Granted Patent B2

US 8,576,855 · App. 11/434,800 · Granted Nov 5, 2013

Abstract

Claims (49)

1. A routing switch platform (RSP) comprising:

a first module having a first port coupled to a first protocol connection, the first module configured to generate a first flag in response to a failure of the first protocol connection, and generate a first failure indication in response to the generation of the first flag, wherein the first failure indication is associated with an operational status of the first protocol connection;

a second module having a second port coupled to a second protocol connection, the second module configured to generate a second flag in response to a failure of the second protocol connection, and generate a second failure indication in response to the generation of the second flag, wherein the second failure indication is associated with an operational status of the second protocol connection; and

a controller coupled to the first and second modules, the controller configured to associate the first port of the first module with the second port of the second module, wherein the first operational status of the first protocol connection is associated with the second operational status of the second protocol connection, and switchover the first port of the first module in response to the failure of the second protocol connection.

2. The RSP of claim 1 , further comprising:

an interworking function module coupled to the first module that transmits a data stream in-band to the second module, wherein the interworking function module converts the data stream carried through the first protocol connection be carried through the second protocol connection, and the first and second modules transmit the first or second flags to the controller.

3. The RSP of claim 2 , further comprising:

a third module coupled to the interworking function module and the second module that transmits the data stream from the interworking function module to the second module, wherein the third module acts as a single root point for the second module.

4. The RSP of claim 3 , wherein the first module is a Gigabit Ethernet/Internet Protocol (GigE/IP) module, the second module is a P2MP ATM module, and the third module is an ATM module.

5. The RSP of claim 2 , wherein the data stream includes a payload video for delivery to a plurality of video subscribers, wherein the interworking function module, when recasting the data stream in-band, is configured to extract the payload from the data stream in the first protocol connection, read a VLAN identifier corresponding to a television channel from the data stream in the first protocol connection, and insert the payload into the data stream in the second protocol connection with a VPI/VCI identifier corresponding to the television channel.

6. The RSP of claim 1 , wherein the RSP is a root node for broadcast of data through the second protocol connection.

7. The RSP of claim 6 , wherein the second module is a point to multi-point (P2MP) Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) module that enables transmission of the data stream from the P2MP ATM module to a plurality of receivers through the second protocol connection.

8. The RSP of claim 1 , wherein a network management system receives the first and second failure indications from the RSP and assigns a second RSP as a root node for broadcast of data through a third protocol connection.

9. A method of operational status event monitoring, the method comprising:

generating, by a first module in a routing switch platform (RSP), a first flag in response to a failure of a first protocol connection, wherein the first module has a first port coupled to the first protocol connection;

generating, by the first module, a first failure indication in response to the generation of the first flag, wherein the first failure indication is associated with a first operational status of the first protocol connection;

associating, by a controller in the RSP coupled to the first module and a second module, the first port of the first module with a second port of the second module, wherein the second port is coupled to a second protocol connection and further wherein the first operational status of the first protocol connection is associated with a second operational status of the second protocol connection;

receiving, by the controller, the first flag from the first module; and

generating, by the controller, a switchover of the first port of the first module in response to failure of the second protocol connection.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

receiving, by an interworking function module in the RSP coupled to the first module, a data stream from the first protocol connection carried through the first module;

converting, by the interworking function module, the data stream carried through the first protocol connection to be carried through the second protocol connection; and

transmitting, by the interworking function module to the second module, the data stream to be carried through the second protocol connection,

wherein the first module transmits the first flag to the controller.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

transmitting, by a third module coupled to the interworking function module and the second module, the data stream to be carried through the second protocol connection from the interworking function module to the second module, wherein the third module acts as a single root point for the second module.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the first module is a Gigabit Ethernet/Internet Protocol (GigE/IP) module, the second module is a P2MP ATM module, and the third module is an ATM module.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the data stream includes a payload video for delivery to a plurality of video subscribers, the method further comprising:

extracting, by the interworking function module, the payload from the data stream in the first protocol connection;

reading a VLAN identifier corresponding to a television channel from the data stream in the first protocol connection; and

inserting the payload in-band into the data stream in the second protocol connection with a VPI/VCI identifier corresponding to the television channel.

14. The method of claim 9 , wherein the RSP is a root node for broadcast of data through the second protocol connection.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the second module is a point to multi-point (P2MP) Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) module that enables transmission of the converted data stream from the P2MP ATM module to a plurality of receivers through the second protocol connection.

16. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

receiving, by a network management system, the first and second failure indications from the RSP; and

assigning a second RSP as a root node for broadcast of data through a third protocol connection.

17. A system in a communications system comprising:

a first routing switch platform that is a root node for broadcast of data comprising:

a first module having a first port coupled to a first protocol connection, the first module configured to generate a first flag in response to a failure of the first protocol connection, and generate a first failure indication in response to the generation of the first flag, wherein the first failure indication is associated with an operational status of the first protocol connection;

a second module having a second port coupled to a second protocol connection, the second module configured to generate a second flag in response to a failure of the second protocol connection, and generate a second failure indication in response to the generation of the second flag, wherein the second failure indication is associated with an operational status of the second protocol connection; and

a controller coupled to the first and second modules, the controller configured to associate the first port of the first module with the second port of the second module, wherein the first operational status of the first protocol connection is associated with the second operational status of the second protocol connection, and switchover the first port of the first module in response to the failure of the second protocol connection;

a second routing switch platform with a redundant first protocol connection and a redundant second protocol connection; and

a network management system connected to the first and second RSPs that receives the first and second failure indications from the first RSP and assigns the second RSP as the root node for broadcast of data through the redundant second protocol connection.

18. The system of claim 17 , further comprising:

a first interworking function module coupled to the first module that transmits a data stream in-band to the second module, wherein the interworking function module converts the data stream carried through the first protocol connection be carried through the second protocol connection, and the first and second modules transmit the first or second flags to the controller.

19. The RSP of claim 18 , wherein the data stream includes a payload video for delivery to a plurality of video subscribers, wherein the interworking function module, when recasting the data stream in-band, is configured to extract the payload from the data stream in the first protocol connection, read a VLAN identifier corresponding to a television channel from the data stream in the first protocol connection, and insert the payload into the data stream in the second protocol connection with a VPI/VCI identifier corresponding to the television channel.

20. The system of claim 17 , further comprising:

a third module in the first RSP coupled to the first interworking function module and the second module that transmits the data stream in-band from the interworking function module to the second module, wherein the third module acts as a single root point for the second module.

21. The system of claim 17 , wherein the second module is a point to multi-point (P2MP) Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) module that enables transmission of the data stream from the P2MP ATM module to a plurality of receivers through the second protocol connection.

Assignments (14)