CN1791016A - Multi-interface port management - Google Patents

Abstract

The present embodiments of the invention provide systems and methods for managing forwarding devices that support hybrid multi-interface ports. This type of device supports a plurality of physical ports, with each port supporting a plurality of interface media. The interface media supported in each port may be of varying media types, such as one may be copper and the other fiber. The systems and methods also handle failover conditions, thus ensuring network redundancy and reliability.

Description

Multi-interface port management

Cross References to Related Applications

This application claims priority to US Provisional Patent Application No. 60/624,419, filed November 1, 2004, entitled "Multiple Interface Port Management," which is hereby incorporated by reference into this application.

technical field

The invention relates to a multi-interface hybrid port of a forwarding device, more particularly to a hybrid port with multiple interface media and a method for managing the port.

Background technique

Ethernet switches currently manage only one type of physical interface or interface medium/media interface within a port. As a result, configuration, control and use of the port is limited to the particular type of physical interface or interface medium currently occupied.

There is currently no way to manage ports that accept multiple physical interface types, such as copper and fiber. Therefore, the current application of ports with multiple physical interfaces is limited by the limitations of Ethernet switch management. Such a limitation includes the present inability to use multi-interface ports to perform network redundancy for network reliability without using additional ports and devices.

There is a great need for a method and device for solving the above problems. The present invention solves these problems.

Contents of the invention

The current embodiments of the present invention provide systems and methods for managing forwarding devices that support hybrid multi-interface ports. This type of device supports one or more physical ports, and each port supports multiple interface media. For example, the two interface media implemented in each port may be of any media type including wired and wireless, including copper-based conductors and optical fibers, for example.

The forwarding device of the present invention also supports failover and redundancy. Meaning, unlike conventional forwarding devices that relay on a different port, such as port 2, when the physical interface on port 1 fails, the forwarding device of the present invention uses port 1 for relaying, but uses the different interface media.

The forwarding device of the present invention generally includes one or more physical ports, and each physical port supports multiple interface media, and only one interface media in one port is active or working at the same time. The device also includes an information database including media-related parameters or media parameters for each interface media. The information database also includes port related information including primary interface media and current working interface media.

Another embodiment of the present invention provides a method for managing hybrid forwarding devices. The forwarding device supports one or more physical ports, each physical port supports multiple interface media, and only one interface media is working in one port at the same time. The method includes the following steps: allocating primary interface medium for each port; allocating working medium for each port.

Description of drawings

The invention is illustrated by way of example, but not limitation, in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of high-level functional components of a hybrid forwarding device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a block diagram of a network managed by the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) according to an embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a high-level hierarchy of objects representing information about interface media or physical interfaces supported in each physical port according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an exemplary table illustrating how to index or refer to ports according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 5 is a functional block diagram similar to Fig. 1, but shows more instruction module details;

FIG. 6 is a high-level block diagram illustrating two preferred fallover mechanisms according to an embodiment of the present invention;

7 is a high-level flowchart showing how to select an already configured interface medium or physical interface and how failover occurs according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 8A is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the failover module;

8B is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the link monitoring module;

9A, 9B and 9C are schematic block diagrams of high levels of various redundant network configurations that may be supported according to embodiments of the present invention.

Detailed ways

The following detailed description illustrates the present invention by way of example, rather than limiting the principle of the invention. This description can clearly make those skilled in the art implement and use the present invention. The following description describes several aspects of the present invention. Examples, changes and modifications, alternative technical solutions, and uses of the invention, including what is currently believed to be the best mode for carrying out the invention.

In order to better understand the drawings, in the following descriptions, the same or similar structures, actions, operations or processing steps are denoted by similarly numbered reference numerals in the various drawings and descriptions. Additionally, 100-numbered reference numerals, such as 100 and 102, were originally introduced in FIG. 1, while 200-numbered reference numerals, such as 200 and 250, were originally introduced in FIG. 2, and so on. Accordingly, reference numerals of the 900 serial number, such as 902 and 992, were originally introduced in FIG. 9 .

FIG. 1 is a high-level functional block diagram of a hybrid forwarding device 100 , such as a switching and/or routing device, including a plurality of ports 110 , 120 and 130 . The switching and/or routing device 100, also referred to herein as a switch, preferably operates in multiple layers of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) reference model. Therefore, these switches or forwarding devices 100 can work in the data link layer (layer 2) and network layer (layer 3) of the OSI model.

Unlike typical switches, the switch 100 of the present invention includes one or more hybrid port assemblies 174 for supporting multiple physical interfaces or interface media 112, 114, 116, 122, 112, 114, 116, 122, 124, 126, 132, 134 and 136. The multiple physical interfaces in each port 110, 120, and 130 may be different from each other, for example, interface medium 1 (M1112) in port 1 is copper, while interface medium 2 (M2114) in the same port is optical fiber. The interface medium M3116 and the interface medium M4122 may be of the same type. In some embodiments, for example, one of the multiple physical interfaces serves as the primary interface or configuration medium for exchanging data with neighboring nodes, while the remaining physical interfaces provide redundancy for failover support. In a preferred embodiment, all ports preferably support multiple physical interfaces, but one or more ports in the device 100 may only support one physical interface.

Multiple physical interfaces or interface media are selected from the group including, but not limited to, wired media such as unshielded twisted pair (UTP), shielded twisted pair, multimode fiber, single mode fiber, and others via photonic Cables for transmission, more generally via electronic transmission; wireless media such as radio frequency (RF) and infrared. Each physical interface is associated with a distinct set consisting of its own characteristics, behavior, state, counter values, attributes, and other parameterized information. Here, this set of data is generally referred to as medium parameters or medium-related parameters.

These media parameters include speed (eg, 10Mbps and 100Mbps), cable type (eg, 2-pair Category 3 twisted pair, 2-core single-mode or dual-mode fiber), segment length (eg, 100m and 2000m speed), frame size , protocol standard, link status, backup status, etc. These media parameters are stored in an information database, preferably a management information database (MIB) 160 .

The hybrid forwarding device 100 of the present invention generally includes an instruction module 150 , a device hardware component 170 and an information database 160 . The information database 160 may also be stored as part of the storage hardware component 170 and/or incorporated as part of the software component code 150 .

The instruction module 150 is generally similar to instructions or software of a switch or routing computer to manage the device 100 and enable external systems such as a network management system to communicate and interact with the device 100 . The instruction module 150 may be a software component, and preferably, a module of instructions executable by a computer processor.

In this embodiment of the invention, device hardware 170 components include one or more hybrid port components 174 as previously described, as well as other hardware device components 172 that perform various functions of a typical forwarding device or switch 100 . Other equipment components 172 may include, for example, buffers, content addressable memory, queue managers, forwarding tables, forwarding processors, classifiers.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that one or more functions in device 100 discussed herein may be incorporated into software and hardware, ie, firmware. In another embodiment, information database 160 is incorporated into software component 150 .

Figure 2 is a high level block diagram of a network managed using Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) according to an embodiment of the present invention. SNMP is an industry standard set of protocols for managing network devices. Other network management protocols such as Remote Monitoring (RMON) may also be used.

The SNMP management network of the preferred embodiment generally includes three parts: a network management system (NMS) or SNMP manager 210 , one or more managed devices 250 , 260 , 290 and one or more agents 252 , 262 and 292 .

NMS 210 preferably monitors and controls managed devices. The NMS can be encapsulated in a user interface application to facilitate network management. There are one or more NMSs in any managed network.

Managed devices 250 , 260 , 290 are network nodes, including proxies 252 , 262 , 292 . Managed devices collect and store management information and make this information available to the NMS via SNMP agents. Managed devices can be routers and access servers, switches and bridges, hubs, host computers, or printers. In one embodiment of the present invention, the forwarding device 100 is the managed network device 250 , 260 , 290 .

Agents 252 , 262 , 292 are preferably network management instruction modules or programs, typically software programs residing in managed devices 250 , 260 , 290 . The agents interface or communicate with management information (MIB) 254, 264, 294 and thereby learn management information, particularly device information. In one embodiment of the invention, the proxies 252 , 262 , 292 are part of the instruction module 150 , such as a software component, of the forwarding device 100 .

The agent responds to read and write requests 280 from the SNMP manager/NMS and sends event notifications 280 called traps to the SNMP manager. Traps are unsolicited asynchronous events generated by managed network devices to indicate changes. These traps inform and warn the NMS that conditions such as thresholds occur, ie predetermined values are exceeded and links are broken. The managed device should be configured such that the command module 150, particularly the agents 252, 262, 292, sends a trap to the NMS indicating that a specific media interface within a specific port has failed.

MIB 254, 264, 294 is a set of definitions, which define and describe the attributes, states and characteristics of managed objects in managed devices. It also contains media parameters for each interface media. A managed object can be any item in a managed device that is selected for discovery, monitoring, or user intervention and correction. In this embodiment, ports and interface media are managed objects.

Managed objects consist of one or more object instances, which in this example are actually mutable. An object identifier (or object ID) uniquely identifies a managed object. There are generally two types of managed objects: scalar and tabular. A scalar object defines a single object instance. Tabular objects define multiple related object instances grouped into MIB tables.

This MIB may be from the manufacturer with predetermined values, such as media parameters for each interface media available to the network device. Values in the MIB can also be modified, for example by a network administrator using NMS. This MIB is preferably incorporated as part of the instruction module 150 .

One of the object identifiers used in SNMP-based network management applications is the interface index, ifIndex. The ifIndex is used to access the interface table. ifIndex is a unique identification number related to a physical interface or a logical interface, similar to a primary key. In this embodiment of the invention, each ifIndex is associated with and identifies a single port, preferably a physical port.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the information that can be obtained and set for the switch 100 in the preferred embodiment of the present invention. Logically, MIBs are organized in a hierarchical tree structure as shown, where the hierarchy can be described as a tree with a root. However, such a description does not necessarily represent a hierarchy of objects in an information database. The structure of the upper part of the MIB tree is defined in Request for Comments (RFC) 1155 and RFC 1213. Various other RFCs govern other parts of the MIB structure.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, another object is added to the interface table. Interface tables are generally defined in RFC 2863 and RFC 1213. This port-related object is called a "configuration medium type" - containing the primary interface medium and failover mode. This media type object generally maps to the various interface media or physical interfaces 112, 114, 116 present in each port or port number. Each physical port is still preferably indexed with a unique ifIndex.

By adding a configuration media type object, the NMS can obtain, eg get and set - define and configure - media related parameters related to a specific physical interface within a specific port/port number. Figure 1 and Figure 3 together illustrate this point. For example, if the exemplary switch of the present invention has a primary medium set to medium 1M1 112, and the NMS requires access to information related to interface medium 2M2 114 in port 110, then the NMS preferably performs a two-step process: (a) at In the first step, the NMS sets the "primary media type" to the media interface M2114; (b) in the second step, the NMS uses the ifIndex of port 110 to perform a get/set operation. In a second step, these get/set operations are performed on the interface medium M2 114 of port 1110 . If the NMS skips the first step of changing the "primary medium type" to interface medium M2 114, then all get/set operations are performed on the current primary interface medium 112.

The network device 100 is a forwarding device and is a managed node with its own MIB. This MIB contains information for each port, namely port 1110, port 2120 and port N 130. It also contains media interface information 302, 304, 306 and 308 and port information so that the NMS or at least the network administrator understands that port 1110 has three physical interfaces 112, 114 and 116 as shown in subtree 320 and has Primary media 332 and working media 334 are configured.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, information related to each port is managed via the interface table and SNMP, as described above. For this embodiment, the physical port is still identified by a unique interface index, ie preferably ifIndex, thus allowing backward compatibility with existing network management applications. Additionally, management system applications, including web-based applications, can be readily developed using existing protocols and commands, including but not limited to SNMP, RMON, and Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), similar to those currently How to work with separate interface ports.

Another port-related object that preferably exists in the information database of the switch 100 is the working medium object 334 . In a preferred embodiment of the invention, only one interface in each port 110, 120 and 130 is active at a given moment. This active port is identified as working medium 334 .

Configuration media object 332 contains or refers to primary interface media 352, which is administrator-selected or software-default, and is identified as the primary interface media. In the preferred embodiment, configuration media object 332 also represents fallover schema 350 . There are preferably two failover modes - redundant and forced. Redundant mode means automatic failover, while forced mode means manual failover. In an alternative embodiment, the failover mode information is stored in an object other than the primary interface media object.

A preferred configuration medium object 332 may contain a default primary interface medium value, such as the first interface medium in a port. This can be set by the device software 150 when the device 100 is started. Examples of preferred configuration media object values include, for example, "Mandatory Media 1," "Mandatory Media 2," and "Redundant Media 1." Working medium 334 refers to interface medium 354 that is currently active and working. Examples of working medium values include "medium 1" and "medium 2" and the like.

The interface media in configuration media 352 and working media objects 354 need not be the same. For example, a selected or default interface medium fails and can be replaced by another redundant interface medium. Thus, while configuration media 332 contains media selected by an administrator, working media 334 contains media or physical interfaces that are currently active and functioning after a failover. Although the various subtrees under node/leaf node port 2120, port N 130, interface 2114, and interface 3116 are not explicitly drawn, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the information associated with each port and its respective The physical interface of can be configured and obtained similarly as described above.

FIG. 4 depicts an exemplary table 402 showing the relationship between ifIndex and ports and how to use the ifIndex to access the port's configuration primary and working media objects. Each ifIndex value maps to the corresponding physical port. For example, in the first row 410, the ifIndex value is "1", representing port 1 (110 in FIG. 1). In the next row 412, an ifIndex value of "2" represents port 2 (120 in FIG. 1), and an ifIndex value of "N" represents port N 414 (130 in FIG. 1). Therefore, each port is uniquely identified by a corresponding ifIndex value, preferably starting with the number 1. Thus, if there are five ports, then the corresponding ifIndex values are from "1" to "5"—"1" being port 1, "2" being port 2, "3" being port 3, and so on. However, the exemplary table 402 is not necessarily a graphical user interface display as seen by an administrator or user.

FIG. 5 is a high level functional block diagram similar to FIG. 1, illustrating the exemplary instruction program module 150 in further detail. In a preferred embodiment, command module 150 includes three components. The first component is the agent or database communicator 508 . In the preferred embodiment, this agent is an SNMP agent consistent with that described in FIG. 2 . This module 508 communicates with the information database 160 to obtain and set parameter information for each interface medium and each port.

The link monitoring module 504 is a component that includes procedural steps that, when executed, continuously monitor the operating conditions of each media interface in each port. This monitoring module 504 communicates with the failover module 512, in particular, informing the failover module that the particular interface medium is not in acceptable working condition, ie, is in a failover condition - informing the fallover module that the failover process should be initiated.

The failover module 512 initiates and operates a manual or automatic failover mechanism of the forwarding device 100 . The failover module 512 also communicates with the information database 160 to obtain and set media parameter information in the information database 160 . Preferably, other instruction modules are also included to execute other functions 502 of the forwarding device 100 . These components may include program instruction components that, when executed, perform protocol packet processing and obtain routing information.

Figure 6 is a block diagram showing a high level of two preferred generic failover mechanisms of the present invention. After a primary configuration medium has been allocated by an administrator or default software, failure of such allocated configuration medium 602 will initiate failover mechanisms 604 and 606 . The failure here generally means that the link of the media interface is in a working state/condition that satisfies a failover condition, for example, exceeds a predetermined failure threshold. A failure condition may be a condition that warrants another interface medium to take over, such conditions include: link down; excessive traffic loss; excessive line noise and excessive cyclic redundancy check failures. If the configuration media type object 332 indicates a redundant failover mode, automatic failover 604 is initiated. On the other hand, if the configuration media type object 332 contains a forced fallover mode, then manual fallover 606 is initiated.

7 is a flow diagram illustrating a high level of an exemplary process for operational failover. Generally speaking, to begin, forwarding device 100 is powered on. In this initialization operation, the device software 150 sets (702) the default media parameters and the default primary interface media for each port and corresponding interface media, including configuring the failover mode in the primary media object. This default information is, for example, loaded into switch memory. Default parameters are obtained from an information database which is preferably imported as part of a program instruction or instruction module rather than contained in a separate data source. In one embodiment, these parameters are provided as part of the switch software provided by the device manufacturer. In this embodiment, default media parameters for each interface media in each port are included in the program instructions.

If the administrator wants to change the configured media type object for each port, for example, select a different interface media type as primary (test 706), then the administrator can assign (704) a new media type to the configured The primary media type 332 implements this operation. With this action, the information base of the old and new media interfaces is exchanged, preferably in software, so that ifIndex can point to the new interface media type information. In a preferred embodiment, the administrator uses SNMP commands or commands to assign specific interface media and failover modes, for example, setting the Configure MediaType object to Redundant Media 1 - Auto Failover and making Media 1 the primary interface media .

If the assigned or default configured primary media type is not operating under acceptable operating conditions (test 708) - meaning it is in a fallover condition, then failover processing is invoked (step 716). The judgment of whether the interface medium is in the failover condition is preferably completed by the link monitoring module 504 .

However, if the configured media type is in good working condition—not in a failover condition, then the working media object is set to the same interface media contained in the configured media type (step 710). A message, preferably an SNMP trap, is then sent to the NMS (step 712) indicating that the assigned interface medium is functional. The instruction module 150 then exchanges data in the communication network according to the media parameters using the media parameters such as the configuration media type or the primary media type (step 714). In this way, the forwarding device 100 and other applications, such as Ethernet drivers, SNMP reporting software applications and other software applications, can work normally.

FIG. 8A is a flow diagram of a high level of failover processing performed by fallover module 512 . This treatment pertains to situations where a working interface medium, which may be different or the same as the primary interface medium, is in an unacceptable condition—ie, in a fallover condition. In the first operation, the configured media type object associated with the port with the failed interface media is read to determine the failover mode and the primary interface media.

If the failover mode is redundant, then the failover module 512 interfaced with the link monitoring module 504 determines whether other interface media or physical interfaces in the same port are available and working (step 814). If available, the working medium object is set to available interface medium (step 818). This usable interface medium is then activated to replace the failed interface medium. In one embodiment, the primary interface medium is preferably activated if that primary interface medium is one of the available interface mediums.

A message, preferably a trap, is then sent to the NMS 820 indicating the current working interface medium and indicating that the previously configured primary interface medium has been replaced. The device software 150 then exchanges the media interface data structures and uses the media parameters of the current working interface media (step 822). Thus, data communication or exchange in the network takes place based on these medium parameters.

However, if fallover mode is mandatory, i.e. the "no" branch of decision block 812, or if no alternative interface media can be activated, i.e. the "no" branch of decision block 816, then an alarm, preferably a trap, will be issued, Sent to the NMS indicating that the previously working interface medium is no longer working (step 824). As such, user intervention (step 826) is required to select a new primary interface medium for configuring the medium type object.

FIG. 8B shows a flow diagram of a high level of the link monitoring process operated by the link monitoring module 510 . Generally, a check is made to determine if the current interface medium is in acceptable working condition (step 850)—ie, not in fallover condition 850. If the interface medium is in a fallover condition, then failover processing is initiated by sending a message to the failover module 852 .

Figure 9A illustrates how an embodiment of the present invention supports media/port redundancy or idling in a data communications network. In a preferred embodiment, only one interface per port is active at a given moment. As mentioned above, the instruction module 150, such as switch software, manages each physical interface or interface medium in each port by enabling each interface to have independent medium parameters. In this exemplary embodiment of the invention, device hardware 170 has port 922B that supports two interface media 916B and 918B.

This switch hardware 170 is connected to a remote node, such as a multilayer switch 970 supporting multiple media types, and includes a first interface, e.g., an electrically conductive interface (not shown) such as a twisted pair referred to herein as a copper interface, and a second interface. Two interfaces, for example, an optically conductive interface (not shown) referred to herein as an optical fiber interface. Copper and fiber interfaces can reside in the same physical port or in two different physical ports. A solid line 996 represents an active link, while a dashed line 998 represents an inactive, backup, redundant link.

Because copper and fiber optic media types have different media parameters, including their physical properties, behavior, and configuration, if the copper link 996 is down or under unacceptable operating conditions, the switch uses the fiber optic media interface 998 and passes the Activate the interface to continue working. This redundant environment provides network reliability without the device 100 requiring additional connections in the spanning tree according to the spanning tree protocol, which prevents loops and redundant paths caused by redundancy of ports or interface media. Each port is generally represented as a connection in the spanning tree; thus, an additional media interface in the port does not require an additional connection in the spanning tree. Existing spanning trees can be used without adding additional connections. No additional connection is required in the spanning tree because only one interface medium is active among multiple redundant mediums within the same port at the same time.

Figure 9B is similar to Figure 9A, however, in this data communications network, device 170 is connected to two remote nodes - a multilayer switch. Switch hardware 170 is connected to a first multilayer switch 980 via a first interface, such as copper interface 916B, and to a second multilayer switch 982 via a second interface, such as fiber optic interface 918B. In this example, the number of ports within the switch hardware 170 can be reduced by taking into account that no separate redundant port is required - just another physical interface within the same port is used. Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that this also improves network reliability.

Figure 9C is another data communication network embodiment of the present invention wherein switch hardware 170 is connected to network 1992 via interface 1916B, and is inactively connected to another network 2 via interface 2918B. Thus, for example, this embodiment provides better network redundancy by providing separate means for appliance hardware 170 to access different networks without a single point of failure. Networks may include local area networks, wide area networks, and provider networks such as AOL(TM) and SBC(TM).

Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the various exemplary switch configurations demonstrate that the present invention, in its several embodiments, provides other advantages not previously described. For example, the number of management interface indexes in an SNMP environment can be reduced, considering that the same index can be used for both active and inactive interfaces. Additionally, the same Internet Protocol (IP) address can be assigned to all interface media within a particular port, which enables a simpler network management system. Another advantage is that existing management applications, such as SNMP and command-line interface (CLI), can be used to control each interface medium on the same port without extensive modifications to MIB organization. Furthermore, embodiments of the present invention also reduce the need for additional expensive equipment, such as additional Ethernet ports for redundancy.

Typically, the applications that need to be changed are low-level applications rather than high-level applications. So, another advantage is that whenever a switchover or failover from one interface to another occurs, usually only applications that depend on the physical interface/media type need to change, while others do not.

The terms used in this specification to describe the present invention and its various embodiments should be understood not only to indicate their commonly defined meanings, but also to include structures, structures, material or action. Thus, if, in the context of this specification, an element can be understood to include more than one meaning, its use in a claim should be understood as a combination of all possible meanings supported by the specification and its own meaning.

Numerous substitutions and modifications can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and its several embodiments disclosed herein. Therefore, it must be understood that the described embodiments are for the purpose of illustration only and not limiting of the invention, the scope of which is defined by the following claims.

Claims (10)

1. forwarding unit comprises:

One or more physical ports, each physical port comprises a plurality of interface medium, wherein in each described port, only one of described interface medium is worked simultaneously; And

Information database, comprise medium relevant parameter that is used for each described interface medium and the port relevant information that is used for each described port, described port relevant information comprises principal interface dielectric object and working interface dielectric object, described principal interface dielectric object is suitable for being associated with each interface medium of described a plurality of interface medium in each described port, described working interface dielectric object be suitable for each port in described a plurality of interface medium in a movable interface medium be associated.

2. equipment according to claim 1 also comprises:

Instruction module is suitable for the described medium relevant parameter according to described working interface dielectric object, carries out exchanges data in data communication network.

3. equipment according to claim 1, wherein, described port relevant information also comprises failure transfer mode object, indicating described failure transfer mode is automatically or manual; And

Described forwarding unit also comprises:

Instruction module is suitable for:

At one or more failure jump conditions, monitor the described working interface dielectric object of each described port; And

When any one condition exists in described one or more failure jump conditions, according to described failure transfer mode object, carry out the failure transfer processing, so that substitute described working interface dielectric object with the new working interface dielectric object in the same port.

4. equipment according to claim 1 wherein, by interface index, is visited the described port relevant information that is used for described one or more each port of port from described information database.

5. equipment according to claim 1, wherein, by interface index and by described principal interface media type object, visit the medium parameter of each interface medium of a plurality of interface medium described in each port that is used for described one or more ports from described information database.

6. equipment according to claim 3, wherein, described instruction module also is suitable for:

Described medium relevant parameter according to described new working interface medium carries out exchanges data in described data communication network.

One kind in communication network management comprise the method for mixing forwarding unit of one or more physical ports, each physical port comprises a plurality of interface medium, and wherein in each described port, only one of described interface medium is movable simultaneously, said method comprising the steps of:

Be each described port assignment principal interface dielectric object, described principal interface dielectric object is suitable for being associated with each interface medium of described a plurality of interface medium in each described port; And

Be each described port assignment working interface dielectric object, described working interface dielectric object depends on one or more conditions of work, described working interface dielectric object be suitable for each described physical port in described physical interface medium in a movable interface medium be associated.

8. method according to claim 7, further comprising the steps of:

By using interface index and described principal interface dielectric object, from information database access medium parameter, described information database comprises the medium parameter that is used for each described interface medium.

9. method according to claim 8, further comprising the steps of:

According to the described medium parameter of described working interface dielectric object, in described network, carry out the data communication exchange.

10. method according to claim 9, further comprising the steps of:

Be each described port assignment failure transfer mode, it is automatically or manual that failure transfer mode object is indicated described failure transfer mode;

At one or more failure jump conditions, monitor described working interface dielectric object;

When one of described one or more failure jump conditions exist, according to described failure transfer mode, carry out the failure transfer processing, so that substitute described working interface dielectric object with the new working interface dielectric object in the same port; And

According to the described medium parameter of described new working interface dielectric object, in described network, carry out the data communication exchange.

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