Network with surveillance sensors and diagnostic system, and method of establishing diagnostics for the network

• US 5,508,941 A
• Filed: 09/30/1994
• Issued: 04/16/1996
• Est. Priority Date: 12/20/1991
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Alcatel NV (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Alcatel NV (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Leplingard, Bruno, Laasri, Hassan
• Primary Examiner(s): Ramirez, Ellis B.
• Assistant Examiner(s): PEESO, THOMAS R
• Application Number:
  US08/316,051
• Time in Patent Office: 564 Days
• Field of Search: 364/550, 364/551.01, 364/514, 395/61, 395/54, 395/909, 371/5.5, 340/825.06, 340/825.16, 324/260, 324/501, 324/528, 324/750, 324/637
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/00 Arrangements for monitoring or testing data switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0817 by checking functioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/12 Network monitoring probes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/16 Threshold monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 706/917 Communication

Abstract

A network, in particular a telecommunication network, with surveillance sensors and a diagnostic system comprises equipment for conveying signals to network users, sensors for supplying data on network operation and a diagnostic system processing this data to establish diagnostics designating causes of degraded operation. The diagnostic system performs diagnostic evaluation to request secondary data if a previously established diagnostic is insufficient.

Claims

1. Network with surveillance sensors and diagnostic system comprising

a communication network for conveying information signals to network users,

a distributed sensor system including a plurality of surveillance sensor elements for supplying and processing raw data into primary data and secondary data relating to the operation of the communication network, said primary data constituting alarms that represent degraded operation of specified portions of the communication network and that are automatically transmitted over the communication network, said secondary data being supplied only on request, and

a diagnostic system for receiving and processing said primary and secondary data to establish diagnostics identifying causes of said degraded operation, said diagnostic system being connected to said distributed sensor system by said communication network, said diagnostic system further comprising a diagnostic evaluation subsystem for automatically requesting said secondary data from said distributed sensor system if and only if a diagnostic previously established by processing only said primary data does not meet a predetermined criterion.

2. Network according to claim 1 wherein said signals are conveyed to carry data and to transmit it to network users.

3. Network adapted to convey communication signals between network users and comprising:

equipments implementing respective associated sections of the network, each section having an upstream-downstream direction and extending in said direction from a respective equipment associated with said section to a receiver of said section constituted by another equipment or by a network user, each equipment having functional capabilities enabling it to receive incoming signals and for enabling it, in response to said incoming signals, to send emergent signals to its associated receiver, said sections constituting at least one link having an upstream-downstream direction and comprising sections extending in sequence in said upstream-downstream direction to connect an upstream user to a downstream user of said link, said upstream user sending emergent signals to an equipment associated with a first section of said link, the equipment associated with each other section of said link comprising the receiver of a preceding section, said downstream user constituting the receiver of a last section of said link, the functional capabilities of each of said equipments being normal or degraded, each of said incoming and emergent signals having normal or degraded characteristics, an incoming or emergent signal of which all said characteristics are normal constituting a normal signal, each section being normal or degraded, said section being normal if first and second conditions are simultaneously satisfied, said first condition being that the equipment associated with said section is able to receive a normal incoming signal, said second condition being that the functional capabilities of said associated equipment are normal, said functional capabilities being normal if a normal incoming signal causes a normal emergent signal to be sent by said associated equipment, degradation of a functional capability of an equipment possibly preventing said section from being normal and then constituting a cause of at least said section being degraded;

a distributed sensor system including a plurality of sensor elements disposed remotely of each other to send surveillance data representing functional capabilities of said equipments and/or characteristics of said incoming or emergent signals, some of said surveillance data constituting alarms each representing degradation of at least one section of a link the upstream user of which is sending normal signals;

a computer-based diagnostic system separate from said sensor system and adapted to receive said alarms, said system being adapted to react to one of said alarms by processing the surveillance data constituting said one alarm to establish a diagnostic whereby a functional capability of an equipment is designated as probably degraded and causing section degradation as indicated by said alarm; and

a surveillance transmission system for conveying said surveillance data from said sensors to said diagnostic system, said surveillance transmission system being controlled by data requests sent by said diagnostic system, said surveillance transmission system sending to said diagnostic system in the absence of any request for data only primary surveillance data comprising said alarms, said surveillance transmission system transmitting to said diagnostic system only in the presence of a request for data secondary surveillance data not included in said primary surveillance data,

wherein said diagnostic system further comprises;

a diagnostic subsystem receiving the primary secondary surveillance data transmitted to said diagnostic system and processing said data to establish a diagnostic constituting a primary or secondary diagnostic according to whether said data comprises only said primary data or both said primary data and said secondary data, respectively; and

an evaluation subsystem associated with said diagnostic subsystem to automatically evaluate an attribute of each primary diagnostic established by the associated diagnostic subsystem and to automatically send a request for data if and only if the attribute evaluated is below a predetermined threshold.

4. Network according to claim 3 further comprising surveillance memories for storing some of said surveillance data, some of said memories constituting remote memories situated remotely of said diagnostic system, said surveillance transmission system conveying said secondary data from said sensors to said remote memories in the absence of any request for data and from said remote memories to said diagnostic system in the presence of a request for data.

5. Network according to claim 3 wherein said diagnostic system comprises knowledge bases and said diagnostic and evaluation subsystems are expert systems which use said knowledge bases.

6. Network according to claim 5 wherein said diagnostic system comprises

data processing means and software modules using said data processing means and constituting a plurality of specialists which can be selectively activated, each specialist being adapted to receive and to process said surveillance data to establish a diagnostic when it is activated, each specialist being assigned to a family of situations each comprising a combination of ways in which the network may be degraded, each specialist having a knowledge base, a diagnostic subsystem and an evaluation subsystem, and

at least one management subsystem adapted to receive and to process at least said surveillance data to determine a family of situations implied by said data and to activate one or other of said specialists according to the family of situations thus determined.

7. Method of establishing diagnostics for networks comprising the following automated operations:

sending surveillance data representing functional capabilities of equipments of the network and/or representing characteristics of signals conveyed by link sections formed by said equipments from a distributed sensor system to a remote diagnostics system, some of said surveillance data constituting alarms representing degradation of said sections, other of said surveillance data constituting secondary data, at least said secondary data being sent only on request,

establishing primary diagnostics in said remote diagnostics system by processing only said alarms to designate a degraded functional capability assumed to be the cause of degradation of a section as indicated by said alarm,

determining attributes for at least some of the thus-established primary diagnostics,

sending a request for said secondary data from said remote diagnostics system to said sensor system if and only if the primary diagnostic has an attribute below a predetermined threshold, and

establishing a secondary diagnostic by processing said secondary data in said remote diagnostic system.