IP Library Granted Patent US 10,979,144
Granted Patent B1
US 10,979,144 · App. 16/798,184 · Granted Apr 13, 2021

Optical domain controller of a telecommunications network

Inventors: William Feight (Bennett, CO); Tara Joseph-Labrie (Centennial, CO); James M. Adkins, III (Bennett, CO); Clyde David Cooper, III (Louisville, CO)
Assignee: Level 3 Communications, LLC
H04B10/27H04B10/00H04B10/25
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,979,144
App. No.
16/798,184
Granted
Apr 13, 2021
Kind
B1
Abstract

Implementations described and claimed herein provide systems and methods for an optical domain controller for managing and maintaining a record of network component configuration and interconnections. The optical domain controller detects changes in a configuration of optical network elements in response to a requested service from the network, coordinates additional changes in configurations to optical network elements that may be affected by the detected change, communicates with the optical network elements to incorporate the changes to the configurations of the network element, and stores the configurations and states of the network elements. The use of the optical domain controller may thus replace or supplement a database storing network configuration information by automatically managing changes to the network as new services are instantiated directly on the optical network elements.

Claims (47)

1. A system for managing a network, the system comprising:

an optical domain controller in communication with a plurality of optical devices of an optical network, the optical domain controller:

receiving, from a first optical device of the plurality of optical devices and in response to a request for an optical connection service, a notification of a configuration change to a component of the first optical device, the notification of the configuration change comprising a first communication format corresponding to an operating system of the first optical device;

converting the notification of the configuration change to a common communication format different than the first communication format;

obtaining, from a network infrastructure database, an identification of a component of a second optical device associated with the configuration change to the first optical device; and

transmitting, to the second optical device, a configuration instruction to configure the component of the second optical device based on the notification of the configuration change to the first optical device.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the configuration instruction comprises a second communication format different than the first communication format, the second communication format corresponding to an operating system of the second optical device.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the optical domain controller is further:

transmitting, to the first optical device and the second optical device, service connection instructions configuring an intra-device connection between the first optical device and the second optical device in response to the request for the optical connection service.

4. The system of claim 3 further comprising:

a path computation device in communication with the optical domain controller, the optical domain controller further:

obtaining, from the path computation device, the service connection instructions configuring the intra-device connection between the first optical device and the second optical device.

5. The system of claim 4 wherein the service connection instructions are based on a network business rule comprising a shortest connection path, a lowest cost connection path, or a quality of service threshold associated with a connection path.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein the first optical device comprises an optical cross-connect device and the component of the first optical device comprises a port interface of the first optical device.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein the notification of the configuration change to the first optical device comprises a notification of a change to at least one of a transmission rate of an interface, a sub-channel of the interface, or a framing setting of the interface.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein the configuration instruction to configure the component of the second optical device comprises a command to configure the component of the second optical device to match the configuration change to the component of the first optical device.

9. A method for managing a network, the method comprising:

receiving, at an optical domain controller of an optical network, a configuration change notification from a first optical device of the optical network, the configuration change notification based on a request for an optical connection service of a first network to a second network via the optical network, and the configuration change notification comprising a first communication format corresponding to an operating system of the first optical device;

converting the notification of the configuration change to a common communication format different than the first communication format;

accessing a network infrastructure database storing configuration information of the optical network to determine a network component associated with the configuration change to the first optical device, the network component separate from the first optical device;

generating a configuration instruction to configure the network component based on the configuration change notification from the first optical device; and

transmitting, to an activation controller associated with the network component, the configuration instruction.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

receiving, at the optical domain controller and from a device associated with the first network, the request for the optical connection service of the first network to the second network via the optical network.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising:

transmitting, to a network path computation device, a request for a network path via the optical network based on the request for the optical connection service; and

receiving, in response to the request for the network path, an indication of the first optical network device and a second optical network device comprising the network path.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

transmitting, to the first optical network device and the second optical network device, service connection instructions configuring an intra-device connection between the first optical device and the second network device based on the indication of the first optical device and the second optical device.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the service connection instructions are based on a network business rule comprising a shortest connection path, a lowest cost connection path, or a quality of service threshold associated with a connection path.

14. The method of claim 9 wherein the configuration instruction comprises the common format, the method further comprising:

converting the configuration instruction to a second communication format different than the common format, the second communication format corresponding to an operating system of the second optical device.

15. An optical domain controller of an optical network, the domain controller comprising:

a communication port communicating with a database of configurations of an optical network;

a processor in communication with the communication port to receive configurations of an optical network; and

a non-transitory memory comprising instructions encoded thereon, the instructions, when executed by the processor, are operable to:

receive configuration change notification from a first optical network device of the optical network, the configuration change notification based on a request for an optical connection service of a first network to a second network via the optical network, and the configuration change notification comprising a first communication format corresponding to an operating system of the first optical device;

convert the notification of the configuration change to a common communication format different than the first communication format;

determine, based on the received configurations of an optical network, a network component associated with the configuration change to the first optical network device, the network component separate from the first optical network device;

transmit, to a second optical network device associated with the network component, a configuration instruction to configure the network component based on the configuration change notification from the first optical network device.

16. The optical domain controller of claim 15 wherein the instructions are further operable to:

convert the configuration instruction to a second communication format different than the common format, the second communication format corresponding to an operating system of the second optical network device.

17. The optical domain controller of claim 15 wherein the instructions are further operable to:

transmit, to the first optical network device and the second optical network device, service connection instructions configuring an intra-device connection between the first optical network device and the second optical network device in response to the request for the optical connection service.

18. The optical domain controller of claim 15 wherein the request for the optical connection service is received from a computing device associated with the first network, the first network connected to the first optical network device and wherein the instructions are further operable to:

authenticate the computing device as associated with the first network; and

generate service connection instructions configuring an intra-device connection between the first optical device and the second network device.

Assignments (3)
NOTICE OF GRANT OF SECURITY INTEREST IN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY (SECOND LIEN) Recorded Nov 4, 2024
From: LEVEL 3 COMMUNICATIONS, LLC; GLOBAL CROSSING TELECOMMUNICATIONS, INC
To: WILMINGTON TRUST, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 069295/0749 →
NOTICE OF GRANT OF SECURITY INTEREST IN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY (FIRST LIEN) Recorded Nov 4, 2024
From: LEVEL 3 COMMUNICATIONS, LLC; GLOBAL CROSSING TELECOMMUNICATIONS, INC.
To: WILMINGTON TRUST, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 069295/0858 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 26, 2021
From: FEIGHT, WILLIAM; JOSEPH-LABRIE, TARA; ADKINS, JAMES M., III; COOPER, CLYDE DAVID, III
To: LEVEL 3 COMMUNICATIONS, LLC
Reel/Frame 055422/0076 →
Continuity (2)
Provisional Application 62915587 · Oct 15, 2019
Provisional Application 62948706 · Dec 16, 2019