Abstract:
A system and method for remotely monitoring and controlling signals to or from a component in a central office switching system having many components, such as line cards. The component reports status signals to a processing facility, which receives the status signals and broadcasts them to a device located in the central office. The device, upon receiving the broadcasted signals, displays the status signals so that a user can thereby monitor the component.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     This invention relates generally to switching systems, and in particular, to a system and method for remotely monitoring and/or controlling signals to and from a component in the switching system. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     A conventional public switched telephone network (“PSTN”) is formed by routing trunks or lines between various switching systems. The switching systems are often physically grouped together to form a central office. A central office may connect any combination of lines and trunks, and therefore can be used in local switching systems (for interconnecting lines and trunks) and network switching systems (for interconnecting trunks). For purposes of simplicity, only a local switching system for interconnecting lines and trunks will be further discussed. 
     Often, a single central office switches literally hundreds or thousands of lines. The central office therefore must arrange the switching hardware in a logical manner so that it may be readily accessed, serviced, or replaced. A typical central office will be housed in a multi-floor building, each floor including several rows of switch frames, each switch frame including several shelves of line cards, and each line card serving multiple lines. 
     A typical central office also contains a central processing facility, or management console. The management console controls the operation of the equipment in the central office, including the frames and line cards stored therein. For example, the management console may show certain status indicators for an individual line card that inform a technician as to how the card is working or if it is working properly. In this example, an error has occurred in a particular line card. The technician first goes to the management console to view the status indicators and determine the faulty line card. The technician then finds the line card, performs corrective maintenance thereon, and returns to the management console to verify that the line card is working as desired. 
     To avoid requiring the technician to run back and forth between the line card and the management console, two technicians typically work together, one at the line card and one at the management console, and communicate via radio or other conventional means. This solution is undesirable due to the high labor cost of the two technicians. Also, this solution is inherently prone to errors due to communication failures. Instead, what is needed is a system and method that allows a technician to monitor the status indicators that normally appear on the maintenance console, while working on the line card or other switch component. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The foregoing problems are solved and a technical advance is achieved by a system and method for remotely monitoring and controlling signals to or from a component in a switching system such as a central office. In one embodiment, the central office has many components, such as line cards, and a processing facility. One of the components reports status signals to the processing facility, which receives the status signals and broadcasts them to a device located in the central office. The device, upon receiving the broadcasted status signals, displays the status signals so that a user can thereby monitor the component. 
     In another embodiment, the processing facility also broadcasts a location signal to the device, the location signals being used to find the component. The device, upon receiving the broadcasted location signals, displays them as well, so that the user can easily find or identify the component. 
     In yet another embodiment, the device can also send a code to the processing facility. The code is used to control the component, through the processing facility. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
     FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary, simplified central office. 
     FIG. 2 illustrates a personal digital assistant used to display status and/or location information for a component of the central office of FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a routine performed to supply the status and/or location information to the personal digital assistant of FIG.  2 . 
     FIG. 4 is an exemplary display output of the personal digital assistant of FIG.  2 . 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to FIG. 1, the reference numeral  10  designates a central office for utilizing one embodiment of the present invention. The central office  10  includes two floors  12 ,  14 , each of which includes two rows  12 A,  12 B, and  14 A,  14 B, respectively, of frames  16   a - 16   l.  Each of the frames  16   a - 16   l  are similarly configured, as shown by representative frame  16   a , having two shelves  18   a  and  18   b,  each having three line cards  20   a ,  20   b ,  20   c  and  22   a ,  22   b ,  22   c , respectively. 
     The central office  10  also includes several low power spread-spectrum transmitters  30 ,  32 ,  34 ,  36 ,  38 . The transmitters are strategically placed throughout the central office  10  so that each line card of each frame  16   a - 16   l  can receive signals from at least three of the transmitters. The transmitters  30 - 38  are all tightly synchronized, with each transmitter emitting a unique signal. The signals are similar to the signals provided by global positioning satellites, thereby providing any receiver with at least three signals to triangulate its exact location. It is understood that the placement of the transmitters is subject to unique RF characteristics of the central office  10 , which can be readily determined by one of ordinary skill in the art. 
     The central office  10  also includes a central processing facility  40  for receiving and processing, among other things, location information and status information from each of the line cards. In one embodiment, the central processing facility  40  is a computer that receives the location and status information through a data bus  42  connected to each of the line cards. It is understood, however, that the functionality of the central processing facility may be distributed through one or more devices. Also, the data bus  42  may represent a bus, such as an Ethernet bus, dedicated for the functions described herein, or available bandwidth on an existing bus. In another embodiment, the central processing facility  40  receives the location through a radio frequency (RF) receiver antenna  44 . The central processing facility  40  also includes an RF transmitter  46  for transmitting various signals and information, as discussed in greater detail, below. 
     Because of the multiplicity of components in the central office  10 , it is often very difficult to find a particular line card to access, service, or replace. This problem has been addressed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 968,272 entitled “System and Method for Locating a Switch Component”, filed Nov. 11, 1997 which is hereby incorporated by reference. Therefore, each component can determine its location and transmit it to the central processing facility  40 . In addition, each component reports status information to the central processing facility  40 . 
     Referring to FIG. 2, the reference numeral  50  designates a personal computer, or digital assistant, hereinafter “PDA”. The PDA  50  may be a commercially available PDA, such as a NEWTON computer by Apple Computer, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif. Alternatively, the PDA  50  may be a simple display, such as a liquid crystal display, with a limited amount of processing capabilities. The PDA  50  includes a monitor  52 , an RF transmitter/receiver  54 , and a controller  56 . In an alternative embodiment, the RF transmitter/receiver  54  may be a data port (not shown) connectible to a data bus on the frame  16   a . Also, the PDA  50  includes a hook (not shown) so that it can be attached to a frame. The PDA  50  can therefore be used by a technician or user in conjunction with the central processing facility  40  to work on a frame or line card, as described in greater detail below. 
     Referring to FIG. 3, a method  100  is used to facilitate repair of a component in the central office  10 . For the sake of example, the line card  22   a  of frame  16   a  will be found, diagnosed, and repaired. At step  110 , the line card  22   a  reports status information to the central processing facility  40  that indicates that the line card  22   a  needs attention. Alternatively, the central processing facility  40  may deduce that the line card  22   a  needs attention, such as by noticing that the line card is no longer communicating or by a scheduled maintenance timer. At step  112 , the line card  22   a  reports its location information to the central processing facility  40 . Alternatively, such as when the line card  22   a  is no longer communicating, the central processing facility  40  previously stored location information for the line card. 
     At step  114 , the central processing facility  40  reports the location information to the PDA  50 . In the preferred embodiment, the central processing facility  40  converts the location information to a physical location that can be easily used by an individual. For example, line card  22   a  can be mapped to: 
     (floor  1 , row  1 , frame  1 , shelf  1 , card  1 ). 
     In this way, a user having the PDA  50  can locate the line card  22   a.  Although not shown, in alternative embodiments, the PDA  50  may include the necessary hardware and software to report to the central processing facility its location information so that the central processing facility may provide relative location information (e.g., “down two floors”). In yet another alternative embodiment, the PDA, in combination with the location information, can deduce its own physical and/or relative location information. 
     Upon finding the line card  22   a , the user may request the status information to be supplied to the PDA  50  at step  116 . This step may be accomplished in one of various ways. For one, either the PDA  50  or the central processing facility  40  may realize that the PDA and line card  22   a  are in close proximity. For another, the user may signal the PDA  50  or central processing facility  40  by pressing a key (not shown) on the PDA, on the frame  16   a , or on the line card  22   a . At step  118 , the central processing facility  40  begins to transmit the status information to the PDA  50 . The user may thereby perform maintenance on the line card  22   a  while observing the status information. Steps  116  and  118  may be repeated throughout the maintenance process. In another alternative embodiment, the PDA may be capable of transmitting codes to the component in order to monitor and control the component. 
     Referring to FIG. 4, in an alternative embodiment, both the status information and the location information are simultaneously provided to the PDA  50 , as illustrated on the monitor  52 . For example, the user may attach the data port of the PDA  50  to a bus (not shown) at the frame  16   a . The central processing facility, through the bus, then notifies the PDA  50  which line card  22   a  is in need of repair and also reports the corresponding status information. In yet another alternative embodiment, only the status information is provided. 
     Although illustrative embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, other modifications, changes, and substitutions are intended in the foregoing disclosure. For example, the above described embodiment can be easily implemented in different components besides line cards. Accordingly, it is appropriate that the appended claims be construed broadly and in a manner consistent with the scope of the invention.