Process and system for dynamically measuring switch traffic
First Claim
1. A process for monitoring and improving management of communications network traffic handled by at least one switch having a plurality of components, the process comprising the steps of:
- a) generating, at selected components of the switch, traffic data describing network communications traffic handled by each of the switch components;
b) periodically collecting traffic data from the selected switch components to form segments describing traffic data during different time periods;
c) automatically selecting at least one segment for each switch component that describes average peak usage of each switch component; and
d) analyzing traffic data describing communications traffic handled by a particular switch component during at least the selected segment of the particular switch component.
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Abstract
A process and system is disclosed for determining automatically and dynamically the correct time segment during which a switch or components of a switch receive peak traffic from a communications network. The process collects traffic data regarding the usage of a selected switch or selected switch components. The traffic data is collected over a selected journalling period (e.g., 30 days), which is periodically updated with new traffic data to maintain a journal of the most recent 30 days of collected traffic data. Collected traffic data is filtered to remove aberrant or corrupting data. An average peak usage segment for all of the segments of the journalling period is selected from the remaining filtered traffic data. By regularly adding new data to and removing old data from the journal, the resulting moving window will reflect recent changes in peak usage. Regularly (e.g., daily) selecting the average peak usage segment detects such changes quickly, with the result that the process of the present invention dynamically reacts to and determines changes in the peak usage segment for particular switch components. Peak usage segments and associated traffic data determined and collected by the present invention result in improved network traffic engineering. A system is disclosed for collecting, processing and evaluating traffic data in order to engineer network elements for optimal traffic flow.
104 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A process for monitoring and improving management of communications network traffic handled by at least one switch having a plurality of components, the process comprising the steps of:
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a) generating, at selected components of the switch, traffic data describing network communications traffic handled by each of the switch components; b) periodically collecting traffic data from the selected switch components to form segments describing traffic data during different time periods; c) automatically selecting at least one segment for each switch component that describes average peak usage of each switch component; and d) analyzing traffic data describing communications traffic handled by a particular switch component during at least the selected segment of the particular switch component. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method for monitoring selected components of multiple telecommunications switches in order to better manage communications traffic within a communications network having a number of network elements, the method comprising the steps of:
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a) generating and buffering at a selected switch component segments of traffic data describing telecommunications traffic handled by the component over a discrete time period; b) interfacing with the component to periodically retrieve the segments; c) storing the segments in order to create a journal that comprises a moving window of communications traffic handled by the component; d) selecting from the segments a peak usage time period during which peak usage of the component occurred; e) dynamically detecting changes in peak usage of a component by periodically and automatically updating the journal with new segments and repeating the selecting step; and f) comparing an average load of the component during the peak usage time period with an operational load of the component in order to manage the load on the component. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10)
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11. A system for mechanically managing communications traffic by automatically and dynamically selecting a time period during which a network element for a communications network handles peak communications traffic and analyzing the amount of traffic handled by the network element, the system comprising:
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a) a collector for periodically recording traffic data comprising information about the communications traffic passing through at least one component of the network element; b) a database for receiving and storing recorded traffic data; c) a processor, coupled to the database, and programmed to;
(i) select from the traffic data a first busy hour that describes the average peak usage of the at least one component of the network element; and(ii) use updated traffic data in the database to automatically detect a shift in average peak usage of the at least one component of the network element to a second busy hour. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 16)
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15. A communications network comprising:
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a) a plurality of network elements, each with multiple components adapted to generate traffic data describing traffic handled by each of selected components for a preset segment of time; b) a collector, coupled to the network elements, for periodically collecting traffic data from selected components of each network element; c) a database that receives from the collector sufficient traffic data to create a journal that describes traffic handled by the selected components over a period of days; and d) a processor programmed to automatically and dynamically select, based on the journal, a segment describing the average peak usage of each of the selected components. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18)
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19. A method for dynamically monitoring traffic handled by multiple network elements disposed within a communication network, the process comprising:
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a) collecting from a selected network element traffic data describing network communications traffic handled thereby over a selected period to form a journal; b) analyzing the journal of traffic data to identify a first time slot during which traffic handled by the selected network element peaks; and c) regularly adding new traffic data to the journal to form a moving window of traffic data, whereby the analyzing step is repeated on the moving window in order dynamically to detect any shift to a second time slot of peak traffic handled by the selected network element. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21)
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Specification