Estimating physical locations of network faults
First Claim
1. A method of estimating a physical location of a network fault producing linear distortion or excessive loss impairments, comprising the steps of:
- receiving information electronically of a physical topology of a network, said receiving step including data pulls of information concerning network components and geographic locations of the network components and terminal network elements and geographic locations of the terminal network elements;
detecting the network fault by automatically and electronically monitoring at least one performance parameter transmitted via upstream communications from the terminal network elements on the network;
automatically estimating the physical location of the network fault on the network based on the at least one performance parameter obtained during said detecting step, the information of the physical topology of the network obtained during said receiving step, and the terminal network element or elements from which the at least one performance parameter was received that indicated the network fault; and
automatically generating a list of network components that require inspection and may provide a source of the network fault;
wherein the at least one performance parameter includes an upstream filter coefficient ratio that equals 10*log(TCE/TE), where TCE is a sum of energy used by an equalizer of the terminal network element for correction of upstream signals in all taps of the equalizer except a main tap and TE is a sum of energy used by the equalizer of the terminal network element for correction of upstream signals in all taps of the equalizer including the main tap.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method of estimating a physical location of a network fault is provided. Information is received concerning the physical topology of the network by data pulls of information concerning network components and terminal network elements and geographic locations thereof. A network fault is detected by monitoring at least one performance parameter transmitted via upstream communications from the terminal network elements, and a physical location of a network fault is estimated based on the performance parameter, the physical topology of the network, and the terminal network element or elements from which the performance parameter was received that indicated the network fault. A list of network components that require inspection and that may provide a source of the network fault is generated. A signal processing electronic device for mapping the network fault and a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having computer program instructions are also provided.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method of estimating a physical location of a network fault producing linear distortion or excessive loss impairments, comprising the steps of:
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receiving information electronically of a physical topology of a network, said receiving step including data pulls of information concerning network components and geographic locations of the network components and terminal network elements and geographic locations of the terminal network elements; detecting the network fault by automatically and electronically monitoring at least one performance parameter transmitted via upstream communications from the terminal network elements on the network; automatically estimating the physical location of the network fault on the network based on the at least one performance parameter obtained during said detecting step, the information of the physical topology of the network obtained during said receiving step, and the terminal network element or elements from which the at least one performance parameter was received that indicated the network fault; and automatically generating a list of network components that require inspection and may provide a source of the network fault; wherein the at least one performance parameter includes an upstream filter coefficient ratio that equals 10*log(TCE/TE), where TCE is a sum of energy used by an equalizer of the terminal network element for correction of upstream signals in all taps of the equalizer except a main tap and TE is a sum of energy used by the equalizer of the terminal network element for correction of upstream signals in all taps of the equalizer including the main tap. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A signal processing electronic device for populating a display of an interactive graphical user interface with a diagnostic alarm corresponding to a fault detected on a network, comprising at least one processing unit configured to:
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receive information electronically of a physical topology of the network via data pulls of information concerning network components, geographic locations of the network components, terminal network elements, and geographic locations of the terminal network elements; detect a network fault by automatically and electronically monitoring at least one performance parameter transmitted via upstream communications from the terminal network elements on the network; automatically estimate a physical location of the network fault on the network based on the at least one performance parameter, the information of the physical topology of the network, and the terminal network element or elements from which the at least one performance parameter was received that indicated the network fault; and automatically generate a list of network components that require inspection and may provide a source of the network fault; wherein the at least one performance parameter includes an upstream filter coefficient ratio that equals 10*log(TCE/TE), where TCE is a sum of energy used by an equalizer of the terminal network element for correction of upstream signals in all taps of the equalizer except a main tap and TE is a sum of energy used by the equalizer of the terminal network element for correction of upstream signals in all taps of the equalizer including the main tap. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
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18. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that when executed by a data processing apparatus in communication with the non-transitory computer readable storage medium cause the data processing apparatus to:
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receive information electronically of a physical topology of a network via data pulls of information concerning network components, geographic locations of the network components, terminal network elements, and geographic locations of the terminal network elements; detect a network fault by automatically and electronically monitoring at least one performance parameter transmitted via upstream communications from the terminal network elements on the network; automatically estimate a physical location of the network fault on the network based on the at least one performance parameter, the information of the physical topology of the network, and the terminal network element or elements from which the at least one performance parameter was received that indicated the network fault; and automatically generate a list of network components that require inspection and may provide a source of the network fault; wherein the at least one performance parameter includes an upstream filter coefficient ratio that equals 10*log(TCE/TE), where TCE is a sum of energy used by an equalizer of the terminal network element for correction of upstream signals in all taps of the equalizer except a main tap and TE is a sum of energy used by the equalizer of the terminal network element for correction of upstream signals in all taps of the equalizer including the main tap.
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Specification