System architecture method and computer program product for managing telecommunication networks
First Claim
1. A storage device comprising a non-transitory, computer-readable network management system for managing a communication network comprising network equipment, said equipment having associated interfaces, the network management system comprising:
- a base layer for proxying said interfaces and for decoupling said interfaces from management functions, said base layer comprising distributed process executors to execute in a distributed manner processes concerning management of said network, each process executor comprising at least one of a workflow engine, a rule engine, and a combination thereof;
wherein said base layer comprises;
a sub-layer of protocol adapters for interfacing a set of network equipment offering a given protocol; and
a sub-layer of resource proxy modules, each said proxy module providing a representation of the configuration of given network equipment according to a defined information model and configured for aligning said representation of the configuration of given network equipment by at least one operation selected from the group of;
performinq all the management actions on said network by invoking operation through at least one associate protocol adapter;
receiving at said resource proxy modules all the notifications sent by said network equipment; and
performing a periodical verification of alignment between the representation of the network equipment and said network equipment;
a support layer superposed to said base layer and comprising a plurality of agents coordinating operation of said base layer in order to support distributed management functionalities;
a database, stored on a computer-readable medium, storing instruction information; and
a manager application configured to manage distribution of said instruction information from said database to at least one of said base layer and said support layer,wherein said distributed management functionalities include FCAPS (Fault, Configuration, Accounting, Performance, Security) functionalities,wherein at least two of said agents are hosted on different machines,wherein said layers are configured to perform respective functions based on said instruction information,wherein said layers are configured to modify respective functions in response to said instruction information,wherein said plurality of agents communicate information indicative of a status of said plurality of agents to said manager application, said information indicative of a status comprising information regarding current load conditions, andwherein, in response to said status information, said manager application moves at least one agent to a different machine.
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Abstract
A system architecture for managing a telecommunication network includes network equipment and supported network services, wherein the equipment has associated control interfaces. The architecture has a base layer proxying the interfaces and decoupling them from management functions, and a support layer having a community of agents co-ordinating operation of the base layer in order to support distributed management functionalities. The base layer and the support layer constitute separated superposed layers in the architecture. The layers in the architecture preferably include components adapted to perform respective functions based on respective instruction information provided to them. A data base is provided for storing the instruction information. The architecture is arranged for distributing the instruction information from the data base to the components. Preferably, all the layers in the architecture include process executors.
11 Citations
27 Claims
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1. A storage device comprising a non-transitory, computer-readable network management system for managing a communication network comprising network equipment, said equipment having associated interfaces, the network management system comprising:
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a base layer for proxying said interfaces and for decoupling said interfaces from management functions, said base layer comprising distributed process executors to execute in a distributed manner processes concerning management of said network, each process executor comprising at least one of a workflow engine, a rule engine, and a combination thereof; wherein said base layer comprises; a sub-layer of protocol adapters for interfacing a set of network equipment offering a given protocol; and a sub-layer of resource proxy modules, each said proxy module providing a representation of the configuration of given network equipment according to a defined information model and configured for aligning said representation of the configuration of given network equipment by at least one operation selected from the group of; performinq all the management actions on said network by invoking operation through at least one associate protocol adapter; receiving at said resource proxy modules all the notifications sent by said network equipment; and performing a periodical verification of alignment between the representation of the network equipment and said network equipment; a support layer superposed to said base layer and comprising a plurality of agents coordinating operation of said base layer in order to support distributed management functionalities; a database, stored on a computer-readable medium, storing instruction information; and a manager application configured to manage distribution of said instruction information from said database to at least one of said base layer and said support layer, wherein said distributed management functionalities include FCAPS (Fault, Configuration, Accounting, Performance, Security) functionalities, wherein at least two of said agents are hosted on different machines, wherein said layers are configured to perform respective functions based on said instruction information, wherein said layers are configured to modify respective functions in response to said instruction information, wherein said plurality of agents communicate information indicative of a status of said plurality of agents to said manager application, said information indicative of a status comprising information regarding current load conditions, and wherein, in response to said status information, said manager application moves at least one agent to a different machine. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method of managing a communication network comprising network equipment, said equipment having associated interfaces, the method comprising the steps of:
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providing a base layer proxying said interfaces and decoupling said interfaces from management functions; executing, in said base layer, distributed processes concerning management of said network, each of said processes comprising at least one of workflows, rules, and combination thereof; providing a sub-layer of protocol adapters for interfacing a set of network equipment offering a given protocol; providing a sub-layer of resource proxy modules, each said proxy module providing a representation of the configuration of given network equipment according to a defined information model; configuring said resource proxy modules for aligning said representation to the network of a given network equipment by at least one operation selected from the group of; performing all the management actions of said network by invoking operation through at least one associated protocol adapter; receiving at said resource proxy modules all the notifications sent by said network equipment; and performing a periodical verification of alignment between the representation of the network equipment and said network equipment; supporting distributed management functionalities via a support layer superposed to said base layer and comprising a plurality of agents coordinating operation of said base layer; including FCAPS (Fault, Configuration, Accounting, Performance, Security) functionalities as said distributed management functionalities; hosting at least two of said agents on different machines; performing in each of said layers, functions based on instruction information; providing a database for storing said instruction information for each of said layers; distributing said instruction information from said database to each respective layer; modifying at least one of the distributed processes based on said instruction information, such that a function of the at least one distributed process is changed; providing a manager application configured for distributing said instruction information from said database to at least one of said base layer and said support layer; providing information indicative of a status of said plurality of agents to said manager application, wherein said information indicative of a status comprises information regarding current load conditions; and based on said information indicative of a status, moving at least one agent to a different machine. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A computer program product resident on a non-transitory computer-readable medium for storing instructions for execution by a processor, the instructions when executed by a processor performing a method of managing a communication network comprising network equipment, said equipment having associated interfaces, the method comprising:
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providing a base layer proxying said interfaces and decoupling said interfaces from management functions; wherein said base layer comprises; a sub-layer of protocol adapters for interfacing a set of network equipment offering a given protocol; and a sub-layer of resource proxy modules, each said proxy module providing a representation of the configuration of given network equipment according to a defined information model and configured for aligning said representation of the configuration of given network equipment by at least one operation selected from the group of; performing all the management actions on said network by invoking operation through at least one associate protocol adapter; receiving at said resource proxy modules all the notifications sent by said network equipment; and performing a periodical verification of alignment between the representation of the network equipment and said network equipment; executing, in said base layer, distributed processes concerning management of said network, each of said processes comprising at least one of workflows, rules, and a combination thereof; supporting distributed management functionalities via a support layer superposed to said base layer and comprising a plurality of agents coordinating operation of said base layer, wherein at least two of said agents are on different machines; providing a database for storing instruction information for each of said layers; distributing said instruction information from said database to each respective layer; receiving instruction information in each of said layers; performing in each of said layers, functions based on said instruction information; receiving information indicative of a status of said plurality of agents, wherein said information indicative of a status comprises information regarding current load conditions; and based on said information indicative of a status, moving at least one agent to a different machine.
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Specification