Resilient Packet Ring

Resilient Packet Ring (RPR ) is a relatively new network technology that has been specified by the IEEE standard 802.17. It is a network protocol that is specifically designed for the optimized transport of data traffic over fiber rings. A key aspect of the definition of the protocol was there to take advantage of the strong self-healing capability of SONET / SDH networks. This important feature allows the switch automatically during line interruptions to a spare routing and easy to create ( Umschaltedauer within about 50 ms). But rather than - as in SONET / SDH - set up on line-oriented connections, the concept of RPR is based in the data transmission to packet- oriented connections, bringing the power of Ethernet and IP - based services should be increased.

History of development

The development of RPR was mainly initiated by adding that with the TCP / IP protocol family a packet-oriented transmission technology had prevailed. However, associated with this generation effects led to an ever increasingly inefficient utilization of the available transmission capacity. The reason for this lay in the unzureichenenden coordination between the existing classical ( line-oriented ) transmission technologies in the two lowest layers of the OSI reference model and the new packet-oriented technologies that rely on the services offered by these layers. With the implementation of RPR is therefore especially this lack are eliminated in the architectural design and a resource-efficient combination of the previously divergent technologies are achieved. When using RPR therefore several advantages for the operators of wide-area networks:

  • A more efficient use of the available transmission capacity
  • The standardization of the network architecture used
  • The optimization of operational processes

Characterization

The RPR the underlying network architecture consists of two counter-rotating rings transmission, the so-called ringlets ( Engl. ringlets ). These ringlets are formed by the implementation of RPR stations and nodes, and operate in opposite directions, ie the data flow in the two rings is held each in the opposite direction. This has the advantage that, after the interruption of a ring, a short circuit between the two rings can be made and the data stream affected by the failure can be redirected to the other ring.

Network packet
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