Method and apparatus for automatically reporting of faults in a communication network

• US 7,111,205 B1
• Filed: 04/18/2000
• Issued: 09/19/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 04/18/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Unify Inc. (Atos SE)
• Original Assignee: Siemens Communications Incorporated (Siemens AG)
• Inventors: Jahn, Jeffrey M., Gilbert, Leroy, Grosberg, Mark, Flanagan, Mark J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Beausoliel, Robert
• Assistant Examiner(s): DUNCAN, MARC M
• Application Number:
  US09/551,258
• Time in Patent Office: 2,345 Days
• Field of Search: 714/4, 714/47, 714/43, 714/48, 714/57, 709/224, 709/223, 709/22
• US Class Current: 714/47.2
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0681 Configuration of triggering conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies

Abstract

An improved method, apparatus and computer system for automatically reporting of faults in a telephonic network is described. When a network fault is detected, a determination is made by a fault analyzer whether or not the detected fault is a reportable fault. If the detected fault is a reportable fault, then an alarm report based upon the reportable fault is generated which is then distributed based upon a distribution list. The distribution list includes only those destination addresses associated with the reportable fault. The alarm report in distributed to any number and kind of communications devices such as, a pager, an email server, and a control console.

Claims

1. A method of automatically reporting a detected network fault in a distributed communication network, comprising:

detecting fault conditions indicated from data flow between a local communication network and a data network;

determining whether or not each of the detected fault conditions indicates a reportable network fault, wherein the reportable network fault is limited to only those hardware failures and software failures included in a reportable fault list that present a clear and present risk of causing substantial downtime;

generating an alarm report based upon the reportable network fault;

distributing the alarm report based upon a distribution list in real time; and

generating a solution recommendation based upon the reportable network fault.

2. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

logging the reportable network fault to an event logger.

3. A method as recited in claim 2, wherein the detecting comprises:

monitoring the data flow between said local communication network and said data network;

generating a fault signal automatically upon detection of an out of compliance network event;

automatically sending the fault signal to a fault detector; and

automatically logging the out of compliance event to the event logger.

4. A method as recited in claim 3, wherein the determining comprises:

determining whether or not the out of compliance event is included in the reportable fault list;

designating the event as the reportable fault when the event is determined to be included in the reportable fault list.

5. A method as recited in claim 4, wherein the alarm report includes fault type, location of malfunction and a time stamp and the distribution list includes destination addresses associated with the reportable fault.

6. A method as recited in claim 5, wherein the distributing comprises:

determining a fault report recipient based upon the distribution list; and

sending the fault report to the determined fault report recipient by way of a fault report communication device.

7. A method as recited in claim 6, wherein the fault communication report device is selected from a group comprising:

a pager, an email server, a display console, and a telephone.

8. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the alarm report includes fault type, location of malfunction and a time stamp.

9. An apparatus coupled to a distributed communication network for automatically reporting detected network operation faults, comprising:

a telephony intranet server (TIS) coupling a private communication network to a data network in said distributed communication network, said TIS monitoring the flow of data between said private communications network and said data network;

a fault detector unit in said TIS, said fault detector unit detecting faults indicated in said flow of data;

a fault analyzer coupled to the fault detector unit arranged to ascertain whether or not each detected network operation fault is a reportable network operation fault wherein the reportable network operation fault is limited to only those detected faults that present a clear and present risk of causing substantial downtime, wherein only hardware failures and software failures are designated as events reportable as network operation faults and the fault analyzer determines whether or not each event is a hardware failure or a software failure included in a reportable fault list and designates the event as reportable when the event is determined to be included in the reportable fault list;

an alarm notice generator unit coupled to the fault analyzer configured to generate a reportable network fault alarm notice based upon said each reportable network operation fault;

a fault solution analyzer unit coupled to the alarm notice generator unit arranged to generate a fault solution report based upon a fault analysis; and

a display unit arranged to display the alarm notice and the fault solution report.

10. An apparatus as recited in claim 9, further comprising:

an event logger coupled to the fault analyzer unit arranged to record each reportable network operation fault.

11. An apparatus as recited in claim 10, wherein the display unit is part of a fault report communication device that provides real time notification of the reportable network operation fault to a user.

12. An apparatus as recited in claim 11, wherein the fault communication report device is selected from a group comprising:

a pager, an email server, a display console, and a telephone.

13. An apparatus as recited in claim 12, wherein the distributed communication network is a telephony over LAN (ToL) network.

14. An apparatus as recited in claim 9, wherein the alarm notice includes fault type, location of malfunction and a time stamp.

15. An apparatus coupled to a distributed communication network for automatically reporting detected network operation faults, comprising:

a telephony intranet server (TIS) coupling a private communication network to a data network in said distributed communication network, said TIS monitoring the flow of data between said private communications network and said data network;

a fault detector unit in said TIS, said fault detector unit detecting network operation faults indicated in said flow of data, said fault detector designating only hardware failures and software failures as detected network operation faults;

a fault analyzer coupled to the fault detector unit arranged to ascertain whether or not each detected network operation fault is a reportable network operation fault, the fault analyzer determining whether or not each network operation fault is a hardware failure or a software failure included in a reportable fault list and designating each included said network operation fault as reportable, wherein the reportable network operation fault is limited to only those detected faults that present a clear and present risk of causing substantial downtime;

an alarm notice generator unit coupled to the fault analyzer configured to generate a reportable network fault alarm notice based upon said each reportable network operation fault;

a fault solution analyzer unit coupled to the alarm notice generator unit arranged to generate a fault solution report based upon a fault analysis; and

a display unit arranged to display the alarm notice and the fault solution report.