Distributed chassis agent for distributed network management
US5812771A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 10, 1996 |
| Grant date | Sep 22, 1998 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 10, 2016 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L41/24
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An apparatus and method for allocating the performance of applications in a networking chassis among one or more modules in the chassis. In particular, the system acts as a chassis agent for performing network management functions. The agent performs a discovery function whereby each module discovers the location and current utilization of resources and applications for itself and transmits that information to other modules, and wherein each module maintains a slot table of such information for all modules. Based on the information in the slot table, each module performs an election function for allocating applications among the various modules in the chassis. The agent uses MIBs to gather information about the chassis and to effect control on the chassis, wherein each managed object is registered both locally and remotely in a MIB tree maintained on each module, and the data is maintained locally on the module on which the managed object resides. The system enables the chassis to be managed "as a whole" while the management functions are distributed across the system, and the system is both fault tolerant and enables ready expansion and modification of the management applications.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.