Redundant network connections

Abstract

Various exemplary embodiments relate to a method and related network node including one or more of the following: performing an active gateway election to determine whether the provider edge device will be an active gateway for a connection; if the provider edge device will be the active gateway for the connection, indicating to a customer edge device that no fault is currently associated with a link between the customer edge device and the provider edge device; and if the provider edge device will not be the active gateway for the connection, indicating to the customer edge device that a fault is currently associated with the link between the customer edge device and the provider edge device.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method performed by a provider edge device for enabling connection redundancy, the method comprising:
 performing an active gateway election to determine whether the provider edge device will be an active gateway for a connection;   based on a determination that the provider edge device will be the active gateway for the connection and regardless of whether a fault has been detected, sending a no fault message to a customer edge device indicating that no fault is currently associated with a link between the customer edge device and the provider edge device; and   based on a determination that the provider edge device will not be the active gateway for the connection and regardless of whether a fault has been detected, sending a fault message to the customer edge device indicating that a fault is currently associated with the link between the customer edge device and the provider edge device.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining that a paired provider edge device is currently experiencing a fault,   wherein the step of performing an active gateway election is performed in response to determining that a paired provider edge device is currently experiencing a fault.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 detecting a fault associated with the link between the provider edge device and the customer edge device; and   sending an indication to a paired provider edge device that the provider edge is currently experiencing a fault.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 detecting a fault on at least two links between the provider edge device and other devices in the network;   sending an indication to a paired provider edge device that the provider edge is currently experiencing a fault.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of sending a no fault message to a customer edge device indicating that no fault is currently associated with a link between the customer edge device and the provider edge device is comprises:
 constructing a connectivity fault message that indicates that no fault has been detected; and   transmitting the connectivity fault message to a maintenance endpoint of the customer edge device.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the active gateway election is performed according to the border gateway protocol. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the active gateway election comprises:
 determining whether the provider edge is currently experiencing a connectivity fault management (CFM) fault;   determining whether a paired provider edge is currently experiencing a CFM fault;   based on a determination that the provider edge is not currently experiencing a CFM fault and the paired provider edge is currently experiencing a CFM fault, determining that the provider edge device will be the active gateway; and   based on a determination that the provider edge is currently experiencing a CFM fault and the paired provider edge is not currently experiencing a CFM fault, determining that the provider edge device will not be the active gateway.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the active gateway election comprises:
 determining whether the provider edge is currently experiencing a pseudowire (PW) fault;   determining whether a paired provider edge is currently experiencing a PW fault;   based on a determination that the provider edge is not currently experiencing a PW fault and the paired provider edge is currently experiencing a PW fault, determining that the provider edge device will be the active gateway; and   based on a determination that the provider edge is currently experiencing a PW fault and the paired provider edge is not currently experiencing a PW fault, determining that the provider edge device will not be the active gateway.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the connection is a control connection, the method further comprising:
 identifying a fate-shared connection associated with the control connection;   based on a determination that the provider edge device will be the active gateway for the control connection, sending a no fault message to a customer edge device indicating that no fault is currently associated with a link between the customer edge device and the provider edge device for the fate-shared connection; and   based on a determination that the provider edge device will not be the active gateway for the control connection, sending a fault message to the customer edge device indicating that a fault is currently associated with the link between the customer edge device and the provider edge device for the fate-shared connection.   
     
     
         10 . A provider edge device for enabling connection redundancy, the provider edge device comprising:
 a customer edge interface configured to communicate with a customer edge device;   an active gateway election module configured to determine whether the provider edge device will be an active gateway for a connection; and   a fault reporting module configured to:
 based on a determination that the provider edge device will be the active gateway for the connection and regardless of whether a fault has been detected, send a no fault message to a customer edge device indicating that no fault is currently associated with a link between the customer edge device and the provider edge device, and 
 based on a determination that the provider edge device will not be the active gateway for the connection and regardless of whether a fault has been detected, send a fault message to the customer edge device indicating that a fault is currently associated with the link between the customer edge device and the provider edge device. 
   
     
     
         11 . The provider edge device of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 a provider edge interface configured to communicate with a paired provider edge device;   wherein the active gateway election module is further configured to:
 determine, based on information received via the provider edge interface, that the paired provider edge device is currently experiencing a fault, 
 wherein the active gateway election module is configured to determine whether the provider edge device will be an active gateway for a connection in response to determining that the paired provider edge device is currently experiencing a fault. 
   
     
     
         12 . The provider edge device of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 a provider edge interface configured to communicate with a paired provider edge device,   wherein the fault reporting module is further configured to detect a fault associated with the link between the provider edge device and the customer edge device, and   wherein the active gateway election module is further configured to, in response to the fault reporting module detecting the fault, send an indication to the paired provider edge via the provider edge interface that the provider edge is currently experiencing a fault.   
     
     
         13 . The provider edge device of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 a provider edge interface configured to communicate with a paired provider edge device,   a backbone interface configured to communicate with at least one other device;   a pseudowire module configured to detect a fault on a link between the provider edge device and the at least one other device, and   wherein the is further configured to, in response to the pseudowire module detecting the fault, send an indication to the paired provider edge via the provider edge interface that the provider edge is currently experiencing a fault.   
     
     
         14 . The provider edge device of  claim 10 , wherein the fault reporting module is a connectivity fault management module and, in sending a no fault message to a customer edge device indicating that no fault is currently associated with a link between the customer edge device and the provider edge device, the connectivity fault management module is configured to:
 construct a connectivity fault message that indicates that no fault has been detected; and   transmit the connectivity fault message, via the customer edge interface, to a maintenance endpoint of the customer edge device.   
     
     
         15 . The provider edge device of  claim 10 , wherein the active gateway module is a border gateway protocol module and, in determining whether the provider edge device will be an active gateway for a connection, the border gateway protocol module is configured to elect an active gateway based on the border gateway protocol. 
     
     
         16 . The provider edge device of  claim 10 , wherein the active gateway module is configured to elect an active gateway based on at least one of:
 current connectivity fault management faults;   current pseudowire faults; and   border gateway protocol attributes.   
     
     
         17 . The provider edge device of  claim 10 , wherein the connection is a control connection, and
 wherein the fault reporting module is further configured to, for each fate shared connection of a set of fate-shared connections:
 based on a determination that the provider edge device will be the active gateway for the control connection, send a no fault message to a customer edge device indicating that no fault is currently associated with a link between the customer edge device and the provider edge device for the fate-shared connection; and 
 based on a determination that the provider edge device will not be the active gateway for the control connection, send a fault message to the customer edge device indicating that a fault is currently associated with the link between the customer edge device and the provider edge device for the fate-shared connection.