Multiplex communications – Diagnostic testing – Fault detection
Patent
1997-02-28
1999-05-18
Pham, Chi H.
Multiplex communications
Diagnostic testing
Fault detection
370244, 370248, 39518301, 371 201, H01J3/14
Patent
active
059057157
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to network management systems for communications networks. It finds particular application, for instance, in any one or more of fault, test and performance management systems.
In providing and operating a communications network, it is clearly important that monitoring and control functionality is provided to support various management aspects of the network, including performance and configuration as well as fault management. In more recent times, not only does the network itself have to be managed, but the services provided by means of the network also have to be managed.
Various network management systems are known and published. For instance, network management is discussed in "Communications Networks: A First Course" by Jean Walrand, published in 1991 by Richard D Irwin Inc and Aksen Associates Inc, US. Another relevant publication is "Telecommunications Network Management into the 21st Century", edited by Salah Aidarous and Thomas Plevyak and copublished in 1994 by the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc, US.
In general, a network management system has to have interfaces with the network it is managing so that it can monitor or test various aspects such as the current configuration and traffic conditions, and whether it is performing satisfactorily, ie meeting any performance criteria applicable. Preferably, the system will be able to detect such indicators as performance deterioration so that faults can be predicted and acted on in advance. Another purpose of the interfaces is for output from the network management system to the network so as to correct or control aspects of the network.
Historically, the emphasis has inevitably been on monitoring and controlling the hardware of the network itself, the switches and multiplexors for instance which are carrying the traffic. The services provided by the networks were relatively simple. However, as communications has developed in recent times, with the huge proliferation in services as well as network hardware, network management systems have had to encompass functionality for installing, monitoring and controlling service functionality together with supporting technologies such as billing and charging.
In some cases, service management systems have been treated as separate entities from the network management systems and, in other cases, as different functions of the same equipment development.
It is important that the approach taken is consistent and flexible, so that the network operator or service provider can react quickly to problems and demands involving hardware or software of the networks, of the services, or arising at the customer interfaces, as well as to competitor activities, and it is clearly preferable if any strategy used is able to accommodate new networks and new services.
A management system for a network needs to have an interface to the network itself, in order to pick up information and output control messages for instance, and then to have a view of the network according to which it can process the information. Complex communications networks, the services they provide and the associated management systems, have been described for management purposes in terms of having different layers or domains. Such layers or domains have started with for instance the network equipment itself, the network layer, which is then monitored and controlled by means of a network management layer (NML). For services provided by the network, there may be a separate service management layer (SML).
A network management system of this type, structured according to functionality and viewed in terms of layers, has been published by the present applicant as an architecture known as the "Co-operative Network Architecture for Management" (CNA-M). Documentation in respect of CNA-M can be obtained from the CNA Secretariat, British Telecommunications pic, St. Vincent House, Ipswich, Suffolk IP1 1UX (UK). It defines a structural architecture within which business proc
REFERENCES:
patent: 5475732 (1995-12-01), Pester, III
patent: 5784359 (1998-07-01), Bencheck et al.
patent: 5787074 (1998-07-01), Browmiller et al.
Azarmi Nader
Corley Stephen Leslie
British Telecommunications public limited company
Duong Frank
Pham Chi H.
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