KR102045866B1 - Method and apparatus for gathering and constructing network topology and service path information in optical transport networks - Google Patents

Abstract

The following embodiment relates to a method for managing an optical transport network in a network equipment and a management server. A method for managing an optical transport network performed by a network device, the method comprising: setting trail trace identifier (TTI) information on an optical channel transport unit (OTU) interface of a device; Receiving OTU signals from adjacent equipment over the OTU interface; Establishing physical connection information with the adjacent equipment by using the TTI information of the OTU signal and the TTI information of the OTU interface; And transmitting to the management server higher service path information associated with the physical connection information and the OTU interface.

Description

TECHNICAL AND APPARATUS FOR GATHERING AND CONSTRUCTING NETWORK TOPOLOGY AND SERVICE PATH INFORMATION IN OPTICAL TRANSPORT NETWORKS}

The following embodiment relates to a method for managing an optical transport network in a network equipment and a management server.

Optical Transport Network (OTN) technology enables long-distance transmission of large-capacity signals through various types of signal reception and signal multiplexing. In addition, the subwavelength switching capability and rich OAM (Operation, Administration, and Maintenance) capabilities make it suitable for high-bandwidth traffic resource management. Due to this necessity, the optical transport network technology is a standard technology introduced into the backbone network, replacing the SONET / SDH technology which has reached the limit of development.

OTN equipment management is generally managed through EMS (Element Management System). In general, an EMS operator performs operation management on a device registered through a pre-registration or collection process of physical connection information between devices and devices in a management domain. Alternatively, equipment using the control plane (routing / signaling protocol) feature can automatically discover physical connections (links) via network topology discovery protocols, and update and propagate relevant information in real time.

EMS can easily manage the equipment operation based on the network topology information of the equipment. The control / signaling protocol between OTN devices or the management protocol between EMS and OTN devices is in-band through the Data Communication Network (DCN) using the General Communication Channel (GCC) at the overhead of the Optical Channel Transport Unit (OTU). Communicate

SDN technology distinguishes between control plane and data plane functions in existing communication equipment, and the control plane function is placed on the SDN controller outside the device, and the data plane function is placed on the device. It is a technology to control. Therefore, the control function is in the SDN controller, not the equipment, and the data plane is operated through the control of the SDN controller through the SDN agent of the equipment.

In general, in a layer 2 network, an SDN controller collects, constructs, and manages network topology information by performing network topology discovery under the controller's initiative using L2-based Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP) frames for a network managed by the SDN controller. . SDN controller realizes traffic flow service to equipment based on network topology information.

The SDN controller that controls and manages the OTN device can use the method through the GCC channel of the OTN to use the network topology discovery method using the general L2-based LLDP frame. For this purpose, the GCC channel must be made and operated in the form of an L2 interface. In addition, since the implementation of the DCN network through the GCC channel in different ways for different equipment manufacturers, there can be a number of problems to use the GCC channel in the form of L2 interface.

An embodiment of the present invention is to solve the above disadvantages, the network management server (EMS, NMS or SDN controller) to build and manage the network topology is the TTI information (OTI overhead) received by the OTN equipment in real time ( Based on SAPI, Operator Specific), it is to build OTN network topology and related upper service path information by receiving physical connection information between devices and set related upper service path information from the device.

A method for managing an optical transport network performed by a network device, the method comprising: setting trail trace identifier (TTI) information on an optical channel transport unit (OTU) interface of a device; Receiving OTU signals from adjacent equipment over the OTU interface; Establishing physical connection information with the adjacent equipment by using the TTI information of the OTU signal and the TTI information of the OTU interface; And transmitting, to the management server, higher service path information associated with the physical connection information and the OTU interface.

In one side, the TTI information, SAPI (Source Access Point Identifier) information; And identifier information of the equipment and the OTU interface.

In another aspect, the OTU signal may include TTI information set in the OTU interface of the adjacent equipment.

In another aspect, when the TTI information of the OTU signal is changed, the step of establishing physical connection information with the adjacent equipment by using the TTI information of the OTU signal and the TTI information of the OTU interface, the physical connection Updating the information.

In another aspect, transmitting the physical connection information and higher service path information associated with the OTU interface to a management server may include establishing a network topology and an associated higher service path at the management server. .

A method for managing an optical transport network performed in a network device, the method comprising: setting trail trace identifier (TTI) information on an OTU interface of a device; Transmitting an OTU signal to adjacent equipment through a service OTU interface selected from the OTU interfaces; Receiving a response OTU signal transmitted from the adjacent equipment at the service OTU interface; Establishing physical connection information with the adjacent equipment by using the TTI information of the response OTU signal and the TTI information of the service OTU interface; And transmitting to the management server higher service path information associated with the physical connection information and the OTU interface.

A management server of an optical transport network, comprising: a network manager configured to receive physical connection information and associated higher service paths of the network equipment from at least one network device to establish a network topology and an associated higher service path; And a network interface for connecting the network equipment to an optical transport network, wherein the physical connection information includes TTI information set on an OTU interface of the network equipment and TTI information of an OTU signal received from an adjacent device received through the OTU interface. There may be provided a method of operation of a management server, which is built using.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, network topology information and higher service path information can be efficiently constructed by using the physical connection information defined in the present invention for the TTI of the OTU overhead.

Through the embodiments of the present invention, in general, the mismatch problem or the control plane (routing / signaling protocol) function that occurs when the physical connection information between the managed device and the devices is registered in advance in the EMS and is managed for the registered device. It can solve the purchase and operation costs of using it, and the safety of the function can be improved by a simple method.

1 is a schematic diagram of an optical transport network environment including network equipment and a management server according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a flowchart illustrating a method for collecting and establishing network topology and service path information performed in a network equipment and a management server of an optical transport network according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 illustrates an example of use of an Operator Specific area in TTI information according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of managing an optical transport network performed by network equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, a management method of an optical transmission network performed by a network device and a management server will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Various modifications may be made to the embodiments described below. The examples described below are not intended to be limited to the embodiments and should be understood to include all modifications, equivalents, and substitutes for them.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of examples. Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In this specification, terms such as "comprise" or "have" are intended to indicate that there is a feature, number, step, action, component, part, or combination thereof described on the specification, and one or more other features. It is to be understood that the present disclosure does not exclude the possibility of the presence or the addition of numbers, steps, operations, components, components, or combinations thereof.

Unless defined otherwise, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. Terms such as those defined in the commonly used dictionaries should be construed as having meanings consistent with the meanings in the context of the related art and shall not be construed in ideal or excessively formal meanings unless expressly defined in this application. Do not.

In addition, in the description with reference to the accompanying drawings, the same components regardless of reference numerals will be given the same reference numerals and duplicate description thereof will be omitted. In the following description of the embodiment, when it is determined that the detailed description of the related known technology may unnecessarily obscure the gist of the embodiment, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

An embodiment of the present invention is a network topology connected by an optical channel transport unit (OTU) and an optical channel data unit (ODU) of an optical transport network without using a control plane function and a general L2 LLDP frame-based network topology discovery. Describes how to find this efficiently. In particular, technologies related to the present invention are optical delivery network (G.709) technology and SDN (Software Defined Network) technology.

The OTN layer includes an optical signal region and an optical channel transport unit including an optical transmission section (OTS), an optical multiplex section (OMS), and an optical channel with fill functionality (OCh). It is divided into a digital domain consisting of a unit (OTU) and an optical channel data unit (ODU).

TTI (Trail Trace Identifier) information in the overhead of OTUs and ODUs is used to identify signals (links, trails) from the origin to the destination in the network. The TTI information uniquely identifies an OTU and an ODU interface of a network device. The TTI information includes a source access point identifier (SAPI), a destination access point identifier (DAPI), and an operator specific. The API (Access Point Identifier) is composed of a Country Code (CC), an ITU Carrier Code (ICC), and a Unique Access Point Code (UAPC). Operator Specific is an area that can be used arbitrarily by the user and consists of the characters defined in T.50.

1 is a schematic diagram of an optical transport network (OTN) environment including network equipment and a management server, in an embodiment of the invention.

One or more network devices 110 and 120 may be connected to the management server 120 through the OTN to establish the OTN network topology and connection and higher service path information.

The one or more network devices 110 and 120 may identify, in real time, information of a start point of a signal coming into the interface of all OTUs and ODUs through a TTI, and may manage TTI information of all adjacent devices.

The management server 200 may collect TTI information of adjacent devices managed by the respective network devices 110 and 120 in the OTN to efficiently construct and manage a network topology in the OTN. In addition, the TTI information may be systematically managed and operated for the network devices 110 and 120 in the network.

The TTI information is information for identifying the OUT interface of the network equipment 110 and 120, and may include a source access point identifier (SAPI), a destination access point identifier (DAPI), and operator specific information. . API (Access Point Identifier) such as SAPI and DAPI is composed of CC (Country Code), ICC (ITU Carrier Code) and UAPC (Unique Access Point Code). Consists of the characters defined in 50.

In an embodiment, the TTI may include operator specific information including minimum, SAPI information and device identifier (device name, ID, etc.) and OTU interface identifier (self, slot, interface, etc.) information, the operator specific information being managed The server 200 may be used to efficiently build a network topology.

The OTU interface management module in the network equipment 110 and 120 automatically configures TTI (SAPI, Operator Specific) information on all interfaces by automatically adding the device identifier and the OTU interface identifier information to each OTU interface to the Operator Specific area. .

In an embodiment, the network equipment 110 uses the TTI information of the network equipment 120 and the TTI information of the OTU interface of the network equipment 110 in the OTU signal of the network equipment 120 received through the OTU interface. Physical connection information, which is a TTI pair, can be constructed. Similarly, the network device 120 may receive the OTU signal of the network device 120 through the OTU interface and establish physical connection information between the two devices using the TTI information.

The physical connection information established by the OTU interface management module in each of the network devices 110 and 120 and higher service path information associated with its own OTU interface may be transmitted to the management server 200.

The management server 200 receives the physical connection information and the associated higher service path of the network device from at least one network device, and connects the network management unit 210 and the network device with the optical transmission network to establish a network topology and a new associated higher service path. It may include a network interface 220.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a method for collecting and establishing network topology and service path information performed in a network equipment and a management server of an optical transport network according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The network equipment generally includes a software function for operating and managing the line card and related interfaces, and in the present invention, the OTU interface management module may be included in the software function.

In step 201, the network device # 1 may boot the device and operate the OTU interface management module. In operation 211, the network device # 2 may boot the device and operate the OTU interface management module.

In operation 202 and operation 212, the network device # 1 and the network device # 2 may register the device with the network management server (or the management server), respectively.

After the device boots, network device # 1 and network device # 2 have TTI information on each OTU interface through the OTU interface management module in steps 203 and 213, in particular, device ID, self ID, Slot ID and port ID information can be set automatically.

In step 204, network equipment # 1 may transmit an OTU signal, including STI and Operator Specific (TTI) information, set for any OTU interface, to an adjacent equipment, embodiment network device # 2. In an embodiment, when performing an in-service setting on an arbitrary OTU interface, an OTU signal may be automatically transmitted.

In step 214, the network device # 2 extracts the SAPI and the operator specific information of the network device # 1 from the TTI information of the received OTU signal using the OTU interface management module, and receives the OTU signal. By using the SAPI and Operator Specific information of the OTU interface, physical connection information paired with SAPI and Operator Specific information can be constructed.

In operation 215, the network device # 2 may transmit the physical connection information and the associated higher service path information established through operation 214 to the network management server.

Meanwhile, in operation 216, the network equipment # 2 may also transmit an OTU signal including TTI (SAPI and Operator Specific) information set for an arbitrary OTU interface to the neighboring equipment and to the network equipment # 1 in the embodiment. .

In step 205, the network device # 1 is the STU and Operator Specific information of the network device # 2 from the TTI information of the OTU signal received using the OTU interface management module, and the OTU interface of the network device # 1 receiving the OTU signal. Physical connection information can be constructed by pairing SAPI and Operator Specific information.

Once the physical connection information is established, in step 206, the network device # 1 may transmit the established physical connection information and the associated higher service path information to the network management server.

In steps 231 and 232, the network management server may establish a network topology and a higher service path based on the information received from the network device # 1 and the network device # 2.

Through this process, all network devices managed by the network management server can establish physical connection information and higher service path information with adjacent network devices.

If the TTI information of the signal received from the management server is changed, the physical connection information of the equipment may be updated in real time.

If there are other network devices in addition to the network devices # 1 and # 2, physical connection information may be established through the above-described method for all devices.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of use of an Operator Specific area in TTI information according to an embodiment of the present invention. Operator Specific Information Systems can take many forms.

The Operator Specific field occupies 32 (32-63 position) bytes of the total 64 bytes and can be used by the management server.

For example, the device identifier (device name, ID, etc.) and the OTU interface identifier (self, slot, interface, etc.) information may be represented as shown in FIG. 3, or may be expressed in other ways. Many areas are not required to represent this information.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of managing an optical transport network performed by network equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In step 410, the TTI information is set in the OTU interface of the equipment.

In an embodiment, when the network equipment is booted, the OTU interface management module can be operated. Thereafter, the TTU information in each OTU interface in the network equipment can be automatically set through the OTU interface management module, particularly, equipment ID, self ID, slot ID, and port ID information in the Operator Specific region.

As described above, the TTI information is information for identifying an OTU interface of a network device. In an embodiment, the TTI information includes SAPI information and device identifier (device name, ID, etc.) and OTU interface identifier (self, slot, interface, etc.). May contain Operator Specific information.

In step 420, OTU signals are received from adjacent equipment on the OTU interface.

In an embodiment, the OTU signal is a signal including TTI information set at the OTU interface of the adjacent equipment.

In operation 430, physical connection information with an adjacent device may be established using the TTI information of the OTU signal and the TTI information of the OTU interface.

In an embodiment, physical connection information may be constructed by pairing SAPI and Operator Specific information of an OTU interface between a network device and an adjacent device.

If the TTI information of the OTU signal is changed, the network device may update the physical connection information with the adjacent device.

In operation 440, higher service path information associated with the physical connection information and the OTU interface may be transmitted to the management server.

In an embodiment, when the management server receives the physical connection information and the higher service path information from the network device, the management server may establish the physical connection information and the higher service path information with neighboring devices for all managed devices.

In addition, when the TTI information of the OTU signal is changed, the physical connection information with the network equipment may be updated in real time.

The reference diagram shown below shows an example of the physical connection information and the associated higher service path information structure and may have various other types of structures.

The "OTU_LINK_LIST" field contains TTI information of adjacent equipment connected with the OTU interface in the network equipment. In addition, the "ODL_LINK_LIST" field represents an association relationship between an ODU Trail instance configured in the device, that is, a higher service path and an ODU.

In addition, the following reference is an example of a network topology DB structure based on JSON (JavaScript Object Notation), which can easily exchange data, and may have various other forms. The "NE_LIST" field includes management target device information and network topology information. The "TRAIL_LIST" field contains higher service path information in the network.

In an embodiment, the method may further include transmitting, by the network equipment, the OTU signal to the adjacent equipment through the selected service OTU interface among the OTU interfaces.

In an embodiment, by transmitting an OTU signal from a network device to an adjacent device, as shown in the embodiment of FIG. 4, the adjacent device establishes physical connection information with the network device, and physically connects with other adjacent network devices through a management server. Information and higher service path information can be constructed.

The method of the existing EMS operator to build the network topology based on the configuration can be inconsistent with the actual network topology because the network topology is not automatically constructed.

The method proposed in the present invention is automatically networked based on the physical connection information of the neighboring device of the network device by using the TTI information managed by the OTU interface module of the device and the service path information (higher ODU trail information) associated with the OTU interface. By constructing the topology and the associated higher service path information, there is no inconsistency between the management server and the network topology and the associated higher service path information from the physical network point of view, and the network topology and the associated higher service path due to the change of adjacent equipment connection (TTI change). Information updates are available in real time.

In addition, network topology information can be efficiently constructed without the help of the control plane function. The capacity and number of interfaces in future optical transport networks will be greater than they are today, and the network topology and associated higher service path information to be managed will also be greater.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, network topology information and higher service path information can be efficiently constructed by using the physical connection information defined in the present invention for the TTI of the OTN overhead.

In addition, the purchase and operation of using the mismatch problem or control plane (routing / signaling protocol) function that generally occurs in the management of the registered equipment and the physical connection information between the devices in advance and operation management of the registered equipment. You can solve the cost problem and increase the safety of the function by simple method.

The method according to the embodiment may be embodied in the form of program instructions that can be executed by various computer means and recorded in a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium may include program instructions, data files, data structures, etc. alone or in combination. The program instructions recorded on the media may be those specially designed and constructed for the purposes of the embodiments, or they may be of the kind well-known and available to those having skill in the computer software arts. Examples of computer-readable recording media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tape, optical media such as CD-ROMs, DVDs, and magnetic disks such as floppy disks. Magneto-optical media, and hardware devices specifically configured to store and execute program instructions, such as ROM, RAM, flash memory, and the like. Examples of program instructions include not only machine code generated by a compiler, but also high-level language code that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter or the like. The hardware device described above may be configured to operate as one or more software modules to perform the operations of the embodiments, and vice versa.

Although the embodiments have been described by the limited embodiments and the drawings as described above, various modifications and variations are possible to those skilled in the art from the above description. For example, the described techniques may be performed in a different order than the described method, and / or components of the described systems, structures, devices, circuits, etc. may be combined or combined in a different form than the described method, or other components. Or even if replaced or replaced by equivalents, an appropriate result can be achieved.

Therefore, other implementations, other embodiments, and equivalents to the claims are within the scope of the claims that follow.

Claims (10)

In the management method of the optical transmission network performed in the network equipment,
Setting TTI (Trail Trace Identifier) information on an optical channel transport unit (OTU) interface of a device;
Receiving OTU signals from adjacent equipment over the OTU interface;
Establishing physical connection information with the adjacent equipment by using the TTI information of the OTU signal and the TTI information of the OTU interface; And
Transmitting upper service path information associated with the physical connection information and the OTU interface to a management server
Including,
Setting the TTI information on the OTU interface of the device,
Setting operator specific information including identifier information of the device and identifier information of the OTU interface among the TTI information;
Including,
Building the physical connection information with the adjacent equipment,
Establishing physical connection information with the neighboring device by referring to the identifier information of the neighboring device and the identifier information of the OTU interface of the neighboring device included in the received OTU signal.
Including,
Management method of optical transmission network.
The method of claim 1,
The TTI information is
Further comprising SAPI (Source Access Point Identifier) information,
Management method of optical transmission network.
The method of claim 1,
The OTU signal is,
Including the TTI information set in the OTU interface of the adjacent equipment,
Management method of optical transmission network.
The method of claim 1,
When the TTI information of the OTU signal is changed,
The step of establishing physical connection information with the adjacent equipment by using the TTI information of the OTU signal and the TTI information of the OTU interface,
Updating the physical connection information
Including,
Management method of optical transmission network.
The method of claim 1,
Transmitting higher service path information associated with the physical connection information and the OTU interface to a management server,
Establishing a network topology and an associated higher service path in the management server
Including,
Management method of optical transmission network.
In the management method of the optical transmission network performed in the network equipment,
Setting TTI (Trail Trace Identifier) information on the OTU interface of the device;
Transmitting an OTU signal to adjacent equipment through a service OTU interface selected from the OTU interfaces;
Receiving a response OTU signal transmitted from the adjacent equipment at the service OTU interface;
Establishing physical connection information with the adjacent equipment by using the TTI information of the response OTU signal and the TTI information of the service OTU interface; And
Transmitting upper service path information associated with the physical connection information and the OTU interface to a management server
Including,
Setting the TTI information on the OTU interface of the device,
Setting operator specific information including identifier information of the device and identifier information of the service OTU interface among the TTI information;
Including,
Building the physical connection information with the adjacent equipment,
Establishing physical connection information with the neighboring device by referring to the identifier information of the neighboring device and the identifier information of the OTU interface of the neighboring device included in the received response OTU signal.
Including,
Management method of optical transmission network.
The method of claim 6,
The TTI information is
Further comprising SAPI (Source Access Point Identifier) information,
Management method of optical transmission network.
The method of claim 6,
Transmitting the OTU signal to the adjacent equipment through the service OTU interface selected from the OTU interface,
Transmitting the OTU signal including the TTI information when performing in-service setting to the service OTU interface
Including,
Management method of optical transmission network.
The method of claim 6,
Transmitting higher service path information associated with the physical connection information and the OTU interface to a management server,
Establishing a network topology and an associated higher service path in the management server
Including,
Management method of optical transmission network.
In the management server of the optical transport network,
A network manager configured to receive the physical connection information and the associated higher service path of the network device from at least one network device to establish a network topology and an associated higher service path; And
Network interface for connecting the network equipment to the optical transmission network
Including,
The physical connection information,
It is constructed by referring to the TTI information set in the OTU interface of the network equipment and the TTI information of the OTU signal from the adjacent equipment received through the OTU interface,
The TTI information set in the OTU interface of the network equipment includes operator specific information including identifier information of the network equipment and identifier information of the OTU interface.
The TTI information of the OTU signal includes operator specific information including identifier information of the neighboring equipment and identifier information of the OTU interface of the neighboring equipment.
Management server.

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