Abstract:
A method for analyzing automatic line insulation testing (ALIT) data comprising inserting ALIT error data into an ALIT database that includes records for exceptions located in the error data. A number of exceptions occurring on a selected summary date is calculated in response to receiving a summary request from a user including the selected summary date. Input to the calculating is the selected summary date and the ALIT database. The number of exceptions occurring on the summary date is transmitted to the user in response to the calculating. The user records located in the ALIT database that include a selected detail date are transmitted to the user in response to receiving from the user a request including the selected detail date. The ALIT database is updated with repair package information in response to receiving an add repair package request.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/538,248, filed Oct. 3, 2006, the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/538,248 is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/610,715 filed Jun. 30, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,116,759, issue date Oct. 10, 2006, the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present disclosure relates generally to the analysis of automatic line insulation testing data and in particular, to a method of facilitating the retrieval, organization and analysis of automatic line insulation testing data. 
         [0003]    A typical regional telephone company central office, or wire center, houses a telephone switch to connect telephone calls between two or more parties. A main distribution frame (MDF) frame includes a row of jumpers to connect the switch wires to cable pairs from outside of the central office. Some cables utilize paper as insulation between the wires in the cable. Air compressors, located in the central office, are utilized to minimize the amount of water in the cables. When a cable gets nicked, the paper inside the cable may get wet and cause a short in the cable. It may be necessary to deploy a technician to fix the cable depending on factors such as the number of shorts in a particular cable. In some cases, such as when there is only one short in the cable, the paper may be dry once the technician gets to the cable to repair it. Sending a technician to repair a problem that was corrected should be avoided and technicians should be sent to repair cables that need technician action. One way to determine if a repair package should be built to send a technician to correct a problem is to have criteria such as: only build a repair package if there are more than three shorts, or crossings, of more than twenty volts in a twenty-five pair complement; and if there is only a two volt cross in a cable pair then do not build a repair package as the paper within the cable will probably be dry once the technician gets there. Any criteria may be used to determine when to build a repair package and the criteria may be varied or modified based on experience (e.g., in general or in a particular geographic location). 
         [0004]    Currently, many regional telephone companies utilized an off-the-shelf computer product called Predictor to compile morning reports detailing automatic line insulation testing (ALIT) exceptions. ALIT is performed nightly by equipment that sequentially tests lines in the central office for battery crosses and grounds. The Predictor reports that include the results of all the tests, including good cables and cables with battery crosses and grounds, are sent to a printer. The Predictor report for each state (e.g., Tennessee) requires about one box of paper each night. Each morning maintenance administrators (MAs) analyze the reports and build Predictor patterns so that the technicians in the field may correct the problems identified by the tests. The MAs must sift through a box or more of paper each morning to find the failures, or exceptions, that need to be fixed. This practice may be cumbersome for the MA and because it is manual, may be error prone. Also, it may take all morning for the MA to sort through a particular portion of the Predictor report, with repair packages not being built until the afternoon. In addition, the current process does not produce back-up information for determining what information was presented to the MA when a decision to build a repair package was made. 
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    One aspect of the present invention is a method for analyzing automatic line insulation testing (ALIT) data. The method comprises inserting ALIT error data into an ALIT database that includes records for exceptions located in the error data. A number of exceptions occurring on a selected summary date is calculated in response to receiving a summary request from a user including the selected summary date. Input to the calculating is the selected summary date and the ALIT database. The number of exceptions occurring on the summary date is transmitted to the user in response to the calculating. The user records located in the ALIT database that include a selected detail date are transmitted to the user in response to receiving from the user a request including the selected detail date. The ALIT database is updated with repair package information in response to receiving an add repair package request. 
         [0006]    In another aspect, a system for analyzing ALIT data comprises a storage device and a host system in communication with the storage device. The storage device includes an ALIT database that includes records for exceptions located in the error data. The host system includes application software to implement a method comprising inserting ALIT error data into the ALIT database. A number of exceptions occurring on a selected summary date is calculated in response to receiving a summary request from a user including the selected summary date. Input to the calculating is the selected summary date and the ALIT database. The number of exceptions occurring on the summary date is transmitted to the user in response to the calculating. The user records located in the ALIT database that include a selected detail date are transmitted to the user in response to receiving from the user a request including the selected detail date. The ALIT database is updated with repair package information in response to receiving an add repair package request. 
         [0007]    In a further aspect, a computer program product for analyzing ALIT data comprises a storage medium readable by a processing circuit and storing instructions for execution by the processing circuit for performing a method comprising inserting ALIT error data into an ALIT database that includes records for exceptions located in the error data. A number of exceptions occurring on a selected summary date is calculated in response to receiving a summary request from a user including the selected summary date. Input to the calculating is the selected summary date and the ALIT database. The number of exceptions occurring on the summary date is transmitted to the user in response to the calculating. The user records located in the ALIT database that include a selected detail date are transmitted to the user in response to receiving from the user a request including the selected detail date. The ALIT database is updated with repair package information in response to receiving an add repair package request. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0008]    Referring to the exemplary drawings wherein like elements are numbered alike in the several figures: 
           [0009]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of an exemplary system for analyzing ALIT data; 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  is flow diagram of an exemplary process for creating an ALIT database for analyzing ALIT data; 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  is an exemplary ALIT database record; 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  is a flow diagram of an exemplary process for utilizing an ALIT database for analyzing ALIT data; 
           [0013]      FIG. 5  is an exemplary user interface for viewing a list of the number of exceptions per wire center for a particular day; 
           [0014]      FIG. 6  is an exemplary user interface for viewing a list of all exceptions for the selected wire center; 
           [0015]      FIG. 7  is an exemplary user interface for entering repair package information into the ALIT database; 
           [0016]      FIG. 8  is a flow diagram of an exemplary process for analyzing the decision process of a MA when a repair package was created; 
           [0017]      FIG. 9  is an exemplary user interface for viewing a list of the number of repair packages built per month by each MA; 
           [0018]      FIG. 10  is an exemplary user interface for viewing a list of all repair packages built in a selected month by a particular MA; and 
           [0019]      FIG. 11  is an exemplary user interface for viewing the test data utilized by a MA when the MA decided to build the repair package. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0020]    A method for analyzing automatic line insulation testing (ALIT) data is presented. The method identifies exceptions that need to be handled without going through the paper report. When an MA gets to work in the morning the ALIT information has already been processed and stored in an ALIT database. In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the MA logs on to a computer system and selects a district to be analyzed. The MA then views a list of the exception counts by wire center on the computer screen. The report automatically excludes exceptions that have already been addressed by repair packages. The MA may then select a wire center to drill down to the details of the exceptions for the wire center. The exceptions for each cable are grouped together and are color coded to indicate that the exceptions pertain to the same cable. The MA may then analyze the data and build repair packages. An exemplary embodiment of the present invention allows the MA to analyze ALIT data without having to sift through large volumes of paper and without having to be knowledgeable in database search tools (e.g., SQL). 
         [0021]    In  FIG. 1 , a block diagram of an exemplary system for facilitating the analysis of ALIT data is generally shown. The exemplary system includes a host system  110  located in a central office operating as an application server. The host system  110  executes a tool called ALIT and dumps the results to a commercially available tool called Predictor, which compiles morning reports detailing ALIT exceptions. The Predictor tool runs on the predictor system  112 . ALIT is performed nightly by equipment that sequentially tests lines in the central office for battery crosses and grounds. The Predictor reports that include the results of all the tests, including good cables and cables with battery crosses and grounds are sent to a printer. In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the Predictor reports are printed to a virtual printer and the reports are stored in a storage device  108  connected (directly or via a network) to the host system  110 . 
         [0022]    The system in  FIG. 1  also includes one or more user systems  102  through which MAs located at one or more geographic locations may contact the host system  104  to initiate the execution of the ALIT analysis process. In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the host system  104  executes the ALIT analysis application program and the user system  102  is coupled to the host system  104  via a network  106 . Each user system  102  may be implemented using a general-purpose computer executing a computer program for carrying out the processes described herein. The user system  102  may be a personal computer (e.g., a lap top, a personal digital assistant) or a host attached terminal. If the user system  102  is a personal computer, the processing described herein may be shared by a user system  102  and the host system  104  (e.g., by providing an applet to the user system  102 ). 
         [0023]    The network  106  may be any type of known network including, but not limited to, a wide area network (WAN), a local area network (LAN), a global network (e.g. Internet), a virtual private network (VPN), and an intranet. The network  106  may be implemented using a wireless network or any kind of physical network implementation known in the art. A user system  102  may be coupled to the host system through multiple networks (e.g., intranet and LAN) so that not all user systems  102  are coupled to the host system  104  through the same network. One or more of the user systems  102  and the host system  104  may be connected to the network  106  in a wireless fashion. In an exemplary embodiment, the user system  102  is connected to the host system  104  via an intranet and the host system  104  executes the ALIT analysis application software. 
         [0024]    The storage device  108  may be implemented using a variety of devices for storing electronic information. It is understood that the storage device  108  may be implemented using memory contained in the host system  104  or it may be a separate physical device. The storage device  108  is logically addressable as a consolidated data source across a distributed environment that includes a network  106 . The physical data may be located in a variety of geographic locations depending on application and access requirements. Information stored in the storage device  108  may be retrieved and manipulated via the host system  104 . The storage device  108  includes an ALIT database. The storage device  108  may also include other kinds of data such as information concerning the creation of the ALIT database records (e.g., date and time of creation). In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the host system  104  operates as a database server and coordinates access to application data including data stored on storage device  108 . 
         [0025]    The host system  104  depicted in  FIG. 1  may be implemented using one or more servers operating in response to a computer program stored in a storage medium accessible by the server. The host system  104  may operate as a network server (e.g., a web server) to communicate with the user system  102 . The host system  104  handles sending and receiving information to and from the user system  102  and can perform associated tasks. The host system  104  may reside behind a firewall to prevent unauthorized access to the host system  104  and enforce any limitations on authorized access. A firewall may be implemented using conventional hardware and/or software as is known in the art. 
         [0026]    The host system  104  may also operate as an application server. The host system  104  executes one or more computer programs to facilitate the analysis of ALIT data. One of the computer programs is the ALIT analysis application program. Processing may be shared by the user system  102  and the host system  104  by providing an application (e.g., java applet) to the user system  102 . Alternatively, the user system  102  may include a stand-alone software application for performing a portion or all of the processing described herein. As previously described, it is understood that separate servers may be utilized to implement the network server functions and the application server functions. Alternatively, the network server, the firewall, and the application server may be implemented by a single server executing computer programs to perform the requisite functions. 
         [0027]      FIG. 2  is flow diagram of an exemplary process for creating an ALIT database for analyzing ALIT data. At step  202 , the ALIT is executed in the central office. At step  204 , the ALIT results are transmitted to the Predictor system  112 . The Predictor software compiles a morning report for each wire center at step  206 . Next, at step  208 , the Predictor software transmits the morning report to a virtual printer  208 , located on a storage device  108 . In this manner, the Predictor software does not need to be modified to utilize an exemplary embodiment of the present invention because the Predictor software sends output to the storage device  108  in the same manner that it already sends output to a printer. At step  210 , the software located on the host system  104  parses the text of the Predictor reports (e.g., extracts only exception records) and inserts the data into an ALIT database located on the storage device  108 . Finally, at step  220 , the MAs may access the data in the ALIT database via a network. 
         [0028]      FIG. 3  is an exemplary ALIT database located on the storage device  108  and created by step  210  in  FIG. 2 . The database includes an entry, or record, for each exception in the Predictor report. Each entry includes attributes such as: wire center  302 ; maintenance analyst name  304 ; exception date  306 ; repair package  308  (blank if no repair package has been built for the exception and filled in with a repair package number if the MA has built a repair package for the exception); facility number  310 ; cable  312 ; pair  314  within the cable; trouble message  316 ; telephone number  318  affected by the exception; terminal address (TEA)  320 ; and test result  322 . In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the ALIT database is a relational database to allow for easy sorting, manipulating and reporting of the ALIT data, however other database management systems may be implemented. Alternate embodiments of the present invention may include a subset of these attributes and/or additional attributes depending on installation requirements. In the exemplary embodiment of the ALIT database depicted in  FIG. 3 , the attributes are sourced from the Predictor reports. In an alternate embodiment of the present invention, attributes from other sources may be combined with the Predictor report database based on installation requirements. 
         [0029]      FIG. 4  is a flow diagram of an exemplary process that a MA may follow when utilizing an ALIT database for analyzing ALIT data. At step  402  the MA may view a list that includes the number of exceptions per wire center for a particular day.  FIG. 5  is an exemplary user interface screen for viewing a list of the number of exceptions per wire center for a particular day. The user interface screen includes a table with one line for each wire center  302 . The columns of the table include: wire center  302 ; maintenance analyst name  304 ; maximum packages  502  (the field supervisor&#39;s estimate at how many packages his team can handle); total number of exceptions  504  in the wire center  302 ; and exception date  306 . With the exception of the maximum packages  502  column, the information in the user interface screen depicted in  FIG. 5  is derived by executing a query against the data contained in the ALIT database. 
         [0030]    Referring back to  FIG. 4 , at step  404 , the MA may select a wire center  302  from the user interface screen depicted in  FIG. 5  by “clicking on” a particular wire center  302  on the screen. At step  406 , a list of all the exceptions for the selected wire center is presented to the MA.  FIG. 6  is an exemplary user interface for viewing a list of all exceptions for the selected wire center. The user interface screen includes a table with one line for each exception. The columns of the table include: repair package  308 ; facility number  310 ; cable  312 ; pair  314 ; trouble message  316 ; telephone number  318 ; TEA  320  and test result  322 . The user interface screen is also color coded and sorted by cable so that a MA may quickly identify which exceptions belong to the same cable. For example, the first line  602  is an exception for cable number thirteen and the second four lines  604  are exceptions for cable number eleven hundred and forty-four. 
         [0031]    The table in  FIG. 6  does not include exceptions that have already been addressed (e.g., by building a repair package) by the MA so that the MA can focus on those exceptions that may possibly need to be addressed. In an alternate exemplary embodiment, the table depicted in  FIG. 6  only includes cables that have three or more exceptions, and/or the table is sorted with the cables having the highest number of exceptions coming first. Any number of sort orders and selection criteria may be utilized with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention to build the screen depicted in  FIG. 6 . The sort order and selection criteria for the table may be modified (e.g., for the entire system, for a particular wire center, for a particular MA, for a particular day) as required. To build a repair package for one or more exceptions the MA selects, or “clicks on” the repair package  308  column in the table. 
         [0032]    Referring back to  FIG. 4 , a MA may decide to build a repair package that includes one or more exceptions at step  408 . The decision to build a repair package may be based on many factors such as the number of failures and/or the severity of failures for a particular cable. In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the MA enters a separate system to build a repair package and then returns to the ALIT analysis application program to enter information about the repair package.  FIG. 7  is an exemplary user interface for entering repair package information into the ALIT database. The user interface displays the wire center  302 , the facility number  310 , the cable  312  and the exception date  306 . The user is prompted to enter the number associated with the repair package  308 , the low pair  314  included in the repair package  308  and the high pair  314  included in the repair package  308 . When the MA selects submit  702  the information is added into the ALIT database. In an alternate exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the system that builds the repair package is integrated with the ALIT analysis system to automatically update the ALIT database with the information when a repair package is built. This may be accomplished by having the ALIT analysis system extract information from the system that builds the repair packages or by having the repair package building system sending the information to the ALIT database. 
         [0033]      FIG. 8  is a flow diagram of an exemplary process for analyzing the decision process of a maintenance analyst when a repair package was created. This may be useful in refining the decision process used by the MAs to determine when to create a repair package and to track the types of exceptions that actually require a repair package for correction. At step  802 , a MA supervisor or MA may select the report option. At step  804 , the MA supervisor is presented with a list of the number of repair packages built per month by each MA.  FIG. 9  is an exemplary user interface for viewing a list of the number of repair packages built per month by each MA. The user interface screen in  FIG. 9  includes a table with one line for each MA. The MA is identified by a common user identification (CUID)  902  which corresponds to the MA name  304 . For each CUID  902  a year to date total  904  of all repair packages built as well as the total number of repair packages built on a monthly basis  906  are displayed. The values in these columns may be calculated using data contained in the ALIT database. 
         [0034]    Referring back to  FIG. 8 , at step  806 , the MA supervisor selects a month for a particular MA by “clicking on” the month in the user interface screen depicted in  FIG. 9 . At step  808 , the MA supervisor may view a list of all repair packages built in the selected month for the selected MA.  FIG. 10  is an exemplary user interface for viewing a list of all repair packages built in a selected month by a particular MA. The MA supervisor is presented with a table that includes one line for each repair package built during the selected month. The columns include wire center  302 , exception date  306 , facility number  310 , cable  312 , low pair  314 , high pair  314  and repair package  308 . Again, the data in these columns is derived from the contents of the ALIT database. 
         [0035]    At step  810  in  FIG. 8 , the MA supervisor may select a particular repair package to understand the criteria utilized by the MA in creating the repair package by “clicking on” the repair package field in  FIG. 10 . At step  812 , the ALIT test results the MA utilized when deciding to build the repair package are displayed.  FIG. 11  is an exemplary user interface for viewing the test data utilized by a MA when the MA decided to build the repair package. The user interface screen includes a table with one line for each exception. The columns of the table include: facility number  310 ; cable  312 ; pair  314 ; trouble message  316 ; telephone number  318 ; TEA  320  and test result  322 . The user interface screen is also color coded and sorted by cable so that a MA supervisor may quickly identify which exceptions belong to the same cable. For example, the first three lines  1102  are exceptions for cable number one and the next three lines  1104  are exceptions for cable number thirteen. 
         [0036]    These reports may be utilized by a MA supervisor for evaluation and training of MAs and they could point out the need for modified criteria for building repair packages. These reports are examples of the type of information that may be gleaned from the ALIT database. Other sort orders and content are possible in an alternate exemplary embodiment of the present invention. In addition, the reports may be entered into a spreadsheet package (e.g., Excel) and/or e-mailed to a field technician if there is some question about whether a repair package should have been created. An alternate embodiment of the present invention includes creating a report that shows the status of ALIT in all offices. The report may filter out only those offices that require attention because ALIT has not executed. In this manner a MA may know whether the data in the ALIT database is complete. 
         [0037]    An embodiment of the present invention organizes ALIT exception data in an on-line database. This may lead to increased analysis speed because a MA is no longer required to sift through a massive report to identify and group exceptions to build a repair package. In contrast, an embodiment of the present invention groups together exceptions based on exception date and cable so that the MA may easily identify and analyze exceptions. In addition, using an automated on-line database may lead to a decrease in the number of errors in terms of repair packages that weren&#39;t built that should have been built and repair packages that were built that didn&#39;t need to be built. This may lead to an increased reliance by technicians in the field on the repair packages being built and delivered. Further, the ability to analyze the data that a MA had available on a particular date may lead to improving the repair package building analysis process. An embodiment of the present invention may also lead to a cost savings in terms of the amount of paper that may be saved. Finally, a value may be attached to fixing exceptions more quickly in terms of both MA time savings and customer good will. 
         [0038]    As described above, the embodiments of the invention may be embodied in the form of computer-implemented processes and apparatuses for practicing those processes. Embodiments of the invention may also be embodied in the form of computer program code containing instructions embodied in tangible media, such as floppy diskettes, CD-ROMs, hard drives, or any other computer-readable storage medium, wherein, when the computer program code is loaded into and executed by a computer, the computer becomes an apparatus for practicing the invention. An embodiment of the present invention can also be embodied in the form of computer program code, for example, whether stored in a storage medium, loaded into and/or executed by a computer, or transmitted over some transmission medium, such as over electrical wiring or cabling, through fiber optics, or via electromagnetic radiation, wherein, when the computer program code is loaded into and executed by a computer, the computer becomes an apparatus for practicing the invention. When implemented on a general-purpose microprocessor, the computer program code segments configure the microprocessor to create specific logic circuits. 
         [0039]    While the invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out this invention, but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims. Moreover, the use of the terms first, second, etc. do not denote any order or importance, but rather the terms first, second, etc. are used to distinguish one element from another.