Power fluctuation detection and analysis
First Claim
1. A method of monitoring a communications system comprising:
- operating a monitoring device including a processor and memory to perform the steps of;
collecting at least one of transmission power level information or received power level information from a first plurality of customer premise devices corresponding to a first network area;
collecting at least one of transmission power level information or received power level information from a second plurality of customer premise devices corresponding to a second area;
generating a measure of network instability for the first network area based on power level fluctuation information included in collected power level information received from said first plurality of customer premise devices;
generating a second group power level deviation metric from collected power level information received from said second plurality of customer premise devices, said second group power level deviation metric being a modified standard deviation ratio; and
taking an action based on the measure of network instability.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The network monitoring system collects transmission and/or receive power level information from a plurality of customer premise devices connected to the same distribution node for each of a plurality of network distribution nodes. For an individual network distribution node, the network monitoring system calculates a set of fluctuation parameters including a group power level deviation metric, e.g., a modified standard deviation ratio. The network monitoring system evaluates the generated fluctuation parameters and responds, e.g., outputting a fluctuations report, modifying a data collection profile being used by a set of customer premise devices corresponding to a distribution node, commanding diagnostics to be performed on a portion of the network and/or directing a service technician. The network monitoring system compares generated fluctuation parameters corresponding to different distribution nodes, and uses the results of the comparison to assign priority with regard to the assignment of limited available troubleshooting and repair resources.
51 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of monitoring a communications system comprising:
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operating a monitoring device including a processor and memory to perform the steps of; collecting at least one of transmission power level information or received power level information from a first plurality of customer premise devices corresponding to a first network area; collecting at least one of transmission power level information or received power level information from a second plurality of customer premise devices corresponding to a second area; generating a measure of network instability for the first network area based on power level fluctuation information included in collected power level information received from said first plurality of customer premise devices; generating a second group power level deviation metric from collected power level information received from said second plurality of customer premise devices, said second group power level deviation metric being a modified standard deviation ratio; and taking an action based on the measure of network instability. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of monitoring a communications system comprising:
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operating a monitoring device including a processor and memory to perform the steps of; collecting at least one of transmission power level information or received power level information from a first plurality of customer premise devices corresponding to a first network area, said first plurality of customer premise devices being connected to a first distribution node; determining a number of fluctuating customer premise devices connected to the first distribution node, the number of fluctuating devices being a count of the number of devices which had transmit or receive power level fluctuation over a first threshold during a period of time; generating a first group power level deviation metric from collected power level information received from said first plurality of customer premise devices; taking an action based on the generated first group power level deviation metric; and wherein taking an action based on the generated first group power level deviation metric includes generating a report for a period of time, said report including, the number of fluctuating customer premise devices corresponding to the first distribution node, a number of fluctuating accounts corresponding to the first distribution node, a modified standard deviation ratio corresponding to the first distribution node, a number of critical violations corresponding to the first distribution node, a number of warning violations corresponding to the first distribution node, a percentage of accounts corresponding to the first distribution node that are fluctuating accounts, and a percentage of customer premise devices corresponding to the first distribution node that are fluctuating devices.
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12. A monitoring apparatus for use in a communications network, the monitoring system comprising:
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a memory; and a processor, configured to; collect at least one of transmission power level information or received power level information from a first plurality of customer premise devices corresponding to a first network area; collect at least one of transmission power level information or received power level information from a second plurality of customer premise devices corresponding to a second area; generate a measure of network instability for the first network area based on power level fluctuation information included in collected power level information received from said first plurality of customer premise devices; generate a second group power level deviation metric from collected power level information received from said second plurality of customer premise devices, said second group power level deviation metric being a modified standard deviation ratio; and take an action based on the measure of network instability for the first network area. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising:
computer executable instructions which when executed by a computer cause said computer to control a network monitoring apparatus to; collect at least one of transmission power level information or received power level information from a first plurality of customer premise devices corresponding to a first network area; collect at least one of transmission power level information or received power level information from a second plurality of customer premise devices corresponding to a second area; generate a measure of network instability for the first network area based on power level fluctuation information included in collected power level information received from said first plurality of customer premise devices; generate a second group power level deviation metric from collected power level information received from said second plurality of customer premise devices, said second group power level deviation metric being a modified standard deviation ratio; and take an action based on the measure of network instability for the first network area. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
Specification