Method and system for designing a network

• US 6,857,014 B1
• Filed: 12/22/1999
• Issued: 02/15/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: RPX Clearinghouse LLC (RPX Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nortel Networks Limited (Nortel Networks Corporation)
• Inventors: Mar, Anthony L., Sand, Allan I., Paterson, Robert K.
• Primary Examiner(s): VU, THONG H
• Application Number:
  US09/469,623
• Time in Patent Office: 1,882 Days
• Field of Search: 709221-224, 709/238, 709/246, 709/248, 709/204, 709/241, 709/232, 709/229, 703/2, 703/3, 703/13, 703/4, 710/8, 706/25, 700/286, 707/103, 365/735, 365/736, 713/1, 714/25, 370/238, 370/254, 370/400, 455/446, 455/422, 455/448
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0659 by isolating or reconfiguring faulty entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5003 Managing SLA; Interaction between SLA and QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5006 Creating or negotiating SLA contracts, guarantees or penalties
• 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]

Abstract

The present invention provides a novel system and method for designing a network. The system is preferably a computer operable to allow a user to input the nodes and links of a network, and to input product information associated with the nodes and links. The computer also stores product-reliability models corresponding to the hardware information. The computer is operable to perform operations that consider the nodes, links, product models to determine a set of reliability performance parameters. The computer can be further operable to vary certain reliability parameters to determine the impact from the perspective of an end-user or other type of network client. One method can include the collection of desired client requirements from the end-user and designing various network configurations to conform with the desired client requirements. Thus, the present invention can be used, and to optimize network designs. Another application is to incorporate the tool in network management product to be used to build or enhance existing networks. This function could be both static as well as dynamic. Thus, the present invention can also be used for other purposes such as modifying, monitoring or optimising existing networks.

Claims

1. A method of designing a network for a network client, comprising the steps of:

receiving desired client reliability parameters associated with a service agreement;

receiving product information on a network, which has a plurality of nodes and links;

providing said product information to a product-integrity model and producing product-integrity parameters for said network;

said product-integrity parameters comprising one or more of service-affecting failure rate, service failure duration, fault detection coverage, unplanned and planned maintenance actions, equipment fault isolation, mean-time-to-repair, percent defective software loads or percent failed software load insertions;

based on said product-integrity parameters, producing network-integrity parameters for said network;

said network-integrity parameters comprising one or more of link and node restoration time, network fault recovery coverage, network failure containment or network fault isolation;

based on said product-integrity and said network-integrity parameters, producing support services-integrity parameters for said network;

said support services-integrity parameters comprising one or more of;

support availability, support responsiveness, fix responsiveness, or fix quality;

based on said product-integrity, network-integrity and support services-integrity parameters, producing actual client-reliability parameters for said network; and

based on said actual client-reliability parameters, determining whether said service agreement is achieved in said network;

said support services-integrity parameters are selected from the group consisting of support availability, support responsiveness, fix responsiveness, and fix quality.

2. A method of claim 1, wherein the step of producing actual client-reliability parameters produces said actual client-reliability parameters associated with a class of the network client.

3. A method of claim 2, wherein said class of the network client is selected from the group consisting of an end-user, a network operator and a network service provider.

4. A method of claim 3, wherein said service agreement is between said network service provider and said end-user.

5. A method of claim 3, wherein said client reliability parameters associated with said end-user are selected from the group consisting of user service downtime, user service denial probability, failed information transfer, user service dropped session probability, and failed connection termination probability.

6. A method of claim 3, wherein said client reliability parameters associated with said network service provider are selected from the group consisting of catastrophic network outage downtime, critical user downtime, network path service downtime, network path service failure rate, total maintenance action costs, spares inventory costs, and installation and commissioning quality cost.

7. A method of claim 3, wherein said client reliability parameters associated with said network operator provider are selected from the group consisting of billing downtime, catastrophic loss of control downtime, major loss of control downtime and capacity reduction time.

8. A method of claim 1, wherein the step of determining comprises the step of comparing said desired client-reliability parameters with said actual client-reliability parameters.

9. A method of claim 8, further comprising the step of outputting network topography when the determining step determines, based on the comparison, that said desired client-reliability parameters are achieved in said network.

12. A method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

receiving predetermined product-integrity parameters; and

providing said predetermined product-integrity parameters to said product-integrity model.

13. A method of claim 12, further comprising the step of:

changing at least one of said predetermined product-integrity parameters.

14. A method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

receiving predetermined network-integrity parameters; and

fixing said network-integrity parameters to said predetermined network-integrity parameters.

15. A method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

changing at least one of said predetermined network-integrity parameters.

16. A method of claim 14, further comprising the step of:

changing at least one of said predetermined support services-integrity parameters.

17. A method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

receiving predetermined support services-integrity parameters; and

fixing said support services-integrity parameters to said predetermined support services-integrity parameters.

18. A method of claim 1, wherein said product-integrity parameters are selected from the group consisting of service-affecting failure rate, service failure duration, fault detection coverage, unplanned and planned maintenance actions, equipment fault isolation, mean-time-to-repair, percent defective software loads and percent failed software load insertions.

19. A method of claim 1, wherein said network-integrity parameters are selected from the group consisting of link and node restoration time, network fault recovery coverage, network failure containment and network fault isolation.

20. A method of claim 1, wherein said support services-integrity parameters are selected from the group consisting of support availability, support responsiveness, fix responsiveness, and fix quality.

10. A method of claim further comprising the steps of

changing said network when the determining step determines, based on the comparison, that said desired client-reliability parameters are not achieved in said network, and

based on information on said changed network, repeating said producing steps to provide new actual client-reliability parameters.

11. A method of claim 10, wherein said network includes said nodes, said links and at least one product applied to said node or link, the changing step changing said node, said link or said product.

21. A method of providing reliability parameters of a network for a network client, comprising:

receiving product information on a network, which includes a plurality of nodes and links;

providing said product information to a product-integrity model and producing product-integrity parameters for said network;

said product-integrity parameters comprising one or more of service-affecting failure rate, service failure duration, fault detection coverage, unplanned and planned maintenance actions, equipment fault isolation, mean-time-to-repair, percent defective software loads or percent failed software load insertions;

based on said product-integrity parameters, producing network-integrity parameters for said network;

said network-integrity parameters comprising one or more of link and node restoration time, network fault recovery coverage, network failure containment or network fault isolation;

based on said product-integrity and said network-integrity parameters, producing support services-integrity parameters for said network;

said support services-integrity parameters comprising one or more of support availability, support responsiveness, fix responsiveness, or fix quality; and

based on said product-integrity, network-integrity and support services-integrity parameters, producing client-reliability parameters associated with a class of the network client.

22. A method of claim 21, wherein said class is selected from the group consisting of an end-user, a network operator and a network service provider.

23. A method of claim 22, wherein said client reliability parameters associated with said end-user are selected from the group consisting of user service downtime, user service denial probability, failed information transfer, user service dropped session probability, and failed connection termination probability.

24. A method of claim 22, wherein said client reliability parameters associated with said network service provider are selected from the group consisting of catastrophic network outage down time, critical user downtime, network path service downtime, network path service failure rate, total maintenance action costs, spares inventory costs, and installation and commissioning quality cost.

25. A method of claim 22, wherein said client reliability parameters associated with said network operator provider are selected from the group consisting of billing downtime, catastrophic loss of control downtime, major loss of control downtime and capacity reduction time.

26. A method of claim 21, further comprising the steps of:

receiving predetermined product-integrity parameters; and

providing said predetermined product-integrity parameters to said product-integrity model.

27. A method of claim 21, further comprising the steps of:

receiving predetermined network-integrity parameters; and

fixing said network-integrity parameters to said predetermined network-integrity parameters.

28. A method of claim 21, further comprising the steps of:

receiving predetermined support services-integrity parameters; and

fixing said support services-integrity parameters to said predetermined support services-integrity parameters.

29. A method of claim 21, wherein said product-integrity parameters are selected from the group consisting of service-affecting failure rate, service failure duration, fault detection coverage, unplanned and planned maintenance actions, equipment fault isolation, mean-time-to-repair, percent defective software loads and percent failed software load insertions.

30. A method of claim 21, wherein said network-integrity parameters are selected from the group consisting of link and node restoration time, network fault recovery coverage, network failure containment and network fault isolation.

31. A method of claim 21, wherein said support services-integrity parameters are selected from the group consisting of support availability, support responsiveness, fix responsiveness, and fix quality.