System and method of proactively and reactively diagnosing a data communication network
First Claim
1. An expert system for diagnosing a data communication network, the expert system comprising:
- (1) a knowledge base comprising a plurality of rules, a first subset of said rules pertaining to reactive diagnosis and a second subset of said rules pertaining to proactive diagnosis, said reactive diagnosis rules corresponding to diagnosis of the data communication network performed by said expert system in response to requests from users, and said proactive diagnosis rules corresponding to diagnosis of the data communication network automatically performed by said expert system without prior requests from users;
(2) a communication medium for exchanging within said expert system questions which pertain to diagnosis of the data communication network;
(3) a plurality of modules for processing said questions, comprising;
(a) a measurement module for enabling a measurement device, coupled to the data communication network, to perform network measurements to collect network data in accordance with a first subset of said questions;
(b) a remote module for obtaining in accordance with a second subset of said questions network data from a remote data communication network, the remote data communication network being external to said expert system and being external to the data communication network, said network data obtained from the remote data communication network pertaining to the interaction between the remote data communication network and the data communication network;
(c) a user question module for interacting with users to obtain user information, said user information being used to generate network data in accordance with a third subset of said questions;
(d) a rule module for processing a fourth subset of said questions in accordance with said rules contained in said knowledge base, said rule module comprising;
(i) means for using forward rules to hypothesize whether network problems exist in the data communication network based on said network data collected by said measurement, remote, and user question modules; and
(ii) means for using backward rules to verify whether said hypothesized network problems exist in the data communication network based on said network data collected by said measurement, remote, and user question modules;
(4) a facilitator for selecting modules to process said questions, comprising;
(a) means for sending a poll request associated with one of said questions to said modules, said modules comprising means for responding to said poll request by generating estimates relating to their respective efficiencies and effectiveness in processing said one of said questions;
(b) means for receiving and analyzing said estimates from said modules to identify a module which can most efficiently and effectively process said one of said questions;
(c) means for instructing said identified module to process said one of said questions;
wherein said rule module further comprises means for proactively diagnosing the data communication network, said proactive diagnosing means comprising;
proactive diagnosis identifying means for identifying in said knowledge base one of said rules pertaining to proactive diagnosis;
means for formulating questions based on said one of said rules pertaining to proactive diagnosis; and
means for circulating said formulated questions within said expert system by placing said formulated questions in said communication medium.
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Abstract
An expert system for diagnosing a data communication network is discussed. The expert system includes a knowledge base comprising a plurality of rules pertaining to reactive and proactive diagnosis of the network. The expert system also includes a plurality of modules for processing network-related questions, such as a rule module which uses forward rules to hypothesize whether network problems exist, and which uses backward rules to verify whether the hypothesized network problems exist. The expert system further includes a facilitator for selecting modules to process the questions. The facilitator operates by sending a poll request associated with one of the questions to the modules, analyzing estimates from the modules to identify a module which can most efficiently and effectively process the question, and instructing the identified module to process the question. The rule module also operates to proactively diagnose the data communication network by identifying in the knowledge base a rule pertaining to proactive diagnosis, formulating questions based on the rule, and circulating the formulated questions within the expert system.
96 Citations
13 Claims
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1. An expert system for diagnosing a data communication network, the expert system comprising:
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(1) a knowledge base comprising a plurality of rules, a first subset of said rules pertaining to reactive diagnosis and a second subset of said rules pertaining to proactive diagnosis, said reactive diagnosis rules corresponding to diagnosis of the data communication network performed by said expert system in response to requests from users, and said proactive diagnosis rules corresponding to diagnosis of the data communication network automatically performed by said expert system without prior requests from users; (2) a communication medium for exchanging within said expert system questions which pertain to diagnosis of the data communication network; (3) a plurality of modules for processing said questions, comprising; (a) a measurement module for enabling a measurement device, coupled to the data communication network, to perform network measurements to collect network data in accordance with a first subset of said questions; (b) a remote module for obtaining in accordance with a second subset of said questions network data from a remote data communication network, the remote data communication network being external to said expert system and being external to the data communication network, said network data obtained from the remote data communication network pertaining to the interaction between the remote data communication network and the data communication network; (c) a user question module for interacting with users to obtain user information, said user information being used to generate network data in accordance with a third subset of said questions; (d) a rule module for processing a fourth subset of said questions in accordance with said rules contained in said knowledge base, said rule module comprising; (i) means for using forward rules to hypothesize whether network problems exist in the data communication network based on said network data collected by said measurement, remote, and user question modules; and (ii) means for using backward rules to verify whether said hypothesized network problems exist in the data communication network based on said network data collected by said measurement, remote, and user question modules; (4) a facilitator for selecting modules to process said questions, comprising; (a) means for sending a poll request associated with one of said questions to said modules, said modules comprising means for responding to said poll request by generating estimates relating to their respective efficiencies and effectiveness in processing said one of said questions; (b) means for receiving and analyzing said estimates from said modules to identify a module which can most efficiently and effectively process said one of said questions; (c) means for instructing said identified module to process said one of said questions; wherein said rule module further comprises means for proactively diagnosing the data communication network, said proactive diagnosing means comprising; proactive diagnosis identifying means for identifying in said knowledge base one of said rules pertaining to proactive diagnosis; means for formulating questions based on said one of said rules pertaining to proactive diagnosis; and means for circulating said formulated questions within said expert system by placing said formulated questions in said communication medium. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of diagnosing a data communication network the method for use in an expert system comprising a knowledge base comprising a plurality of rules, a first subset of the rules pertaining to reactive diagnosis and a second subset of the rules pertaining to proactive diagnosis, the reactive diagnosis rules corresponding to diagnosis of the data communication network performed by the expert system in response to requests from users, and the proactive diagnosis rules corresponding to diagnosis of the data communication network automatically performed by the expert system without prior requests from users, the expert system also comprising a plurality of modules for processing questions pertaining to diagnosis of the data communication network, the method comprising the steps of:
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(1) proactively diagnosing tile data communication network, comprising the steps of; (a) identifying in the knowledge base one of the rules pertaining to proactive diagnosis, (b) formulating questions based on said one of the rules pertaining to proactive diagnosis; (2) selecting modules to process said formulated questions, comprising the steps of; (a) sending a poll request associated with one of said formulated questions to the modules; (b) receiving from the modules estimates relating to their respective efficiencies and effectiveness in processing said one of said formulated questions; (c) analyzing said estimates from the modules to identify a module which can most efficiently and effectively process said one of said formulated questions; (d) instructing a measurement module to process said one of said formulated questions if the measurement module is identified as being the most efficient and effective module at processing said one of said formulated questions, the measurement module comprising means for enabling a measurement device, coupled to the data communication network, to perform network measurements to collect network data in accordance with said one of said formulated questions; (e) instructing a remote module to process said one of said formulated questions if the remote module is identified as being the most efficient and effective module at processing said one of said formulated questions, the remote module comprising means for obtaining in accordance with said one of said formulated questions network data from a remote data communication network, the remote data communication network being external to the expert system and being external to the data communication network, said network data obtained from the remote data communication network pertaining to the interaction between the remote data communication network and the data communication network; and (f) instructing a rule module to process said one of said formulated questions if the rule module is identified as being the most efficient and effective module at processing said one of said formulated questions, the rule module comprising means for using forward rules from the knowledge base to hypothesize whether network problems exist in the data communication network based on said network data collected by the modules, and means for using backward rules to verify whether said hypothesized network problems exist in the data communication network based on said network data collected by the modules. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13)
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Specification