Apparatus and method for supporting actual effect information determination, and machine readable recording medium with actual effect information determination supporting program recorded therein

• US 6,272,494 B1
• Filed: 03/18/1998
• Issued: 08/07/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 10/17/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Original Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Inventors: Inoue, Yoshitsugi
• Primary Examiner(s): Alam, Hosain T.
• Application Number:
  US09/040,674
• Time in Patent Office: 1,238 Days
• Field of Search: 707/1-3, 707/100-102, 707/104, 706/15, 706/23, 702/35, 714/1, 714/2, 714/47, 714/37, 714/39, 714/20, 714/25, 714/26-33, 345/356, 709/220-224, 709/226
• US Class Current: 709/221
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0663 Performing the actions predefined by failover planning, e.g. switching to standby network elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0803 Configuration setting
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/956 Hierarchical
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/959 Network

Abstract

The present invention discloses a technique of determining actual effect information actually related to cause information occurring in a multiplexer having the function of multiplexing communication lines, and the redundancy function. It is an object of the invention to determine the actual effect information at a high speed by providing an information input portion to take as inputs cause information and effect information collected in relation to components of a network having a multiple hierarchical configuration, a storage portion to contain hierarchical data for mutually correlating the components of the network having the multiple hierarchical configuration, and a processing portion to retrieve the hierarchical data from the storage portion depending upon the cause information input into the information input portion, thereby using the retrieved hierarchical data to extract the effect information input into the information input portion so as to determine the actual effect information actually related to the cause information.

Claims

1. An apparatus for use with a network having hierarchical configuration of a number of interconnected components, said apparatus being operable to supportively determine a piece of actual effect information, which indicates a component actually affected by a cause component in the number of components, and comprising:

an information input unit for receiving, as inputs, a piece of cause information, which indicates the cause component, and one or more piece of effect information, each of which indicates one of the number of components affected by another one of the number of components, collected from the network;

a storage unit storing hierarchical data which represents the hierarchical configuration in such a manner that if any one of the number of components is the cause component, the cause component is assumed to affect the components positioned in a rank identical with or lower than the rank of the cause component in the hierarchical configuration; and

a processing unit for (i) retrieving data of components which are assumed to be affected by the cause component from the hierarchical data in said storage unit based on the piece of cause information inputted by said information input unit, ii extracting a piece of effect information which indicates the components assumed to be affected by the cause component from the pieces of effect information which is inputted by said information input unit based on the retrieved data of the components assumed to be affected by the cause component and (iii) determining the extracted piece of effect information as the piece of actual effect information.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a preprocessing unit for preprocessing the piece of cause information and the pieces of effect information inputted by said information input unit so that said processing unit carries out the retrieving, the extracting, and the determining based on preprocessed piece of cause information and the pieces of effect information.

3. An apparatus according to claim 2, wherein

said preprocessing unit includes

a compulsory-recovery-information storage unit for storing a piece of compulsory recovery information, which indicates a component assumed to affect to no other components in the network even if the component generates a piece of cause information;

and

a first filter unit for removing the piece of the cause information when the inputted piece of cause information corresponds to the component indicated by the piece of compulsory recovery information.

6. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

said processing unit is operable to set a time zone during which said information input unit inputs one or more pieces of cause information and effect information, and carries out the retrieving, the extracting, and the determining based on one or more pieces of cause information and effect information inputted by said information input unit during the time zone.

7. An apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the time zone is set based on a time at which a piece of cause information is detected.

8. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said processing unit includes

an effect direction decision unit for deciding a direction affected by the cause component based on the piece of cause information and the piece of effect information;

a retrieval range determining unit for determining a retrieval range of hierarchical data stored in said storage unit based on the direction decided by said effect direction decision unit; and

a determining unit for carrying out the retrieving, the extracting, and the determining based on the retrieval range.

11. An apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said preprocessing unit includes

a pseudorecovery information storage unit for storing a piece of pseudorecovery information, which indicates a component generating a cause information continuously during a predetermined time, and

a second filter unit for removing the piece of cause information when the inputted piece of cause information corresponds with the component indicated by the piece of pseudorecovery information.

12. An apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said preprocessing unit includes

a means for removing the cause information corresponding to the pseudorecovery information when the cause component corresponding to the cause information recovers from the state in which the component generates an identical piece of cause information continuously during a predetermined time.

4. An apparatus for supporting actual effect information determination comprising:

an information input unit for receiving, as inputs, cause information and effect information collected in relation to network-components having a multiple hierarchical configuration;

a storage unit in which hierarchical data for mutually correlating the network-components having the multiple hierarchical configuration in such a manner that a cause component causing the cause information exerts an effect on only a component positioned in a hierarchy identical with or lower than that of the cause component, is previously stored; and

a processing unit for retrieving the hierarchical data from said storage unit based on the cause information inputted into said information input unit, extracting the effect information inputted into the information input unit by using the retrieved hierarchical data and determining actual effect information actually related to the cause information based on the extracted effect information;

a preprocessing unit for preprocessing the cause information and the effect information inputted into said information input unit; and

said processing unit retrieves the hierarchical data from said storage unit based on the cause information preprocessed in said preprocessing unit, extracts the effect information preprocessed in the preprocessing unit by using the retrieved hierarchical data and determines the actual effect information based on the extracted effect information;

said preprocessing unit includes a dummy recovery information storage unit in which dummy recovery information defined as information in relation to a component continuously causing the cause information is stored; and

a second filter unit for removing the dummy recovery information stored in said dummy recovery information storage unit from among the cause information and the effect information inputted into said information input unit.

5. An apparatus for supporting actual effect information determination according to claim 4, further comprising means for, when a state of continuous occurrence of the cause information is recovered, removing the corresponding dummy recovery information from said dummy recovery information storage unit.

9. A method for supportively determining, in a network having a hierarchical configuration of a number of interconnected components, a piece of actual effect information which indicates a component actually affected by a cause component in the number of components, said method comprising the steps of:

(a) previously storing hierarchical data, which represents the hierarchical configuration in such a manner that if any one of the number of components is the cause component, the cause component is assumed to affect the components positioned in a rank identical with or lower than the rank of the cause component in the hierarchical configuration;

(b) inputting a piece of cause information, which indicates the cause component, and one or more pieces of effect information, each of which indicates one of the number of components affected by another one of the number of components, collected from the network in real time;

(c) retrieving, at predetermined time intervals, data of components which are assumed to be affected by the cause component from the hierarchical data stored in said step (a) based on the piece of cause information inputted in said step (b);

(d) extracting a piece of effect information which indicates the components assumed to be affected by the cause component from the pieces of effect information inputted in said step (b) based on the data of the components retrieved in said step (c); and

(e) determining the pieces of effect information extracted in said step (d) as the piece of actual effect information.

10. A computer-readable recording medium storing a program for use in a computer with (i) a storage unit having a hierarchical data which represents hierarchical configuration of a number of components, which are interconnected to form a network, in such a manner that if any one of the components is a cause component, the cause component is assumed to affect components in a rank identical with or lower than the rank of the cause component in the hierarchical configuration and (ii) an information input unit inputting the computer a piece of cause information, which indicates the cause component, and one or more pieces of effect information, each of which indicates one of the number of components affected by another one of the number of the components, collected from the network, said program supportively determining a piece of actual effect information, which indicates a component actually affected by a cause component, and instructing a computer to carry out the following functions of:

(a) retrieving data of components which are assumed to be affected by the cause component from the hierarchical data in the storage unit of the computer, based on the piece of cause information inputted by the information input unit;

(b) extracting a piece of effect information which indicates the components assumed to be affected by the cause component from the pieces of effect information inputted by the information input unit based on the data of the components retrieved by said function (a); and

(c) determining the piece of effect information extracted by said function (b) as the piece of actual effect information.