Method and system for automatically recognizing alarm patterns in a communications network

• US 7,945,817 B1
• Filed: 04/28/2005
• Issued: 05/17/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/30/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: T-Mobile Innovations LLC (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: Sprint Communications Company LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: Hermsmeyer, Jonathan William, Wiles, Gary Scott, Usery, Thomas Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Maskulinski; Michael C
• Assistant Examiner(s): Riad; Amine
• Application Number:
  US11/117,115
• Time in Patent Office: 2,210 Days
• Field of Search: 714/48
• US Class Current: 714/48
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13056 Routines, finite state machines
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13163 Fault alarm
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13175 Graphical user interface [GUI], WWW interface, visual indication
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13349 Network management
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/0075 Fault management techniques

Abstract

A method and system for troubleshooting a communications network by recognizing one or more alarm patterns is provided. An incoming status indication (such as an alarm notification) associated with a network resource is received, whereby topological information associated with the network resource is referenced to identify parent(s) and sibling(s) of the network resource. A data structure is referenced to retrieve patterning criteria associated with the parent. The identified network resources are evaluated to determine whether the patterning criteria is met, and if so, then causing an alarm event, such as generation of a synthetic status indication, to be instantiated.

Claims

1. One or more computer-storage media having computer-usable instructions embodied thereon for performing a method of pattern recognition between one or more alarms in a communications network, the method comprising:

scanning a status indication table for an unprocessed status indication;

retrieving the unprocessed status indication, wherein the unprocessed status indication is associated with a network component;

receiving an incoming status indication associated with a network component;

referencing topological information associated with the network component to identify a parent component of the network component and one or more sibling network components that are siblings of the network component;

determining a total number of the one or more sibling network components;

determining a number of the one or more sibling components that are generating a status indication;

referencing a data structure to retrieve a patterning criteria associated with the parent component;

evaluating the identified sibling network components to determine whether the patterning criteria is met, wherein the patterning criteria includes a set of rules that define how many child components of the parent component must reach a defined status to generate a synthetic status indication associated with the parent component, and wherein the defined status includes one or more of an alarm condition, a warning condition and a working-properly condition; and

if the patterning criteria is met, then automatically generating the synthetic status indication without user intervention, but if the patterning criteria is not met, then continuing to evaluate the identified sibling network components to completion.

2. The media of claim 1, wherein the status indication indicates an alarm status of the network component.

3. The media of claim 2, wherein the topological information includes hierarchal information that describes relationships among network components, wherein the relationships include one or more of the following:

a parent/child relationship, including grandparents and grandchildren; and

/or

a sibling relationship.

4. The media of claim 3, wherein the data structure includes a database or table within the database.

5. The media of claim 1, wherein the network component further includes a subcomponent.

6. The media of claim 5, wherein the network component or subcomponent includes a switching component, a card within the switching component, and/or a logical or physical port on the card.

7. The media of claim 1, wherein the synthetic status indication includes a message, a warning, or an alarm.

8. One or more computer-storage media having computer-usable instructions embodied thereon for performing a method of recognizing a pattern between one or more alarms in a communications network, the method comprising:

receiving an incoming status indication indicating the status of a first network component;

populating an alert table with incoming alerts;

scanning the alert table for an alert that is unprocessed;

retrieving the alert from the alert table, wherein the alert is associated with a first network component;

identifying sibling network components, wherein the sibling network components are components on a topological level common to the first network component and co-children of the first network component'"'"'s parent;

determining which of the identified sibling network components are in alarm condition;

retrieving patterning criteria associated with the first network component;

determining whether the patterning criteria is met based on a calculation of counting a total number of children network components associated with a parent network component, determining a threshold percentage or total count value of children network components that, if in alarm state, will trigger the alarm event, and determining whether the threshold percentage or total count value has been reached; and

if the patterning criteria is met, then automatically triggering an alarm event without user intervention, but if the patterning criteria is not met, then determining whether a previously generated alarm event should be cleared.

9. The media of claim 8, wherein the first network component further includes a subcomponent.

10. The media of claim 9, wherein the alert communicates one or more of the following:

a message;

an alarm; and

/or

an indication that the network resources is properly working.

11. The media of claim 10, wherein identifying sibling resources includes referencing a first data structure containing information describing hierarchical-relationships between one or more network elements.

12. The media of claim 11, wherein the patterning criteria includes one or more conditions that, if met, suggest a pattern of alerts that indicates a problem with one or more parent components, and wherein the parent components are topological parents of the first network component.

13. The media of claim 8, wherein the alarm event includes one or more the following:

a synthetic alarm associated with the parent component; and

/or

a depiction of the synthetic alarm on a display device.

14. A method of recognizing an alarm pattern in a communications network, the method comprising:

receiving a first status indication that indicates a status of a first component in the communications network;

referencing a first data structure to determine a hierarchical relationship between the first component and one or more other network components;

determining status indications associated with at least a portion of the one or more other network components;

referencing a second data structure to retrieve patterning criteria that defines one or more conditions that, if met, will trigger an event action;

determining whether the patterning criteria has been met by determining at least one of a percentage of sibling resources in an alarm condition and a count of sibling resources in an alarm condition, and evaluating whether the percentage or count satisfies the patterning criteria; and

if the patterning criteria has been met, then automatically generating a second status indication associated with a second network component without user intervention.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the first component further includes a subcomponent.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein determining status indications includes identifying which of the one or more other network components are in an alarm condition.

17. One or more computer-storage media having computer-useable instructions embodied thereon for performing a method of troubleshooting problems in a communications network composed of network components, the method comprising:

populating a data structure with topology information defining hierarchical relationships between the network components;

receiving at an alert manager a first alarm associated with a network component;

based on the populated topology information, automatically determining through calculation of at least one of a percentage or total count of related components in an alarm state that the first alarm establishes a pattern that should give rise to a second alarm without user intervention, wherein the percentage or total count of related components includes the network component;

generating the second alarm; and

providing the second alarm to the alert manager.