COMMUNICATION SYSTEM WITH MULTIPLE CENTER DEVICES TO ALLEVIATE NETWORK OUTAGE DUE TO FAULTS

摘要

A communication system capable of reliably recovering itscommunication functions on its own when a fault occurs, andwhich can be used to construct a highly flexible network.This communication system is configured so that a plurality ofnode devices (12) supporting data generating sources areconnected via communication paths (13) that use ATM technologyto a plurality of center devices (11), just as if it possesseddistributed ATM switch functions. When the communicationpaths (13) between two (2) node devices (12-2 and 12-3) arecut, the center device (11-2) detects the fault point, andautonomously recovers communication functions by transferringthe node device (12-2) originally under its control to thecontrol of the center device (11-1). When this happens, thecenter device 11-2) cannot communicate via the communicationpaths (13) due to the fault, and must use a localcommunication means such as a wide area network (16) tocommunicate with the center device (11-1).