Tracing with keys and locks on a telecommunication network

• US 5,471,526 A
• Filed: 02/28/1994
• Issued: 11/28/1995
• Est. Priority Date: 02/28/1994
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Original Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Inventors: Linnermark, Nils O. A., Carlsson, Karl U.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hofsass, Jeffery A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Wolinsky, Scott
• Application Number:
  US08/203,277
• Time in Patent Office: 638 Days
• Field of Search: 379/268, 379/269, 379/284, 379/220, 379/221, 379/265, 379/266, 379/1, 379/26, 380/4
• US Class Current: 379/268
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3006 where the computing system is distributed, e.g. networked systems, clusters, multiprocessor systems multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46; allocation of resources G06F9/50
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/302 where the computing system component is a software system
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3093 Configuration details thereof, e.g. installation, enabling, spatial arrangement of the probes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3466 Performance evaluation by tracing or monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/86 Event-based monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/241 for stored program controlled exchanges
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/0016 Arrangements providing connection between exchanges
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/54583 Software development, e.g. procedural, object oriented, software generation, software testing

Abstract

A method and apparatus for detecting events occurring in a telecommunications network is disclosed which comprises stored program control (SPC) exchanges, each SPC exchange comprising a switch and processors for executing software programs to control the switch. Code sequences, or daemons, are implanted in selected portions of the software programs, each code sequence including a conditional statement responsive to certain events and at least one activity resulting from the detection of a certain event satisfying the conditional statement. A lock value is assigned to each of the code sequences, each lock value uniquely identifying the corresponding code sequences and being operable to activate the processor for executing the code sequence. A key value is compared to each lock value for selectively activating the processor to execute the code sequence when the key value equals the lock value. The processor executes the activity specified in the code sequence if the detected event satisfies the conditional statement and continues execution of the software program whereby continuous-processing in the SPC exchange is maintained.

Claims

1. A method for detecting events occurring in a telecommunications network comprising stored program control (SPC) exchanges, each SPC exchange comprising a switch and processors for executing software programs to control the switch, said method comprising the steps of:

implanting a plurality of daemons in selected portions of the software programs, each of said daemons being operable to perform at least one activity in response to the detection of an event which satisfies a conditional statement contained within said daemon;

assigning a lock value to each of the daemons, each lock value uniquely identifying the corresponding daemon and being operable to activate the processor for executing the daemon in response to a key value being equal to the lock value;

comparing each lock value of each daemon to a key value stored in said SPC exchange for each corresponding daemon and selectively activating the processor to execute said daemon if said lock value of said daemon equals the corresponding key value;

executing the activity specified in said daemon if the detected event satisfies the conditional statement contained within said daemon; and

continuing execution of the software program after each activity within an activated daemon is executed whereby continuous-processing in the SPC exchange is maintained.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein each processor comprises a processing unit and memory, and wherein said plurality of daemons are created and implanted in software programs prior to runtime of the SPC exchange according to the following steps:

defining each daemon to include a conditional statement, a responsive activity, and a corresponding lock value;

implanting said daemons in selected portions of the software programs;

compiling the software programs and linking said compiled software programs to said daemons; and

loading said compiled software programs linked to said daemons into the memory of the processor for subsequent execution by the processing unit during runtime of the SPC exchange.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein each processor comprises a processing unit and memory, and wherein said plurality of daemons are created and implanted in software programs stored in memory during runtime of the SPC exchange according to the following steps:

defining each daemon to include a conditional statement, a responsive activity and a corresponding lock value;

compiling each daemon and loading each compiled daemon into the memory of the processor; and

inserting a trap call in each software program and a corresponding trap return in each daemon, whereby execution by the processing unit jumps from said software program to said daemon and back to sold software program.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

assigning a second lock value to at least two daemons for uniquely identifying them as a group, the second lock value being operable to activate the processors for executing the daemons in said group in response to a key value being equal to said second lock value;

comparing said second lock value to a key value stored in said SPC exchange corresponding to each daemon group and selectively activating the processors to execute said daemons in the group if said second lock value of said daemon equals the corresponding key value; and

executing the activity specified in each daemon of the group if the detected event satisfies the corresponding conditional statement contained within said daemon.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

comparing each lock value to a second key value stored in said SPC exchange corresponding to each daemon and selectively activating the processor to execute a second daemon if said second key value equals the corresponding lock value; and

executing the activity specified in said second daemon if the detected event satisfies the conditional statement contained within said daemon.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the first and second daemons are the same.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the key value comprises a word having a predetermined number of bits connected to a message.

8. The method of claim 7 further comprising the steps of:

assigning a second lock value to at least two daemons for uniquely identifying them as a group, the second lock value being operable to activate the processors for executing the daemons in said group in response to a key value being equal to said second lock value;

comparing said second lock value to a key value stored in said SPC exchange corresponding to each daemon group and selectively activating the processors to execute said daemons in the group if said second lock value of said daemon equals the corresponding key value; and

executing the activity specified in each daemon of the group if the detected event satisfies the corresponding conditional statement contained within said daemon.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising the steps of:

comparing each lock value to a second key value stored in said SPC exchange corresponding to each daemon and selectively activating the processor to execute a second daemon if said second key value equals the corresponding lock value; and

executing the activity specified in said second daemon if the detected event satisfies the conditional statement contained within said daemon.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the key value is a bivector comprising a bit pattern and a corresponding set of index numbers for each daemon, and the lock value for each daemon is the corresponding bit in said bit pattern that is operable to activate said daemon based on the logical value of said bit.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising the steps of:

comparing each lock value to a second key value stored in said SPC exchange corresponding to each daemon end selectively activating the processor to execute a second daemon if said second key value equals the corresponding lock value; and

executing the activity specified in said second daemon if the detected event satisfies the conditional statement contained within said daemon.

12. A method for detecting events occurring in a telecommunications network comprising stored program control (SPC) exchanges, each SPC exchange comprising a switch and processors for executing software programs to control the switch, said method comprising the steps of:

implanting daemons in selected portions of the software programs, each daemon including a conditional statement responsive to certain events and at least one activity resulting from the detection of a certain event satisfying the conditional statement;

assigning a lock value to each of the daemons, each lock value uniquely identifying the corresponding daemons and being operable to either activate the processor for executing the daemon or deactivate the processor for bypassing the daemon to continue execution of the software program in response to a key value being equal to the lock value;

comparing a key value to each lock value for selectively activating the processor to execute the daemon when the key value equals the lock value or deactivating the processor to bypass the daemon when the key value does not equal the lock value;

executing the activity specified in the daemon if the detected event satisfies the conditional statement; and

continuing execution of the software program after each activity is executed whereby continuous-processing in the SPC exchange is maintained.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein each processor comprises a processing unit and memory, and wherein the daemons are created and implanted in the software program prior to runtime of the SPC exchange according to the following steps:

defining the daemon to include the conditional statement, the resulting activity, and the corresponding lock value;

implanting the daemons in selected portions of the software programs;

compiling the software program and linking the compiled software program to the daemons; and

loading the compiled software program linked to the daemons into the memory of the processor for subsequent execution by the processing unit during runtime of the SPC exchange.

14. The method of claim 12 wherein each processor comprises a processing unit and memory, and wherein the daemons are created and implanted in the software program stored in memory during runtime of the SPC exchange according to the following steps:

defining the daemon to include the conditional statement, the resulting activity and the corresponding lock value;

compiling the daemon and loading the compiled daemon into the memory of the processor; and

inserting a trap call in the software program and a trap return in the daemon, whereby execution by the processing unit jumps from the software program to the daemon and back to the software program.

15. The method of claim 12 further comprising the steps of:

assigning a second lock value to at least two daemons for uniquely identifying them in a group, the second lock value being operable to either activate the processors for executing the daemons in the group or deactivate the processors for bypassing the daemons in the group and to continue execution of the software program;

comparing the key value to the second lock value for selectively activating the processors to execute the daemons in the group when the key value equals the second lock value or deactivating the processors to bypass the daemon in the group when the key value does not equal the second lock value; and

executing the activity specified in each daemon of the group if the detected event satisfies the corresponding conditional statement.

16. The method of claim 12 further comprising the steps of:

comparing a second key value to each lock value for selectively activating the processor to execute a second daemon when the second key value equals the lock value thereof or deactivating the processor to bypass the second daemon when the second key value does not equal the lock value thereof; and

executing the activity specified in the second daemon if the detected event satisfies the conditional statement.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the first and second daemons are the same.

18. The method of claim 12 wherein the key value comprises a word having a predetermined number of bits connected to a message.

19. The method of claim 18 further comprising the steps of:

assigning a second lock value to at least two daemons for uniquely identifying them in a group, the second lock value being operable to either activate the processors for executing the daemons in the group or deactivate the processors for bypassing the daemons in the group and to continue execution of the software program;

comparing the key value to the second lock value for selectively activating the processors to execute the daemons in the group when the key value equals the second lock value or deactivating the processors to bypass the daemons in the group when the key value does not equal the second lock value; and

executing the activity specified in each daemon of the group if the detected event satisfies the corresponding conditional statement.

20. The method of claim 19 further comprising the steps of:

comparing a second key value to each lock value for selectively activating the processor to execute a second daemon when the second key value equals the lock value thereof or deactivating the processor to bypass the second daemon when the second key value does not equal the lock value thereof; and

executing the activity specified in the second daemon if the detected event satisfies the conditional statement.

21. The method of claim 12 wherein the key value is a bivector comprising a bit pattern and a corresponding set of index numbers for each daemon, and the lock value for each daemon is the corresponding bit in the bit pattern being operable to activate or deactivate based on the state of the bit.

22. The method of claim 21 further comprising the steps of:

comparing a second key value to each lock value for selectively activating the processor to execute a second daemon when the second key value equals the lock value thereof or deactivating the processor to bypass the second daemon when the second key value does not equal the lock value thereof; and

executing the activity specified in the second daemon if the detected event satisfies the conditional statement.

23. A method for detecting events occurring in a telecommunications network comprising stored program control (SPC) exchanges, each SPC exchange comprising a switch and a processor for executing software programs to control the switch, said method comprising the steps of:

implanting daemons in selected portions of the software programs, each daemon including a conditional statement responsive to certain events and at least one activity resulting from the detection of a certain event satisfying the conditional statement;

assigning a lock value to at least two daemons for uniquely identifying them in a group, the lock value being operable to either activate the processors for executing the daemons in the group or deactivate the processors for bypassing the daemons in the group to continue execution of the software program in response to a key value being equal to the look value;

comparing a key value to the lock value for selectively activating the processors to execute the daemons in the group when the key value equals the lock value or deactivating the processors to bypass the daemons in the group when the key value does not equal the lock value;

executing the activity specified in each daemon of the group if the detected event satisfies the corresponding conditional statement; and

continuing execution of the software program after each activity is executed whereby continuous-processing in the SPC exchange is maintained.

24. The method of claim 23 further comprising the steps of:

comparing a second key value to each lock value for selectively activating another processor to execute a second daemon when the second key value equals the lock value thereof or deactivating the processor to bypass the second daemon when the second key value does not equal the lock value thereof; and

executing the activity specified in the second daemon if the detected event satisfies the conditional statement.

25. The method of claim 23 wherein the key value comprises a word having a predetermined number of bits connected to a message.

26. The method of claim 25 further comprising the steps of:

comparing a second key value to each lock value for selectively activating another processor to execute a second daemon when the second key value equals the lock value thereof or deactivating the processor to bypass the second daemon when the second key value does not equal the lock value thereof; and

executing the activity specified in the second daemon if the detected event satisfies the conditional statement.

27. An apparatus for detecting events occurring in a telecommunications network comprising stored program control (SPC) exchanges, each SPC exchange comprising a switch and processors for executing software programs to control the switch, said apparatus comprising:

means for implanting a plurality of daemons in selected portions of the software programs, each of said daemons being operable to perform at least one activity in response to the detection of in event which satisfies a conditional statement contained within said daemon;

means for assigning a lock value to each of the daemons, each lock value uniquely identifying the corresponding daemon and being operable to activate the processor for executing the daemon in response to a key value being equal to the lock value;

means for comparing each lock value of each daemon to a key value stored in said SPC exchange for each corresponding daemon and selectively activating the processor to execute the said daemon if said lock value of said daemon equals the corresponding key value;

means for executing the activity specified in the said daemon if the detected event satisfies the conditional statement contained within said daemon; and

means for continuing execution of the software program after each activity within an activated daemon is executed whereby continuous-processing in the SPC exchange is maintained.

28. The apparatus of claim 27 wherein each processor comprises a processing unit and memory and wherein said plurality of daemons are created and implanted in software programs prior to runtime of the SPC exchange, further comprising:

means for defining each daemon to include a conditional statement, a responsive activity, and a corresponding lock value;

means for implanting said daemons in selected portions of the software programs;

means for compiling the software programs and linking said compiled software programed to said daemons; and

means for loading said compiled software programs linked to said daemons into the memory of the processor for subsequent execution by the processing unit during runtime of the SPC exchange.

29. The apparatus of claim 27 wherein each processor comprises a processing unit and memory and wherein said plurality of daemons are created and implanted in software programs stored in memory during runtime of the SPC exchange, further comprising:

means for defining each daemon to include a conditional statement, a responsive activity and a corresponding lock value;

means for compiling each daemon and loading each compiled daemon into the memory of the processor; and

means for inserting a trap call in each software program and a corresponding trap return in each daemon, whereby execution by the processing unit jumps from said software program to said daemon and back to said software program.

30. The apparatus of claim 27 further comprising:

means for assigning a second lock value to at least two daemons for uniquely identifying them as a group, the second lock value being operable to activate the processors for executing the daemons in said group in response to a key value being equal to said second lock value;

means for comparing said second lock value to a key value stored in said SPC exchange corresponding to each daemon group and selectively activating the processors to execute said daemons in the group if said second lock value of said daemon equals the corresponding key value and

means for executing the activity specified in each daemon of the group if the detected event satisfies the corresponding conditional statement contained within said daemon.

31. The apparatus of claim 27 further comprising:

means for comparing each lock value to a second key value stored in said SPC exchange corresponding to each daemon and selectively activating the processor to execute a second daemon if said second key value equals the corresponding lock value; and

means for executing the activity specified in said second daemon if the detected event satisfies the conditional statement contained within said daemon.

32. The apparatus of claim 31 wherein the first and second daemons are the same.

33. The apparatus of claim 27 wherein the key value comprises a word having a predetermined number of bits connected to a message.

34. The apparatus of claim 33 further comprising the steps of:

means for assigning a second lock value to at least two daemons for uniquely identifying them as a group, the second lock value being operable to activate the processors for executing the daemons in said group in response to a key value being equal to said second lock value;

means for comparing said second lock value to a key value stored in said SPC exchange corresponding to each daemon group and selectively activating the processors to execute said daemons in the group if said second lock value of said daemon equals the corresponding key value; and

means for executing the activity specified in each daemon of the group if the detected event satisfies the corresponding conditional statement contained within said daemon.

35. The apparatus of claim 34 further comprising:

means for comparing each lock value to a second key value stored in said SPC exchange corresponding to each daemon and selectively activating the processor to execute a second daemon if said second key value equals the corresponding lock value; and

means for executing the activity specified in said second daemon if the detected event satisfies the conditional statement contained within said daemon.

36. The apparatus of claim 27 wherein the key value is a bivector comprising a bit pattern and a corresponding set of index numbers for each daemon, and the lock value for each daemon is the corresponding bit in said bit pattern that is operable to activate said daemon based on the logical value of said bit.

37. The apparatus of claim 36 further comprising:

means for comparing each lock value to a second key value stored in said SPC exchange corresponding to each daemon and selectively activating the processor to execute a second daemon if said second key value equals the corresponding lock value; and

means for executing the activity specified in said second daemon if the detected event satisfies the conditional statement contained within said daemon.

38. An apparatus for detecting events occurring in a telecommunications network comprising stored program control (SPC) exchanges, each SPC exchange comprising a switch and processors for executing software programs to control the switch, said apparatus comprising:

means for implanting daemons in selected portions of the software programs, each daemon including a conditional statement responsive to certain events and at least one activity resulting from the detection of a certain event satisfying the conditional statement;

means for assigning a lock value to each of the daemons, each lock value uniquely identifying the corresponding daemons and being operable to either activate the processor for executing the daemon or deactivate the processor for bypassing the daemon to continue execution of the software program in response to a key value being equal to the lock value;

means for comparing a key value to each lock value for selectively activating the processor to execute the daemon when the key value equals the lock value or deactivating the processor to bypass the daemon when the key value does not equal the lock value;

means for executing the activity specified in the daemon if the detected event satisfies the conditional statement; and

means for continuing execution of the software program after each activity is executed whereby continuous-processing in the SPC exchange is maintained.

39. The apparatus of claim 38 wherein each processor comprises a processing unit and memory and wherein the daemons are created and implanted in the software program prior to runtime of the SPC exchange, further comprising:

means for defining the daemon to include the conditional statement, the resulting activity, and the corresponding lock value;

means for implanting the daemons in selected portions of the software programs;

means for compiling the software program and linking the compiled software program to the daemons; and

means for loading the compiled software program linked to the daemons into the memory of the processor for subsequent execution by the processing unit during runtime of the SPC exchange.

40. The apparatus of claim 38 wherein each processor comprises a processing unit and memory, and wherein the daemons are created and implanted in the software program stored in memory during runtime of the SPC exchange according, further comprising:

means for defining the daemon to include the conditional statement, the resulting activity and the corresponding lock value;

means for compiling the daemon and loading the compiled daemon into the memory of the processor; and

means for inserting a trap call in the software program and a trap return in the daemon, whereby execution by the processing unit jumps from the software program to the daemon and back to the software program.

41. The apparatus of claim 38 further comprising:

means for assigning a second lock value to at least two daemons for uniquely identifying them in a group, the second lock value being operable to either activate the processors for executing the daemons in the group or deactivate the processors for bypassing the daemons in the group and to continue execution of the software program;

means for comparing the key value to the second lock value for selectively activating the processors to execute the daemons in the group when the key value equals the second lock value or deactivating the processors to bypass the daemons in the group when the key value does not equal the second lock value; and

means for executing the activity specified in each daemon of the group if the detected event satisfies the corresponding conditional statement.

42. The apparatus of claim 38 further comprising:

means for comparing a second key value to each lock value for selectively activating the processor to execute a second daemon when the second key value equals the lock value thereof or deactivating the processor to bypass the second daemon when the second key value does not equal the lock value thereof; and

means for executing the activity specified in the second daemon if the detected event satisfies the conditional statement.

43. The apparatus of claim 42 wherein the first and second daemons are the same.

44. The apparatus of claim 38 wherein the key value comprises a word having a predetermined number of bits connected to a message.

45. The apparatus of claim 44 further comprising:

means for assigning a second lock value to at least two daemons for uniquely identifying them in a group, the second lock value being operable to either activate the processors for executing the daemons in the group or deactivate the processors for bypassing the daemons in the group and to continue execution of the software program;

means for comparing the key value to the second lock value for selectively activating the processors to execute the daemons in the group when the key value equals the second lock value or deactivating the processors to bypass the daemons in the group when the key value does not equal the second lock value; and

means for executing the activity specified in each daemon of the group if the detected event satisfies the corresponding conditional statement.

46. The apparatus of claim 45 further comprising:

means for comparing a second key value to each lock value for selectively activating the processor to execute a second daemon when the second key value equals the lock value thereof or deactivating the processor to bypass the second daemon when the second key value does not equal the lock value thereof; and

means for executing the activity specified in the second daemon if the detected event satisfies the conditional statement.

47. The apparatus of claim 38 wherein the key value is a bivector comprising a bit pattern and a corresponding set of index numbers for each daemon, and the lock value for each daemon is the corresponding bit in the bit pattern being operable to activate or deactivate based on the state of the bit.

48. The apparatus of claim 47 further comprising:

means for comparing a second key value to each lock value for selectively activating the processor to execute a second daemon when the second key value equals the lock value thereof or deactivating the processor to bypass the second daemon when the second key value does not equal the lock value thereof; and

means for executing the activity specified in the second daemon if the detected event satisfies the conditional statement.

49. An apparatus for detecting events occurring in a telecommunications network comprising stored program control (SPC) exchanges, each SPC exchange comprising a switch and a processor for executing software programs to control the switch, said apparatus comprising:

means for implanting daemons in selected portions of the software programs, each daemon including a conditional statement responsive to certain events and at least one activity resulting from the detection of a certain event satisfying the conditional statement;

means for assigning a lock value to at least two daemons for uniquely identifying them in a group, the lock value being operable to either activate the processors for executing the daemons in the group or deactivate the processors for bypassing the daemons in the group to continue execution of the software program in response to a key value being equal to the lock value;

means for comparing a key value to the lock value for selectively activating the processors to execute the daemons in the group when the key value equals the lock value or deactivating the processors to bypass the daemons in the group when the key value does not equal the lock value;

means for executing the activity specified in each daemon of the group if the detected event satisfies the corresponding conditional statement; and

means for continuing execution of the software program after each activity is executed whereby continuous-processing in the SPC exchange is maintained.

50. The apparatus of claim 49 further comprising:

means for comparing a second key value to each lock value for selectively activating another processor to execute a second daemon when the second key value equals the lock value thereof or deactivating the processor to bypass the second daemon when the second key value does not equal the lock value thereof; and

means for executing the activity specified in the second daemon if the detected event satisfies the conditional statement.

51. The apparatus of claim 49 wherein the key value comprises a word having a predetermined number of bits connected to a message.

52. The apparatus of claim 51 further comprising:

means for comparing a second key value to each lock value for selectively activating another processor to execute a second daemon when the second key value equals the lock value thereof or deactivating the processor to bypass the second daemon when the second key value does not equal the lock value thereof; and

means for executing the activity specified in the second daemon if the detected event satisfies the conditional statement.

53. In a telecommunication network comprising stored program control (SPC) exchanges, each SPC exchange comprising a switch and one or more processors for controlling said switch, a method for efficiently tracing the execution of one or more software application programs running on said one or more processors, said method comprising the steps of:

creating a plurality of daemons, each of said daemons having a unique identity and comprising computer program instructions including a conditional statement for activating said daemon if a lock value embodied in said daemon is found to match an associated key value;

implanting said plurality of daemons in one or more application programs to render the application programs traceable;

generating key values in response to trace commands received from one or more users of said traceable application programs;

storing said generated key values separately from said traceable application programs in the computer system;

activating selected daemons to selectively trace the execution of said traceable application programs in response to a key value satisfying the conditional statements within each of said daemons;

generating trace information relating to the performance of the application program in response to the activation of said daemons without interrupting execution of the application program; and

storing said generated trace information in the computer system.

54. The efficient tracing method of claim 53 wherein said steps of creating a plurality of daemons embodying locks and of implanting said daemons in application programs further comprise the steps of:

generating computer programming instructions to define the nature of the conditional statement within each of said daemons;

inserting each of said generated computer program instructions into selected application programs to render each of to the selected application programs traceable;

compiling each of said traceable application programs;

linking each of said compiled traceable application programs to other application programs and to selected library routines; and

loading each of said linked traceable application programs into the memory of the computer system.

55. The efficient tracing method of claim 53 wherein said step of creating a plurality of daemons embodying locks further comprises the steps of:

generating computer programing instructions to define the nature of the conditional statement within each of said daemons;

compiling each of said daemons; and

loading each of said compiled daemons into the memory of the computer system.

56. The efficient tracing method of claim 55 wherein said step of implanting said plurality daemons is further performed by inserting trap calls in application programs, whereby the execution of the application programs on the computer system is temporarily interrupted upon reaching said trap call, and supplanted by the execution of a daemon that is invoked by said trap call, till all the computer instructions comprising the invoked daemon have been executed, whereupon the execution of said traceable application programs is resumed.

57. The efficient tracing method of claim 53 wherein one or more of said plurality of daemons, upon activation, are capable of invoking themselves or other daemons.

58. The efficient tracing method of claim 53 wherein said step of creating a plurality of daemons further comprises:

creating a daemon group, each daemon in said daemon group containing a group lock that permits all of the daemons in said daemon group to be activated by a common key.

59. The efficient tracing method of claim 53 wherein said key values further comprise words of standardized length that can activate selected daemons if they satisfy the conditional statements within said daemons.

60. The efficient tracing method of claim 53 wherein said key values further comprise a bit pattern whose length is equal to the total number of daemons within the computer system, each bit in said bit pattern being associated with a unique daemon, and being operable to activate the associated daemon if it contains the logical value "1".

61. The efficient tracing method of claim 53 wherein said step of generating trace information relates to the detection of errors in the application programs.

62. The efficient tracing method of claim 53 wherein said step of generating trace information relates to the accumulation of usage statistics concerning the application programs.

63. The efficient tracing method of claim 53 wherein said step of generating trace information relates to the monitoring of the health and stability of application programs.

64. In a telecommunication network comprising stored program control (SPC) exchanges, each SPC exchange comprising a switch and one or more processors for controlling said switch, a system for efficiently tracing the execution of one or more software application programs running on said one or more processors, said system comprising:

means for creating a plurality of daemons, each of said daemons having a unique identity and comprising computer program to instructions including a conditional statement for activating said daemon if a lock value embodied in said daemon is found to match an associated key value;

means for implanting said plurality of daemons in one or more application programs to render the application programs traceable;

means for generating key values in response to trace commands received from one or more users of said traceable application programs;

means for storing said generated key values separately from said traceable application programs in the computer system;

means for activating selected daemons to selectively trace the execution of said traceable application programs in response to the key value satisfying the conditional statements within each of said daemons;

means for generating trace information relating to the performance of the application program in response to the activation of said daemons without interrupting execution of the application program; and

means for storing said generated trace information in the computer system.

65. The efficient tracing system of claim 64 wherein said means for creating a plurality of daemons embodying locks and for implanting said daemons in application programs further comprise:

means for generating computer programing instructions to define the nature of the conditional statement within each of said daemons;

means for inserting each of said generated computer program instructions into selected application programs to render each of the selected application programs traceable;

means for compiling each of said traceable application programs;

means for linking each of said compiled traceable application programs to other application programs and to selected library routines; and

means for loading each of said linked traceable application programs into the memory of the computer system.

66. The efficient tracing system of claim 64 wherein said means for creating a plurality of daemons embodying locks further comprises:

means for generating computer programming instructions to define the nature of the conditional statement within each of said daemons;

means for compiling each of said daemons; and

means for loading each of said compiled daemons into the memory of the computer system.

67. The efficient tracing system of claim 66 wherein said means for implanting said plurality daemons further comprises trap calls inserted in application programs, whereby the execution of the application programs on the computer system is temporarily interrupted upon reaching said trap call, and supplanted by the execution of a daemon that is invoked by said trap call, till all the computer instructions comprising the invoked daemon have been executed, whereupon the execution of said traceable application programs is resumed.

68. The efficient tracing system of claim 64 wherein one or more of said plurality of daemons, upon activation, are capable of invoking themselves or other daemons.

69. The efficient tracing system of claim 64 wherein said means for creating a plurality of daemons further comprises:

means for creating a daemon group, each daemon in said daemon group containing a group lock that permits all of the daemons in said daemon group to be activated by a common key.

70. The efficient tracing system of claim 64 wherein said key values further comprise words of standardized length that can activate selected daemons if they satisfy the conditional statements within said daemons.

71. The efficient tracing system of claim 64 wherein said key values further comprise a bit pattern whose length is equal to the total number of daemons within the computer system, each bit in said bit pattern being associated with a unique daemon, and being operable to activate the associated daemon if it contains the logical value "1".