Abstract:
Systems and methods for proactive management of a communication network through monitoring a user network interface are disclosed. An example method disclosed herein to proactively monitor user network interfaces comprises obtaining first information related to operation of a physical port, determining that the physical port implements both a first user network interface and a second user network interface, combining the first information with second information related to operation of a first logical port implementing the first user network interface, but not implementing the second user network interface, to assess performance of the first user network interface, and combining the first information with third information related to operation of a second logical port implementing the second user network interface, but not implementing the first user network interface, to assess performance of the second user network interface.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATION 
     This patent arises from a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/136,592, entitled “System and Method for Proactive Management of a Communication Network through Monitoring a User Network Interface” and filed on May 1, 2002. U.S. application Ser. No. 10/136,592 is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     This invention relates generally to telecommunication networks. More particularly, the invention relates to a system and method for proactively maintaining a telecommunications network. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Proactive maintenance in a telecommunications network allows network operators to anticipate where problems may occur in the future and act proactively to prevent some customer problems from occurring. Proactive activities may also allow a network operator to determine if and help ensure that network performance service level agreements (SLAs) are being met and will continue to be met. Proactive activities preferably include identifying current and potential bottlenecks, inefficient or poorly performing components, potential failures, and others. 
     SUMMARY 
     A system and method for proactive management of a user network interface is provided. In accordance with one aspect of the invention defined by the claims, a system for monitoring performance parameters relating to a user network interface (“UNI”) in a communication network is provided. The system comprises a message source parser module, a translator module, and a message recording module. The message source parser module is operative to examine an exception message sent by a network element in the communication network. The message source parser module is also operative to determine which network component the message relates to. The translator module is operative to determine if the message is related to one or more UNIs in the network. The message recording module is operative to post information from the message to one or more data records that correspond to the one or more UNIs identified by the translator module. 
     In accordance with another aspect of the invention defined by the claims, a computer-implemented system for monitoring performance parameters relating to a user network interface (“UNI”) in a communication network is provided. The system comprises a message source parser module, a component record finder module, and a message recording module. The message source parser module is operative to examine an exception message sent by a network element in the communication network. The message source parser module is also operative to determine which network component the message relates to. The component record finder module is operative to search through component records in a component record database to identify a component that is related to the received exception message. The message recording module is operative to search the component record identified by the component record finder module to retrieve from the component record the identity of one or more UNIs affected by the component. The message recording module is also operative to post information from the message to one or more data records that correspond to the one or more UNIs identified from the component record. 
     In accordance with another aspect of the invention defined by the claims, a computer-implemented system for monitoring performance parameters relating to a user network interface (“UNI”) in a communication network is provided. The system comprises a message source parser module, a query execution module, and a UNI record appending module. The message source parser module is operative to examine an exception message sent by a network element in the communication network and is operative to determining which network component the message relates to. The query execution module is operative to conduct a search in a database containing UNI data records to identify the UNI data records that indicate that messages relating to the component identified by the message source parser module should be posted to that UNI record. The UNI record appending module is operative to post information from the message to the one or more UNI data records identified by the query execution module. 
     In accordance with another aspect of the invention defined by the claims, a method for accumulating performance information relating to a user network interface (“UNI”) is provided, the method comprises the steps of receiving an exception message transmitted by a network element, determining which UNIs are affected by the exception message, and ascribing information from the exception message to data records that correspond to the affected UNIs. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       In order that the invention identified in the claims may be more clearly understood, preferred embodiments of structures, systems and methods having elements corresponding to elements of the invention recited in the claims will be described in detail by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of an exemplary section of a frame relay transport network; 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram that illustrates a user network interface (“UNI”); 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram of an exemplary section of a frame relay transport network illustrating multiple UNIs; 
         FIG. 4  is block diagram of an exemplary UNI monitoring system; 
         FIG. 5  is a block diagram of another exemplary UNI monitoring system; 
         FIG. 6  is a block diagram of another exemplary UNI monitoring system; 
         FIG. 7  is a flow chart of a preferred method for accumulating performance information relating to a UNI; 
         FIG. 8  is a flow chart that illustrates a method for determining the affected UNI(s); 
         FIGS. 9A ,  9 B, and  9 C are alternative steps for the method illustrated in the flow chart of  FIG. 7 ; 
         FIG. 10  is a flow chart illustrating another method for accumulating performance information relating to a UNI; 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring now to the drawings,  FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary section of an FR/ATM transport network  10 . The transport network  10  comprises a plurality of switching network elements  12  that are coupled together. The switching network elements  12  include a plurality of network physical ports (PPORTs)  14  that allow equipment outside of the network to communicate over the network. The PPORTs  14  typically serve as the entry point for customer premises equipment (CPE)  16 , such as conventional telephones, facsimile machines, private branch exchanges, voice mail systems, key telephone systems, computers, modems, telephone answering machines, alarm systems, and radio control systems, as well as many other devices, to communicate via the network. A full-duplex communication line  18  provides the communication path between the PPORTs  14  and the CPE  16 , and the combination of the network PPORT  14 , the full-duplex communication line  18  and a physical port  20  associated with the CPE  16  is known as a user network interface (“UNI”)  22 . 
     Also, coupled to the network  10  is an element management system (“EMS”)  24  preferably located in a network operations center  26 . The EMS  24  is a platform that allows a network operator to provision various equipment and facilities within the network  10 . 
     The preferred EMS  24  is the NavisCore™ system developed by Lucent. NavisCore™ is a centralized service and network management application that delivers management and control functions for various multiservice products, such as frame relay, SMDS, ATM, and IP switch networks, on a single platform. NavisCore™ is a fully distributed and multiservice element manager. NavisCore™ is a graphically integrated UNIX-based platform that resides on Hewlett Packard&#39;s OpenView. It provides a complete network management solution based on Telecommunications Network Management (TNM) standards. 
     The EMS establishes a virtual channel (“VC”)  28  with various network elements within the network  10  including the switching elements  12 . The VCs  28  provide communication paths that allow a network operator to provision equipment and facilities in the network  10  using the EMS and to monitor the status and performance of the equipment and facilities in the network  10 . The EMS also maintains a record of the configuration of the network and the status of all the equipment and facilities in the network. Each of the network elements (“NEs”), on demand or when a condition occurs that requires communication, communicates network performance information to the EMS via the VCs  28 . 
     Some of the switching elements  12  may also include ports  30  that cooperate with other ports in other networks to form a network-to-network interface (“NNI”)  32 . The NNIs allow the network to exchange traffic with other networks  34  such as wide area FR/ATM networks and others. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 2 , the physical port  38  on the NE  40  provides an entry point for CPE equipment to communicate via the network  10 . Each physical port  38  may support one or more types of CPE and, therefore, may include one or more logical ports  42 ,  44 . A first portion of the available bandwidth provided through the physical port may be allocated to the first logic port  42  and another portion of the available bandwidth may be allocated to the second logic port  44 . Because of this allocation, multiple users can share the same physical port  38  wherein each user utilizes a portion of the available bandwidth provided by the physical port  38 . In the example illustrated in  FIG. 2 , CPE #1 and CPE #2 each access the NE  40  via the same network physical port  38 . But, CPE #1 accesses one logical port  42  and CPE #2 accesses another logical port  44 . 
     Each logical port may support one or more virtual paths through the network. With reference to  FIG. 3 , a first virtual path may exist between User A and User 2 wherein the virtual path flows through UNI #1, switch #1, switch #2, and UNI #2. Another virtual path may exist between User A and User 2 wherein the virtual path flows through UNI #1, switch #1, switch #3, switch #2 and UNI #2. Each virtual path may include a plurality of virtual channels wherein each virtual channel supports traffic and wherein the virtual channels may be permanent virtual channels (“PVCs”) or switched virtual circuits (SVCs”). 
     With reference to  FIG. 2 , the UNI  46  associated with the network physical port  38  comprises the network physical port  38 , the logical ports  42 ,  44 , the physical port  48  on CPE #1, the physical port  50  on CPE #2, the communication path  52  between the first logical port  42  and the physical port  48  on CPE #1, and the communication path  54  between the second logical port  44  and the physical port  50  on CPE #2. The UNI  46  further comprises any virtual paths and virtual circuits including PVCs that traverse the network physical port  38 . 
     Most maintenance activities with respect to the network  10  are performed on a reactive basis. For example, when a customer problem is detected, network operators react to the problem and dispatch service technicians to determine and isolate the problem. Efforts are being made to allow network operators to proactively maintain the network before a customer detects a problem such as a loss of service or degraded service. 
     Proactive maintenance allows the network operators to anticipate where problems may occur in the future and act proactively to prevent some customer problems from occurring. Proactive activities may also allow a network operator to determine if and help ensure that network performance service level agreements are being met and will continue to be met. Proactive activities preferably include identifying current and potential bottlenecks, inefficient or poorly performing components, potential failures, and others. 
     Referring back to  FIG. 1 , network operators obtain information regarding network performance preferably using the EMS  24 . The EMS obtains information regarding network performance via the VCs established with various NEs. Among other things, the NEs communicate network performance information to the EMS. Because the UNI is an interface that relates directly to customers communication via the network  10 , the monitoring of performance messages relating to a UNI provides valuable information relating to the quality of service provided to customers. 
     The preferred EMS  24  includes a network monitoring system  56  that monitors the quality of service provided to a customer by monitoring the UNI associated with that customer. Specific UNI performance parameters have not been defined. But, by monitoring parameters related to the network PPORT  14  and logical ports that are a part of the UNI and the virtual channels the traverse the UNI, the preferred monitoring system  56  can monitor UNI performance. The network operator, therefore, is provided with information that can be used to perform proactive maintenance on the network. The parameters related to the UNI include the PPORT parameters, the LPORT parameters, and the PVC or SVC parameters. 
     Types of PPORT parameters that can be monitored include but are not limited to the following examples: errored seconds, code violation, severely errored seconds, frame errors, and unavailable seconds. These parameters can be either for the path or the line. 
     Types of LPORT parameters that can be monitored include but are not limited to the following examples: packet errors, packet discards, status frames errors, number of frames transmitted, DTE error frames, DCE error frames, LMI status frames, port utilization and others depending on the type of logical service. 
     Types of PVC/SVC parameters that can be monitored include but are not limited to the following examples: number of frames transmitted or received, number and service level of frames transmitted and received (i.e., red, green and amber), number of far end congestion notification (FECN) sent/received, number of back end congestion notification (BECN), and others depending on the type of service. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 4 , illustrated is a block diagram of an exemplary UNI monitoring system that could be implemented with the EMS. In the description that follows the term module is used. The term module as used herein is a generic term used to describe any entity such as hardware, software, firmware, or a combination of the above that causes the execution of some function. 
     Preferably, associated with the monitoring system  56  is a storage area  58  which more preferably comprises a database. The database  58  is used to store a number of data records including a UNI record  60  for each UNI associated with the network. 
     The illustrated monitoring system  56  includes a message storage area  62  for receiving exception messages  64  sent from NEs and preferably for temporarily storing the messages  64 . A message source parser module  66  is provided that determines, by examining the exception message, which component, e.g., equipment or facility, the received exception message relates to. 
     A translator module  68 , using the output from the message source parser module  66 , determines which UNI the component is related to. For example, if the component is a PVC between User B and User 3, as shown in  FIG. 3 , then the translator will determine that PVC exception messages would relate to UNI #1 and to UNI #3. The translator module  68  preferably uses a translation table  70 , which provides information regarding the relationships between components and UNIs. 
     A message content parser  72  is provided for retrieving the content of the messages and passing the content to a UNI message recording module  74 . The UNI message recording module receives from the translator module  68  the identity of the UNI the message content relates to, queries the database for the appropriate UNI record(s)  60 , and posts the content of the exception message to the appropriate UNI record(s)  60 . 
     A network operator can then retrieve from the UNI records  60 , performance information relating to one or more UNIs. Based on the performance information, a network operator can determine if proactive maintenance should occur in the network to improve a customer&#39;s service or to prevent a customer&#39;s service from degrading. 
     The network monitoring system preferably includes a UNI report generation module that can retrieve one or more UNI records  60  and generate a UNI report  76  for a network operator to review. The UNI report  76  could be in various forms. For example, the report could be a text or graphical display. The report  76  could be a display that provides a prioritized display of which UNIs were in greatest need of proactive maintenance. The report  76  could be a printed report or a report that was displayed on a system terminal. 
     Illustrated in  FIG. 5  is a block diagram of another exemplary UNI monitoring system that could be implemented with the EMS. Preferably, associated with the monitoring system  78  is a storage area  80  which more preferably comprises a database  82 . The database  82  is used to store a number of items including component data records  84  and UNI data records  86 . The component data records  84  contain information regarding components in the network  10 . The UNI data records  86  contain information regarding UNIs associated with the network  10 . 
     The illustrated monitoring system  78  includes a message depository  88  for receiving exception messages  90  sent from NEs and which may comprise a register, a storage area, memory, a file, or others. A message source parser module  92  is provided that determines, by examining the exception message, the source of the message. A component record finder module  94  is provided which searches through the component records  84  to identify the component, i.e., equipment or facility, the received exception message relates to. 
     A UNI message recording module  96  is provided for posting to the appropriate UNI record the exception message content. The UNI message recording module  96  preferably comprises a component record parser  98  and a UNI record posting module  100 . The component record parser  98  searches through the component record  84  identified by the component record finder module  94  to retrieve from the record  84  the identity of the UNI(s) affected by the component. The UNI record posting module  100  retrieves from the component record parser  98  the identity of the UNI(s) affected by the message, retrieves from a message content parser  102  the content of the exception message, and posts the message content to the appropriate UNI record  86 . 
     Illustrated in  FIG. 6  is a block diagram of another exemplary UNI monitoring system that could be implemented with the EMS. Preferably, associated with the monitoring system  104  is a storage area  106  which more preferably comprises a database  108 . The database  108  is used to store a number of items including UNI data records  110 . 
     The monitoring system  104  includes a message depository  112  for receiving exception messages  114  sent from NEs and wherein the message depository  112  may comprise a register, a storage area, memory, a file, or others. A message source parser module  116  is provided that identifies the component, i.e., equipment or facility, the received exception message relates to. 
     A query execution module  118  is provided for searching all UNI records  110  to identify the UNI records  110  that indicate that the component affects the UNI related to that UNI record  110 . A UNI record appending module  120  is also provided for posting to appropriate UNI records, the content of exception messages that relate to the UNI record. The UNI record appending module receives from a message content parser  122  the content of the exception message, and posts the message content to the appropriate UNI record  110 . 
     The UNI record  110  is preferably generated when a PPORT is provisioned for the first time. The UNI record  110  would be provided with information on all components associated with the UNI such as all LPORTs and all PVCs. Whenever a new LPORT or PVC is provisioned, the UNI record  110  would be updated to reflect the changes in components that affect the UNI. 
     The foregoing examples are just a few examples of monitoring systems that have elements that correspond to elements recited in the claims. 
     Illustrated in  FIG. 7  is an example of a method for accumulating performance information relating to a UNI. The method assumes that exception messages are being reported to the EMS. This method is not the only method for accumulating performance information but merely an exemplary method. At step  130 , exception messages transmitted by network elements are received. At step  132 , the UNI(s) in which the exception message(s) relate to is determined. Finally, at step  134 , the exception type is ascribed to the affected UNI(s). 
       FIG. 8  illustrates a method for determining the affected UNI(s), i.e., performing step  132  of  FIG. 7 . At step  140 , the facility or equipment the message relates to is determined. At step  142 , it is determined if a facility or equipment affects any communication channel through any UNI and if so the affected UNI(s) is identified. 
     Step  142  could be performed in a number of ways. For instance, as shown in  FIG. 9A , a look-up table that identifies each UNI in which a facility or equipment affects could be generated (step  150 ). Then, the look-up table could be applied to determine the affected UNI(s) (step  152 ). 
     Alternatively, as illustrated in  FIG. 9B , each UNI could have an associated UNI record wherein the facilities or equipment that affect the UNI could be identified. Then, each UNI record could be reviewed to determine which UNI(s) is affected by the exception message (step  154 ). 
     Also, as illustrated in  FIG. 9C , each facility and equipment could have an associated component record which identifies the UNI(s) the component affects. Then, after the facility or equipment the exception message pertains to has been identified, the corresponding component record can be reviewed to determine which UNI(s) is affected by the exception message. Other ways for performing step  142  may also exist (step  156 ). 
     Referring back to  FIG. 7 , step  134  could also be performed in a number of manners. For example, after the applicable UNI has been determined, the exception type could be posted to the UNI record(s) or file(s) corresponding to the applicable UNI(s). Alternatively, one or more files or records could be generated that contained a listing of the UNIs and the applicable exceptions reported against each UNI. Other methods for performing step  134  are also contemplated. 
     After exception information relating to UNIs is accumulated, reports preferably can be generated either automatically or on-demand. Reports could be generated periodically, such as daily or weekly, or whenever a network operator has a need for UNI exception report. The UNI exception reports could be displayed visually or graphically on a screen or displayed in a printed format. The information regarding one or more UNIs could be included on the report and the order in which the UNI information appears could be in a prioritized order. For example, in accordance with a prioritization scheme, the UNI having exceptions reported against it that are of the highest priority could be reported first on the UNI exception report.  FIG. 10  illustrates a preferred sequence that results in the generation of a UNI exception report. 
     Network operator personnel can use the generated reports in a number of ways. The network operators can view the results on screen or via a printout. Optionally, the network operators can employ a graphical generation module to generate a graphical display. Network operator personnel can generate reports to help them identify the portions of the network  10  on which they would like to perform proactive maintenance. Illustrated in  FIG. 10  is another example of a method for accumulating performance information relating to a UNI. 
     Other variations from these systems and methods should become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope of the invention defined by the claims. The embodiments described herein and shown in the drawings are examples of structures, systems or methods having elements corresponding to the elements of the invention recited in the claims. This written description and drawings may enable those skilled in the art to make and use embodiments having alternative elements that likewise correspond to the elements of the invention recited in the claims. The intended scope of the invention thus includes other structures, systems or methods that do not differ from the literal language of the claims, and further includes other structures, systems or methods with insubstantial differences from the literal language of the claims.