Raw performance monitoring correlated problem alert signals

• US 5,913,036 A
• Filed: 06/28/1996
• Issued: 06/15/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: MCI Communications Corporation (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Brownmiller, Curtis, Tran, Minh T., Bencheck, Michael, DeMoss, Mark, Branton, Robert, Landon, Steve
• Primary Examiner(s): Hafiz, Tariq R.
• Assistant Examiner(s): DAM, TUAN QUANG
• Application Number:
  US08/670,847
• Time in Patent Office: 1,082 Days
• Field of Search: 395/200.54, 395/200.53, 395/184.01, 395/183.15, 370/242, 370/241, 370/243, 370/246-250, 370/251-253, 370/229-231, 370/236, 370/466, 370/465, 340/825.06, 340/825.01, 340/825.16, 340/521, 340/522, 371/20.1, 371/20.2
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 3/14 Monitoring arrangements for SDH/SONET rings H04J3/085
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0631 using root cause analysis; using analysis of correlation between notifications, alarms or events based on decision criteria, e.g. hierarchy, tree or time analysis
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0654 using network fault recovery ring fault isolation or reconfiguration in loop networks without recovery actions by a network management system H04L12/437
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5009 Determining service level performance parameters or violations of service level contracts, e.g. violations of agreed response time or mean time between failures [MTBF]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/00 Arrangements for monitoring or testing data switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/16 Threshold monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/0087 Network testing or monitoring arrangements

Abstract

A system and method for analyzing network performance by correlating network performance monitoring data reported by monitoring points in the network is described herein. The system analyzes the performance monitoring parameters by: determining whether the performance monitoring parameters contain non-zero values; determining whether the performance monitoring parameters exceed a predetermined threshold value; determining whether prior performance monitoring parameters exceed a predetermined threshold value. The system initiates a problem handling process if the step of analyzing indicates a possible network problem. The system maintains the problem handling process if the performance monitoring parameters continue to indicate a possible network problem.

Claims

1. A method in a network management system for detecting intermittent network performance problems, comprising the steps of:

receiving performance monitoring data from one monitoring point associated with a network facility, said performance monitoring data collected by said monitoring point during a first predefined time period;

determining whether said performance monitoring data indicates an existence of a potential network problem;

determining whether said monitoring point has reported nonzero, even though non-critical, error activity for previous monitoring periods within said first predefined time period;

initiating a problem handling process if nonzero, even though non-critical, error activity previously has been detected but not been reported during said previous monitoring periods within said first predefined time period; and

maintaining said problem handling process if said monitoring point reports during a second predefined time period multiple non-zero, even though non-critical, error activities related to said nonzero, even though non-critical, error activity detected in said first predefined time period.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of clearing said problem handling process if no additional non-zero error activity is reported during said second predefined time period.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said step (2) comprises the step of comparing reported error activity for a monitored parameter to a threshold.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said step (2) comprises the step of analyzing said performance monitoring data in relation to performance monitoring data collected during pervious monitoring periods.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein said step (2) comprises the step of identifying whether a historical pattern of error activity matches a pattern of error activity that is known to lead to a network problem.

6. A system in a network management system for detecting intermittent network performance problems, comprising:

a network element in said network management system that;

receives performance monitoring data from one monitoring point associated with a network facility, said performance monitoring data collected by said monitoring point during a given at least one or more monitoring periods within a first predefined time period;

determines whether said performance monitoring data collected during said given monitoring periods indicate an existence of a potential network problem;

initiates a problem handling process upon determining whether said monitoring point has reported nonzero, even though non-critical, error activity different from previous said given monitoring periods within said first predefined time period; and

maintains said problem handling process if said monitoring point reports multiple nonzero, even though non-critical, error activities related to previous error activity in said initiates step during subsequent monitoring periods in a second predefined time period following said first predefined time period.

7. The system of claim 6, further comprising means for clearing said problem handling process if no additional non-zero error activity is reported during said second predefined time period.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein said means for determining whether said performance monitoring data indicates an existence of a potential network problem further comprises means for comparing reported error activity for a monitored parameter to a threshold.

9. The system of claim 6, wherein said means for determining whether said performance monitoring data indicates an existence of a potential network problem further comprises means for analyzing said performance monitoring data in relation to performance monitoring data collected during pervious monitoring periods.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein said means for determining whether said performance monitoring data indicates an existence of a potential network problem further comprises means for identifying whether a historical pattern of error activity matches a pattern of error activity that is known to lead to a network problem.

11. The system in claim 6, wherein the network element is a network manager.

12. The system in claim 6, wherein the network element is an element manager.

13. The system in claim 6, wherein the network element is a services management element.

14. A method of detecting potential network problems in a network management system, comprising the steps of;

receiving raw performance monitoring data collected during one of plurality of monitoring periods within a first predetermined monitoring time period at a monitoring point;

determining said raw performance monitoring data includes non-critical error data, wherein said non-critical error data has non-zero, non-critical error values indicating potential performance degradation within system tolerance ranges but greater than a predetermined threshold;

comparing said raw performance monitoring data collected during said one of a plurality of monitoring periods within said first predetermined monitoring time period at said monitoring point with raw performance monitoring data collected at said monitoring point during another of said plurality of monitoring periods within said first predetermined monitoring time periods;

initiating a problem handling report upon determining that raw performance data that includes non-zero, non-critical error data was collected during multiple of said plurality of monitoring periods within said first predetermined monitoring time period and that no prior problem handling report was initiated; and

maintaining said problem handling report if raw performance monitoring data collected during one of a plurality of monitoring periods within a second predetermined monitoring period of time subsequent to said first predetermined monitoring period of time includes repeated non-zero, though non-critical, error data.