System and method for analysis of communications networks

• US 20060153089A1
• Filed: 12/23/2004
• Published: 07/13/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 12/23/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kyndryl Incorporated
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Silverman, Robert M.
• Granted Patent: US 7,769,850 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/252
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/145 involving simulating, designing, planning or modelling of a network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/10 Active monitoring, e.g. heartbeat, ping or trace-route

Abstract

A system and method is provided for using network asset management data including attributes such as device type, location, and link speed for modeling network performance and identifying performance issues. The invention provides measured and observed performance data for one or more segments of a network (e.g., one or more hops or end to end) so that identification of diminished performance in the network might be accomplished. Additionally, the invention may provide projections of performance impacts based upon proposed changes to one or more components in the network. Performance metrics, ping times, MIB data, link speeds, propagation delays, device latency, serialization rates, conversational speeds, conversational utilization and other data are used to model a network for determining or isolating problematic issues and to forecast performance impacts of potential changes to the network.

Claims

1. :

A method of modeling a network, comprising the steps of;

acquiring one or more metrics associated with one or more network hops;

calculating one or more performance ratings from the one or more metrics for the one or more network hops; and

computing an overall baseline capability of the one or more network hops based on the calculating step for use in at least any one of characterizing impacts of one or more applications, identifying diminished performance by a network component and projecting an effect caused by altering the network component.

2. :

The method of claim 1, wherein the acquiring step comprises at least any one of the following steps;

determining a link speed associated with the one or more hops;

determining a propagation delay associated with the one or more hops;

determining serialization rate; and

determining a device latency associated with the one or more hops.

3. :

The method of claim 1, wherein the acquiring step comprises at least any one of the following steps;

determining a utilization ratio associated with the one or more hops;

determining a byte rate in associated with the one or more hops;

determining a byte rate out associated with the one or more hops;

determining a packet rate in associated with the one or more hops;

acquiring management information base (MIB) data;

acquiring trace information; and

determining a ping time associated with the one or more hops.

4. :

The method of claim 1, wherein the calculating step includes performing a single hop analysis based on link speed, propagation delay, device latency and utilization.

5. :

The method of claim 4, further comprising performing a multi-hop analysis in a multi-hop network based on more than one single hop analysis.

6. :

The method of claim 5, further comprising calculating a packet handling over distance (PHOD) for the multi-hop network.

7. :

The method of claim 1, wherein computing the overall baseline includes computing a conversational utilization of the one or more network hops based at least on conversational speed and serialization time.

8. :

The method of claim 1, wherein computing the overall baseline includes computing a streaming utilization based at least on a streaming speed and a currently available network speed.

9. :

The method of claim 1, wherein the acquiring step acquires the one or more metrics for one or more network devices associated with the one or more network hops.

10. :

The method of claim 1, further comprising providing a projected performance model based on changing a parameter associated with the one or more metrics for identifying potential impacts of the changed parameter.

11. :

A method for managing a network, comprising the steps of;

identifying one or more network paths to be analyzed;

collecting management information base (MIB) data and ping data from one or more network devices along the one or more network paths;

computing one or more of the following outputs from the MIB and ping data;

(i) a baseline and currently available streaming speed for the one or more network paths;

(ii) a currently available conversational speed of the one or more network paths;

(iii) a latency of the one or more network paths;

(iv) a current streaming utilization of the one or more network paths;

(v) a current queue time along the one or more network paths; and

generating from the one or more outputs of the computing step for use in identifying diminished performance along the one or more network paths, one or more of the following;

(i) a baseline and current performance of streaming applications, and

(ii) a baseline and current performance of conversational applications.

12. :

The method of claim 11, further comprising tuning streaming applications under baseline and current conditions.

13. :

The method of claim 11, further comprising;

changing one or more parameters associated with at least any one of the MIB data, the ping data and a user specified parameter; and

projecting new one or more outputs by repeating the computing and generating steps.

14. :

A system for modeling a network, comprising;

means for acquiring metrics associated with a portion of a network;

means for calculating one or more performance ratings from the one or more metrics; and

means for computing an outputting an overall baseline capability of the portion of the network based on the performance ratings for use in at least any one of characterizing impacts of one or more applications, identifying diminished performance by a network component and projecting an effect caused by altering a network component.

15. :

The system of claim 14, further comprising at least any one of the following;

means for determining a link speed associated with the portion of the network;

means for determining a propagation delay associated with the portion of the network;

means for determining a serialization rate for the portion of the network; and

means for determining latency associated with the portion of the network.

16. :

The system of claim 14, further comprising at least any one of the following;

means for determining a utilization ratio associated with the portion of the network;

means for determining a byte rate in associated with the portion of the network;

means for determining a byte rate out associated with the portion of the network;

means for determining a packet rate in associated with the portion of the network;

means for acquiring management information base (MIB) data;

means for acquiring trace information; and

means for determining a ping time associated with the portion of the network.

17. :

The system of claim 14, further comprising means for performing a single hop analysis based on link speed, propagation delay, device latency and utilization.

18. :

The system of claim 14, further comprising a means for performing a multi-hop analysis in a multi-hop network based on more than one single hop analysis.

19. :

The system of claim 14, further comprising a means for calculating a packet handling over distance (PHOD) for the multi-hop network.

20. :

The system of claim 14, further comprising means for computing a conversational utilization of the portion of the network based at least on conversational speed and serialization time.

21. :

The system of claim 14, further including a means for computing a streaming utilization based at least on a streaming speed and a currently available network speed.

22. :

The system of claim 14, further comprising a means for acquiring the one or more metrics for one or more network devices associated with the portion of the network.

23. :

The system of claim 14, further comprising a means for providing a projected performance model based on changing a parameter associated with the one or more metrics for identifying potential impacts of the changed parameter.

24. :

The system of claim 14, wherein the portion of the network is one of a single hop, a multi-hop and an end to end path.

25. :

The system of claim 14, further comprising a means to display the overall baseline capability.

26. :

A computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having readable program code embodied in the medium, the computer program product includes at least one component to;

identify one or more network paths to be analyzed;

collect management information base (MIB) data and ping data from one or more network devices along the one or more network paths;

compute one or more of the following outputs from the MIB and ping data for tuning or identifying problems in the one or more network paths

(i) a baseline and currently available streaming speed for the one or more network paths;

(ii) a currently available conversational speed of the one or more network paths;

(iii) a latency of the one or more network paths;

(iv) a current streaming utilization of the one or more network paths;

(v) a current queue time along the one or more network paths; and

generate from the one or more outputs of the computing step for use in identifying diminished performance along the one or more network paths, one or more of the following;

(i) a baseline and current performance of streaming applications, and

(ii) a baseline and current performance of conversational applications.