System, method, and apparatus for connectivity testing
A method and apparatus according to embodiments of the invention include monitoring connectivity between an OLT and at least one network termination node. The OLT sends a connectivity test signal to the network termination node under test and receives a responsive signal.
1 . A method comprising:
transmitting a signal from an OLT to at least one active network termination in communication therewith;
detecting, subsequent to the transmitting, a responsive signal from the active network termination;
based on the detecting, determining a result of a connectivity test; and
reporting the result to a network management system.
2 . The method according to claim 1 , comprising transmitting a plurality of signals to perform a plurality of connectivity tests,
wherein said reporting further comprises communicating, to the network management system, a number of signals transmitted and a number indicative of a number of the tests for which a fail condition is determined.
3 . The method according to claim 2 , wherein the number indicative of a number of the tests for which a fail condition is determined is a number of failed tests.
4 . The method according to claim 2 , wherein the number indicative of a number of the tests for which a fail condition is determined is a number of passed tests, and wherein the method further comprises calculating a number of failed tests by subtracting the number of passed tests from a number of tests equal to a number of the plurality of signals.
5 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the determining further comprises determining a fail condition based on failure to detect the responsive signal within a predetermined time interval.
6 . The method according to claim 5 , wherein the predetermined time interval comprises a user-configurable time interval.
7 . The method according to claim 5 , wherein the predetermined time interval comprises a time interval pre-configured in machine-executable instructions available for execution by at least one of the OLT and the network termination.
8 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the determining further comprises determining a fail condition for any test having a result selected from the group consisting of no response, no response within a preselected time interval, corrupt response, out of sequence response, response containing a formatting error, and error in the transmitting.
9 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the transmitting occurs on an OMCI channel of an ATM network.
10 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the transmitting is initiated at the command of the network management system.
11 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the transmitting is initiated according to a predetermined schedule and wherein the reporting is initiated according to an intermittent command.
12 . The method according to claim 11 , wherein the reporting is initiated according to a user-issued command.
13 . The method according to claim 11 , wherein the reporting is initiated according to a predetermined schedule.
14 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the transmitting, detecting, determining and reporting are executed such that other communications between the OLT and the at least one network termination continue without interruption.
15 . An optical line termination comprising:
a first communication port adapted to communicate with at least one active network termination;
a second communication port adapted to communicate with a network management system;
a first signal generator configured and arranged to transmit a signal to the at least one network termination;
a signal detector configured and arranged to receive a responsive signal from the network termination;
a logic unit configured and arranged to determine, based on the received responsive signal, a result of a connectivity test; and
a second signal generator configured and arranged to report the result to the network management system.
16 . The optical line termination according to claim 15 , wherein said first signal generator is configured to transmit a plurality of signals for a plurality of connectivity tests, and
wherein said second signal generator is configured to communicate, to the network management system, a number of signals transmitted and a number indicative of a number of the tests for which a fail condition is determined.
17 . The optical line termination according to claim 15 , wherein said logic unit is configured to determine a fail condition based on failure to detect the responsive signal within a predetermined time interval.
18 . The optical line termination according to claim 15 , wherein the first signal generator is configured to transmit the signal on an OMCI channel of an ATM network.
19 . A data storage medium having machine-executable instructions describing a method comprising:
transmitting a signal from an OLT to at least one active network termination in communication therewith;
detecting, subsequent to the transmitting, a responsive signal from the active network termination;
based on the detecting, determining a result of a connectivity test; and
reporting the result to a network management system.
20 . The medium according to claim 19 , wherein said method comprises transmitting a plurality of signals to perform a plurality of connectivity tests,
wherein said reporting comprises communicating, to the network management system, a number of signals transmitted and a number indicative of a number of the tests for which a fail condition is determined.
21 . The medium according to claim 19 , wherein said determining further comprises determining a fail condition based on failure to detect the responsive signal within a predetermined time interval.