TWI856808B - Optical tunnel network system and fault diagnosis method for the same - Google Patents

Abstract

A fault diagnosis method applied for an optical-tunnel network system (OPTUNS) having multiple optical-switches and multiple fibers connecting the multiple optical-switches is disclosed and includes following steps: inspecting whether a faulty tunnel exists from multiple tunnels of the OPTUNS, wherein each tunnel respectively passes through multiple components; when the faulty tunnel is inspected, querying all components passed by all tunnels within a certain range with the faulty tunnel; respectively computing a faulty count for each component being queried, wherein the faulty count indicates the quantity of the tunnel passing through the component; and, outputting one or more of the components having a non-zero faulty count.

Description

Optical channel network system and error detection method thereof

The present invention relates to an optical channel network system, and more particularly to an error detection method for an optical channel network system, and an optical channel network system using the error detection method.

Optical-Tunnel-Network System (OPTUNS) is composed of multiple optical switches, including the first-class optical switches (such as OADS) at the first tier (Tier 1) and the second-class optical switches (such as OSIS) at the second tier (Tier 2). These optical switches are connected to each other through optical fibers, and each optical switch contains many optical components.

When any optical fiber in the OPTUNS or any optical component in any optical switch fails, the related channel (tunnel) will not operate normally, thus generating a faulty tunnel. In other words, the channel becomes abnormal and cannot transmit data correctly.

However, unlike general electronic components, OPTUNS currently uses software algorithm detection to detect whether optical components are damaged. The advantage of software algorithm debugging is that no additional hardware components are required to reduce the system design cost. However, when OPTUNS outputs an optical fault channel, the system will not be able to quickly and accurately determine the range or actual location of the faulty optical fiber or optical component, which will cause great inconvenience in system maintenance.

The main purpose of the present invention is to provide an optical channel network system and an error detection method thereof, which can narrow down the possible range of faulty parts or directly find the faulty parts when an optical channel abnormality occurs.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the error detection method of the present invention is applied to an optical channel network system, the optical channel network system includes a plurality of optical switches and a plurality of optical fibers connected to the plurality of optical switches, and the error detection method includes the following steps: a) detecting whether a plurality of channels (tunnels) of the optical channel network system include a fault channel that causes data loss, wherein each of the channels passes through a plurality of components; ; b) when one or more faulty channels are detected, query the multiple components that all the channels within a certain range of the one or more faulty channels pass through; c) calculate a fault count of each component obtained from the query, wherein the fault count represents the number of components that are passed through by the one or more faulty channels; and d) after step c), output the one or more components whose fault count is non-zero.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the optical channel network system of the present invention includes: at least two optical switches, each having a plurality of optical elements; a plurality of optical fibers connecting the at least two optical switches; a plurality of channels, each passing through a plurality of components, for transmitting data between the at least two optical switches; a memory, recording each channel and the components each channel passes through; and a central processing unit, configured to refer to the memory to obtain the plurality of components passed through by all the channels within a certain range when detecting that the plurality of channels include one or more faulty channels that will cause data loss, and calculate a fault count of each component passed through by the one or more faulty channels, and then output the one or more components whose fault counts are non-zero.

Compared with related technologies, the technical effect achieved by the present invention is to detect faulty channels and locate faulty parts without using additional hardware components, thereby greatly reducing the time and cost required for system maintenance.

11: First level

12: Second level

2: Type I optical switch

201: Forward transmission channel

202: Reverse transmission channel

21: Forward type 1 optical switch

22: Reverse Type I optical switch

23: Wavelength selection switch

24: Optical fiber

3: Type II optical switch

31: Wavelength selection switch array

32: Optical fiber

4: Controller

41: Software part

410: Fault diagnosis algorithm

4100: List

42: Hardware part

421: Central Processing Unit

422:Memory

61, 71: First optical channel

62, 72: Second optical channel

63, 73: The third light channel

8: Constituent parts

9: Faulty parts

S51~S55, S81~S89: Detection steps

Figure 1 is a system architecture diagram of the optical channel network system.

Figure 2 is a specific implementation example of a block diagram of the first type of optical switch of the present invention.

Figure 3 is a specific implementation example of a block diagram of the second type of optical switch of the present invention.

FIG4A is a first specific implementation example of a block diagram of the optical channel network system of the present invention.

FIG4B is a second specific implementation example of a block diagram of the optical channel network system of the present invention.

FIG5 is a first implementation example of a flow chart of the error detection method of the present invention.

Figure 6 is a first embodiment of the channel schematic diagram of the present invention.

Figure 7 is a second embodiment of the channel schematic diagram of the present invention.

FIG8 is a first implementation example of a flowchart of the error detection method of the present invention.

Figure 9 is a third embodiment of the channel schematic diagram of the present invention.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention is described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

The present invention discloses an optical-tunnel-network system (OPTUNS) with error detection function, which can detect faulty tunnels that cannot correctly transmit data by software, and narrow down the possible range of faulty parts, or directly locate the position of the faulty parts in the optical-tunnel network system.

Please refer to Figure 1, which is a system architecture diagram of the optical channel network system. As shown in Figure 1, the optical channel network system can be divided into a first tier (Tier 1) 11 and a second tier (Tier 2) 12, wherein the first tier 11 is composed of a first type of optical switch 2, and the second tier 12 is composed of a second type of optical switch 3. In one embodiment, the first type of optical switch 2 can be implemented by OADS, and the second type of optical switch 3 can be implemented by OSIS, but it is not limited thereto.

In the embodiment of FIG. 1 , the first layer 11 is composed of five first-class optical switches 2 forming a POD, and the first layer 11 may include multiple PODs. As shown in FIG. 1 , a first-class optical switch 2 may include two logically completely separated optical switches in a housing, so the five first-class optical switches 2 may actually form two PODs that do not interfere with each other (the two separated PODs are represented by solid and dotted circles in FIG. 1 ).

As shown in Figure 1, each first-class optical switch 2 in the same POD is connected to each other through optical fibers. Each second-class optical switch 3 is also connected to each other through optical fibers to form a mesh network. The first-class optical switch 2 of each POD is connected to the same second-class optical switch 3 through optical fibers. In this way, the optical channel network system can connect the first-class optical switches 2 of multiple PODs in the first layer 11 in series by the second-class optical switch 3 of the second layer 12.

In the present invention, each optical switch (including the first type optical switch 2 and the second type optical switch 3) has a plurality of optical elements inside, and the optical channel network system is configured to form a plurality of optical channels (Optical-Tunnel) for transmitting data by using a plurality of optical elements and a plurality of optical fibers. The technical feature of the present invention is that when one of the channels fails and causes data loss, the optical channel network system can detect the possible range of the faulty component by software, or directly locate the position of the faulty component.

Please refer to Figures 2 and 3, wherein Figure 2 is a specific implementation example of the block diagram of the first type of optical switch of the present invention, and Figure 3 is a specific implementation example of the block diagram of the second type of optical switch of the present invention.

As shown in FIG2 , the housing of each first-class optical switch 2 includes a logically separated forward first-class optical switch 21 and a reverse first-class optical switch 22, and the forward first-class optical switch 21 and the reverse first-class optical switch 22 each have a plurality of optical components, including a wavelength selective switch (WSS) 23, a multiplexer (MUX), a demultiplexer (DEMUX), an erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA), etc., but not limited thereto. These optical components are connected to the optical components of other optical switches through one or more optical fibers 24 to form one or more channels.

In one embodiment, the forward first type optical switch 21 is connected to the adjacent forward first type optical switch 21 in the same POD through the optical fiber 24, thereby forming one or more forward transmission channels 201 in the POD. Similarly, the reverse first type optical switch 22 is connected to the adjacent reverse first type optical switch 22 in the same POD through the optical fiber 24, thereby forming one or more reverse transmission channels 202 in the POD.

The wavelength selection switch 23 is connected to the optical fiber 24 to control the passage and blocking of light. It is worth mentioning that optical components such as multiplexers, demultiplexers, and erbium-doped optical fiber amplifiers are passive optical components in optical switches, and their failure probability is extremely low. In one embodiment, in order to improve the detection efficiency, even if a faulty channel is detected, the system does not need to detect the multiplexer, demultiplexer, erbium-doped optical fiber amplifier or other passive optical components.

In the embodiment of FIG. 2 , W1 to W6 are respectively a plurality of wavelength selection switches 23 connected to the optical fiber 24, and inside the first type optical switch 2, these wavelength selection switches 23 can be implemented in an array. That is, a plurality of wavelength selection switches 23 exist together in a single wavelength selection switch array.

As shown in FIG3 , each second-class optical switch 3 contains at least two wavelength selection switch arrays 31, wherein the first wavelength selection switch array includes at least seven wavelength selection switches A1 to A7, and the second wavelength selection switch array includes at least seven wavelength selection switches B1 to B7. Similar to the first-class optical switch 2, each second-class optical switch 3 is connected to each other through one or more optical fibers 32 to form a mesh network, and is connected to the first-class optical switch 2 of the first layer 11 through one or more optical fibers 32 to connect multiple PODs of the first layer 11 in series.

When any optical channel in the optical channel network system fails to transmit data correctly and forms a faulty channel, the present invention can detect through software which optical element or optical fiber is faulty, causing the normal channel to become a faulty channel.

Please refer to Figures 4A and 4B, which are respectively the first specific implementation example and the second specific implementation example of the block diagram of the optical channel network system of the present invention. As shown in Figures 4A and 4B, the optical channel network system of the present invention includes two types of multiple optical switches (including the first type of optical switch 2 and/or the second type of optical switch 3) and a controller 4. In one embodiment, the controller 4 is a software-defined network (SDN) controller.

The optical channel network system also includes a plurality of optical fibers for connecting a plurality of optical switches (including connecting two optical switches of the same type and connecting two optical switches of different types). More specifically, each optical switch has a plurality of optical elements (such as the above-mentioned WSS, MUX, DEMUX, etc.), and the plurality of optical fibers are connected to the optical elements in each optical switch based on the user's settings to construct a plurality of channels in the optical channel network system. In other words, each channel in the optical channel network system passes through a plurality of components 8 (including one of the plurality of optical fibers and one of the plurality of optical elements) to transmit data in at least two optical switches 2 and 3.

As shown in FIG. 4A , the controller 4 can be roughly divided into a software part 41 and a hardware part 42. The important components of the hardware part 42 include at least a central processing unit 421 and a memory 422, wherein the central processing unit 421 is connected to the memory 422, the first type optical switch 2 and the second type optical switch 3 by wired or wireless means. The central processing unit 421 is configured to execute the fault diagnosis algorithm 410 of the present invention. The memory 422 is configured to temporarily store the fault diagnosis algorithm 410 and store the data and final results in the operation process of the central processing unit 421.

The software part 41 of the controller 4 includes at least the fault diagnosis algorithm 410. In the present invention, the central processing unit 421 will continuously execute the fault diagnosis algorithm 410 in the memory 422 to collect, monitor and judge the changes of all optical channels in the optical channel network system. Once a fault channel is detected through calculation, the central processing unit 421 will update the fault count of each component 8 in the list 4100 established and stored in the memory 422. During the calculation process, the central processing unit 421 will also reset the fault count of the component 8 whose fault count is not zero but has other normal channels passing through to zero, thereby eliminating the misjudgment condition in the fault diagnosis algorithm 410.

Finally, as shown in FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B , the central processing unit 421 obtains the component 8 with the highest fault count from the updated list 4100 and regards it as the confirmed faulty component 9. It is worth mentioning that if there are two or more components 8 with the same high fault count, the central processing unit 421 can regard the result of this operation as uncertain. In other words, it means that the current operation comparison cannot successfully detect the specific faulty component 9, so the central processing unit 421 will continue to detect it in the next cycle.

In the present invention, the memory 422 records each channel in the optical channel network system and the components 8 that each channel passes through. In one embodiment, the memory 422 stores a pre-established topology structure (not shown in the figure), and the topology structure records the positions and connection relationships of all components 8 (including optical fibers and optical components) in the optical channel network system. When the central processing unit 421 detects that any channel is a faulty channel when executing the fault diagnosis algorithm 410, it can query the topology structure to know which components 8 the faulty channel passes through, thereby narrowing down the possible range of the faulty component 9, or directly locating the identity and position of the faulty component 9.

In the present invention, the central processing unit 421 can detect whether the multiple channels of the optical channel network system include one or more faulty channels that will cause data loss by executing the fault diagnosis algorithm 410.

The technical feature of the present invention is that when the central processing unit 421 detects one or more faulty channels through the fault diagnosis algorithm 410, it can refer to the content of the memory 422 to obtain all components 8 passed by all channels in a certain range, and calculate the fault count of each component 8 respectively. In one embodiment, the central processing unit 421 updates one or more components 8 with non-zero fault counts in the list 4100 as a candidate list of possible faulty components 9. In the present invention, the fault count represents the number of each component 8 passed by one or more faulty channels. For example, if the fault count of the first WSS is 2, it means that the first WSS is passed by two faulty channels; if the fault count of the second optical fiber is 1, it means that the second optical fiber is passed by one faulty channel, and so on.

Please refer to FIG. 5, which is a first implementation example of the flow chart of the error detection method of the present invention. FIG. 5 discloses the specific execution steps of the error detection method of the present invention, wherein the error detection method can be mainly implemented by the components of the optical channel network system shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B.

As shown in FIG5 , after the optical channel network system is started, the central processing unit 421 of the present invention continuously monitors all channels established in the optical channel network system (step S51), and detects whether the multiple channels include a faulty channel that will cause data loss (step S52). As mentioned above, each channel in the optical channel network system is predefined and passes through multiple components. More specifically, each channel passes through one of the multiple optical fibers and at least one optical element in one of the multiple optical switches.

When one or more faulty channels are detected, the central processing unit 421 queries all components 8 passed by all channels within a certain range of the faulty channels (step S53), and calculates the fault counts of these components 8 respectively (step S54). As described above, these fault counts represent the number of each component 8 passed by one or more faulty channels. The higher the fault count, the higher the possibility that the component 8 is a faulty component 9; the lower the fault count, the lower the possibility that the component 8 is a faulty component 9. A fault count of zero means that the component 8 cannot be a faulty component 9.

After step S54, the central processing unit 421 outputs all components 8 with non-zero fault counts (step S55).

In one embodiment, the central processing unit 421 can display the components 8 with non-zero fault counts on a display screen (not shown) of the optical channel network system. In another embodiment, the central processing unit 421 can transmit the candidate list of components 8 with non-zero fault counts to an external electronic device for notification and display. In this way, the user can lock one or more components 8 that cause the fault, and then quickly and accurately perform maintenance or replacement of the components 8.

Please refer to Figure 6 for the first implementation example of the channel schematic diagram of the present invention. Figure 6 takes the first type of optical switch 2 as an example to explain the channel of the present invention in detail.

As mentioned above, in order to list the candidate list of all components 8 related to the faulty channel when the faulty channel occurs, the present invention needs to encode all the positions and connection relationships of each optical element and each optical fiber in each optical switch, and record them in the memory 422 (for example, record them as a topological structure). FIG6 shows the encoding in an actual example.

FIG6 shows a POD of the first layer 11, which is composed of five first-class optical switches 2, including OADS1.1, OADS1.2, OADS1.3, OADS1.4 and OADS1.5, where 1.1 represents the first first-class optical switch in the first POD, 1.2 represents the second first-class optical switch in the first POD, and so on.

As mentioned above, each first-type optical switch 2 includes a forward first-type optical switch 21 and a reverse first-type optical switch 22. Multiple forward first-type optical switches 21 of the same POD are connected in series through multiple optical fibers, including P1B5-4, P1B4-3, P1B3-2, P1B2-1 and P1B1-5, where P1B5-4 represents the optical fiber connecting the fifth forward first-type switch 21 to the fourth forward first-type switch 21 in the first POD, and P1B4-3 represents the optical fiber connecting the fourth forward first-type switch 21 to the third forward first-type switch 21 in the first POD, and so on.

Similarly, multiple reverse first-type optical switches 22 of the same POD are connected in series through multiple optical fibers, including P1R1-2, P1R2-3, P1R3-4, P1R4-5 and P1R5-1, where P1R1-2 represents the optical fiber connecting the first reverse first-type optical switch 22 to the second reverse first-type optical switch 22 in the first POD, and P1R2-3 represents the optical fiber connecting the second reverse first-type optical switch 22 to the third reverse first-type optical switch 22 in the first POD, and so on.

In the embodiment of FIG. 6 , the optical channel network system includes a first optical channel 61 and a second optical channel 62, wherein the first optical channel 61 is a forward channel and the second optical channel 62 is a reverse channel. As shown in FIG. 6 , the first optical channel 61 is connected to three forward first-type optical switches OADS1.4, OADS1.3 and OADS1.2 through optical fibers P1B4-3 and P1B3-2, and passes through multiple optical components (not shown) in the three forward first-type optical switches OADS1.4, OADS1.3 and OADS1.2. The second optical channel 62 is connected to two reverse first-type optical switches OADS1.4 and OADS1.5 through optical fibers P1R4-5, and passes through multiple optical components (not shown) in the two reverse first-type optical switches OADS1.4 and OADS1.5.

When the central processing unit 421 detects that the first optical channel 61 is a faulty channel, it can list all components 8 that the first optical channel 61 passes through by the above coding (for example, querying the topology structure), and determine which components 8 may be faulty components 9. Similarly, when the central processing unit 421 detects that the second optical channel 62 is a faulty channel, it can also list all components 8 that the second optical channel 62 passes through by the above coding, and determine which components 8 may be faulty components 9.

Please also refer to Figure 7, which is a second embodiment of the channel schematic diagram of the present invention. Figure 7 takes the second type of optical switch 3 as an example to provide a detailed description of the channel of the present invention.

As described above, the present invention encodes all positions and connection relationships of each optical element and each optical fiber in each optical switch, and records them into a topological architecture. In the present invention, the second layer 12 includes at least five serially connected second-type optical switches 3, and the embodiment of Figure 7 shows three of the second-type optical switches 3, including OSIS5, OSIS1 and OSIS2, where OSIS5 represents the fifth second-type optical switch in the second layer 12, OSIS1 represents the first second-type optical switch in the second layer 12, and OSIS2 represents the second second-type optical switch in the second layer 12.

In the present invention, each second type optical switch 3 is connected in series to the adjacent second type optical switch 3 through two types of optical fibers. In the embodiment of FIG. 7 , OSIS5 is connected to OSIS1 through at least four optical fibers, including O5-1, P5-1, O1-5 and P1-5, wherein O5-1 represents the optical fiber that transmits data (Original) from OSIS5 to OSIS1, P5-1 represents the optical fiber that transmits data (Passthrough) from OSIS5 to OSIS1, O1-5 represents the optical fiber that transmits data (Passthrough) from OSIS5 to OSIS5, and P1-5 represents the optical fiber that transmits data (Passthrough) from OSIS1 to OSIS5.

For another example, OSIS1 is connected to OSIS2 via at least four optical fibers, including O1-2, P1-2, O2-1, and P2-1, where O1-2 represents an optical fiber that transmits data from OSIS1 from OSIS1 to OSIS2, P1-2 represents an optical fiber that transmits data from OSIS1 to OSIS2 after passing through OSIS1, O2-1 represents an optical fiber that transmits data from OSIS2 from OSIS2 to OSIS1, and P2-1 represents an optical fiber that transmits data from OSIS2 to OSIS1 after passing through OSIS2.

In one embodiment, multiple optical fibers between two second-type optical switches 3 can be integrated into a ribbon fiber (i.e., the dotted box in the figure). In hardware, the user uses a ribbon fiber with at least four optical fibers inside to connect two second-type optical switches 3. In this embodiment, when an optical fiber fails, the central processing unit 421 not only regards this optical fiber as a faulty part, but also regards the ribbon fiber covering this optical fiber as a faulty part (i.e., the fault count of the ribbon fiber is +1), and lists this ribbon fiber in the candidate list of faulty parts.

In the embodiment of FIG. 7 , the optical channel network system includes a third optical channel 63. As shown in FIG. 7 , the third optical channel 63 connects the second type optical switches OSIS5 and OSIS1 through the optical fiber O5-1, and connects the second type optical switches OSIS1 and OSIS2 through the optical fiber P1-2. Moreover, the third optical channel 63 passes through multiple optical components (not shown) in the three second type optical switches OSIS5, OSIS1 and OSIS2. Among them, the third optical channel 63 transmits the data from OSIS5 from OSIS5 to the WSS of OSIS2 through OSIS1, and then transmits it to the first type optical switch 2 of the first layer 11 connected in series through the WSS of OSIS2.

When the central processing unit 421 detects that the third optical channel 63 is a faulty channel, it can list all components 8 that the third optical channel 63 passes through by the above coding, and determine which components 8 may be faulty components 9. It is worth mentioning that, for ease of understanding, one or more first-class optical switches 2 of the first layer 11 connected to OSIS2 are not shown in FIG7. In one embodiment, if the third optical channel 63 is a faulty channel, the central processing unit 421 will list all components 8 of the second-class optical switches 3 and all components 8 of the first-class optical switches 2 that the third optical channel 63 passes through, and is not limited to those shown in FIG7.

Please refer to Figures 8 and 9, where Figure 8 is a first embodiment of the flow chart of the error detection method of the present invention, and Figure 9 is a third embodiment of the channel schematic diagram of the present invention. Under the premise that the topology architecture records the coding of all components 8, the error detection method of the present invention will be described in more detail below in combination with the embodiments of Figures 8 and 9.

As shown in FIG8 , first, after the optical channel network system is started, the controller 4 executes the fault diagnosis algorithm 410 (step S81) to continuously monitor all channels in the optical channel network system (step S82), and continuously determine whether a faulty channel appears (step S83). If no faulty channel is detected, the optical channel network system can continue to transmit data, and the central processing unit 421 continues to monitor these channels through the fault diagnosis algorithm 410.

In one embodiment, after the fault diagnosis algorithm 410 is executed, it will continuously monitor the receiving end and the transmitting end of multiple channels. When the fault diagnosis algorithm 410 detects that the transmitting end of any channel has transmitted data, but the receiving end has not received the corresponding data, it can be determined that the channel has passed through at least one faulty component and has become a faulty channel. In one embodiment, the fault diagnosis algorithm 410 determines that the channel is a faulty channel when it detects that the difference between the data volume of the receiving end and the data volume of the transmitting end of any channel is greater than a threshold value.

It is worth mentioning that each channel in the optical channel network system transmits data from the source optical switch (which may be the first type optical switch 2 or the second type optical switch 3) to the destination optical switch (which may be the first type optical switch 2 or the second type optical switch 3). In the above embodiment, the transmission end of the channel can be an output port on the source optical switch, and the receiving end of the channel can be an input port on the destination optical switch. However, the above is only a specific implementation example of the present invention, but it is not limited to this.

In the embodiment of FIG. 9 , the optical channel network system includes a first optical channel 71 for transmitting data from OADS1.4 to OADS1.2, a second optical channel 72 for transmitting data from OADS1.5 to OADS1.3, and a third optical channel 73 for transmitting data from OADS1.4 to OADS1.3. In one embodiment, the fault diagnosis algorithm 410 establishes the following table 1 after monitoring the three optical channels 71-73:

As can be seen from Table 1 above, the transmission end data stream of the first optical channel 71 is the same as the receiving end data stream, which means that there is no data loss in the data transmitted by the first optical channel 71, so the fault diagnosis algorithm 410 can identify the first optical channel 71 as a normal channel. The transmission end data stream (2Gbps) of the second optical channel 72 is different from the receiving end data stream (0Gbps), which means that the second optical channel 72 cannot transmit data correctly, so the fault diagnosis algorithm 410 will identify the second optical channel 72 as a faulty channel. The transmission end data stream (1Gbps) of the third optical channel 73 is different from the receiving end data stream (0Gbps), which means that the third optical channel 73 cannot transmit data correctly, so the fault diagnosis algorithm 410 will identify the third optical channel 73 as a faulty channel.

Return to Figure 8. If one or more faulty channels are detected in step S83, the central processing unit 421 will read the topology in the memory 422 and list all components 8 passed by all channels within a certain range based on the topology (step S84). In addition, the central processing unit 421 calculates the fault count of each component 8 (step S85). In the present invention, the fault count is the number of components 8 passed by the faulty channels.

In one embodiment, the central processing unit 421 obtains all channels in the same POD as the faulty channel based on the content of the topological architecture in step S84, and lists all components 8 that these channels pass through.

In another embodiment, the central processing unit 421 obtains all channels with the same transmission direction (including forward or reverse) as the faulty channel based on the content of the topological architecture in step S84, and lists all components 8 passed by these channels.

In another embodiment, the central processing unit 421 obtains all channels that are in the same POD as the faulty channel and have the same transmission direction based on the content of the topological architecture in step S84, and lists all components 8 that these channels pass through.

In the embodiment of FIG. 9 , the first optical channel 71 starts from OADS1.4 and passes through the optical fiber P1B4-3, W1 in OADS1.3, optical fiber P1B3-2, and W3 in OADS1.2 in sequence. The second optical channel 72 starts from OADS1.5 and passes through the optical fiber P1B5-4, W1 in OADS1.4, optical fiber P1B4-3, and W3 in OADS1.3 in sequence. The third optical channel 73 starts from OADS1.4 and passes through the optical fiber P1B4-3 and W1 in OADS1.3 in sequence.

In step S84, the central processing unit 421 lists all components 8 that have the above relationship with the faulty channel (for example, the second optical channel 72 and the third optical channel 73) and passes through all the channels, and in step S85, calculates the fault counts of these components 8 respectively, and generates the following Table 2:

As shown in Table 2 above, optical fiber P1B5-4 and W1 of OADS1.4 are passed by the second optical channel 72, so the fault count is 1; optical fiber P1B4-3 and W3 of OADS1.3 are passed by the second optical channel 72 and the third optical channel 73, so the fault count is 2; optical fiber P1B3-2, W1 of OADS1.2 and W1 of OADS1.3 are not passed by any faulty channel (i.e., the second optical channel 72 and the third optical channel 73), so the fault count is 0.

In addition, as mentioned above, multiple WSSs in the same optical switch can be implemented with the same WSS Array. Among them, the WSS Array of OADS1.3 includes W3 of OADS1.3, so the fault count is 2, and the WSS Array of OADS1.4 includes W1 of OADS1.4, so the fault count is 1.

By generating the above Table 2, the central processing unit 421 can count the possibility that each component 8 is a faulty component 9. In one embodiment, the central processing unit 421 directly outputs all components 8 with non-zero fault counts to let the user know the candidate list of faulty components 9. In this way, the possible range of faulty components can be effectively narrowed. Through the error detection method of the present invention, the user does not need to manually detect the entire optical channel network system or use additional tools when a faulty channel occurs, which can save system maintenance time and cost.

Return to FIG. 8. In another embodiment, the central processing unit 421 will further perform secondary inspection on all listed components 8 after step S85. Specifically, the central processing unit 421 detects whether each listed component 8 is passed by any normal channel in the plurality of channels (e.g., the first optical channel 71 in FIG. 9). If any component 8 is passed by any normal channel in the plurality of channels, the central processing unit 421 will set the fault count of this component 8 to zero (step S86). In the present invention, a normal channel will also pass through multiple components 8, and all components 8 passed by this normal channel cannot be faulty components 9; if the fault counts of these components 8 are non-zero, it must be a statistical error, so the fault counts need to be reset to zero to conform to reality.

After step S86, the central processing unit 421 may update the above table 2 to the following table 3:

As shown in Table 3, since the optical fiber P1B4-3 is passed by the normal first optical channel 71, the central processing unit 421 sets the fault count of the optical fiber P1B4-3 to zero. Since W1 of OADS1.3 is passed by the normal first optical channel 71, and the WSS Array of OADS1.3 includes W1 of OADS1.3, the central processing unit 421 sets the fault count of the WSS Array of OADS1.3 to zero.

After step S86, the central processing unit 421 can know that the possible faulty component is at least one of the optical fiber P1B5-4, W3 of OADS1.3, and W1 of OADS1.4 (including the WSS Array of OADS1.4). At this time, the central processing unit 421 can directly output the candidate list of these faulty components, or further determine the output method based on the setting value of the optical channel network system.

In the embodiment of FIG8 , the central processing unit 421 can confirm the number of faulty components that the optical channel network system can tolerate based on preset parameters (step S87). If the user limits the number of faulty components that the system can tolerate to only one, the central processing unit 421 outputs the component 8 with the largest fault count (step S88). In the embodiment of FIG9 , the central processing unit 421 outputs W3 of OADS1.3 with a fault count of 2 as a candidate for the faulty component.

If the user limits the number of faulty parts tolerated by the system to be greater than one, the central processing unit 421 sorts all components 8 with non-zero fault counts and outputs these components 8 as a list of faulty components 9 (step S89). In the embodiment of FIG. 9 , the central processing unit 421 sequentially outputs W3 of OADS1.3 with a fault count of 2, optical fiber P1B5-4 with a fault count of 1, W1 of OADS1.4 with a fault count of 1, and WSS Array of OADS1.4 with a fault count of 1 as a candidate list of faulty components. Among them, the higher the fault count of the component 8, the higher the probability that it may be a faulty component. By sorting the components 8 with non-zero fault counts, the central processing unit 421 can assist maintenance personnel in performing more efficient maintenance operations.

Through the optical channel network system and its error detection method of the present invention, it is possible to perform detection only in a software manner without the need for additional hardware components, that is, to narrow the possible range of faulty parts (when the number of faulty parts tolerable is greater than one), or directly locate the position of the faulty parts (when the number of faulty parts tolerable is one), thereby saving system maintenance time and cost.

The above is only a better specific example of the present invention, and does not limit the patent scope of the present invention. Therefore, all equivalent changes made by applying the content of the present invention are also included in the scope of the present invention and are hereby stated.

S51~S55: Detection steps

Claims (15)

An error detection method for an optical channel network system is applied to an optical channel network system, wherein the optical channel network system includes a plurality of optical switches and a plurality of optical fibers connected to the plurality of optical switches. The error detection method comprises: a) detecting whether a plurality of channels (tunnels) of the optical channel network system include a fault channel that causes data loss, wherein each of the channels passes through a plurality of components; b) detecting whether a fault channel causes data loss; and When one or more faulty channels are detected, query the multiple components that all channels within a certain range of the one or more faulty channels pass through; c) calculate a fault count of each component obtained from the query, wherein the fault count represents the number of components that are passed through by the one or more faulty channels; and d) after step c), output the one or more components whose fault count is non-zero. The error detection method as described in claim 1, wherein each of the channels passes through at least one optical element in one of the plurality of optical fibers and one of the plurality of optical switches. The error detection method as described in claim 1, wherein the step a) includes continuously monitoring a transmitting end and a receiving end of the plurality of channels, and identifying the channel as the faulty channel when the difference between the data volume of the receiving end and the data volume of the transmitting end of any channel is greater than a threshold value. The error detection method as described in claim 1, wherein the step b) includes querying the multiple components passed by all the channels in the same optical switch group POD as the one or more faulty channels. The error detection method as described in claim 1, wherein the step b) includes querying the plurality of components passed by all the channels having the same transmission direction as the one or more faulty channels. The error detection method as described in claim 1, wherein the step b) includes querying a pre-recorded topology structure to obtain the plurality of components that all the channels within a certain range pass through, wherein the topology structure records the positions and connection relationships of all the components in the optical channel network system. The error detection method as described in claim 1, wherein the step c) further includes a step c1): when any of the component parts passes through any normal channel in the plurality of channels, the fault count of the component part is set to zero. The error detection method as described in claim 1, wherein the step d) includes: d1) when the preset number of fault-tolerant parts is one, outputting the component with the largest fault count; and d2) when the preset number of fault-tolerant parts is greater than one, sorting and outputting all the component parts with non-zero fault counts. An optical channel network system with an error detection function includes: at least two optical switches, each having a plurality of optical elements; a plurality of optical fibers connecting the at least two optical switches; a plurality of channels, each passing through a plurality of components, for transmitting data in the at least two optical switches; a memory, recording each channel and the components passed by each channel; and a central processing unit, configured to refer to the memory to obtain the plurality of components passed by all the channels within a certain range when detecting that the plurality of channels include one or more faulty channels that will cause data loss, and calculate a fault count of each component passed by the one or more faulty channels, and then output the one or more components whose fault counts are non-zero. An optical channel network system as described in claim 9, wherein each of the channels passes through at least one of the plurality of optical fibers and one of the plurality of optical elements. The optical channel network system as described in claim 9, wherein the central processing unit is configured to execute a fault diagnosis algorithm to continuously monitor a transmission end and a receiving end of the plurality of channels, and when the difference between the data volume of the receiving end and the data volume of the transmission end of any channel is greater than a threshold value, the channel is identified as the faulty channel; wherein each of the channels is respectively configured to transmit data from a source optical switch to a destination optical switch, the transmission end is an output port of the source optical switch, and the receiving end is an input port of the destination optical switch. The optical channel network system as described in claim 9, wherein the certain range is all the channels in the same optical switch group POD as the one or more faulty channels, or all the channels having the same transmission direction as the one or more faulty channels. The optical channel network system as described in claim 9, wherein the central processing unit is configured to read a topological structure in the memory to obtain the plurality of components passed by all the channels in the certain range when the one or more faulty channels are detected, wherein the topological structure records the positions and connection relationships of all the components in the optical channel network system. An optical channel network system as described in claim 9, wherein the central processing unit is configured to set the fault count of any component to zero when any component is passed by any normal channel among the plurality of channels. The optical channel network system as described in claim 9, wherein the central processing unit is configured to output the component with the largest fault count when the preset number of fault-tolerant components is one, and to sort and output all the component components with non-zero fault counts when the preset number of fault-tolerant components is greater than one.

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