KR20030012337A - Service Management Method for Asynchronous Transfer Mode Switchboard - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A method for managing a service state of an ATM(Asynchronous Transfer Mode) exchange is provided to set the ATM exchange as a virtual switching system having a global port that is a logical virtual port, and to apply the failure and state of physical resources to the global port, regardless of a service state of the physical resources. CONSTITUTION: In an ATM exchange, a switch block switches data. A plurality of AIMs(ATM Interface Modules) connected with the switch block provide ATM service interfaces. A switch management controller controls the switch block and the AIMs to provide a switching function. And a plurality of control processors control and manage the units. GSMP(General Switch Management Protocol) is applied to the ATM exchange, to set the plurality of control processors as a master(80) and set the switch management controller as a slave(70) controlled and managed by the master(80). Thus the ATM exchange is logically divided. The switch block, the plurality of AIMs and the switch management controller are set as a global port(200) that is a logical equivalent port. If the slave(70) reports a service state of the global port(200) to the master(80), the master(80) controls and manages the ATM exchange according to the reported service state of the global port(200).

Description

Service Management Method for Asynchronous Transfer Mode Switch {Service Management Method for Asynchronous Transfer Mode Switchboard}

The present invention applies a general-purpose switch management protocol to an asynchronous transfer mode (hereinafter, simply referred to as ATM) exchange to set up an ATM switch as a virtual switching system having a logical virtual port called a global port, regardless of the service state of the physical resource. The present invention relates to a method for managing a service state of an ATM exchange system to reflect failures and states of physical resources on a global port.

Recently, multimedia communication is possible due to the rapid development of digitization of voice and video, optical fiber, etc., and it is a high-speed broadband network using Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) technology. Implementation is becoming a reality.

In general, ATM technology is a technology that can freely allocate a communication channel from low-speed low-capacity communication to high-speed broadband communication, and delivers information by a continuous flow of packets of a certain size and structure, where fixed size Packets are called ATM cells, and each ATM cell is allocated with 5 bytes of header and 48 bytes of payload space.

The ATM switch is a switch used to construct a network according to the ATM technology, and performs a node function for interconnecting an ATM network ATM network or an ATM network subscriber network.

This ATM switch, as shown in Figure 1, the subscriber matching device 20 performing the aggregation function of the subscriber line, a switching network 30 consisting of a plurality of unit switches capable of high-speed switching of hundreds of Mbits, and A relay line matching device 40 for accommodating a relay line connected to another station ATM switch or another network, and a control processor 10 for controlling and managing them.

In this case, a device that performs an external matching function such as the subscriber matching device 20 and the relay line matching device 40 is collectively referred to as an external matching device, and there are a plurality of external matching devices in the ATM switch.

Meanwhile, each external matching device transmits its state transition information to another external matching device according to a failure occurring during operation, and simultaneously transmits the corresponding state transition information to its higher level control processor.

However, when each external matching device transmits state transition information to another external matching device and simultaneously transmits state conversion information to each upper control processor, all external matching devices in the ATM exchanger transmit the state changed information to the control processor. Since the number of IPC (Inter Process Communication) messages with the corresponding control processor increases, the load of an upper processor that performs an error processing by receiving an IPC message including state transition information increases.

Therefore, in the conventional ATM switch, a service state management method such as fault management, processing, and monitoring of an external matching device has a problem that its operation process is complicated and inefficient.

This is because the process of classifying the ATM switch into physical resources such as a control processor, an external matching device, a switch, etc. and managing each state is complicated and has limitations in terms of efficiency.

Therefore, there is a need for a method for maximizing the consistency and efficiency by classifying the resource into a logical resource rather than a physical resource of the ATM switch and performing a state management according to a failure occurrence.

The present invention has been devised in this background. By applying a general-purpose switch management protocol to an ATM switch, regardless of the service state of the physical resource, the ATM switch is set up as a virtual switching system having a logical virtual port called a global port, By reflecting the failure and state of the global port, it is possible to manage the service connection state consistently on a global port basis to provide a foundation for efficient transport services of the ATM exchange.

1 is a block diagram schematically illustrating the structure of a conventional ATM switch.

2A and 2B are block diagrams for explaining logical partitioning of an ATM switch to which a universal switch management protocol is applied.

3 is a block diagram illustrating a message format transmitted between a master and a slave.

4 is a block diagram for explaining a hardware structure and classification thereof when GSMP is applied to an ATM switch.

5 is a block diagram illustrating a control structure and operation of a virtual switching system in which GSMP is applied to an ATM switch according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

In order to achieve this object, the present invention provides a switch block for performing data switching, a plurality of ATM matching modules connected to the switch block to perform ATM service matching with other networks, and a switch block and an ATM matching module are switched. A method of managing a service state of an ATM switch comprising a switch management controller controlling to perform a function and a plurality of control processors controlling and managing the units, the method comprising: applying a universal switch management protocol to an ATM switch, A processor is set as a master, and the switch management controller is set as a slave controlled by the master to logically partition the ATM switch, and the switch block, the plurality of ATM matching modules, and the switch management controller By setting it as a global port that is a logical equivalent port, When the slave reports the service state of the global port to the master, the master controls and manages the ATM switch according to the reported service state of the global port.

At this time, the master plays a role of controlling and managing the service connection setting of the global port, the state of the global port and the shape information of the physical resources in the global port, and the slave sets the service connection setting of the global port and the state of the global port. And reporting the change to the master when there is a change in the shape information of the physical resources in the global port.

The service state of the global port is classified into a port state in which an operator state of an ATM switch is reflected and a line state in which a state of a physical resource in the ATM switch is reflected. Manage service status through global ports.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art may easily implement the present invention.

In addition, it should be noted that the same reference numerals are given to the same components, although belonging to different drawings for convenience of understanding.

First, a general switch management protocol (GSMP: abbreviated to GSMP) and an application method thereof to be applied to an ATM switch system in order to implement the present invention will be described.

The GSMP provides an interface method using a standardized message between a master, which is in charge of controlling an ATM switch, and a slave, which means an exchange system resource (for example, a switch block) controlled by the master. Exchange control protocol.

As shown in FIG. 2A, the GSMP may be implemented such that a plurality of physical switching system resources 60 are controlled through one master 50, or as shown in FIG. 2B, a plurality of physical switching system resources 70 may be placed in one large switching system resource 70. Having masters 80 enables logical partitioning of exchange system resources through an independent control process.

On the other hand, as shown in Figure 3, the input and output ports of the ATM switch in the GSMP is identified by a 32-bit port number with a unique label for each service, communication between the master 80 and the slave 70 is basically requested Send and receive messages using the (Request) / Response method.

Using this request / response method, between the master 80 and the slave 70, a connection management message 101 for establishing or releasing a connection, a port management message for controlling a port, 102), Configuration Message (103) for sending and receiving configuration information, State Management Message (104) for obtaining status information, Statistics Message (Statistics Message, 105) for sending and receiving statistics, and resource reservation A reservation message 106 for transmitting the message is transmitted.

In addition, asynchronous situations such as various failures or shapes added in the ATM switch are reported to the master 80 asynchronously by the event message (Event Message 107), and the synchronization is established at the start of the ATM switch. In order to monitor the mutual status between the master 80 and the slave 70, periodic communication is performed through an Adjacency Protocol Message 108.

4 is a block diagram for explaining a hardware structure and classification thereof when GSMP is applied to an ATM switch.

As shown, the hardware structure of the ATM switch is composed of a plurality of control processes 300 and switching system resources 201-203 managed by the control process.

In this case, the control processor 300 includes a media gateway controller (MGC: MGC, 301), an access multiplex controller (AMC: 302, 302), and an ATM call controller. (ACC: ATM Call Controller, hereinafter abbreviated to ACC, 303) and the main service controller (MSC: Main Service Controller, hereinafter referred to as MSC, 304) and the like, the control processor 300 is a switching system outside the ATM switch. Control resources 201 to 203.

In this case, the ACC 303 is a control processor that performs a service connection control function for a service of an ATM exchange. Since a plurality of ACCs 303 may exist, each ACC 303 operates as a GSMP master 80. Logically split the ATM switch.

The exchange system resources 201 to 203 controlled and controlled by the control processor 300 are connected to the switch block 201 and the switch block 201 to perform an ATM service matching function (AIM: ATM). Interface Module, hereinafter referred to as AIM (203), and a switch management controller (SMC: hereinafter referred to as AIM) consisting of a switching control processor for controlling them.

In this case, the SMC 202 may be physically present outside the ATM switch, such as the control processor 300, but may have a shape or a failure with respect to physical resources such as a service matching module such as the AIM 203 and the switch block 201. And a switch control processor that performs a state management function, and thus, is configured as the GSMP slave 70 in the GSMP.

On the other hand, ATM switches avoid open architectures, so multi-protocol level switching (MPLS: abbreviated as MPLS, not shown), media gateway (MG: Media Gateway, abbreviated MG, 204) and access multiplexers. Various service matching resources, such as (AM: Access Multiplexer, abbreviated as AM, 205) and the like, are matched to the switch block through the AIM 203.

At this time, the MPLS is configured by integrating the ATM matching board and its physical board, directly connected to the switch block, and controlled by the MSC 304 and the ACC 303 of the master.

In addition, the MG 204 interoperates the ATM switch with non-ATM networks such as Frame Relay (FR), Circuit Emulation (CE), and N-ISDN (N-ISDN). ) Performs a multiple match function.

In this case, the MG 204 and the AM 205 are connected to the switch network 201 through the AIM 203 in accordance with the user network interface (UNI) standard, and service connection control for these is performed by a control processor ( 300 through MGC 301 and AMC 302, respectively.

In the case of the MG 204 and the AM 205, they are physically connected to the ATM switch through the AIM 203, but are configured as one independent service system in the ATM switch from the viewpoint of call processing and operation maintenance. .

Here, a global port (Global Port, 200) that is a state management target of an ATM switch to which GSMP is applied is defined.

The global port 200 applies GSMP to an ATM switch, sets up a virtual switching system having a control structure of the master 80 and the slave 70 regardless of the service characteristics of the physical resources, and sets switching system resources 201 to 203. Refers to a logical service connection resource of a virtual switching system having a configuration structure that is logically identical to an input port of a block composed of).

Therefore, the shape of the physical resources of the ATM switch is implemented with the global port 200 based on the format of the message message 103 of the GSMP, which logically looks at the block of the switching system resources 201-203 of FIG. It can be said to have an equivalent structure.

Since the global port 200 is physically set based on the shape of the physical link connected to the AIM 203 and logically becomes a resource for service connection, the state of the global port 200 is a switch port, a switch sub The ports, the state of the AIM device control processor, and the state of the AIM physical link must all be reflected.

Therefore, managing the state of the global port 200, it is possible to manage both the logical state and the physical state inside the ATM switch.

5 is a block diagram illustrating a control structure and operation of a virtual switching system in which GSMP is applied to an ATM switch according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

As shown, the master 80 controls virtual switch connections (SVCs) (SVCs) and permanent virtual connections (PVCs) PVCs in the ACC 303. In association with the blocks 401 and 402, the state management block 403, the shape management block 404, and the statistics management block 405, the state change of the global port 200 transmitted from the slave 70 is performed. Controlling service connection, addition and failure control.

On the other hand, the slave 70 is interlocked with the global port connection management block 501 in the SMC 202, the global port state management block 502 and the global port shape management block 503 to the master 80 of the global port. Report a change in state and be controlled accordingly.

Referring to the operation, as described above, the master 80 in charge of service control of the ATM exchanger is located in each ACC 303 and establishes service connection required from the SVC / PVC call control blocks 401 and 402. The request is forwarded to the slave 70 via the connection management message 101.

At this time, the master 80 searches for a failure state and an operator state of the global port 200, which is a logical service connection resource, in connection with the state management block 403 of the ACC 303, determines whether the state is good, and then connects the service. Determine whether or not.

The state management block 200 of the ACC 303 receives a request for isolation and release of a physical resource (ie, a switching system resource, 201 to 203) in the global port 200 from an operator (system operator, not shown). Change the state of the port 200 and request the master 80 to send a port management message 102 to the slave 70, and also add / delete the physical shape in the global port 200 from the master 80, switch Upon receiving and receiving an event message 107 notifying the down and recovery of the port, the global port 200 status information is changed, and the SVC / PVC call control blocks 40 and 402 are notified to stop the service request. .

On the other hand, the state management block 503 of the SMC 202 is the shape information of the global port 200 managed by the shape management block 503 when the request of the shape message 103 of the global port 200 from the master 80 Read to request the slave 70 to send the message.

In addition, the SMC 202, in conjunction with the configuration management block 503 and the AIM control processors 210, asynchronous events for physical resources such as physical shape addition and deletion, down and recovery of switch ports or switch subports, and the like. Detects and sends a corresponding event message 107 to the master 80 to the slave 70 when a state change of a physical resource occurs.

Next, the state of the global port 200 for the ATM switch to perform such an operation will be described.

The status of the global port 200 is divided into port status (PS) and line status (LS) according to the configuration message 103 format. Reflect to LS respectively.

The physical shape of the ATM switch is set and operated according to the speed and service characteristics of the physical board and the physical link connected thereto in the SMC 202.

The SMC 202 assigns a status information field to the physical shape information to manage the fault state and the operator state of the ATM switch, and when there is a state change or a change in the shape information, the SMC 202 transmits an event message 107 to the ACC 303. Immediately reflect in global status block 403.

The state of the global port 200 referenced by the SVC / PVC call control blocks 401 and 402 for service connection in the ACC 303 is shown in Table 1 below.

Port Status (PS) Line state (LS) Service add-on Port Availability Port steady state Service available / no service added Port block status - Delete service unavailable / SVC connection information - Port failure status

As shown in Table 1, the state of the global port 200 is divided into a port state and a line state.

In this case, the port state is reflected when the operator isolates or releases the physical resource in the ATM exchange, that is, the exchange system resources 201 to 203 in the global port 200 from the service, and the port block state in which the service and the service can be added ( BLK) and a port available state (UBLK) in which service is available but service addition is not possible.

Therefore, the service can be added only when the port is available. In the case of the port block state, the current service is maintained but the new service is not added.

Meanwhile, when the SMC 202 detects a failure or failure of a physical resource, the line state is information reflected through the event message 107. The line state (NORM) for adding a service and a service, and a service and The port failure status (DOWN) is displayed.

Therefore, the service can be added only in the normal port state, and all current services must be stopped and the SVC connection information must be deleted in the port failure state.

On the other hand, since the state of the global port 200 reflects not only the state of the physical link but also the state of the switch port and the state of the control processor of the AIM, the state of the logical connection resource that determines whether the service is available or not, the state information is SMC ( In 202, comprehensively available information of a physical resource should be determined and changed.

The change algorithm of each state information is as follows.

1. Change of port status of global port 200

The port state changes when an operator changes the physical state, that is, the operator state of the switch port and switch subport of the AIM 203 and the AIM 203 link or switch block 201 to isolation or release.

At this time, the state change of the global port 200 of the ACC (303) is made through the port management message 102 transmitted from the slave 70, the state change procedure of the state management block 403 in the ACC (303) Is performed by.

end. Changing the operator state of the switch port and the switch sub port of the switch block 201

When blocking, the port state changes regardless of the operator state of the AIM 203 and AIM 203 links, and when the port state is available (unblocked), the operator states of both the AIM 203 and AIM 203 links are Change port state only when available.

I. Changing the Operator State of the AIM 203 and AIM 203 Links

When blocking, the port state is changed regardless of the operator state of the switch port and the switch subport. When enabled, the global port state is changed only when the operator state of both the switching port and the switch subport is available.

2. Change line status information of global port 200

Isolation of both the AIM 203 and AIM 203 links, the switch ports of the switch block 201, and the switch subports to determine whether the global port 200 is available and whether to send the event message 107 shall.

end. On failure state changes of the AIM 203 and AIM 203 links

If a failure occurs, the event message 107 is transmitted regardless of the state of the switch port and the switch subport of the switch block 201 to report the down of the global port 200.

When returning from the fault to the normal state, the current fault state of the switch port and the switch sub-port is searched and the line state of the global port 200 is changed to normal through the event message 107 only when it is normal.

The ability to change the line state of the global state 200 and determine whether to send the event message 107 is implemented with the middleway API of the switch port management block (not shown).

I. When the failure state of the switch port and the switch sub port of the switch block 201 is changed

The slave 70 sends an event message 107 regardless of the failure state of the AIM 203 and the AIM 203 link when the switch port and the switch subport change to the failure state, and when the switch port returns to normal from the failure state. Regardless of the AIM 203 and AIM 203 link status, the event message 107 is sent only when the status is normal to change the line status of the global port 200.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention may be modified without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. It will be appreciated that modifications or variations may be made. Therefore, changes in the future embodiments of the present invention will not be able to escape the technology of the present invention.

As described above, according to the present invention, by applying a general switch management protocol to the ATM switch, regardless of the service state of the physical resources, the ATM switch is set as a virtual switching system having a logical virtual port called a global port, By reflecting failures and states to global ports, it is a useful invention that has the advantage of providing a foundation for efficiently interworking transport services of ATM exchangers by managing service connection status consistently on a global port basis. .

Claims (15)

Applying a universal switch management protocol to an ATM switch, dividing the ATM switch into a master and a slave; Setting a switch block and a plurality of ATM matching modules and a switch management controller in the ATM switch to a global port, which is a logical equivalent port; And when the slave reports the service status of the global port to the master, the master controls and manages the service status according to the reported service status of the global port. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein logically dividing the ATM switch into the master and slave, Establishing a plurality of control processors in the ATM switch as a master; And setting the switch management controller as a slave controlled and controlled by the master. 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the plurality of control processors configured as masters are ATM call controllers of the ATM switch. The method of claim 1, wherein the master controls and manages service connection establishment of the global port, state of the global port, and shape information of physical resources within the global port. The method of claim 4, wherein the slave reports the change to the master when there is a change in the service connection setting of the global port, the state of the global port, and the shape information of the physical resources in the global port. Service state management method of an ATM switch. 2. The service state management of an ATM switch as claimed in claim 1, wherein the service state of the global port is a line state reflecting a port state reflecting an operator state of the ATM switch and a state of physical resources in the ATM switch. Way. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the port state reflects a case in which the operator isolates and releases physical resources in the ATM switch from service. 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the physical resource is at least one of a switch port of the switch block, a subport of the switch port, the AIM, and the AIM link. 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the port state is divided into a port block state capable of providing a service and adding a new service, and a port available state capable of providing a service but not adding a new service. . The method of claim 9, wherein the port block state, When the switch port and the switch sub port is isolated and released by the operator, it is set regardless of the state of the AIM and AIM link, When the AIM and the AIM link are isolated and released by the operator, the service state management method of the ATM switch, wherein the AIM and the AIM link are set regardless of the state of the switch port and the switch subport. The method of claim 9, wherein the port availability state, And the switch port and the switch sub-port and the AIM and the AIM link are set only when all of the links are normal. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the line state reflects a case where a failure or failure of a physical resource in the global port occurs. 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the physical resource is at least one of a switch port of the switch block, a subport of the switch port, the AIM, and the AIM link. 13. The service state management of an ATM switch according to claim 12, wherein the line state is divided into a port normal state in which service provision and new service can be added, and a port failure state in which both service provision and new service cannot be added. Way. 15. The service of claim 13 or 14, wherein the line state is set to the port failure state when any one of the switch port and the switch subport and the AIM and the AIM link fails. State management method.