Methods and systems for alarm correlation and fault localization in communication networks
First Claim
1. In a communications network having a plurality of devices connected therein, at least some of said devices responding to a perceived fault in said system by presenting an alarm, a method for identifying a fault in said communications network, said identifying method comprising the steps of:
- (a) identifying at least one activated alarm in said network, each said alarm being emitted by a corresponding one of said alarm emitting devices o connected within said communications network, and each said alarm indicating knowledge of the corresponding device state or the corresponding device interface state;
(b) assigning to each identified alarm at least one primitive from a plurality of predefined primitives, each said assigned primitive indicating a relative fault location within the network with respect to the corresponding device;
(c) mapping each said alarm with said at least one assigned primitive to a representative portion of said network, said portion corresponding to the relative fault location indicated by said at least one assigned primitive, wherein a set of possible faulted device locations is defined for each alarm; and
(d) using the defined fault location set to determine a possible location of an actual fault in said network.
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Abstract
An approach for modeling and solving the problem of fault localization and alarm correlation in large communication networks is presented. Specifically, a new alarm structure is presented along with a general model for representing a communications network. Several specific processing algorithms are provided for solving alarm correlation and fault localization problems in the presence of one or more faults. These algorithms differ in the degree of accuracy achieved in locating a fault, and in the degree of complexity required for implementation.
172 Citations
22 Claims
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1. In a communications network having a plurality of devices connected therein, at least some of said devices responding to a perceived fault in said system by presenting an alarm, a method for identifying a fault in said communications network, said identifying method comprising the steps of:
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(a) identifying at least one activated alarm in said network, each said alarm being emitted by a corresponding one of said alarm emitting devices o connected within said communications network, and each said alarm indicating knowledge of the corresponding device state or the corresponding device interface state; (b) assigning to each identified alarm at least one primitive from a plurality of predefined primitives, each said assigned primitive indicating a relative fault location within the network with respect to the corresponding device; (c) mapping each said alarm with said at least one assigned primitive to a representative portion of said network, said portion corresponding to the relative fault location indicated by said at least one assigned primitive, wherein a set of possible faulted device locations is defined for each alarm; and (d) using the defined fault location set to determine a possible location of an actual fault in said network. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A system for identifying a fault in a communications network having a plurality of devices connected therein, at least some of said devices responding to a perceived fault in said system by presenting an alarm, said system comprising:
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means for identifying multiple activated alarms in said network, each said alarm being emitted by a corresponding one of said alarm emitting devices connected within said communications network, and each alarm indicating knowledge of the corresponding device state or the corresponding device interface state; means for assigning to each identified alarm at least one primitive from a plurality of predefined primitives, each assigned primitive indicating a relative fault location within the network with respect to the corresponding device; means for mapping each alarm with its assigned primitive to a representative portion of said network, said representative portion corresponding to the relative fault location indicated by said at least one assigned primitive, wherein a set of possible fault locations is defined for each alarm; and means for determining a possible location of an actual fault in said network using said defined fault location sets produced by said mapping means. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A system for identifying a fault in a communications network having a plurality of devices connected therein, at least some of said devices responding to a perceived fault in said system by presenting an alarm, said fault identifying system comprising:
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an alarm recognizer for recognizing each device presented alarm and translating said alarm into a normalized form, said normalized alarm form including a relative indication of the fault location within the network with respect to the corresponding device; and an alarm manager coupled to said alarm recognizer for receiving said normalized alarms, said alarm manager having access to the topology of said communications network for producing a set of possible fault locations for each normalized alarm, said alarm manager further including means for determining a possible location of an actual fault in said network using said defined fault location sets. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22)
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Specification