Identifying VPN faults based on virtual routing address and edge interface relationship information
US7876694B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 2, 2004 |
| Grant date | Jan 25, 2011 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 16, 2029 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L41/40
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
In an embodiment, a network service provider (NSP) operates a provider network to provide VPN services to its customers. A VPN links various customer sites allowing customers to send data between these sites over the NSP network. Each site network includes a customer edge router (CE) while the provider network includes a plurality of provider edge routers (PEs) to communicate with the CEs. The PEs include virtual routing address (VRFs), and the PEs and CEs include interfaces (IFs). A database stores information related to the relationships between the network components (e.g., VPNs, PEs, CEs, VRFs, IFs, etc.), and a management software package (MSP) has access to the database. When a fault occurs, the MSP, based on collected information and information in the database, determines the impacted network components. Other features include classifying the seriousness of the network's faults and representing different faults by a color scheme.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.