Filtering approach for network system alarms based on lifecycle state

• US 7,711,811 B1
• Filed: 03/26/2003
• Issued: 05/04/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/26/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sprint Communications Company LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: Sprint Communications Company LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: Adams, Mark
• Primary Examiner(s): Phillips; Hassan
• Assistant Examiner(s): Patel; Dhairya A
• Application Number:
  US10/400,111
• Time in Patent Office: 2,596 Days
• Field of Search: 709/223, 709/224
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 15/173 using an interconnection network, e.g. matrix, shuffle, pyramid, star, snowflake
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0622 based on time

Abstract

A method for creating an updateable report representing the alarm status of a network. The method can comprise tracking the lifecycle state of at least a portion of the elements within the network, categorizing at least a portion of the alarms generated in the network based on the lifecycle state of the elements generating the alarms, and removing selected alarms from an updateable report based on the lifecycle state of the elements generating the alarms. Alternatively, all alarms generated by network elements having a tracked lifecycle state can be categorized based on the lifecycle state of the elements generating the alarms. The alarms removed from the updateable report can include alarms generated by elements with a non-operational lifecycle state, alarms generated by elements with a maintenance lifecycle state, or alarms generated by elements with either the non-operational or the maintenance lifecycle state.

Claims

1. A method for creating an updateable report representing an alarm status of a network comprising:

tracking a lifecycle state of each of a plurality of elements within the network, wherein the lifecycle state of each of the plurality of elements is one of an operational state including a normal operational state or a maintenance operational state or a non-operational state including a pre-acceptance non-operational state, wherein the lifecycle states of the plurality of elements include two or more of the normal operational state, the maintenance operational state, or the pre-acceptance non-operational state;

receiving alarms generated by the plurality of elements in the network;

categorizing the alarms into a plurality of categories including normal alarms, maintenance alarms, and pre-acceptance alarms based on the lifecycle state of the elements generating the alarms;

generating an alarm filtering view by blocking alarms in one or more of the plurality of categories of alarms from display on the updateable report; and

displaying the updateable report.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising categorizing alarms generated by all elements within the network having a tracked lifecycle state based on the lifecycle state of the elements.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the alarm filtering view blocks

alarms generated by elements with the pre-acceptance non-operational state.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the alarm filtering view blocks

alarms generated by elements with the maintenance operational state.

5. The method of claim 3 wherein the alarm filtering view further

blocks alarms generated by elements with the maintenance operational state.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the alarm filtering view blocks

alarms generated by elements with the normal operational state.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the alarm filtering view further

blocks alarms generated by elements with the maintenance operational state.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the alarm filtering view further

blocks alarms generated by elements with the pre-acceptance non-operational state.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein the alarm filtering view further blocks all alarms generated by elements except for alarms generated by elements with the pre-acceptance non-operational state.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the non-operational state

further includes a post-acceptance non-operational state.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the post-acceptance non-operational state includes a blocked post-acceptance non-operational state and a defective post-acceptance non-operational state.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the pre-acceptance non-operational state includes a planned pre-acceptance non-operational state, a deployed pre-acceptance non-operational state, and a tested pre-acceptance non-operational state.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the maintenance operational state includes a testing maintenance operational state, a scheduled maintenance operational state, an emergency recovery maintenance operational state, and a reallocated maintenance operational state.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the network comprises interconnected networks of an enterprise.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the network comprises interconnected networks of a single domain of an enterprise.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the domain comprises a business domain of the enterprise.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the domain comprises an operating system domain of the enterprise.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the network comprises a group of client computers connected to a server computer.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the updateable report is displayed on a computer screen.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the updateable report is sent to another location for further processing.

21. A method for creating an updateable report representing an alarm status of a network comprising:

tracking a lifecycle state of each of a plurality of elements within the network, wherein the lifecycle state of each of the plurality of elements is one of an operational state including a normal operational state or a maintenance operational state or a non-operational state including a pre-acceptance non-operational state, wherein the lifecycle states of the plurality of elements include two or more of the normal operational state, the maintenance operational state, or the pre-acceptance non-operational state;

receiving alarms generated by the plurality of elements in the network;

categorizing the alarms into a plurality of categories including normal alarms, maintenance alarms, and pre-acceptance alarms based on the lifecycle state of the elements generating the alarms;

generating an alarm filtering view by blocking alarms in one or more of the plurality of categories of alarms from display on the updateable report;

categorizing alarms in the alarm filtering view based on a source and a type of alarm;

placing the alarms in the alarm filtering view in a linkage-based filtering system, wherein the linkage-based filtering system replaces alarms generated by portions of the network impacted by a failure of a first portion of the network with alarm representations; and

updating the updateable report with the alarm representations.

22. The method of claim 21 further comprising categorizing alarms generated by all elements within the network having a tracked lifecycle state based on the lifecycle state of the elements.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein linkage-based filtering is selected from a group of filtering systems comprising internal linkage-based filtering and external linkage-based filtering.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein linkage-based filtering includes each of a group of filtering systems comprising internal linkage-based filtering and external linkage-based filtering.

25. A method for creating an updateable report representing an alarm status of a network comprising:

tracking a lifecycle state of each of a plurality of elements within the network, wherein the lifecycle state of each of the plurality of elements is one of an operational state including a normal operational state or a maintenance operational state or a non-operational state including a pre-acceptance non-operational state, wherein the lifecycle states of the plurality of elements include two or more of the normal operational state, the maintenance operational state, or the pre-acceptance non-operational state;

receiving alarms generated by the plurality of elements in the network;

categorizing the alarms into a plurality of categories including normal alarms, maintenance alarms, and pre-acceptance alarms based on the lifecycle state of the elements generating the alarms;

generating an alarm filtering view by blocking alarms in one or more of the plurality of categories of alarms from display on the updateable report based;

categorizing alarms in the alarm filtering view based on a source and a type of alarm;

placing the alarms in the alarm filtering view in at least one filtering system based on the source and the type of alarm, wherein the filtering system replaces selected alarms with alarm representations, and wherein the filtering system includes each of a group of filtering systems comprising;

a temporal filtering system; and

a non-temporal filtering system; and

updating the report with the alarm representations.

26. The method of claim 25 further comprising categorizing alarms generated by all elements within the network having a tracked lifecycle state based on the lifecycle state of the elements.

27. The method of claim 25, wherein temporal filtering is selected from a group of filtering systems comprising frequency-based filtering and cycling-based filtering.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein temporal filtering includes each of a group of filtering systems comprising frequency-based filtering and cycling-based filtering.

29. The method of claim 25, wherein non-temporal filtering is selected from a group of filtering systems comprising de-duplication and clear message mapping.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein non-temporal filtering includes each of a group of filtering systems comprising de-duplication and clear message mapping.

31. The method of claim 25, wherein the filtering system further comprises a linkage-based filtering system.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein linkage-based filtering is selected from a group of filtering systems comprising internal linkage-based filtering and external linkage-based filtering.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein linkage-based filtering includes each of a group of filtering systems comprising internal linkage-based filtering and external linkage-based filtering.

34. The method of claim 31, wherein the filtering system further comprises a classification filtering system.

35. The method of claim 25, wherein the filtering system further comprises a classification filtering system.