Network service management using customizable business-level rules
First Claim
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1. A method comprising:
- receiving, with a service deployment device, a set of business logic rules defined in terms of high-level business information as an initial set of rules, wherein the set of business logic rules embody business policies of a network service provider, and wherein the business policies govern a group of relationships between the network service provider and one or more subscribers;
processing, with the service deployment device, the initial set of rules into a first set of rules, a second set of rules, and a third set of rules, wherein the first set of rules comprise event translation rules that control translation of network-level events into business-level information for evaluation of conditions, the second set of rules comprise condition rules that enable actions when certain conditions are met, and the third set of rules comprise execution rules that define how an execution module of the service deployment device executes the actions enabled by the condition rules;
receiving, with the service deployment device, network-level events from one or more network devices associated with the network service provider;
in response to the network-level events, applying the set of event translation rules, with an event translator of the service deployment device, to the network-level events to generate business-level information for evaluation of a condition, wherein each event translation rule includes a translation attribute, and wherein the event translator evaluates an expression specified by the translation attribute to generate the business-level information;
evaluating, with a rules engine of the service deployment device, the business-level information with one or more conditions specified by the set of condition rules, wherein one or more actions are enabled by the rules engine when at least one of the one or more conditions is satisfied; and
performing, with the execution module of the service deployment device, the one or more actions enabled by the rules engine by at least applying the set of execution rules to the network-level events, wherein the one or more actions are related to services provided by the network service provider.
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Abstract
A service deployment device responds to events originating internally or in a network using a set of condition/action rules. The condition/action rules are defined in terms of business-level information. A rules engine in the service deployment device translates the network events to business information and uses a forward-chaining algorithm to evaluate conditions associated with the rules. Based on the evaluation, the service deployment device enables actions associated with the rules. An enterprise using the service deployment device uses the condition/action rules to deploy business policies in the network.
52 Citations
43 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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receiving, with a service deployment device, a set of business logic rules defined in terms of high-level business information as an initial set of rules, wherein the set of business logic rules embody business policies of a network service provider, and wherein the business policies govern a group of relationships between the network service provider and one or more subscribers; processing, with the service deployment device, the initial set of rules into a first set of rules, a second set of rules, and a third set of rules, wherein the first set of rules comprise event translation rules that control translation of network-level events into business-level information for evaluation of conditions, the second set of rules comprise condition rules that enable actions when certain conditions are met, and the third set of rules comprise execution rules that define how an execution module of the service deployment device executes the actions enabled by the condition rules; receiving, with the service deployment device, network-level events from one or more network devices associated with the network service provider; in response to the network-level events, applying the set of event translation rules, with an event translator of the service deployment device, to the network-level events to generate business-level information for evaluation of a condition, wherein each event translation rule includes a translation attribute, and wherein the event translator evaluates an expression specified by the translation attribute to generate the business-level information; evaluating, with a rules engine of the service deployment device, the business-level information with one or more conditions specified by the set of condition rules, wherein one or more actions are enabled by the rules engine when at least one of the one or more conditions is satisfied; and performing, with the execution module of the service deployment device, the one or more actions enabled by the rules engine by at least applying the set of execution rules to the network-level events, wherein the one or more actions are related to services provided by the network service provider. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A system comprising:
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a plurality of physical network devices coupled to a network that generate network-level events; and a physical service deployment device that applies an initial set of rules to the network-level events to initiate actions related to services provided by a network service provider, wherein the initial set of rules are defined in terms of high-level business information and represent business policies of the network service provider, wherein the business policies govern a group of relationships between the network service provider and one or more subscribers, and wherein the service deployment device comprises; a rule compiler that processes the initial set of rules into a set of event translation rules, a set of condition rules, and a set of execution rules, wherein the set of event translation rules control translation of the network-level events into business level information for evaluation of conditions, the set of condition rules enable actions, and the set of execution rules define how an execution module of the service deployment device executes the actions enabled by the set of condition rules; an event translator that applies the set of event translation rules to generate business-level information in response to the network-level events, wherein each event translation rule of the set of event translation rules includes a translation attribute, and wherein the event translator evaluates an expression specified by the translation attribute to generate the business-level information; a rules engine that evaluates the conditions specified by the set of condition rules and enables actions associated with the set of condition rules when one or more of the conditions are satisfied; and an execution module that controls the execution of the actions enabled by the rules engine by applying the set of execution rules to the network-level events, wherein the one or more actions are related to services provided by the network service provider. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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42. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer code encoded thereon comprising instructions for causing a programmable processor to:
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receive a set of business logic rules defined in terms of high-level business information as an initial set of rules, wherein the business logical rules embody business policies of a network service provider, and wherein the business policies govern a group of relationships between the network service provider and one or more subscribers; process the initial set of rules into a first set of rules, a second set of rules, and a third set of rules, wherein the first set of rules comprise event translation rules that control translation of the events into business-level information for evaluation of conditions, the second set of rules comprise condition rules and the third set of rules comprise execution rules that define how an execution module of the service deployment device executes the actions enabled by the condition rules; receive network-level events from a plurality of network devices associated with one of the network service provider; apply the set of event translation rules to the network-level events to generate business-level information in response to the network-level events for evaluation of a condition, wherein each event translation rule of the set of event translation rules includes a translation attribute that specifies an expression, and wherein the business-level information is generated by at least evaluating the expression specified by the translation attribute; evaluate the business-level information with one or more conditions specified by the set of condition rules, wherein one or more actions are enabled when at least one of the one or more conditions is satisfied; and perform the one or more enabled actions by applying the set of execution rules to the network-level events, wherein the one or more enabled actions are related to services provided by the network service provider. - View Dependent Claims (43)
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Specification