Model based reasoning system for network fault diagnosis
First Claim
1. A computer-based method utilizing model-based reasoning for performing fault diagnosis in a network having components and subcomponents, the method comprising the steps of:
- providing a component library that stores, as a hierarchical structure, possible components and subcomponents for the network, information related to components and subcomponents, and interrelationships between components and subcomponents;
providing a network topology information base that models the components and subcomponents of the network;
providing a plurality of situations, each situation being an assertion about a single component of the network or a set of components of the network, each situation including an inclination that specifies whether the assertion is to be proved or refuted, each situation optionally including an action that is associated with procedural code to perform a fault diagnostic function, each situation optionally including one or more links to related situations;
receiving a report of a problem in a component of the network;
instigating a root situation representing the problem reported, the root situation being one of the plurality of situations;
setting the inclination of the root situation to prove; and
performing a hierarchical diagnosis to diagnose the problem reported by;
(i) performing the action for the root situation if the root situation has an action that supports the inclination of the root situation,(ii) if the root situation does not have an action that supports the inclination for the root situation, utilizing the component library to select other situations that will support the inclination of the root situation,(iii) setting the inclination for each selected situation,(iv) performing the action for each selected situation if the selected situation has an action that supports the inclination of the selected situation,(v) if the selected situation does not have an action that supports the inclination for the selected situation, utilizing the component library to select other situations linked to the selected situation that will support the inclination of the selected situation, and(vi) recursively repeating substeps (iii) to (v) for each selected situation until the fault is diagnosed.
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Abstract
A model-based reasoning system for diagnosing faults in a computer network has an information base that stores information about the computer network. This information includes the topology of the network, a class hierarchy containing a component library and diagnostic expertise, and a diagnosis episode. A diagnosis engine receives a pointer to a situation. Each situation includes a focus role and a most general class for the focus role. Based upon this situation, the diagnosis engine creates a diagnosis episode, using the information stored in the information base.
73 Citations
38 Claims
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1. A computer-based method utilizing model-based reasoning for performing fault diagnosis in a network having components and subcomponents, the method comprising the steps of:
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providing a component library that stores, as a hierarchical structure, possible components and subcomponents for the network, information related to components and subcomponents, and interrelationships between components and subcomponents; providing a network topology information base that models the components and subcomponents of the network; providing a plurality of situations, each situation being an assertion about a single component of the network or a set of components of the network, each situation including an inclination that specifies whether the assertion is to be proved or refuted, each situation optionally including an action that is associated with procedural code to perform a fault diagnostic function, each situation optionally including one or more links to related situations; receiving a report of a problem in a component of the network; instigating a root situation representing the problem reported, the root situation being one of the plurality of situations; setting the inclination of the root situation to prove; and
performing a hierarchical diagnosis to diagnose the problem reported by;(i) performing the action for the root situation if the root situation has an action that supports the inclination of the root situation, (ii) if the root situation does not have an action that supports the inclination for the root situation, utilizing the component library to select other situations that will support the inclination of the root situation, (iii) setting the inclination for each selected situation, (iv) performing the action for each selected situation if the selected situation has an action that supports the inclination of the selected situation, (v) if the selected situation does not have an action that supports the inclination for the selected situation, utilizing the component library to select other situations linked to the selected situation that will support the inclination of the selected situation, and (vi) recursively repeating substeps (iii) to (v) for each selected situation until the fault is diagnosed. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A computer-based method utilizing model-based reasoning for performing fault diagnosis in a network having components, the method comprising the steps of:
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storing in a component library, as a hierarchical structure, possible components for the network, information related to components, and interrelationships between components; storing a plurality of situations, each situation being an assertion about one or more components of the network, each situation including an inclination that specifies whether the assertion is to be proved or refuted, each situation optionally including an action to perform a diagnostic function, each situation optionally including one or more links to other situations; receiving a report of a fault in a component of the network; instigating a root situation representing the problem reported, the root situation being one of the plurality of situations; creating a diagnosis tree by; (i) adding the action for the root situation to an agenda, (ii) if the root situation does not have an action, utilizing the component library to select other situations that will support the inclination of the root situation, (iii) adding the action for each selected situation to the agenda if the selected situation has an action, (iv) if the selected situation does not have an action, utilizing the component library to select other situations that will support the inclination of the selected situation, and (v) recursively repeating substeps (iii) and (iv) for each selected situation; ranking each action on the agenda according to a preselected scheme; performing, in turn, each action on the agenda until the fault in the network is identified. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A computer-based method utilizing model-based reasoning for performing fault diagnosis in a network having components, the method comprising the steps of:
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providing a class hierarchy, the class hierarchy including a component library and diagnostic expertise, the component library storing possible components for the network and interrelationships between components; providing a plurality of situations, each situation being an assertion about one or more components of the network, each situation including an inclination that specifies whether the assertion is to be proved or refuted, each situation optionally including an action to perform a diagnostic function, receiving a report of a fault in a component of the network; instigating a root situation representing the problem reported, the root situation being one of the plurality of situations; and creating a diagnosis tree by; (i) adding the action for the root situation to an agenda, (ii) if the root situation does not have an action, utilizing the class hierarchy to select other situations that will support the inclination of the root situation, (iii) adding the action for each selected situation to the agenda if the selected situation has an action, (iv) if the selected situation does not have an action, utilizing the class hierarchy to select other situations that will support the inclination of the selected situation, (v) recursively repeating substeps (iii) and (iv) for each selected situation, and (vi) performing each action on the agenda to elicit information to prove or refute a selected situation until the fault in the network is identified. - View Dependent Claims (19)
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20. A computer-implement system for performing fault diagnosis in a computer network having components and subcomponents, the system comprising:
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a component library storing, as a hierarchical structure, possible components and subcomponents for the network, information related to components and subcomponents, and interrelationships between components and subcomponents; a network topology information base modelling the components and subcomponents of the network; a plurality of situations, each situation being an assertion about a single component of the network or a set of components of the network, each situation including an inclination that specifies whether the assertion is to be proved or refuted, each situation optionally including an action that is associated with procedural code to perform a fault diagnostic function, each situation optionally including one or more links to related situations; means for receiving a report of a problem in a component of the network; means for instigating a root situation representing the problem reported, the root situation being one of the plurality of situations; and means for performing a hierarchical diagnosis, said means including; (i) means for performing the action for the root situation if the root situation has an action that supports the inclination of the root situation, (ii) means for utilizing the component library to select other situations linked to the root situation that will support the inclination of the root situation if the root situation does not have an action that supports the inclination for the root situation, (iii) means for setting the inclination for each selected situation, (iv) means for performing the action for each selected situation if the selected situation has an action that supports the inclination of the selected situation, and (v) means for utilizing the component library to select other situations linked to a selected situation that will support the inclination of the selected situation if the selected situation does not have an action that supports the inclination for the selected situation. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A computer-implemented system for performing fault diagnosis in a network having components, the system comprising:
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a component library storing, as a hierarchical structure, possible components for the network and interrelationships between components; a plurality of situations, each situation being an assertion about one or more components of the network, each situation including an inclination that specifies whether the assertion is to be proved or refuted, each situation optionally including an action to perform a diagnostic function, each situation optionally including one or more links to related situations; means for receiving a report of a fault in a component of the network; means for instigating a root situation representing the problem reported, the root situation being one of the plurality of situations; means for creating a diagnosis tree, said means including means for adding the action for the root situation to an agenda, means for utilizing the component library to select other situations that will support the inclination of the root situation if the root situation does not have an action, means for adding the action for each selected situation to the agenda if the selected situation has an action, and means for utilizing the component library to select other situations that will support the inclination of the selected situation if the selected situation does not have an action; means for ranking each action on the agenda according to a preselected scheme; and means for performing, in turn, each action on the agenda until the fault in the network is identified. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A computer-implemented system utilizing a model-based reasoning for performing fault diagnosis in a computer network having components, the system comprising:
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a class hierarchy including a component library and diagnostic expertise, the component library storing possible components for the network and interrelationships between components; a plurality of situations, each situation being an assertion about one or more components of the network, each situation including an inclination that specifies whether the assertion is to be proved or refuted, each situation optionally including an action to perform a diagnostic function, each situation optionally including one or more links to related situations; means for receiving a report of a fault in a component of the network; means for instigating a root situation representing the problem reported, the root situation being one of the plurality of situations; and means for creating a diagnosis tree, said means including; means for adding the action for the root situation to an agenda, means for utilizing the class hierarchy to select other situations that will support the inclination of the root situation if the root situation does not have an action, means for adding the action for each selected situation to the agenda if the selected situation has an action, means for utilizing the class hierarchy to select other situations that will support the inclination of the selected situation if the selected situation does not have an action, and means for performing each action on the agenda to elicit information to prove or refute a situation until the fault in the network is identified. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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Specification