115results about "Metropolitian area networks" patented technology

A communication system (10) supports the provision of a plurality of dedicated communication resources (50–64), such as copper drops, RF links and optical fibers, to dedicated home-gateway devices (44–48) or distribution points (124). The communication resources (50–64) support broadband interconnection (104) between the dedicated home-gateway devices (44–48) or distribution points (124) and an access multiplexor (30) in a network (12). Each gateway device (44–48) or distribution point (124) generally includes a local RF transceiver (84) and associated control logic (80–82) that allows local communication (86) between gateway devices (44–48) and hence statistically multiplexed access (60–64, 89) to multiple communication resources, thereby providing increased bandwidth in uplink and / or downlink directions. With the control logic (80) operable to provide a routing and prioritisation / arbitration function, each gateway (44–48) is able to selectively engage use of supplemental, non-reserved communication resources usually associated with a dedicated ono-to-one connection between the access network (12) and at least one secondary gateway. Physical layer access to information routed via a secondary gateway within a virtual neighborhood network (90–92) comprising several gateways is restricted through an end-to-end encryption algorithm between an originating gateway and, at least, the access multilpexor (30).

A method of operation for a provider edge device of a core network includes receiving a customer frame from an access network; the customer frame having a first Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) tag of a first predetermined bit length. The first VLAN tag including a service instance identifier. The service instance identifier of the first VLAN tag is then mapped into a second VLAN tag of a second predetermined bit length greater than the first predetermined bit length. It is emphasized that this abstract is provided to comply with the rules requiring an abstract that will allow a searcher or other reader to quickly ascertain the subject matter of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. 37 CFR 1.72(b).

Method and apparatus for transporting Ethernet data packets via radio frames in a wireless metropolitan area network. A terminal includes a data packet receiver for receiving data packets for communication over a wireless link wherein not every data packet has a same length; a data packet formatting apparatus for formatting the data packets according to radio frames wherein the radio frames each have a same length and wherein the data packets are formatted into the radio frames such that boundaries for the data packets are not necessarily aligned with boundaries for the radio frames; and a wireless transceiver for communicating the radio frames over the wireless link. The packets can be Fast Ethernet packets. The terminal does not convert the Ethernet data packets into a telephony communication protocol or into an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) protocol prior to communication of the radio frames over the wireless link. The terminal can include a data packet synchronizer for synchronizing the data packets to a clock signal associated with the radio frames. The data packets can be time-division multiplexed into the radio frames. According to another aspect, a method of transporting Ethernet data packets via radio frames includes steps of receiving Ethernet data packets wherein each data packet includes a preamble and a start-of-frame delimiter, stripping off the preamble and start-of-frame delimiter, formatting the packet data according to radio frames, including appending a synch field to the packet data, and appending a length field to the packet data.

An extension of a Link Aggregation Protocol (LAP) over the network allows current Ethernet point-to-point LAPs to operate across a Metropolitan Area Network (MAN). A maximum disjoint path algorithm allows selection of a plurality of alternative end-to-end physical routes between two data terminals. These physical routes share a minimum number of nodes and physical links. End-to-end logical links are then formed by a plurality of successive physical links between nodes containing protocol compatible devices, the physical links being selected based on their physical characteristics such as bandwidth and delay. Multiple logical links can be provisioned, without dedicating, between any two data terminals over the network. The logical links provide the virtual point-to-point links that the edge LAP devices require. The extension of LAP / s over the network provides increased availability because a network failure can now be propagated to the edge of the network to allow the edge LAP devices to quickly react to the failure.

A method and system is provided in which data packets from multiple customer VLANs are forwarded over a MAN using VLAN aggregation. A layer-2 switch located at the edge of the MAN connects the customer VLANs to the MAN. The edge switch aggregates multiple customer VLANs (the “sub-VLANs”) into one provider VLAN (the “super-VLAN”). When a packet is forwarded from the sub-VLAN to the super-VLAN and vice versa, the edge switch uses modified bridge forwarding rules to exchange the customer-configured VLAN-IDs with the provider-configured VLAN-IDs before transporting the packet over the MAN. The edge switch further uses modified bridge media access control (MAC) address learning rules to isolate one customer's traffic from another's (i.e. isolate one sub-VLAN's traffic from another sub-VLAN's traffic).

A system and method scales private Virtual Local Area Networks (VLANs) to a large computer network, such as a very large Metropolitan Area Network (MAN), so that the VLAN designations can be re-used across the network. In the illustrative embodiment, the MAN includes different groups of Layer 2 (L2) switches that are logically organized into Islands interconnected by an interconnect fabric. Within each Island, Customer-Equipment VLAN Identifiers (CE-VLAN IDs) are mapped to MAN Provider-Equipment VLAN IDs (PE-VLAN IDs). The PE-VLAN IDs defined within the MAN support the creation of Private VLANs. Each Private VLAN includes one Primary VLAN, one Isolated VLAN and may include one or more Community VLANs. Different PE-VLAN IDs may be used as the Primary, Isolated and Community VLANs in different Islands. Nonetheless, the Primary, Isolated and Community VLANs from all of the Islands are assigned the same Virtual Circuit IDs, which are loaded into encapsulated frames traversing the interconnect fabric, thereby maintaining the message's association with the Primary, Isolated and Community VLANs.

A method and system for implementing weighted fair flow control on a metropolitan area network. Weighted fair flow control is implemented using a plurality of metro packet switches (MPS), each including a respective plurality of virtual queues and a respective plurality of per flow queues. Each MPS accepts data from a respective plurality of local input flows. Each local input flow has a respective quality of service (QoS) associated therewith. The data of the local input flows are queued using the per flow queues, with each input flow having its respective per flow queue. Each virtual queue maintains a track of the flow rate of its respective local input flow. Data is transmitted from the local input flows of each MPS across a communications channel of the network and the bandwidth of the communications channel is allocated in accordance with the QoS of each local input flow. The QoS is used to determine the rate of transmission of the local input flow from the per flow queue to the communications channel. This implements an efficient weighted bandwidth utilization of the communications channel. Among the plurality of MPS, bandwidth of the communications channel is allocated by throttling the rate at which data is transmitted from an upstream MPS with respect to the rate at which data is transmitted from a downstream MPS, thereby implementing a weighted fair bandwidth utilization of the communications channel.

The problems of large tables in Ethernet switches used on a metropolitan area scale, and the exposure of the enterprise network topologies, can be avoided by encapsulating each original Ethernet packet, which originates in a first network of an entity, e.g., an enterprise, a customer, or a network service provider, within another Ethernet packet which is given a source address that identifies the new encapsulating packet as originating at a port of a switch that is located at the interface between the first network in which the original packet originated and a second Ethernet network, e.g., the metropolitan area Ethernet network, which is to transport the encapsulating packet. When the encapsulating packet would exceed the allowable Ethernet packet length, the original packet may be split up at the interface between the first and second network and the resulting parts encapsulated into two encapsulating packets.

Apparatus and method of detecting a fault in a network service includes an Ethernet access network domain in which a heartbeat message is broadcast at a periodic interval by each of a plurality of edge devices associated with an instance of the network service. Each of the edge devices also receives the heartbeat messages broadcast at the periodic interval from other edge devices. A fault occurrence is identified when the edge device fails to receive an expected heartbeat message at the periodic interval from one of the other edge devices.

An Ethernet Metropolitan Area Network (10) provides connectivity to one or more customer premises (161, 162, 163) to packet-bases services, such as ATM, Frame Relay, or IP while advantageously providing a mechanism for assuring security and regulation of customer traffic. Upon receipt of each customer-generated information frame (20), an ingress Multi-Service Platform (MSP) (122) “tags” the frame with a customer descriptor (22′) that specifically identifies the recipient customer. In practice, the MSP tags each frame by overwriting the Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) identifier (22) with the customer descriptor. Using the customer descriptor in each frame, a recipient Provider Edge Router (PER) (18) or ATM switch can map the information as appropriate to direct the information to the specific customer at its receiving site. In addition, the customer descriptor (22′) may also include Quality of Service (QoS) information, allowing the recipient Provider Edge Router (PER) (18) or ATM switch to afford the appropriate QoS level accordingly.

When a MPLS Virtual Forwarding Entity (VFE) on a Link State Protocol Controlled Ethernet Network learns a forwarding equivalency class (FEC) to label binding from an attached MPLS-LER, it will determine an associated MAC address for the FEC, and advertise the FEC / label binding along with the MAC address. Nodes in the Ethernet network will install shortest path forwarding state for the MAC to the MPLS-VFE advertising the FEC / label binding. Each MPLS-VFEs on the Ethernet network that receive the advertisement will update its database and generate a label that is distributed to attached MPLS LERs using LDP. When the MPLS-LER needs to transmit traffic to the FEC, it will use the label provided by the MPLS-VFE. The MPLS-VFE maintains a mapping between the label and the MAC address so that it may use the MAC address to forward the packet across the Ethernet network.

A new method for synchronizing transmissions of real time synchronous data packets over an asynchronous network between two terminal nodes is disclosed. The synchronization procedure is implemented within intermediating communication devices, which connect between the terminal nodes TDM equipment and the asynchronous network. Each communication device comprises local clocks, which are activated by a Stratum 2 / 3 / 3e / 4 / 4e pulse generator. The local clocks synchronization is based on the transmission of a reference timestamp packet through an asynchronous network. Based on this timestamp references, an internal digital PLL is used for attenuating the jitter / wander in data transmission signal in accordance to Stratum 2 / 3 / 3e / 4 / 4e accuracy standards. The DPLL data result is then processed to be used by the local clock of the receiving terminal.

An apparatus for a service node used in a multimedia network. The apparatus has a data distributor circuit, and a decoder. The data distributor card has a data port for coupling with a data stream. The data distributor circuit has a relational code for determining whether an address field of a data packet of the data stream is intended for local distribution to peripheral devices by the distribution circuit. The decoder, in communication with the distribution circuit, has a virtual channel filter for filtering the address field to route the data packet to at least one data port, such as that associated with a peripheral device. An incorporator circuit is provided that is electrically-coupled to the data port to insert an address value having a relational code and a virtual channel code in a data input from the at least one data port. The incorporator then inserts the data input from the at leas tone data port into the data stream. In a method of the invention, interfacing a multimedia communications data stream having a plurality of data packets is provided. Inputing a data packet of the data stream, determining whether an address field of the data packet is intended for local distribution, and routing the data packet to a data port if the data packet is intended for local distribution. Otherwise, the data packet is returned to the data stream if the data packet is not intended for local distribution.

The invention discloses a metropolitan area network architecture based on service choreographer which comprises an application end, a service choreographer and an SDN controller, wherein the service choreographer is connected with the application end through a north interface and with the SDN controller through a south interface of Rest, and the SDN controller is connected with a metropolitan areanetwork, wherein the application end is used for initiating a service request. The service choreographer is used for uniformly arranging, configuring and distributing network services of all metropolitan area networks. The SDN controller is used for processing the service request. The application end at least comprises a Web UI end and a service opening system end. The method of the invention cancarry out flexible and customized programming based on user requirements; it can be scheduled and adjusted based on the traffic of the whole network. The invention breaks the traditional network equipment closed management and control mode, rapid deployment to build the entire network.

Solutions are provided that allow a network device to apply flow control on the MAC layer while taking into account the priority of the frame of traffic. This may be accomplished by generating a frame indicating that traffic flow should be paused, while utilizing a new opcode value, or alternatively by utilizing a new type / length value (possibly combined with a new opcode value). A receiving device may then examine the fields of the frame to determine whether it should it should use priority-based pausing, and then examine other fields to determine which priority-levels to pause and for how long. This allows for improved efficiency in flow control at the MAC layer. Additionally, the tagged pause frames can be forwarded over multiple hops on Local Area Networks across a Metropolitan Area Network or Wide Area Network.

A system for providing aggregate-rate communication services is provided. The system comprises a provider network, having an arbitrary topology; a plurality of customers; and a plurality of port nodes, comprising at least one aggregation-group. Port nodes in the at least one aggregation-group share capacity of the at least one aggregation-group fairly. Each of the plurality of customers is associated with at least one of the plurality of port nodes to access the provider network.

A packet carried on an optical network is routed by carrying out a logic operation on an address word carried in a packet header and a predetermined discriminator word. A routing decision is made in accordance with the result of the logic operation. The logic operation may be a bit-wise Boolean AND operation. An additional logic operation may be carried out with an additional discriminator word to determine whether the packet is destined for a remote region of the network. In this case, the packet may be steered directly to the remote region.

An asynchronous metropolitan packet transport ring having guaranteed QoS. Asynchronous packetized data flow in one direction through a fiber optic loop. A number of Metropolitan Packet Switches (MPS) are coupled to the fiber optic loop. An MPS allows packetized data from an upstream MPS to flow to a downstream MPS over a segment of the fiber optic loop. The MPS also puts packetized data onto and pulls packetized data off of the fiber optic loop. Thereby, flows can access the fiber optic loop via the MPS's. The MPS's also regulate the data rates on a per-flow basis according to setup information supplied by a Ring Management System (RMS). If one segment of the fiber loop becomes overly congested, the MPS guarantees quality of service for those flows by deallocating available bandwidth from flows upstream to the point of congestion. Utilization of packet transport ring capacity is optimized by allocating any bandwidth that becomes available to active flows according to a pre-specified weighting scheme.

An Ethernet Metropolitan Area Network provides connectivity to one or more customer premises to packet-bases services, such as ATM, Frame Relay, or IP while advantageously providing a mechanism for assuring security and regulation of customer traffic. Upon receipt of each customer-generated information frame, an ingress Multi-Service Platform (MSP) “tags” the frame with a customer descriptor that specifically identifies the recipient customer. In practice, the MSP tags each frame by overwriting the Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) identifier with the routing descriptor. Using the customer descriptor in each frame, a recipient Provider Edge Router (PER) or ATM switch can map the information as appropriate to direct the information to the specific customer. In addition, the customer descriptor may also include Quality of Service (QoS) allowing the recipient Provider Edge Router (PER) or ATM switch to vary the QoS level accordingly.

The invention discloses an internet of Things (IOT) system applicable to a smart city system, and belongs to IOT systems. The system comprises an object platform, a communication platform, a management platform, a service platform and a user platform, wherein the object platform at least comprises a sensor which is accessed into an IOT smart gateway; the communication platform is connected with the object platform and the management platform via a network respectively; the management platform is connected with the communication platform and the service platform respectively, and the management platform at least comprises an operator server; the service platform is connected with the management platform and the user platform respectively, and at least comprises an operator server; and the user platform is accessed into the service platform or the management platform, and at least comprises a user side. According to the system, sensing information and control information transmission can be performed between each server, IOT smart gateway, user and sensor in the IOT system in a one-to-one, many-to-one or many-to-many manner, and the different requirements of the usage of IOT in the smart city system can be met.

Solutions are provided that allow a network device to apply flow control on the MAC layer while taking into account the priority of the frame of traffic. This may be accomplished by generating a frame indicating that traffic flow should be paused, while utilizing a new opcode value, or alternatively by utilizing a new type / length value (possibly combined with a new opcode value). A receiving device may then examine the fields of the frame to determine whether it should it should use priority-based pausing, and then examine other fields to determine which priority-levels to pause and for how long. This allows for improved efficiency in flow control on the MAC layer.

A local access fiber optical distribution network is disclosed in which a dedicated pair of diversely routed optical fibers is routed in the distribution network for each customer. In a preferred embodiment, a dual physical overlay ring core topology is used in the core. The distribution network includes working and protection logical path connectivity. No 802.1D Spanning Tree is required for recovery, providing resilience to any single network failure in any device or link, quick recovery times from failure, and a failure detection / recovery protocol that is not active on any devices other than the devices directly attached to the subscriber.

A communications system is provided for enabling a plurality of service providers to interconnect via an Ethernet platform, the plurality of service providers employing disparate Ethernet protocols. The system includes a central server and a plurality of switching locations. Each one of the plurality of switching locations is communicatively connected to the central server and to the plurality of service providers. Each of the plurality of switching locations includes a plurality of Ethernet router switches, a monitoring device, a local server coupled to a plurality of databases. Each of the plurality of databases is associated with each of the service providers. A communications media is provided for interconnecting the plurality of switches, the service providers, the router switches, the connectivity device, and the local server. The system enables the service providers to be interconnected on the Ethernet platform by establishing protocol mappings between any two Ethernet protocols associated with corresponding service providers.

An optical transmission system comprises a metropolitan core network operated in a wavelength division multiplexing mode and connected via metro connection devices to access connections to optical network terminals connected by means of a passive optical splitter. The metro connection devices contain regenerators and wavelength converters, so that data regeneration takes place between the network terminals and the central management and switching unit. This makes it possible to cover distances around 100 km.

A method of allocating a plurality of traffic demands on a network having a plurality of stations connected by a bi-directional ring is disclosed. The method comprises selecting a first traffic demand from the plurality of traffic demands. The method then acquires a first existing traffic volume for a first direction of the bi-directional ring and a second existing traffic volume for a second direction of the bi-directional ring. Either the first or second direction is selected for transmitting the first traffic demand based on the smallest incremental increase in the load of the bi-directional ring.