Method, Apparatus and Program Storage Device for Extending Dispersion Frame Technique Behavior Using Dynamic Rule Sets

• US 20090063906A1
• Filed: 11/06/2008
• Published: 03/05/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/10/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Yardley, Brent W., Jastad, Michael A., Phelan, Thomas G.
• Granted Patent: US 7,725,773 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 714/47
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/008 Reliability or availability analysis

Abstract

A method, apparatus and program storage device for providing control of statistical processing of error data over a multitude of sources using a dynamically modifiable DFT rule set is disclosed. The dispersion frame technique is extended in the present invention to provide dispersion frame rules with user-defined parameters thereby creating a dynamically modifiable rule set.

Claims

1. A computing device for use in an error data processing system, comprising:

memory to store error information;

a processor, coupled to the memory, to apply user defined error threshold data to a plurality of user-definable error threshold rules;

the processor to process error events of a same type, including detection of errors from a source and calculation of a time period between the plurality of errors;

the memory to store information related to the processed error events;

the processor to determine when one of the plurality of user-definable error threshold rules has been satisfied based on the stored information, including to determine that the detected plurality of errors satisfies a user-defined error dispersion index number, wherein the error dispersion index is the number of errors in half of the time period between errors of the same type; and

a reach of the user-defined error dispersion index number a user-defined number of time consecutively in the same time period between errors of the same type.

2. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the error information comprises information related to error interarrival time.

3. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the processor sends a warning when one of the plurality of user-definable error threshold rules has been satisfied.

4. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the processor determines when one of the plurality of user-definable error threshold rules has been satisfied by detecting errors occurring within a user-defined time frame and identifying the errors as one error when an error rate based on a calculated time period between the plurality of errors satisfies a user-definable error threshold rule.

5. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the processor determines when one of the plurality of user-definable error threshold rules has been satisfied based on the stored information by determining that the period of time between detected errors is less than a user-defined time frame.

6. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the processor determines when one of the plurality of user-definable error threshold rules has been satisfied based on the stored information by determining that a user-defined number of detected errors occur within a user-defined time frame.

7. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the processor determines when one of the plurality of user-definable error threshold rules has been satisfied based on the stored information by determining that a user-defined number of periods of time between errors occur at a non-increasing rate.

8. A computing device for use in an error data processing system, comprising:

application of user-defined error thresholds to a plurality of user-definable error threshold rules;

memory to store error information, the error information related to error source and error interarrival time;

a processor, coupled to the memory, to process error events of a same type, including detection of a plurality of errors from a source and calculation of a time period between the plurality of errors;

the memory to store information related to the processed error events; and

a determination when one of the plurality of user-definable error threshold rules has been satisfied based on the stored information, wherein the determination comprises determining that the detected plurality of errors satisfies a user-defined error dispersion index number, wherein the error dispersion index is the number of errors in half of the time period between errors of the same type.

9. A program storage device, comprising:

program instructions embodied on a computer readable storage medium, the instructions executable by a processing device to perform operations to provide error data processing having user-defined operations, the operations comprising;

applying user-defined error thresholds to a plurality of user-definable error threshold rules;

processing error events of a same type;

storing information related to the processed error events; and

determining when one of the plurality of user-definable error threshold rules has been satisfied based on the stored information, including determining that a user-defined number of periods of time between errors occurs at a non-increasing rate, and wherein errors occurring at a non-increasing rate further comprises user-defined number of errors occurring within half of a previous period of time between errors.

10. The program storage device of claim 9, wherein the operation of storing information related to the processed error events further comprising storing information related to the plurality of errors and the time periods between the plurality of errors.

11. The program storage device of claim 9, wherein the operation of determining when one of the plurality of user-definable error threshold rules has been satisfied further comprises comparing a number of detected errors and the time period between the plurality of errors to the user-definable error threshold rules.

12. The program storage device of claim 9, further comprising an operation to reach the user-defined error dispersion index number a user-defined number of times consecutively in the same period of time between errors of the same type.

13. The program storage device of claim 12, further comprising an operation to satisfy the user-defined error dispersion index number a user-defined number of times consecutively in two successive dispersion frames.

14. The program storage device of claim 9, wherein the operation to detect the plurality of errors comprises processing errors occurring within a user-defined time frame and identifying the errors on one error when an error rate based on the calculated time period between the plurality of errors satisfies a user-definable error threshold rule.

15. The program storage device of claim 9, further comprising an operation to send a warning when one of the plurality of user-definable error threshold rules has been satisfied.

16. The program storage device of claim 15, wherein the operation of warning is of a particular type based on the one of the plurality of user-definable error threshold rules.

17. The program storage device of claim 9, further comprising an operation to provide user-defined error thresholds for modifying the user-definable error threshold rules.

18. The program storage device of claim 9, wherein the operation of determining when one of the plurality of user-definable error threshold rules has been satisfied based on the stored information comprising an operation to determine that the period of time between detected errors is less than a user-defined time frame.

19. The program storage device of claim 9, wherein the operation to determine when one of the plurality of user-definable error threshold rules has been satisfied based on the stored information comprises an operation to determine that a user-defined number of detected errors occur within a user-defined time frame.

20. The program storage device of claim 9, wherein the operation to determine when one of the plurality of user-definable error threshold rules has been satisfied based on the stored information comprises an operation that determines that a user-defined number of periods of time between errors occurs at a non-increasing rate.