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Overview

Access Node Control Protocol (ANCP), also known as Layer 2 Control (L2C), is based on a subset of the General Switch Management Protocol (GSMP), as defined in the GSMPv3 Base Specification (draft-ietf-gsmp-v3-base-spec-07.txt). GSMP is a general purpose protocol used to control a label switch.

GSMP enables a controller to establish and release connections across the switch, add and delete leaves on a multicast connection, manage switch ports, request configuration information, request and delete reservation of switch resources, and request statistics. It also enables the switch to inform the controller of asynchronous events such as a link going down.

Deploying value-added services across digital subscriber line (DSL) access networks requires special attention to quality of service (QoS) and service control. This control depends on tighter coordination between network elements in the broadband access network while not causing added burden to the operations support system (OSS) layer.

ANCP is an extension to GSMPv3 that functions as a control plane between a service-oriented layer 3 edge device (the Broadband Remote Access Server) and a layer 2 access node. In this role, ANCP performs QoS-related, service-related, and subscriber-related operations. These operations include the following:

Dynamic discovery of the access topology and enabling an authentication server to retrieve this information
Subscriber and service data retrieval from the OSS by the Broadband Remote Access Server (B-RAS) and sending that information to the access node to simplify service management (referred to as line configuration)
An optimized, layer 2 multicast (IGMP) replication
On-demand access-line testing (ANCP Operation, Administration, and Maintenance)

JUNOSe software supports the use of RADIUS attributes to monitor ANCP-related information, such as upstream and downstream data rates. For information about using RADIUS attributes see JUNOSe Broadband Access Configuration Guide.

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