Systems and methods for automatic replacement and repair of communications network devices

• US 9,817,709 B2
• Filed: 11/09/2012
• Issued: 11/14/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 11/11/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sandpiper CDN, LLC (Theseus LF Asset Holdings, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Level 3 Communications LLC (Lumen Technologies, Inc.)
• Inventors: Gowin, Lawrence Wayne, Flynn, Matthew David, Warren, Mark Michael, Nooner, Ricky Lynn
• Primary Examiner(s): Bryan, Jason
• Application Number:
  US13/673,550
• Publication Number:
  US 20130124908A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,831 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0709 in a distributed system consisting of a plurality of standalone computer nodes, e.g. clusters, client-server systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0748 in a remote unit communicating with a single-box computer node experiencing an error/fault remote testing G06F11/2294
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0793 Remedial or corrective actions recovery from an exception in an instruction pipeline G06F9/3861; by retry G06F11/1402; for recovering from a failure of a protocol instance or entity H04L69/40
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0661 by reconfiguring faulty entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0817 by checking functioning

Abstract

Systems and methods for automatic repair, replacement, and/or configuration of various network devices within a communications network are disclosed. The system may receive indication of a failed network device and automatically perform diagnostic on the network device to determine any problems associated with the hardware and/or software components within the network device. Subsequently one or more repair, replacement, and/or configuration procedures may be automatically initiated in an attempt to resolve the problems and restore the failed network device.

Claims

1. A method for automatic repair of network devices in a communications network comprising:

receiving from an alarming system an alert about a network device;

identifying, at a processor, the network device in a communications network;

identifying, in a database, a profile comprising device identification information corresponding to the network device and device configuration information indicating one or more applications being executed on the device and related application configuration data;

establishing, using the processor, communication with the network device based on the identification information to determine a status for the network device; and

initiating, using the processor, at least one repair procedure to restore the network device based on the status;

wherein the status of the network device is available, the method further comprising;

accessing, at the processor, the network device to obtain state information for the network device;

parsing, at the processor, the state information to identify at least one application executable by the network device; and

restoring, at the processor, the at least one application to an acceptable state on the network device, wherein initiating the at least one repair procedure to restore the network device is based on the state information and the at least one application.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining, at the processor, that the at least one repair procedure failed;

generating a repair ticket comprising instructions to repair the network device when the at least one repair procedure failed; and

providing the repair ticket to an external system for processing.

3. A system for automatic repair of networking components in a communications network comprising:

a processor;

a database;

an automatic repair application comprising modules executable by the processor, the modules comprising;

a monitor module to;

receive from an alarming system an alert about a network device;

identify the network device in a communications network;

a diagnosis module to;

identify, in the database, a profile comprising device identification information corresponding to the network device and device configuration information indicating one or more applications being executed on the device and related application configuration data; and

establish communication with the network device based on the identification information to determine a status for the network device; and

a repair module to;

initiate at least one repair procedure to restore the network device based on the status;

wherein the status for the network device is available and wherein the repair module is further configured to;

access the network device to obtain state information for the network device;

parse the state information to identify at least one application executable by the network device; and

restore the at least one application to an acceptable state on the network device, wherein initiating the at least one repair procedure to restore the network device is based on the state information and the at least one application.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the diagnosis module is further configured to:

determine that the at least one repair procedure failed;

generate a repair ticket comprising instructions to repair the network device when the at least one repair procedure failed; and

provide the repair ticket to an external system for processing.

5. A non-transitory computer-readable medium encoded with a repair application comprising modules executable by a processor, the modules comprising:

a monitor module to;

receive from an alarming system an alert about a network device; and

identify the network device in a communications network;

a diagnosis module to;

identify, in a database, a profile comprising device identification information corresponding to the network device and device configuration information indicating one or more applications being executed on the device and related application configuration data;

establish communication with the network device based on the identification information to determine a status for the network device; and

a repair module to;

initiate at least one repair procedure to restore the network device based on the status;

wherein the status of the network device is available and wherein the repair module is further configured to;

access the network device to obtain state information for the network device;

parse the state information to identify at least one application executable by the network device; and

restore the at least one application to an acceptable state on the network device, wherein initiating the at least one repair procedure to restore the network device is based on the state information and the at least one application.

6. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 5, wherein the diagnosis module is further configured to:

determine that the at least one repair procedure failed;

generate a repair ticket comprising instructions to repair the network device when the at least one repair procedure failed; and

providing the repair ticket to an external system for processing.