Intelligent alarm filtering in a telecommunications network
First Claim
1. A method for filtering alarms generated in a telecommunications network, said method comprising the steps of:
- detecting initially the arrival of a directly detected failure condition alarm or a symptomatic condition alarm;
collecting and storing alarms generated within the network for a prescribed time period after the initial alarm detection; and
reporting at the conclusion of the prescribed time period all stored alarms other than symptomatic condition alarms originating on ports connected to links fully terminated within the network.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Redundant alarm messages generated by a plurality of Network Elements (NEs) in a Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) or Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) subnetwork are suppressed by a filter incorporated within a Subnetwork Controller (SBNC). In an illustrative embodiment of the invention, the SBNC filter collects and logs all alarm messages reported by the subnetwork NEs during a correlation period. After the period is completed, the filter determines whether at least one alarm that was reported during the period directly indicates a failure within the subnetwork and, if so, suppresses all other alarms arriving during the period that indicate conditions symptomatic of this failure. The correlation period persists for no longer than a maximum specified time period, and only so long as alarm messages continue to be reported during the interval.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method for filtering alarms generated in a telecommunications network, said method comprising the steps of:
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detecting initially the arrival of a directly detected failure condition alarm or a symptomatic condition alarm;
collecting and storing alarms generated within the network for a prescribed time period after the initial alarm detection; and
reporting at the conclusion of the prescribed time period all stored alarms other than symptomatic condition alarms originating on ports connected to links fully terminated within the network. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A method for filtering alarms generated in a telecommunications network, said method comprising the steps of:
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collecting and storing alarms generated within the network for a prescribed time period;
when at least one of the stored alarms represents a directly detected equipment failure condition, suppressing each symptomatic condition alarm that originated at a port connected to a link fully terminated within the network; and
when at least one of the stored alarms represents a directly detected failure condition and none of the stored alarms represents a directly detected equipment failure condition, suppressing each symptomatic condition alarm that originated at a port connected to a link fully terminated within the network, when said symptomatic condition alarm is at a lower signal level than said at least one directly detected failure condition alarm. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method for establishing a period for correlating alarms detected within a telecommunications network, said method comprising the steps of:
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initiating the correlation period with the detection of a first alarm;
detecting alarms generated subsequent to said first alarm over a first prescribed incremental time interval; and
accumulating the first prescribed time interval and subsequent prescribed incremental time intervals to define the correlation period, so long as one or more alarms are detected during each of said prescribed time intervals and a predefined maximum correlation period is not exceeded by the accumulated intervals. - View Dependent Claims (11)
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12. A system for filtering alarms generated in a telecommunications network, said system comprising:
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a network controller interconnected with one or more elements in the network, wherein said network controller receives and stores alarms generated by said one or more network elements for a prescribed time period; and an alarm filter, wherein said alarm filter is responsive to the network controller for determining whether at least one of the stored alarms is of a first type; and
when at least one of the stored alarms is of said first alarm type, selectively suppressing each stored alarm of a second alarm type,wherein said second alarm type includes alarms originating at ports connected to links fully terminated within the network that indicate symptomatic conditions. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for filtering alarms generated in a telecommunications network, said method comprising the steps of:
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collecting and storing alarms generated within the network for a prescribed time period; and
when at least one of the stored alarms is of a first alarm type, selectively suppressing each stored alarm of a second alarm type, wherein said second alarm type includes alarms originating at ports connected to links fully terminated within the network that indicate symptomatic conditions. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification