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What Is UAL?
Based on the Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP), the Ubiquitous Autonomous Link (UAL) protocol implements automatic discovery, networking, and diagnosis of network devices using technologies such as master role election, network element (NE) discovery, and network topology collection.
The UAL protocol is mainly used on high-quality office, production, and multi-branch campus networks. It enables secure and high-speed access for large-scale office and IoT terminals through service provisioning based on user service intents, automatic detection of network faults, and proactive optimization of user experience, thereby simplifying campus network management.
Why Do We Need UAL?
Digital development has become a global consensus. As the foundation of digital infrastructure, network connectivity plays an increasingly important role in promoting digital transformation of industries. Amidst the digital wave, conventional campus networks need to evolve to digital smart ones.
- Low deployment efficiency
Most campus networks are configured and commissioned using traditional commands, which is both time-consuming and labor-intensive.
- Difficult O&M
Upgrading devices is a difficult process. If exceptions occur during an upgrade, no quick recovery method is available. And if a fault occurs, the lack of automated troubleshooting capabilities means it is necessary to check devices one by one and review logs, alarms, and device configurations, resulting in low efficiency.
- Complex management
A campus network typically consists of at least wired, wireless, security, and terminal products spread across multiple locations, presenting significant management challenges.
To address these challenges, Huawei proposes the WebMaster solution, which enables local network management. It enables you to log in to any device on a campus network for unified visualization, management, and control of the entire campus network. The UAL protocol, as the core feature of the WebMaster solution, provides protocol channels for automatically discovering and managing NEs. Figure 1-1 shows its position in the WebMaster solution.
How Does UAL Work?
UAL Architecture
The UAL protocol enables discovery, organization, and management of NEs. It allows you to centrally manage the entire network after you log in to any connected device. Figure 1-2 shows the network architecture.
In this network architecture, NEs have two roles: master and member.
- Master: a device on which the UAL protocol is deployed. It provides automatic management capabilities for the entire network.
- Member: an NE managed by the master device.
Member Device Management Process
All NEs are physically connected and powered on. Figure 1-3 shows the process of managing member devices through the master device.
- IP addresses assignment
Create VLANIF1 on each NE and configure an IPv4 address for VLANIF1. You can use DHCP to dynamically assign IPv4 addresses or you can manually configure them. Ensure that the IP addresses of all NEs are in the same network segment.
- Master role election
The master device is manually specified among NEs that have the master election capability. If multiple NEs compete for the master role, the master device is elected by comparing the priority fields carried in UAL packets.
After the master device is elected, users at any location can access it using the specified virtual IP address (10.231.10.253).
- Automatic NE discovery
- The master device periodically sends broadcast packets to check whether other NEs exist.
- Upon receiving such a broadcast packet, an NE records the master device information and sends a unicast response packet to the master device.
- After receiving the response packet, the master device adds the NE to the device approval list. The NE becomes a member device of the master device.
- Network topology information collection
- You can select member devices to be managed from the device approval list.
- The master device sends topology collection packets to a member device to subscribe to its interface information and LLDP neighbor information.
- The member device replies with a unicast response packet carrying its interface information and LLDP neighbor information.
- After receiving the response from the member device, the master device calculates the network topology and displays it on WebMaster.
Key Technologies of UAL
The key technologies of UAL include automatic discovery, networking, and diagnosis. Table 1-1 describes these technologies.
Key Technology |
Definition |
Description |
Technical Value |
|---|---|---|---|
Automatic discovery |
Automatic discovery, authentication, and management of devices on the entire network based on the UAL protocol |
|
Devices on the entire network can be automatically discovered and managed. This reduces investment costs by eliminating the need to purchase servers and independent software. |
Automatic networking |
Generation and automatic deployment of network configurations based on the physical topologies and networking policies of the entire network |
Supports automated deployment of wired and wireless network configurations. For example, service VLANs can be automatically deployed on the entire network on demand. |
No manual planning or configuration is required, improving the deployment configuration and commissioning efficiency. |
Automatic diagnosis |
Automatic fault diagnosis based on network-wide topology changes and service intents |
Automatically detects and diagnoses topology faults, such as topology connection errors and loop configuration errors. |
The network topology is monitored in real time, improving O&M efficiency. |
Application Scenarios of UAL
WebMaster uses the UAL protocol to provide localized network management solutions for small- and medium-sized campus and branch networks.
These networks typically consist of a core layer and an access layer, composed of switches and APs. The number of devices on such a network ranges from a few to hundreds. Currently, the NMS deployment rate is low, with many networks still relying on traditional manual methods for deployment, configuration, and O&M. However, this manual approach lacks both usability and efficiency.
As shown in Figure 1-4, the WebMaster network management function can be deployed on the core switch, and no dedicated server is required for deploying a network management system. WebMaster uses the UAL protocol to automatically discover and manage devices on the entire network, implementing network-wide management, visualized O&M, and batch configuration.
- Author： Fu Dongyang
- Updated on： 2025-05-21
- Views： 1632
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