Method for controlling a network element from a remote workstation

• US 6,487,590 B1
• Filed: 10/30/1998
• Issued: 11/26/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 10/30/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: WSOU Investments, LLC (WSOU Holdings, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Lucent Technologies, Inc. (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Vangsness, Kurt A., Foley, Michael P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Najjar, Saleh
• Application Number:
  US09/184,101
• Time in Patent Office: 1,488 Days
• Field of Search: 709/217, 709/223, 709/224, 709/229, 709/235, 709/232, 709/233, 709/315, 709/316
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0213 Standardised network management protocols, e.g. simple network management protocol [SNMP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0233 Object-oriented techniques, for representation of network management data, e.g. common object request broker architecture [CORBA]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/00 Arrangements for monitoring or testing data switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/10 Active monitoring, e.g. heartbeat, ping or trace-route

Abstract

A method is provided for controlling a network element from a client at a remote work station connectable to the network, the network, element is registered for attributes to be tracked, and attributes associated with the network element are polled only if the client requests the monitoring of the network element.

Claims

1. In a network having a network element, a method for controlling the network element from a remote work station connectable to the network, the method comprising the steps of:

polling the network element, through employment of an object server, for only particular one or more attributes for which one or more distributed clients have registered interest and only once during an instance of a polling interval regardless of whether the one or more distributed clients comprise a plural number of clients, wherein the particular one or more attributes comprise a subset of a plurality of attributes for the network element,

running an object oriented program at the remote work station to control an object associated with the network element,

translating interface operations generated by the work station during the running of the object oriented program to corresponding translated interface operations in an object oriented language associated with the object, and

connecting the corresponding translated interface operations through the network to the object server to control the object associated with the network element in accordance with the translated interface operations.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of polling the network element, through employment of the object server, for only the particular one or more attributes for which the one or more distributed clients have registered interest and only once during an instance of the polling interval regardless of whether the one or more distributed clients comprise a plural number of clients comprises the steps of:

notifying, through employment of the object server, the one or more distributed clients that have registered interest for the particular one or more attributes of a first view of the particular one or more attributes of the network element in a first instance of the polling interval;

notifying, through employment of the object server, the one or more distributed clients that have registered interest for the particular one or more attributes of a different view of a first one or more of the particular one or more attributes of the network element in an instance of the polling interval that is consecutive to the first instance of the polling interval upon a change of the first one or more of the particular one or more attributes; and

withholding notification, from the object server, to the one or more distributed clients that have registered interest for the particular one or more attributes of a same view of a second one or more of the particular one or more attributes of the network element in an instance of the polling interval that is consecutive to the first instance of the polling interval upon an occurrence of unchanged value of the second one or more of the particular one or more attributes from the first instance of the polling interval to the instance of the polling interval that is consecutive to the first instance of the polling interval.

3. The method of claim 1 including the step of reporting changes in one or more of the particular one or more attributes when the one or more distributed clients request notification of changes in the one or more of the particular one or more attributes.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more distributed clients comprise a plural number of clients, the method including the steps of:

polling for the particular one or more attributes for the plural number of clients, and

reporting changes in the particular one or more attributes to one of the plural number of clients requesting notification of changes in the particular one or more attributes.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the network comprises a plurality of network elements, and wherein the step of polling the network element, through employment of the object server, for only the particular one or more attributes for which the one or more distributed clients have registered interest and only once during an instance of the polling interval regardless of whether the one or more distributed clients comprise a plural number of clients includes the step of:

polling each of the plurality of network elements, through employment of an object server, for only particular one or more attributes for which one or more distributed clients have registered interest in the particular network element and only once for each of the plurality of network elements during an instance of a polling interval regardless of whether the one or more distributed clients comprise a plural number of clients, wherein the particular one or more attributes for each of the plurality of network elements comprise a subset of a plurality of attributes for the particular network element.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more distributed clients comprise a plural number of clients, the method including the step of asynchronously reporting changes in the particular one or more attributes to the plural number of clients.

7. The method of claim 1 in which the object oriented program is a JAVA program.

8. The method of claim 7 in which a CORBA architecture functions as an IPC for functions residing on the object server to provide for distribution of functionality to multiple work station processors.

9. The method of claim 1 in which the network element and the object server communicate through use of a network management protocol.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the network management protocol is the simple network management protocol.

11. The method of claim 9 including the step of obtaining system status associated with the network element by polling and auditing pursuant to the simple network management protocol.

12. The method of claim 9 including the step of providing real-time notification of alarm conditions at the network element through the use of a network management protocol event manager.

13. The method of claim 9 including the step of providing command and control signals to the network element through use of a simple network management protocol set operation.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein

the object server is part of an element management server that also includes a web server, the method including the step of

displaying command and alarm output information from the network element as a web browser-based display through use of the web server.

15. The method of claim 14 in which

the element management server also includes an executive control processor, the method including the step of

sending the command and alarm output information from the network element to the executive control processor.

16. The method of claim 1 including the step of sending event and alarm notifications from the network element to the object server through use of a network management protocol.

17. The method of claim 16 including the step of issuing commands to obtain input information from the work station from the network element to the object server through the use of the network management protocol.

18. In a network having a network element located at a node of the network, a method for controlling the network element from a remote work station connectable to the network, the method comprising the steps of:

polling the network element, through employment of an object server, for only particular one or more attributes for which one or more distributed clients have registered interest and only once during an instance of a polling interval regardless of whether the one or more distributed clients comprise a plural number of clients, wherein the particular one or more attributes comprise a subset of a plurality of attributes for the network element,

running an object oriented program at the remote work station to control an object associated with the network element,

translating interface operations generated by the work station during the running of the object oriented program to corresponding translated interface operations in an object oriented language associated with the object, wherein the translating includes receiving the interface operations through a communication link of the network at a node separate from the node where the network element is located and translating the interface operations through the network communication link into the corresponding translated interface operations by conveying the received interface operations into IPC and TCP/IP requests, and

connecting the corresponding translated interface operations through the network to the object server to control the object associated with the network element in accordance with the translated interface operations.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the step of polling the network element, through employment of the object server, for only the particular one or more attributes for which the one or more distributed clients have registered interest and only once during an instance of the polling interval regardless of whether the one or more distributed clients comprise a plural number of clients comprises the steps of:

notifying, through employment of the object server, the one or more distributed clients that have registered interest for the particular one or more attributes of a first view of the particular one or more attributes of the network element in a first instance of the polling interval;

notifying, through employment of the object server, the one or more distributed clients that have registered interest for the particular one or more attributes of a different view of a first one or more of the particular one or more attributes of the network element in an instance of the polling interval that is consecutive to the first instance of the polling interval upon a change of the first one or more of the particular one or more attributes; and

withholding notification, from the object server, to the one or more distributed clients that have registered interest for the particular one or more attributes of a same view of a second one or more of the particular one or more attributes of the network element in an instance of the polling interval that is consecutive to the first instance of the polling interval upon an occurrence of unchanged value of the second one or more of the particular one or more attributes from the first instance of the polling interval to the instance of the polling interval that is consecutive to the first instance of the polling interval.

20. The method of claim 18 including the step of reporting changes in one or more of the particular one or more attributes when the one or more distributed clients request notification of changes in the one or more of the particular one or more attributes.

21. The method of claim 18, wherein the one or more distributed clients comprise a plural number of clients, the method including the steps of:

polling for the particular one or more attributes for the plural number of clients, and

reporting changes in the particular one or more attributes to one of the plural number of clients requesting notification of changes in the particular one or more attributes.

22. The method of claim 18, wherein the network comprises a plurality of network elements, and wherein the step of polling the network element, through employment of the object server, for only the particular one or more attributes for which the one or more distributed clients have registered interest and only once during an instance of the polling interval regardless of whether the one or more distributed clients comprise a plural number of clients includes the step of:

polling each of the plurality of network elements, through employment of an object server, for only particular one or more attributes for which one or more distributed clients have registered interest in the particular network element and only once for each of the plurality of network elements during an instance of a polling interval regardless of whether the one or more distributed clients comprise a plural number of clients, wherein the particular one or more attributes for each of the plurality of network elements comprise a subset of a plurality of attributes for the particular network element.

23. The method of claim 18, wherein the one or more distributed clients comprise a plural number of clients, the method including the step of asynchronously reporting changes in the particular one or more attributes to the plural number of clients.

24. The method of claim 18 in which the object oriented program is a JAVA program.

25. The method of claim 18 in which the step of connecting includes the step of transmitting the IPC and TCP/IP requests to the object server.

26. The method of claim 25 in which the step of connecting includes the step of generating the IPC and TCP/IP requests through a web-based GUI.

27. The method of claim 25 including the steps of

storing network element information concerning the network at the element management server, and

selectively providing the stored network element information to a plurality of different work stations.

28. The method of claim 18 in which a CORBA architecture functions as an IPC for functions residing on the object server to provide for distribution of functionality to multiple work station processors.

29. The method of claim 18 in which the network element and the object server communicate through use of a network management protocol.

30. The method of claim 29 wherein the network management protocol is the simple network management protocol.

31. The method of claim 29 including the step of obtaining system status associated with the network element by polling and auditing pursuant to the simple network management protocol.

32. The method of claim 29 including the step of providing real-time notification of alarm conditions at the network element through the use of a network management protocol event manager.

33. The method of claim 29 including the step of providing command and control signals to the network element through use of a simple network management protocol set operation.

34. The method of claim 18 in which

the object server is part of an element management server that also includes a web server, the method including the step of

displaying command and alarm output information from the network element as a web browser-based display through use of the web server.

35. The method of claim 34 in which

the element management server also includes an executive control processor, the method including the step of

sending the command and alarm output information from the network element to the executive control processor.

36. The method of claim 18 including the step of sending event and alarm notifications from the network element to the object server through use of a network management protocol.

37. The method of claim 36 including the step of issuing commands to obtain input information from the work station from the network element to the object server through the use of the network management protocol.

38. In a network having a network element, a method for controlling the network element from a remote work station connectable to the network, the method comprising the steps of:

polling the network element, through employment of an object server, for only particular one or more attributes for which one or more distributed clients have registered interest and only once during an instance of a polling interval regardless of whether the one or more distributed clients comprise a plural number of clients, wherein the particular one or more attributes comprise a subset of a plurality of attributes for the network element,

running an object oriented program at the remote work station to control an object associated with the network element,

translating interface operations generated by the work station during the running of the object oriented program to corresponding translated interface operations in an object oriented language associated with the object,

connecting the corresponding translated interface operations through the network to the object server to control the object associated with the network element in accordance with the translated interface operations, and

gathering information concerning the network element at the object server, and conveying the information that has been gathered to the remote work station by dynamically generating a web-page visual display associated with the network element for interfacing with the remote work station to display the information that has been gathered.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein the step of polling the network element, through employment of the object server, for only the particular one or more attributes for which the one or more distributed clients have registered interest and only once during an instance of the polling interval regardless of whether the one or more distributed clients comprise a plural number of clients comprises the steps of:

notifying, through employment of the object server, the one or more distributed clients that have registered interest for the particular one or more attributes of a first view of the particular one or more attributes of the network element in a first instance of the polling interval;

notifying, through employment of the object server, the one or more distributed clients that have registered interest for the particular one or more attributes of a different view of a first one or more of the particular one or more attributes of the network element in an instance of the polling interval that is consecutive to the first instance of the polling interval upon a change of the first one or more of the particular one or more attributes; and

withholding notification, from the object server, to the one or more distributed clients that have registered interest for the particular one or more attributes of a same view of a second one or more of the particular one or more attributes of the network element in an instance of the polling interval that is consecutive to the first instance of the polling interval upon an occurrence of unchanged value of the second one or more of the particular one or more attributes from the first instance of the polling interval to the instance of the polling interval that is consecutive to the first instance of the polling interval.

40. The method of claim 38 including the step of reporting changes in one or more of the particular one or more attributes when the one or more distributed clients request notification of changes in the one or more of the particular one or more attributes.

41. The method of claim 38, wherein the one or more distributed clients comprise a plural number of clients, the method including the steps of:

polling for the particular one or more attributes for the plural number of clients, and

reporting changes in the particular one or more attributes to one of the plural number of clients requesting notification of changes in the particular one or more attributes.

42. The method of claim 38, wherein the network comprises a plurality of network elements, and wherein the step of polling the network element, through employment of the object server, for only the particular one or more attributes for which the one or more distributed clients have registered interest and only once during an instance of the polling interval regardless of whether the one or more distributed clients comprise a plural number of clients includes the step of:

polling each of the plurality of network elements, through employment of an object server, for only particular one or more attributes for which one or more distributed clients have registered interest in the particular network element and only once for each of the plurality of network elements during an instance of a polling interval regardless of whether the one or more distributed clients comprise a plural number of clients, wherein the particular one or more attributes for each of the plurality of network elements comprise a subset of a plurality of attributes for the particular network element.

43. The method of claim 38, wherein the one or more distributed clients comprise a plural number of clients, the method including the step of asynchronously reporting changes in the particular one or more attributes to the plural number of clients.

44. The method of claim 38 in which the object oriented program run at the remote work station is a JAVA program.

45. The method of claim 38 in which the step of gathering includes the step of gathering network element information concerning at least one of

a list of all active alarms,

a summary of system alarms, and

a detailed indication of the stat of the network element.

46. The method of claim 45 in which the step of gathering includes the step of selectively gathering a list of all active alarms, a summary of system alarms, and a detailed indication of the status of the network element.

47. The method of claim 38 in which a CORBA architecture functions as an IPC for functions residing on the object server to provide for distribution of functionality to multiple work station processors.

48. The method of claim 38 in which communication between the network element and the object server is through use of a network management protocol.

49. The method of claim 48 wherein the network management protocol is simple network management protocol.

50. The method of claim 48 including the step of obtaining system status associated with the network element by polling and auditing pursuant to simple network management protocol.

51. The method of claim 48 including the step of providing real-time notification of alarm conditions at the network element through the use of a network management protocol event manager.

52. The method of claim 48 including the step of providing command and control signals to the network element through use of a simple network management protocol set operation.

53. The method of claim 38 in which

the object server is part of an element management server that includes a web server, the method including the step of

displaying command and alarm output information from the network element as a web browser-based display through use of the web server.

54. The method of claim 53 in which

the element management server includes an executive control processor, the method including the step of

sending the command and alarm output information from the network element to the executive control processor.

55. The method of claim 38 including the step of sending event and alarm notifications from the network element to the object server through use of a network management protocol.

56. The method of claim 55 including the step of issuing commands to obtain input information from the work station from the network element to the object server through the use of the network management protocol.

63. The method of claim 52 in which the object oriented program run at the remote work station is a JAVA program.

57. In a network having a network element, a method for controlling the network element from a remote work station connectable to the network, the method comprising the steps of:

polling the network element, through employment of an object server, for only particular one or more attributes for which one or more distributed clients have registered interest and only once during an instance of a polling interval regardless of whether the one or more distributed clients comprise a plural number of clients, wherein the particular one or more attributes comprise a subset of a plurality of attributes for the network element,

running an object oriented program at the remote work station to control an object associated with the network element,

translating interface operations generated by the work station during the running of the object oriented program to corresponding translated interface operations in an object oriented language associated with the object, and

connecting the corresponding translated interface operations through the network to the object server to control the object associated with the network element in accordance with the translated interface operations, wherein the translating includes communicating with the object server through a distributed object request architecture to provide a consistent interface to the object that hides implementation details associated with the object.

58. The method of claim 57, wherein the step of polling the network element, through employment of the object server, for only the particular one or more attributes for which the one or more distributed clients have registered interest and only once during an instance of the polling interval regardless of whether the one or more distributed clients comprise a plural number of clients comprises the steps of:

notifying, through employment of the object server, the one or more distributed clients that have registered interest for the particular one or more attributes of a first view of the particular one or more attributes of the network element in a first instance of the polling interval;

notifying, through employment of the object server, the one or more distributed clients that have registered interest for the particular one or more attributes of a different view of a first one or more of the particular one or more attributes of the network element in an instance of the polling interval that is consecutive to the first instance of the polling interval upon a change of the first one or more of the particular one or more attributes; and

withholding notification, from the object server, to the one or more distributed clients that have registered interest for the particular one or more attributes of a same view of a second one or more of the particular one or more attributes of the network element in an instance of the polling interval that is consecutive to the first instance of the polling interval upon an occurrence of unchanged value of the second one or more of the particular one or more attributes from the first instance of the polling interval to the instance of the polling interval that is consecutive to the first instance of the polling interval.

59. The method of claim 57 including the step of reporting changes in one or more of the particular one or more attributes when the one or more distributed clients request notification of changes in the one or more of the particular one or more attributes.

60. The method of claim 57, wherein the one or more distributed clients comprise a plural number of clients, the method including the steps of:

polling for the particular one or more attributes for the plural number of clients, and

reporting changes in the particular one or more attributes to one of the plural number of clients requesting notification of changes in the particular one or more attribute.

61. The method of claim 57, wherein the network comprises a plurality of network elements, and wherein the step of polling the network element, through employment of the object server, for only the particular one or more attributes for which the one or more distributed clients have registered interest and only once during an instance of the polling interval regardless of whether the one or more distributed clients comprise a plural number of clients includes the step of:

polling each of the plurality of network elements, through employment of an object server, for only particular one or more attributes for which one or more distributed clients have registered interest in the particular network element and only once for each of the plurality of network elements during an instance of a polling interval regardless of whether the one or more distributed clients comprise a plural number of clients, wherein the particular one or more attributes for each of the plurality of network elements comprise a subset of a plurality of attributes for the particular network element.

62. The method of claim 57, wherein the one or more distributed clients comprise a plural number of clients, the method including the step of asynchronously reporting changes in the particular one or more attributes to the plural number of clients.

64. The method of claim 57 in which the distributed object request architecture is a CORBA architecture.

65. The method of claim 64 in which the CORBA architecture functions as an IPC for functions residing on the object server to eliminate a need for platform specific language for the object oriented program at the remote work station.

66. The method of claim 65 in which the CORBA architecture functions as an IPC for functions residing on the object server to provide for distribution of functionality to multiple work station processors.

67. The method of claim 57 in which communication between the network element and the object server is through use of a network management protocol.

68. The method of claim 67 wherein the network management protocol is the simple network management protocol.

69. The method of claim 68 including the step of obtaining system status associated with the network element by polling and auditing pursuant to simple network management protocol.

70. The method of claim 67 including the step of providing real-time notification of alarm conditions at the network element through the use of a network management protocol event manager.

71. The method of claim 67 including the step of providing command and control signals to the network element through use of a simple network management protocol set operation.

72. The method of claim 57 in which

the object server is part of an element management server that also includes a web server, the method including the step of

displaying command and alarm output information from the network element as a web browser-based display through use of the web server.

73. The method of claim 72 in which

the element management server also includes an executive control processor, the method including the step of

sending the command and alarm output information from the network element to the executive control processor.

74. The method of claim 57 including the step of sending event and alarm notifications from the network element to the object server through use of a network management protocol.

75. The method of claim 74 including the step of issuing commands to obtain input information from the work station from the network element to the object server through the use of the network management protocol.