Method for automatic graphical profiling of a system

• US 20060147020A1
• Filed: 03/03/2005
• Published: 07/06/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Castillo, Cecilia M., Wilson, James, Roycraft, Theodore J.
• Granted Patent: US 7,881,440 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/220.10
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3604 Software analysis for verifying properties of programs byte-code verification G06F9/44589
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3612 by runtime analysis performance monitoring G06F11/3466
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3636 by tracing the execution of the program

Abstract

A method and apparatus for processing unique dialogs from a dialog system to identify paths through the dialog system, each unique dialog having a corresponding identified path and generating a visual call flow representation as a function of the identified paths of the dialog system, the call flow representation including nodes and edges connected to correspond to the identified paths.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

processing unique dialogs from a dialog system to identify paths through the dialog system, each unique dialog having a corresponding identified path; and

generating a visual call flow representation as a function of the identified paths of the dialog system, the call flow representation including nodes and edges connected to correspond to the identified paths.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the visual call flow representation includes a representation of a call flow specification.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the visual call representation includes the paths of the unique dialogs overlayed onto the call flow specification.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

processing additional unique dialogs, each unique dialog having a corresponding identified path; and

updating the visual call flow representation as a function of the identified paths of the dialog system.

5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

comparing the visual call flow representation to a call flow specification showing an expected operation of the dialog system, wherein identified paths shown by the visual call flow representation which are outside of the expected operation are identified on the visual call flow representation.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the visual call flow representation includes at least one of color, line type and additional visual attributes to identify one of the unique dialogs.

7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

processing one of the unique dialogs which was incomplete when initially processed resulting in an incomplete corresponding identified path; and

updating the visual call flow representation as a function of the fully processed one of the unique dialogs.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the visual call flow representation includes statistical values.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the statistical values include a raw count of a number of times each node and edge of the visual call flow representation is traversed by the unique dialogs.

10. The method according to claim 8, wherein the statistical values include percentages of node and edge traversal.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the visual call flow representation includes statistical values for a subset of the unique dialogs.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the visual call flow representation includes one of fading the paths having usage less than a first predetermined value and enhancing the paths having usage greater than a second predetermined value.

13. The method according to claim 1, further comprising dividing the visual call flow representation into separate pages.

14. The method according to claim 13, further comprising providing indices to relate the separate pages.

15. An apparatus for analyzing a dialog system, comprising:

a processor;

a display coupled to the processor; and

a memory coupled to the processor, the memory storing instructions adapted to be executed by the processor to,

process unique dialogs from the dialog system to identify paths through the dialog system, each unique dialog having a corresponding identified path, and

generate a visual call flow representation as a function of the identified paths of the dialog system, the call flow representation including nodes and edges connected to correspond to the identified paths.

16. The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the visual call flow representation includes at least one of color, line type and additional visual attributes to identify one of the unique dialogs.

17. The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the visual call flow representation includes statistical values.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein the statistical values include one of a raw count of a number of times each node and edge of the visual call flow representation is traversed by the unique dialogs and percentages of node and edge traversal.

19. A method, comprising:

transmitting system dialog to a communications network from a dialog system server;

receiving user dialog from at least one user communication device via the telecommunications network; and

generating a visual call flow diagram in real time using the system dialog and user dialog.

20. The method according to claim 19, further comprising comparing the visual call flow diagram with a call flow specification.

21. The method according to claim 19, wherein the visual call flow diagram includes a path based on the user dialog and the system dialog corresponding to the user dialog.

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein the path is identified by at least one of color, line type and additional visual attributes.