communication unit between network applications 3-
1, 3, 2, ..., Common data structure definition unit 4, common data structure update unit 5, common data transfer unit 6, network application management mechanism 7, network application definition unit 8, and network application information update It is a network design system platform 1 including a unit 9.

The common data structure definition unit 4 has a common data structure definition file (not shown). The common data transfer unit 6 has a transfer destination information definition file (not shown). The network application definition unit 8 has a network application definition file (not shown).

The network design system platform 1 has its own local database 11-1,
A plurality of network applications 10-1, 10-2, ... Having 11-2, ... Are connected by the inter-network application data communication units 3-1, 3-2 ,.

The common network data storage unit 2 is connected to the common data transfer unit 6. The plurality of network application data communication units 3-1, 3-2, ... Are also connected to the common data transfer unit 6. The common data structure defining unit 4 is connected to the common data structure updating unit 5, and the network application defining unit 8 is connected to the network application information updating unit 9. The common data structure updating unit 5 and the network application information updating unit 9 are connected to the common data transfer unit 6. The network application management mechanism 7 is connected to a plurality of network applications 10-1, 10-2, .... In FIG. 1, only the first and second network applications 10-1 and 10-2 are shown as network applications. In the following, when the distinction is unnecessary, the subscript is omitted like the network application 10.

Each network application 10 is an application program for generating, processing, displaying, collecting network information and controlling the network using the network information. Each network application 10 is, for example, a design unit, a management unit, an editor unit, or the like. Each network application 10
Accesses the common network data storage unit 2 via the inter-network application data communication unit 3 and the common data transfer unit 6. In this embodiment, an object-oriented database is used as the common network data storage unit 2, and the common network data storage unit 2
Stores data commonly used by the network applications 10.

The inter-network-application data communication unit 3 controls the data transfer between the network design system platform 1 and the network application 10, and establishes communication means by means of sockets, shared memory, file sharing, pipes and the like. Here, the pipe is one of the inter-process communication mechanisms provided by UNIX, and is a mechanism for connecting the standard output of one process to the standard input of another process. Standard input / output is a device (file) that transfers data by input / output commands, and usually has a keyboard and screen assigned. However, since the pipe occupies standard input / output, its use is limited. On the other hand, socket is an inter-process communication method developed in UNIX for BSD, and write (send) a message.
Communicate with other processes using functions such as / read. Sockets are also network-enabled, allowing you to treat processes on another machine as if they were processes on your local machine. In this embodiment, a case where a socket is used as a communication means will be described.

Each local database 11 is a storage location for storing data unique to each network application 10, and is managed by each network application 10.

Next, the network application 10
The operation of adding and deleting will be described. In this case, the user can add or delete the application of the network application 10 operating on the network design system platform 1 by using the network application defining unit 8. Specifically, the user adds or deletes the network application 10 to or from the network application definition file that describes the application name and socket descriptor of the network application 10.

Next, the operation when the application name and socket descriptor of the network application 10 defined by the network application definition unit 8 are changed will be described. In this case, the network application information updating unit 9 first suspends the network application 10 and the common data transfer unit 6 on the network setting system platform 1. Next, the network application information updating unit 9 assigns a new application ID for the network application 10 added in the network application definition file. Subsequently, the network application information updating unit 9 prepares the inter-network application data communication unit 3 in which the socket descriptor and the network application name are changed, and provides the inter-network application data communication unit provided for the deleted network application 10. Delete 3.

At this time, the transfer destination information definition file of the common data transfer unit 6 is also changed corresponding to the addition / deletion of the network application 10. If the common data transfer unit 6 is restarted, the common data transfer unit 6 operates in accordance with the corrected contents of the transfer destination information definition file, and the common data transfer unit 6 and the common network data storage unit 2
It provides a data transfer function between.

Next, the operation when it is necessary to change the common data structure will be described. In this case, the user uses the common data structure definition unit 4 to change the common data structure definition file in the network design system platform 1. This common data structure definition file defines the data structure of information to be communicated between a plurality of network applications 10. It should be noted here that the user has the same class definition of the common network data storage unit 2 and the structure of the data transferred by the common data transfer unit 6 as the structure definition of the common data. When the common data structure updating unit 5 is started after the common data structure defining file is modified by the common data structure defining unit 4, the common data structure updating unit 5 causes the common data structure updating unit 5 to execute the network application 10 and the common data on the network design system platform 1. After temporarily stopping the transfer unit 6, the structure of common data is changed.

More specifically, the internal classes of the common data transfer unit 6 and the network communication unit between network applications 3 of the network design network platform 1 are overwritten with the contents of the modified common data structure definition file to store the common network data. For the section 2, a class definition corresponding to the modified common data structure definition is created, and the class definition of the current common network data storage section 2 is exchanged with the newly created class definition. After being restarted, the common data transfer unit 6 refers to the new inner class definition and restarts the common data transfer.

Next, with reference to FIG. 3, the operation when the user changes some of the function modules in the network application will be described. in this case,
The network application 10 is reconstructed using the network application management mechanism 7 that manages the functional modules of the network application 10. The network application management mechanism 7 includes an in-application module definition unit 31, a module selection unit 32, and an application generation unit 33. Each network application 10 has a configuration that can be divided into a plurality of functional blocks. The user prepares a plurality of processing modules having different calculation methods and algorithms for each functional block in the form of an object file. The processing module group in each functional block needs to have the same data structure and interface.

Using the network application management mechanism 7, the function block name of each network application 10 and the function and object file name of the processing module provided for each function block are registered in the network application definition file. . After registration, the module selection unit 32 is activated, the user specifies a network application, and a list of processing module names that can be selected for each functional block of the specified network application is displayed on a display screen of a display device (not shown). And let the user know. The user selects a processing module to be loaded into the network application 10 from the displayed list.

After the selection operation is completed, the network design system platform 1 (FIG. 1) activates the application generation unit 33. The started application generation unit 3
3 links the object files corresponding to the processing modules selected by the module selection unit 32 to generate the network application 10.

FIG. 2 shows the details of the common data transfer unit 6 in FIG. The common data transfer unit 6 includes an internal bus 21, a data cache 22, and an internal bus controller 23. When performing data communication between the common network data storage unit 2 and the network application 10,
The data to be transferred is the internal bus 2 in the common data transfer unit 6.
Pass 1 When the data cache 22 is placed between the internal bus 6 and the common network data storage unit 2 and the data written in the common network data storage unit 2 is read, it is possible to read the data from the data cache 22 at high speed. To do. In principle, when data is transferred between the network applications 10, the common network data storage unit 2 is used, but by controlling the internal bus controller 23, writing to the common network data storage unit 2 is omitted. Then, by sending the data to the transfer destination network application 10 via the data cache 22, high-speed data transfer between the network applications 10 becomes possible.

[0060]

EXAMPLES Specific examples will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. In this embodiment, the network application 10 is assumed to be an editor section and a design section. The editor section creates network design input data such as network topology, and displays and corrects design results. The design unit performs network design processing such as route design, link speed calculation, and network cost calculation. Here, it is assumed that the first network application 10-1 in FIG. 1 is the design unit and the second network application 10-2 is the editor unit.

First, the editor unit 10-2 creates input data such as a network topology. The created input data is sent to the common network data storage unit 2 via the inter-network application data communication unit 3-2 and the common data transfer unit 6. When this data transfer is completed, the design unit 10-1 reads design input data such as a network topology from the common network data storage unit 2 via the common data transfer unit 6 and the inter-network application data communication unit 3-1. After reading the input data, design processing is performed, and the result is sent to the common network data storage unit 2 in the reverse order of the above. Then, from the common network storage unit 2 to the editor unit 10-
The design result is passed to 2, the result is displayed, and correction work is started if necessary.

When data is transmitted / received between the design unit 10-1 and the editor unit 10-2, the common data transfer unit 6 uses the data cache 22 in the part connected to the common network data storage unit 2 to store the common network data. It can be read by the receiving side without waiting for the completion of writing to the unit 2. Information unique to each network application such as the relationship between the link speed and the display color in the editor unit 3-2 and the definition of design parameters such as the call loss rate and the cell discard rate in the design unit 10-1 is stored in the local databases 11-1 and 11-. Managed by 2.

Next, as an example of adding a new network application 10-3 (not shown), an embodiment in which a network management system (NMS) is connected to a network design system will be described. The NMS here reflects the design results such as path routes in the network, monitors the status and reports the failure status of nodes and links to the administrator, measures the traffic volume between nodes and collects the collected results. It is supposed to be a system that reports to the administrator.

Here, reflecting the path route on the network means setting the input destination and output destination information of the path passing / terminating in each device. More specifically, reflecting the path route on the network means that the NMS or the administrator sets the input destination of each path to the device such as the switch installed at the start point node, the relay node, and the end point node in the network. By specifying the output destination information, the route of each path is set at the node / link level.

First, in addition to the design unit 10-1 and the editor unit 10-2, the user uses a third network application 10-3 (not shown) to share a common data structure with the design unit 10-1 in advance. Network data storage unit 2
Prepare NMS made according to the structure of. The user uses the network application definition unit 8 to add the application name of the NMS 10-3 to the network application definition file in the network design system platform 1. The network application defining unit 8 creates a socket descriptor according to the addition of the application name. The NM newly added by the network application information updating unit 9 according to the modified network application definition file.
An inter-network application data communication unit 3-3 (not shown) to which the application name and socket descriptor of S10-3 are assigned is prepared.

As a result, since the network design system platform 1 and the NMS 10-3 are connected online, the network design system platform 1 sends the design result, such as the network topology and the path route design information of each node, directly to the NMS 10-3 online. However, it becomes possible to reflect the path route and the like on the network via the NMS 10-3. On the contrary, for example, the network information managed by the NMS 10-3 such as the failure frequency and traffic is read by the NMS 10-3 and is regarded as the input data of the network design system platform 1 to determine the path route and the link capacity. It is also possible to design. Then, by reflecting the redesign result on the network again via the NMS 10-3, it is possible to maintain the state of good network usage efficiency.

Next, referring to FIG. 4 in addition to FIG. 1, as an example in which the common data structure needs to be changed, the design unit 10-
A description will be given of an embodiment in which data used internally between the NMS 1 and the NMS 10-3 are changed to communicate with each other. Specifically, it is assumed that the control information communication route between the NMS 10-3 and each node is the design target of the design unit 10-1, and that the design unit 10-1 has already implemented the route design function. . FIG. 4 shows this changing procedure.

First, the user activates the common data structure defining section 4 (step S1), and the information currently being communicated between the designing section 10-1 and the NMS 10-3 by using the common data structure defining section 4. A control path and a control information communication path are added to the common data structure definition file that defines the structure (step S2). Next, the user activates the common data structure updating unit 5 (step S3), and using the common data structure updating unit 5, the contents of the common data structure definition file in which the internal class definition of the inter-network application data communication unit 3 is changed. Is overwritten (step S4), a class definition describing the internal format, class name and attribute name of the common network data storage unit 2 is generated from the common data structure definition file (step S5) to store the current common network data storage. Replace with the class definition of part 2 (step S6).

The common data structure updating unit 5 also updates the header and library for the network application 10 to use the inter-network application data communication unit 3 (step S7). Each network application 10 is recompiled using the generated library and header (step S
By this, the network application can be made to correspond to the structure of the updated common data. This allows the user to respond to changes in the common data structure with only one change.

Next, referring to FIGS. 1 and 3, as an example of changing some functional modules among the functions in the network application, from the traffic added between the topology and the nodes in the ATM (asynchronous transfer mode) network, An example of the design unit 10-1 that calculates the network cost will be described. The design process in the design unit 10-1 is V
Generation of C (virtual channel) and route search, VP
It can be divided into four sub-processes: (virtual path) generation, route search and capacity calculation, capacity and cost calculation of devices installed in links and nodes, and network cost calculation.

Among these, methods such as the shortest path and the minimum number of passing nodes can be adopted as the VC path search method. Also in the capacity calculation of VP considering the statistical multiple effect,
Various approximation calculation methods have been proposed. Then, a processing module corresponding to each calculation method is prepared in the form of an object file. These object files (not shown) are registered in the in-application module definition unit 31.

Then, in the module selection unit 32, the user selects the VC route search method and the VP capacity calculation method. The application generation unit 33 creates a file for generating the network application 10 corresponding to the design requirement of the user, and links the object file using this generation file to construct the network application 10 that meets the design requirement of the user. be able to.

Finally, referring to FIG. 5 in addition to FIGS. 1 and 3, as an example of changing the functional module to change the common data structure, an embodiment of changing the design system for different network services will be described. To do. Here, A
It is assumed that the TM network design system is changed to the frame relay network design system. ATM network design system
An ATM switch is placed in each node to target a network that connects nodes with a high-speed digital leased line. On the other hand, a frame relay network design system uses a high-speed digital leased line to connect nodes between nodes. The net that connects is targeted.

To further simplify the explanation, as shown in FIG. 5, the design unit 10-1 calculates the required speed of the link from the band of the path or VP passing through the link, and calculates the speed and distance of the link. It is assumed to consist of two functional modules that calculate the link cost from. That is, the design unit 10-1
Inputs the path or VC, VP that passes through each link (step S11). Next, the design unit 10-1 calculates a required speed for accommodating the paths or VCs and VPs that pass through each link (step S12). At this time, since the multiplexing method and the cell and frame formats are different, it is necessary to prepare a functional module for each. Next, the design unit 10-1 calculates the link cost from the required speed and the distance between the nodes at both ends of the link for each link (step S13). At this time,
The part that calculates the cost from the required speed and the link distance can be used in common. Finally, the design unit 10-1 outputs the link cost of each link (step S14).

First, the common data structure definition unit 4 uses ATM
Since the data structure for network design is defined, the user changes to the data structure for frame relay network design. Specifically, cells, VPs, VCs, etc. existing in the ATM network are deleted, and frames, connections in the frame relay network, paths, etc. are added. At this time, there are some which do not require modification of the source file (not shown) and those which require modification of the source file for the related parts. AT
Since the information such as nodes and links common to the M network and the frame relay network is used as it is, the functional module that calculates the cost from the required speed of the link does not need to modify the source file.

Although VC and VP correspond to paths, it is necessary to change the structure such as the header format in order to support the frame relay network. Also, the multiplexing method is changed from statistical multiplexing or peak rate multiplexing to frame multiplexing. For these, the design algorithm is changed and the source file needs to be modified. Here, the user prepares the function module for calculating the link capacity for the ATM network and the frame relay network, and registers it in the network application definition file in the in-application module definition unit 31. Further, the module selecting unit 32 changes the capacity calculation function module from the ATM network to the frame relay network.

Next, the common data structure updating unit 5 updates the internal class definition of the inter-network application data communication unit 3 to the changed data structure, and associates the internal format with the object name and attribute name in the common network data storage unit 2. Update. The common data structure updating unit 5 also updates the header and library for the network application 10 to use the inter-network application data communication unit 3, and the design unit 1
It is possible to deal with the updated data structure by recompiling each network application 10 such as 0-1 by the application generation unit 33. As a result, by changing the common data structure and exchanging functional modules by the user, the design system can be changed from the ATM network to the frame relay network to a network service having a different data structure.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and variations can be easily made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention.

[0079]

As described above, when a plurality of network applications are installed, the network management / design system according to the present invention has a common network data storage unit class definition, a network application data communication unit, a common network application data communication unit, and a common network data storage unit. By having a common data structure definition part that corrects the structure of the data transferred by the data transfer part and a data structure update part that reflects the updated contents in the class definition and the data structure, the common data structure can be changed by the user's selection. enable. Further, the network application definition unit in which the definition of the network application is changed by the user and the communication path between the network application and the common network data storage unit are updated according to the changed network application definition, and the data communication unit between network applications is added and By including the network application information updating unit to be deleted, the network application to be mounted can be easily added and deleted. Furthermore, the network application management mechanism including the module definition unit in the application, the module selection unit, and the application generation unit allows the user to select, add, delete, replace, or reconfigure the functional module in the network application. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 illustrates network management according to an embodiment of the present invention.
It is a block diagram which shows the structure of a design system.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing details of a common data transfer unit in FIG.

3 is a block diagram showing in detail a network application management mechanism in FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining an operation when changing a common data structure in the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of design processing contents when changing from an ATM network design system to a frame relay network design system, as an example of changing some function modules and common data structure of the present invention.

FIG. 6 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 64-54574 (Prior Art 2)
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of an automatic generation system of the functional circuit module disclosed in FIG.

FIG. 7: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 64-67683 (Prior Art 3)
2 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of the entire network design system disclosed in FIG.

FIG. 8: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-190047 (Prior Art 4)
3 is a flowchart for explaining a link capacity allocation method in the network design disclosed in FIG.

FIG. 9: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-128090 (Prior Art 5)
3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the data model analysis / preparation apparatus disclosed in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a technical information structuring system disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-242151 (Prior Art 6).

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating the principle of the intelligent time division multiplexer disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-252133 (Prior Art 7).

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a product / apparatus designing device disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-324778 (Prior Art 8).

[Explanation of symbols]

1 network design system platform 2 common network data storage unit 3, 3-1 and 3-2 data communication unit between network applications 4 common data structure definition unit 5 common data structure update unit 6 common data transfer unit 7 network application management mechanism 8 network Application definition unit 9 Network application information updating unit 10, 10-1, 10-2 Network application 11, 11-1, 11-2 Local database 21 Internal bus 22 Data cache 23 Internal bus controller 31 Application module definition unit 32 Module selection Part 33 Application generation part

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A network topology, a path routing, a node capacity, a link speed, and a device configuration are designed based on the position information of a plurality of nodes and the demands of communication traffic and communication paths given between the nodes. In a network management / design system that outputs data representing a network consisting of switches, multiplexers, terminals, etc. arranged between links and nodes, multiple networks that control network using network information such as nodes, links, paths, etc. A common network data storage unit for storing common data between network applications, an inter-network application data communication unit for transmitting and receiving data between the plurality of network applications, and the network application to the common network. A common data structure definition unit that defines or changes the structure of data to be read from or written to the data storage unit, and data used in the network application and the common network data storage unit based on the data structure defined by the common data structure definition unit. A common data structure updating unit for updating the structure and data used when generating each network application; the inter-network application data communication unit connected to each network application based on the data structure generated by the common data structure updating unit; A common data transfer unit that transfers data to and from a common network data storage unit, and a network application that manages the internal function of each network application and changes the internal function. Network management and design system and having a management mechanism. 2. A network application definition unit that defines a network application connected to the network application data communication unit, and an inter-network application data communication unit that is generated based on network application information registered by the network application definition unit. The network management / design system according to claim 1, further comprising: a network application information updating unit that deletes or updates menu information for activating each network application. 3. The network application management mechanism defines information of each block obtained by dividing an application into a plurality of blocks by function and information of a plurality of modules implementing different calculation methods and algorithms provided in each block. In-application module definition section, module selection section for selecting a module registered for each block by the in-application module definition section, and application generation section for generating an application from a module classified into each functional block by the module selection section The network management / design system according to claim 1 or 2.