Suspension of traffic re-routing during planned network interruption

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9520962-B2
Application number	US-201414584138-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 29, 2014
Priority date	Dec 29, 2014
Publication date	Dec 13, 2016
Grant date	Dec 13, 2016

Abstract

A transport management system receives a request for a planned interruption in an optical network, and identifies transport equipment of the optical network affected by the planned interruption. The transport management system selectively sends a notification, from the network device, the identified transport equipment affected by the planned interruption, including a scheduled time of the planned interruption and a duration associated with the planned interruption, where the notification enables the notified transport equipment to buffer data to be transmitted on links affected by the planned interruption for the notified duration of the planned interruption.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
receiving, at an optical transport equipment in an optical network, a notification indicating a planned interruption in the optical network, wherein the notification includes a time of the planned interruption and a loss of signal duration associated with the planned interruption;
identifying one or more optical interfaces of the optical transport equipment coupled to one or more optical links affected by the planned interruption;
sending, by the identified one or more optical interfaces of the optical transport equipment during a time period derived from the time of the planned interruption and the loss of signal duration and responsive to receiving the notification, dummy data blocks to one or more routers connected to the one or more optical interfaces such that the one or more routers do not perceive any communication interruption during the planned interruption and do not engage in a re-routing related to the planned interruption; and
buffering, by the one or more optical interfaces during the time period, data to be transmitted on the one or more optical links affected by the planned interruption.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more optical interfaces comprises a plurality of optical interfaces, wherein the one or more optical links comprises a plurality of optical links, wherein the one or more routers comprises a plurality of routers and wherein the identifying the one or more optical interfaces comprises identifying the plurality of optical interfaces coupled to the plurality of optical links affected by the planned interruption,
wherein sending the dummy data blocks comprises sending, by the identified plurality of optical interfaces during a time period derived from the time of the planned interruption and the loss of signal duration, the dummy data blocks to the plurality of routers connected to the plurality of optical interfaces such that the plurality of routers do not perceive any network interruption during the planned interruption and do not engage in the re-routing related to the planned interruption, and
wherein the buffering comprises buffering, by the plurality of optical interfaces during the time period, the data to be transmitted on the plurality of optical links affected by the planned interruption.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the notification is received from a transport management system at the optical transport equipment, and wherein the transport management system determines the optical transport equipment, among a plurality of optical transport equipments in the optical network, affected by the planned interruption.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
resuming transmission, by the one or more optical interfaces upon expiration of the time period, of the buffered data.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
instructing the identified one or more optical interfaces to not send, to the one or more routers, a report reporting any loss of link during the time period due to the planned network interruption.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more optical interfaces are coupled to one or more optical transport cards and further comprising:
buffering, during the time period by the one or more optical transport cards instead of the one or more optical interfaces, the data to be transmitted on the one or more optical links affected by the planned interruption.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining a reappearance time at which optical signals reappear at the one or more optical interfaces subsequent to the planned interruption,
wherein the time period is further derived from the reappearance time.

8. A transport equipment, comprising:
multiple client interfaces connected to multiple router interfaces associated with at least one router;
multiple transport cards configured to convert outgoing digital data to outgoing optical signals, and to convert incoming optical signals to incoming digital data;
an optical multiplexer connected between the multiple transport cards and multiple optical fibers associated with an optical network; and
a processor, connected between the multiple client interfaces and the multiple transport cards, and configured to:
receive a message, from a transport management system, that includes a notification of a planned network interruption affecting traffic sent or received via at least one of the multiple optical fibers, wherein the message includes a scheduled time, and a scheduled duration, of the planned interruption,
instruct one or more of the multiple client interfaces or one or more of the multiple transport cards, associated with the at least one of the multiple optical fibers, to buffer data, at the scheduled time, to be sent over the at least one of the multiple optical fibers, and
instruct, subsequent to expiration of the scheduled duration, the one or more of the multiple client interfaces or the one or more of the multiple transport cards to retrieved buffered data and send the data towards its respective destination via the at least one of the multiple optical fibers.

9. The transport equipment of claim 8 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
instruct the one or more of the multiple client interfaces to not report any loss of link, during the scheduled duration, due to the planned network interruption to the at least one router.

10. The transport equipment of claim 9 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
instruct the one or more of the multiple client interfaces to send dummy data blocks to the router client interfaces of the at least one router during the scheduled duration of the planned network interruption.

11. The transport equipment of claim 8 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
determine, subsequent to expiration of the scheduled duration, if optical signals are being received again at the one or more of the multiple transport cards,
wherein the instructing the one or more of the multiple client interfaces or the one or more of the multiple transport cards to retrieve buffered data and send the data towards its respective destination via the at least one of the multiple optical fibers is based on the optical signals being received again at the one or more of the multiple transport cards.

12. A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing instructions executable by at least one processor of an optical transport equipment, the computer-readable medium comprising:
one or more instructions for receiving, at the optical transport equipment in an optical network, a notification indicating a planned interruption in the optical network, wherein the notification includes a time of the planned interruption and a loss of signal duration associated with the planned interruption;
one or more instructions for identifying one or more optical interfaces of the optical transport equipment coupled to one or more optical links affected by the planned interruption;
one or more instructions for causing the identified one or more optical interfaces to send, during a time period derived from the time of the planned interruption and the loss of signal duration and responsive to receiving the notification, dummy data blocks to one or more routers connected to the one or more optical interfaces such that the one or more routers do not perceive any communication interruption during the planned interruption and do not engage in a re-routing related to the planned interruption; and
one or more instructions for causing, by the one or more optical interfaces, during the time period, buffering of data to be transmitted on the one or more optical links affecte

Assignees

• Verizon Patent & Licensing Inc

Inventors

• Xia Tiejun J
• Wellbrock Glenn A

Classifications

• H04J14/0202

  Arrangements therefor · CPC title

• H04L41/0681

  Configuration of triggering conditions · CPC title

• H04J14/0293 Primary

  Optical channel protection · CPC title

• H04J14/0227

  Operation, administration, maintenance or provisioning [OAMP] of WDM networks, e.g. media access, routing or wavelength allocation · CPC title

• H04L41/0627

  by acting on the notification or alarm source · CPC title