Router line card protection using one-for-N redundancy
US6879559B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 31, 2000 |
| Grant date | Apr 12, 2005 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 2, 2022 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L49/552
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Router line cards are partitioned, separating packet forwarding from external or internal interfaces and enabling multiple line cards to access any set of external or internal data paths. Any failed working line card can be switchably replaced by another line card. In particular, a serial bus structure on the interface side interconnects any interface port within a protection group with a protect line card for that group. Incremental capacity allows the protect line card to perform packet forward functions. Logical mapping of line card addressing and identification provides locally managed protection switching of a line card that is transparent to other router line cards and to all peer routers. One-for-N protection ratios, where N is some integer greater than two, can be achieved economically, yet provide sufficient capacity with acceptable protection switch time under 100 milliseconds. Alternatively, protect line cards can routinely carry low priority traffic that is interruptible, allowing the protect line card to handle higher priority traffic previously carried by a failed working line card. This approach renders unnecessary engineering a network for less than full capacity to…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.