Abstract:
A device port monitoring system is disclosed by embodiments of the present invention, and the system includes an indicator status tracking module coupled with each distributed device respectively. And the indicator status tracking module is used for generating a tracking instruction according to inputted information for tracking a specific port, sending to a specific device a message to initiate an indicator status tracking task, displaying a status of a specific port returned by the specific device. The device port monitoring system and method in accordance with the embodiments of the present invention use a dynamic registration tracking task to reduce the port monitoring overhead, which makes it convenient to monitor a port. In this way, it is possible to guarantee the real-time tracking and effectively reduce the resource overhead in the case that the amount of port is enormous. The embodiments of the present invention also disclose an indicator status tracking module.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates to a network management method and system, more particularly, relates to a method and a system for monitoring a telecommunication device port in a network management system, and relates to an indicator status tracking module.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     A network management (NM) system is a software system for managing various telecommunication devices, by which the configuration, maintenance, monitoring, service distribution and performance analysis for a telecommunication device may be used visually, conveniently and efficiently. In the device and network maintenance work, it is important for a maintainer of telecommunication operator to know status of each port of the running device in real time. For example, each ordinary telephone user corresponds to one Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) port; when the user makes a telephone call, the port status is shown as “busy”; when the user hangs up, the port status is shown as “idle”. The maintainer of telecommunication operator will know whether the operation of telecommunication network is normal rapidly by observing the operation state of various ports. Therefore, the network management system must be able to implement the function of knowing the operation condition of various ports on the network in real time. Because the operation ports (such as PSTN ports, Integrated Services Digital Network ports and x Digital Subscriber Line ports) are physically distributed everywhere, and the amount of the operation ports is enormous, it is a challenging task to set forth a solution for observing the status of each port in real time, visually and optionally.  
         [0003]     At present, the operation state of each port, for example fault, idle, busy, activation, deactivation or the like, is generally represented by the color of the relevant indicator on the telecommunication device (or board). However, the above method has the following defects: it is impossible to concentratedly observe multiple ports because the physical locations of devices (or boards) are distributed; the indicator of device (or board) is unable to correspond to each port because the amount thereof is limited; it is impossible to optionally track ports, such as the port status of port in designated frame, and the port status of port in designated telephone number segment; it is impossible to directly obtain, from the designated indicator, the correlative information such as the telephone number, configured service type, L3/EF address, terminal type, terminal ID and port name etc corresponding to a failure port; and multiple tracking tasks are unable to exist simultaneously.  
         [0004]     Besides, the status of each port may be indicated by setting an emulation panel on the network management system. However, the defect of the method is similar to that of directly observing the indicator of physical device. The method just can implement a concentrated observation of the indicator with different geographical location, but can not avoid other defects.  
         [0005]     A window can be used to concentratedly display a specific type port of a device and the status thereof, for example, all information of PSTN ports is displayed in a table. The defect of the method includes: though the display for displaying the designated condition port may be filtered, it is impossible to start/stop tracking the status of the designated condition port because there is no concept of tracking task; for great capacity port data, messages indicating the port status or the change of the port status reported in real time, such as the Trap message of Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), have great flows, which influences the performance greatly. It is impossible to track multiple services in parallel and is impossible to automatically stop tracking the port status and save the resource overhead when the hosts, network management system or network is abnormal.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]     The embodiments of the present invention provide a method and a system for monitoring a device port to solve the problem that the existing port monitoring system is unable to monitor the designated port. And the embodiments of the present invention also provide an indicator status tracking module.  
         [0007]     The embodiment of the present invention provides a device port monitoring system. The device port monitoring system includes an indicator status tracking module coupled with each distributed device respectively. And the indicator status tracking module is used for generating a tracking instruction according to inputted information for tracking a specific port, sending to a specific device a message to initiate an indicator status tracking task, displaying a status of a specific port returned by the specific device.  
         [0008]     The embodiments of the present invention further provide a device port monitoring method, which includes the following processes of: 
    acquiring inputted information for tracking a specific port;     generating a tracking instruction according to the inputted information and sending to a specific device a message to initiate an indicator status tracking task; and     displaying a status of the specific port returned by the specific device.    
 
         [0012]     The embodiments of the present invention provide an indicator status tracking module, and the indicator status tracking module includes: 
    a first unit, for generating a tracking instruction according to inputted information for tracking a specific port;     a second unit, for sending to a specific device a message to initiate an indicator status tracking task;     a third unit, for displaying a status of the specific port returned by the specific device;     a fourth unit, for receiving and displaying a status change of the specific port, and stopping the indicator status tracking task according to an instruction or a network status.    
 
         [0017]     The device port monitoring system and method in accordance with the embodiments of the present invention guarantee the real-time tracking, and effectively control the resource overhead in the case that the amount of port is enormous. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0018]      FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram illustrating the device port monitoring system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0019]      FIG. 2  is a flowchart illustrating the device port monitoring method in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0020]      FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram illustrating the process of initiating an indicator status tracking in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0021]      FIG. 4  is a schematic diagram illustrating the process of stopping an indicator status tracking in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0022]      FIG. 5  is a schematic diagram illustrating the process of reporting an indicator status change in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0023]      FIG. 6  is a schematic diagram illustrating the process of acquiring the associated port information in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0024]      FIG. 7  is a schematic diagram illustrating the normal handshake process between the indicator status tracking module and a device in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0025]      FIG. 8  is a schematic diagram illustrating the abnormal handshake process between the indicator status tracking module and a device in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0026]      FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram illustrating the device port monitoring system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Port monitoring system  10  includes Indicator status tracking module  13 , Service information management module  11 , Device management module  12 , Real-time message processing module  14  and Timer  16  Indicator status tracking module  13  is connected with Service information management module  11 , Device management module  12 , Real-time message processing module  14  and Timer  16  respectively. In addition, Indicator status tracking module  13  is communicatively connected with multiple Device  20  (only one Device  20  is shown in  FIG. 1 ) which may be distributed at different places. Each Device  20  may include multiple ports by which Device  20  may be connected with different function devices (for example an access device, a terminal device or other devices) so as to implement the mutual connections of these function devices.  
         [0027]     Device management module  12  implemented by retrieving a port database, may generate a list of port according to a tracking condition. Indicator status tracking module  13  includes a Graphic User Interface (GUI) by which Indicator status tracking module  13  may receive the tracking condition (for example, designating to track the port of a specific frame and a specific telephone number segment) or initiate/stop a command for indicator status tracking; the interface may display the indicator status of port by means of the icon form, and the different statuses of indicator may be displayed by different colors in this embodiment. Indicator status tracking module  13  may transfer the received tracking condition to Device management module  12  and generate an instruction according to the list of port returned from Device management module  12 , and send a message to a specific device including the corresponding port to initiate or stop the indicator status tracking; the sent information may be determined according to the user requirement, for example the currently-used Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) message. Practically, the system and method of the embodiment of the present invention may also be implemented by means of other protocol messages, and is not limited in the embodiment of the present invention. The description is given in the following embodiments of the present invention by taking the SNMP protocol as an example. Device  20  may send to Indicator status tracking module  13  the status of the corresponding port according to the received SNMP message, establish a tracking task list, return the change of port to Indicator status tracking module  13  when the status of the corresponding port is changing. Indicator status tracking module  13  communicates with Device  20  by means of the handshake mode.  
         [0028]     Service information management module  11  may retrieve the detailed information associated with the specific port, for example telephone number, configured service type, L3/EF address, terminal type, terminal ID and port name, etc. corresponding to the port; the port properties corresponding to different port types may be different; Service information management module  11  may be implemented by retrieving the corresponding service database. Real-time message processing module  14  may notify Indicator status tracking module  13  of the indicator status change when the indicator status of one port is changing, so that Indicator status tracking module  13  may change the color display of the corresponding port indicator. The reason for directly receiving Trap by Real-time message processing module  14  instead of receiving Trap by Indicator status tracking module  13  is that: there are several types of Trap for one network management system, and the port status change Trap is only one type of the Trap, it is simpler and more effective to use one uniform real-time message processing model to handle the reception or explanation or classification or distribution of these Traps.  
         [0029]     Indicator status tracking module  13  includes a counter (not shown in the Figs). The counter initiates a counting when Indicator status tracking module  13  sends an SNMP message to a device, number of the counter adds 1 when the handshake between Indicator status tracking module  13  and Device  20  is failed, and the number of the counter resets when the handshake between Indicator status tracking module  13  and Device  20  is successful. When detecting that the number of the counter achieves a designated value (i.e. the failed handshake exceeds a designated time), Indicator status tracking module  13  stops the corresponding indicator status tracking task and deletes the corresponding tracking task from the tracking task list because the network or the corresponding Device  20  fails at this time. Timer  16  may also be connected with Indicator status tracking module  13  so as to time the timing handshake of multiple tracking tasks thereof.  
         [0030]     Service information management module  11 , Device management module  12  and Real-time message processing module  14  may be respectively implemented by means of hardware, software or the combination of hardware and software.  
         [0031]      FIG. 2  is a flowchart illustrating the device port monitoring method in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. At first, Indicator status tracking module  13  receives a tracking condition inputted by a GUI and sends the tracking condition to Device management module  12  (S 211 ); Device management module  12  generates a list of port to be tracked according to the tracking condition and returns the list to Indicator status tracking module  13  (S 212 ). Indicator status tracking module  13  generates an instruction according to the returned list of port so as to send an SNMP message to a specific device including the corresponding port so as to initiate the indicator status tracking (S 213 ). At the same time, Indicator status tracking module  13  initiates a timer and adds the tracking task in the tracking task list by which Indicator status tracking module  13  may simultaneously initiate multiple tracking tasks (S 214 ).  
         [0032]     Indicator status tracking module  13  receives a message including the corresponding port status from Device  20  (S 215 ), and displays the statuses of these ports on a GUI by means of the corresponding icons, i.e. the different statuses of ports are indicated by means of the different icon colors (S 216 ), the message may be an SNMP message.  
         [0033]     Device  20  may also generate its own tracking task list according to the SNMP message received from Indicator status tracking module  13 , and send the indicator status change Trap to Indicator status tracking module  13  when the corresponding port status is changing. When receiving a message from a device, Indicator status tracking module  13  determines whether it is a port status change Trap (S 217 ). If receiving the port status change Trap, Indicator status tracking module  13  refreshes the status display of the corresponding port on the GUI (S 218 ), and returns to S 216 . At this point, Timer  16  may also periodically detect and determine whether to initiate a handshake program between Indicator status tracking module  13  and Device  20  (S 219 ). The handshake program may be initiated according to a designated condition. For example: the designated condition may include: tracking the port status of the port in designated frame; tracking the port status of the port in designated telephone number segment; only tracking the status of PSTN port, or tracking the port status of the combination of them. If the handshake timer event occurs, Indicator status tracking module  13  sends to Device  20  the handshake information (S 220 ), otherwise returns to S 216 . If the handshake is successful (S 221 ), i.e. Indicator status tracking module  13  receives the response returned by Device  20 , Indicator status tracking module  13  resets the number of the counter (S 222 ), and returns to S 216 . If receiving no response from the device within the designated time period, Indicator status tracking module  13  makes the number of the counter add 1, and transmits the handshake information again. Indicator status tracking module  13  detects whether the number of the counter exceeds a designated value (S 223 ). If the number of the counter exceeds the designated value, it is indicated that the network may fails; Indicator status tracking module  13  stops the indicator status tracking task, deletes the task from the tracking task list, and removes the indicator status display on the GUI (S 224 ). If the number of the counter does not exceed the designated value, return to S 220 .  
         [0034]     Service information management module  11  may be used to acquire the detailed information associated with a specific port (not shown in  FIG. 2 ), for example telephone number, configured service type, L3/EF address, terminal type, terminal ID and port name etc corresponding to a port.  
         [0035]     In addition, Indicator status tracking module  13  may also acquire the corresponding port status by initiatively polling the device port status. The polling time interval may be set according to the requirement; if the polling time interval is long (for example several seconds per time), however, it is impossible to guarantee the real-time; if the polling time interval is short, it is possible to lead to a serious performance problem of the network management system, and devices and the network management system are unable to work normally.  
         [0036]      FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram illustrating the process of initiating an indicator status tracking in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention. At first, Indicator status tracking module  13  receives a filtering condition (for example initiating a tracking of port in a frame of a device) for initiating the tracking by means of a Graphic User Interface (GUI), and delivers a command for initiating the indicator status tracking. Indicator status tracking module  13  acquires a list of port which meets a designated condition from Device management module  12 . Indicator status tracking module  13  sends to Device  20  an SNMP message to initiate the status tracking of the port meeting the designated condition. Device  20  establishes its own tracking task list, and reports the current statuses of all the ports meeting the designated condition by means of Trap. At the same time, Indicator status tracking module  13  initiates a handshake timer, and adds a tracking task in the tracking task list. Indicator status tracking module  13  displays the list of tracked port on a GUI, and displays the current status of the corresponding port by means of the different color icons.  
         [0037]      FIG. 4  is a schematic diagram illustrating the process of stopping an indicator status tracking in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention. At first, Indicator status tracking module  13  receives a command for stopping the indicator status tracking by means of GUI. Indicator status tracking module  13  sends to Device  20  a command for stopping the indicator status tracking. Device  20  stops the tracking for the corresponding port status, and can not send Trap to the network management system even though the port status is changing. Indicator status tracking module  13  stops the handshake timer, and deletes the corresponding item of the tracking task list. Indicator status tracking module  13  removes the related interface display.  
         [0038]      FIG. 5  is a schematic diagram illustrating the process of reporting an indicator status change in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention. When it is detected that the status of the tracked port is changing, Device  20  sends the status change to Indicator status tracking module  13 . Real-time message processing module  14  notifies Indicator status tracking module  13  of the fact that the status of a port is changing. Indicator status tracking module  13  refreshes the interface display, and represents the current status of the corresponding port by means of the designated color icon.  
         [0039]      FIG. 6  is a schematic diagram illustrating the process of acquiring the associated port information in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention. It is possible to click a port indicator icon on the GUI of Indicator status tracking module  13  to indicate the acquiring the detailed information associated with the port. Indicator status tracking module  13  sends Service information management module  11  a command for acquiring the detailed information of the designated port. Service information management module  11  returns the detailed information of the corresponding port to Indicator status tracking module  13 . Indicator status tracking module  13  displays the detailed port information on the GUI.  
         [0040]      FIG. 7  and  FIG. 8  are schematic diagrams illustrating the handshake process between the indicator status tracking module and a device in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention. When the timer periodicity event set in Indicator status tracking module  13  occurs, Indicator status tracking module  13  sends to Device  20  an SNMP message to initiate a handshake program. If Device  20  returns a successful handshake response, Indicator status tracking module  13  resets the number of the counter; if Device  20  gives no response within the designated overtime period, Indicator status tracking module  13  makes the number of the counter add one. If the failed handshake times exceed a designated times, it is determined that the tracking task abnormally is interrupted (for example the network fails); Indicator status tracking module  13  stops the handshake timer, deletes the corresponding item of the tracking task list and removes the corresponding interface display. For an initiated tracking task, if receiving no handshake information sent by Indicator status tracking module  13  within a designated time period (&gt;=the handshake overtime period at the network management side multiplied by the maximal allowed failure times), Device  20  determines that the tracking command is invalid, then stops the indicator status tracking task, and does not send status change Trap of the corresponding port to Indicator status tracking module  13  any more.