Network operation
First Claim
1. A method of managing a communications network comprising:
- obtaining a plurality of network operational data items relating to the operation of said communications network, each of said network operational data items comprising one or more attributes, each attribute comprising an attribute name and one or more values for that attribute, at least one of said network operational data items providing a plurality of values for each of one or more attributes;
calculating, for each two-way combination of network operational data items, a data item similarity measure by comparing the two network operational data items in the two-way combination, each of said data item similarity measures being calculated by;
a) comparing names of attributes to identify one or more commonly named attributes in the two network operational data items; and
b) calculating, for each of said one or more commonly named attributes, an attribute value similarity measure;
wherein, for cases where at least one of the two network operational data items in the two-way combination provides a plurality of values for a commonly named attribute, said attribute value similarity measure calculation comprises;
i) finding, for each of the plurality of values provided for said commonly named attribute in said at least one network operational data item, an attribute value similarity component with respect to each of the one or more values provided for said commonly named attribute in the other network operational data item; and
ii) aggregating the attribute value similarity components to calculate said attribute value similarity measure for said commonly named attribute;
classifying network operational data items into classes in dependence upon said data item similarity measures; and
operating a network controller to send control commands to the network to automatically apply common class-specific treatment in response to network operational data items in one of said classes.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method of operating a communications network is disclosed. In order to manage a network, it is first necessary to establish the state the network is in. This is difficult in practice because the network operational data stored and transmitted in the network takes a myriad of forms owing to the variety of suppliers and types of network equipment. There is a need to distil that network operational data down to aggregate network operational data which can be taken to provide an indication of the state of the network which is of a manageable size, and to which network management apparatus can react by sending control commands to the network. The problem of generating aggregate network operational data is difficult because of the heterogeneity of network operational data items. By finding attribute names in different network operational data items which match one another, and then comparing attribute values provided from those matching attribute names, a comparison of heterogeneous network operational data items is enabled. This enables the production of network aggregate data which more accurately reflects the operational state of the network. This in turn leads to the network management apparatus controlling the network to operate in a more efficient manner than has hitherto been possible.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of managing a communications network comprising:
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obtaining a plurality of network operational data items relating to the operation of said communications network, each of said network operational data items comprising one or more attributes, each attribute comprising an attribute name and one or more values for that attribute, at least one of said network operational data items providing a plurality of values for each of one or more attributes; calculating, for each two-way combination of network operational data items, a data item similarity measure by comparing the two network operational data items in the two-way combination, each of said data item similarity measures being calculated by; a) comparing names of attributes to identify one or more commonly named attributes in the two network operational data items; and b) calculating, for each of said one or more commonly named attributes, an attribute value similarity measure; wherein, for cases where at least one of the two network operational data items in the two-way combination provides a plurality of values for a commonly named attribute, said attribute value similarity measure calculation comprises; i) finding, for each of the plurality of values provided for said commonly named attribute in said at least one network operational data item, an attribute value similarity component with respect to each of the one or more values provided for said commonly named attribute in the other network operational data item; and ii) aggregating the attribute value similarity components to calculate said attribute value similarity measure for said commonly named attribute; classifying network operational data items into classes in dependence upon said data item similarity measures; and operating a network controller to send control commands to the network to automatically apply common class-specific treatment in response to network operational data items in one of said classes. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. Network control apparatus comprising:
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a receiver arranged in operation to receive a plurality of network operational data items relating to an operation of a communications network, each of said network operational data items comprising one or more attributes, each attribute comprising an attribute name and one or more values for that attribute, at least one of said network operational data items providing a plurality of values for each of one or more attributes; a network operational data item classifier arranged in operation to; calculate, for each two-way combination of network operational data items, by comparing the two network operational data items in the two-way combination, a data item similarity by; a) comparing names of attributes to identify one or more commonly named attributes in the two network operational data items; and b) calculating, for each of said one or more commonly named attributes, an attribute value similarity measure; wherein, for cases where at least one of said the two network operational data items in the two-way combination provides a plurality of values for a commonly named attribute, said attribute value similarity measure calculation comprises; i) finding, for each of the plurality of values provided for said commonly named attribute in said at least one network operational data item, an attribute value similarity component with respect to each of the one or more values provided for said commonly named attribute in the other network operational data item; and ii) aggregating the attribute value similarity components to calculate said attribute value similarity measure for said commonly named attribute; classify network operational data items into classes in dependence upon said data item similarity measures; and a network controller arranged in operation to automatically apply common class-specific treatment in response to network operational data items in one or more of said classes found by said classifier. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A computer-implemented method of classifying network operational data comprising:
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obtaining a plurality of network operational data items relating to an operation of a communications network, each of said network operational data items comprising one or more attributes, each attribute comprising an attribute name and one or more values for that attribute, at least one of said network operational data items providing a plurality of values for each of one or more attributes; calculating, for each two-way combination of network operational data items, by comparing the two network operational data items in the two-way combination, a data item similarity measure by; a) comparing names of attributes to identify one or more commonly named attributes in the two network operational data items; and b) calculating, for each of said one or more commonly named attributes, an attribute value similarity measure; wherein, for cases where at least one of said the two network operational data items in the two-way combination provides a plurality of values for a commonly named attribute, said attribute value similarity measure calculation comprises; i) finding, for each of the plurality of values provided for said commonly named attribute in said at least one network operational data item, an attribute value similarity component with respect to each of the one or more values provided for said commonly named attribute in the other network operational data item; and ii) aggregating the attribute value similarity components to calculate said attribute value similarity measure for said commonly named attribute; classifying network operational data items into classes in dependence upon said data item similarity measures; and operating a network controller to send control commands to the network to automatically apply common class-specific treatment in response to network operational data items in one of said classed.
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Specification