Communications: electrical – Condition responsive indicating system – With particular system function
Reexamination Certificate
2001-09-28
2003-04-15
Pope, Daryl (Department: 2632)
Communications: electrical
Condition responsive indicating system
With particular system function
C340S286010, C340S517000, C340S521000, C340S003100, C340S870030, C340S870030
Reexamination Certificate
active
06549128
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention generally relates to the field of network data communications. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method, system, and apparatus for remotely resetting false alarms generated by data network equipment.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Recent advances and improvements in communications technology provide the communications industry with an enormous number of opportunities to improve existing services and to branch into new service areas. For instance, thousands of miles of fiber optic cable have been deployed in optical networks. These optical networks make possible the transmission of large amounts of information at great speeds and are used to carry voice signals, data, and video.
The management and monitoring of a large optical network, or other types of large networks, can be difficult and expensive. In order to oversee the operation of large networks from a central location, network reliability centers are utilized. Network reliability centers monitor the operation of a network and alert technicians when a problem occurs. For instance, if network equipment, also called network elements, become inoperative for some reason, an operator at the network reliability center would be notified. A technician may then be dispatched to repair the inoperative equipment.
One of the most expensive and time consuming problems that occurs at network reliability centers is the large number of false alarms that are received from network equipment. One of the major sources of such false alarms is network equipment that has been configured, or provisioned for environmental alarms, but which is not properly connected to the appropriate environmental sensors. For instance, some types of network equipment can detect the presence of fire or water and, if fire or water is detected, generate a network alarm. In order for the equipment to correctly generate such alarms, the equipment must be configured to indicate that the fire and water environmental sensors are installed. Additionally, the environmental sensors must be properly connected to the appropriate port on the device. If the equipment is provisioned to indicate that the environmental sensors are installed, but in fact the sensors are not installed, a false alarm will be generated by the equipment and transmitted to the network reliability center.
One way to eliminate the false alarms generated by such network equipment is to send a field service technician out to the physical location of the equipment. The technician can then manually provision the network device correctly for the installed environmental sensors or other features. However, in networks that have a large number of network locations that are geographically distant, sending technicians out to each network site can be time consuming and costly. The time, energy, and money spent troubleshooting false alarms could be utilized to diagnose and troubleshoot real network problems.
Accordingly, in light of the above, there is a need for a method, system, and apparatus for eliminating falsely generated alarms in network elements that can remotely provision network elements to eliminate false alarms without sending a service technician to the physical location of the elements. Moreover, there is a need for a method, system, and apparatus for eliminating false alarms in network elements that can quickly provision a large number of geographically distant network elements to eliminate falsely generated alarms.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention meets the above-described needs by providing a method, system, and apparatus for remotely provisioning network elements that can remotely eliminate false alarms without requiring a service technician to be sent to the physical location of the network element. Moreover, the present invention meets the above-described needs by providing a method, system, and apparatus for provisioning network elements that can quickly provision a large number of geographically distant network elements to eliminate falsely generated alarms.
Generally described, the present invention provides a method for remotely provisioning a network element to eliminate a false alarm generated by the network element because of improperly provisioned features. According to one actual embodiment of the present invention, a request is received to reset a false alarm generated by a network element. This request is typically initiated at a network reliability center (“NRC”) or other type of network operations center. In response to the request, a communications connection is established with the network element. Commands are then transmitted to the network element instructing the network element to provision one or more features supported by the network element to an “in service”, or active, state. The identified features correspond to features supported by the network element for which a false alarm should be reset.
Once the features have been provisioned to an “in-service” state, the network element is queried for the identities of one or more active alarms present in the network element following the provisioning of features to an “in service” state. For each alarm present in the network element following provisioning the features to an “in service” state, the features corresponding to each active alarm are provisioned to an “out of service”, or inactive, state. In this manner, only features that are actually installed or connected to the network element are provisioned to an “in service” state. Features that are not installed or that are not correctly connected to the network element are provisioned to an “out of service” state. Following provisioning, no false alarms will be generated by the network element because of improperly provisioned features.
According to one actual embodiment of the present invention, the identity of all active alarms in the network element are retrieved from the network element prior to performing any provisioning. The identities of all active alarms are then saved in a network element status database. In this manner, a “snapshot” is taken of the network element prior to making any configuration changes. A description of all system components contained within the network element may also be retrieved prior to performing any provisioning. This data may also be stored in a network element status database.
The present invention also provides a system for remotely provisioning a network element to eliminate a falsely generated alarm. The system provided according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises a network element supporting one or more features and operative to generate an alarm corresponding to each one of the features that are not correctly installed. The system also comprises a synchronous optical network (“SONET”) transport center that is capable of remotely connecting to the network element and issuing commands to the network element.
In one actual embodiment of the present invention, the SONET transport center connects to a network element for which one or more false alarms should be reset. The SONET transport center then issues commands to the network element instructing the network element to provision features for which an alarm should be reset to an “in service”, or active, state. Following the provisioning of the features to an “in service” state, the SONET transport center queries the network element for the identities of all active alarms in the network element. For each alarm still active following provisioning features to an “in service” state, the SONET transport center instructs the network element to provision the corresponding feature to an inactive, or “out of service” state. In this manner, the SONET transport center may reset all active alarms within the network element and correctly provision the network element so that additional false alarms will not be generated.
The present invention also provides a computer-controlled apparatus and a computer-readable medium for remotely provisioning a network element to eliminate a falsely generated alarm. Additional
Hopson Vicki Smith
Smith Jeffery Alan
BellSouth Intellectual Property Corporation
Merchant & Gould
Pope Daryl
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