Abstract:
The present invention provides a system, method and apparatus for monitoring and analyzing traffic data from manual reporting switches. The present invention establishes a communication link between a remote computer and the switch. Thereafter, the present invention requests and receives the traffic data from the switch via the communication link. The remote computer then parses one or more data elements from the traffic data, compares the parsed data with corresponding threshold data, and performs one or more predefined functions based on the comparison of the parsed data with the corresponding threshold data.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Without limiting the scope of the present invention, this background of the present invention is described in connection with monitoring and analyzing traffic data in a telecommunications network. 
     A failure to establish calls upon request from subscribers in a telecommunications network can result in significant loss of revenue to a long distance carrier. Such failures may, for example, result from errors in databases, or in network elements themselves such as switches, network control points, signal transfer points, and the like. Clearly, downtime and associated deterioration in customer service quality and lost revenues could be minimized by surveillance techniques that detect at the earliest opportunity the onset and cause of call failures. 
     In order to provide economical, profitable and high level service, a long distance carrier or other telecommunication network operator must identify and correct maintenance problems as soon as possible. For this reason, data concerning the traffic carried by the network (e.g., call attempts, usage, calls successfully placed in a trunk group) is typically gathered and reported for subsequent analysis. Such “traffic” data is generally collected by computer from the network at pre-determined intervals, and from various types of network elements such as voice switches, packet switches, and STPs. The traffic data may then be used by network planners, for example, to determine the appropriate trunk group or host/remote link sizes so that the network may achieve a predetermined grade of service and the optimum route selection sequences for use at different time periods for the forecasted traffic load (which is based on projection factors and statistics derived from previous gathering intervals). 
     The traffic information supplied to the network designer is thus currently used to efficiently allocate the physical resources that are already in the field, as well as those contemplated in planned construction. Moreover, analysis of the collected data also permits network personnel to verify whether customers are receiving an appropriate level of service from the network. Also, the traffic data enables the appropriate personnel to view and report on customer usage of particular services, switch modules, or trunks. 
     Real-time and historical traffic data is utilized for dynamic as well as trend analysis. Real-time traffic data originating from the various network elements flows into a data interface module and is reformatted by a data format module for input into a relational data base of a traffic data management system module. A user interface, which may be a graphical user interface, may be utilized for report generation and system management. 
     In addition to their use in the collection and processing of traffic data, computers may also be utilized to gather and analyze alarm reports from the network. Such computers are used by technicians to analyze and repair maintenance problems in the network. Large quantities of switch data may thus be stored and manipulated on a real-time basis to generate and display network element messages, once or repeatedly over a given time interval, which warn the monitoring technicians of service affecting problems. In this manner, switching, facility, and traffic information may be immediately displayed either graphically or textually at work station terminals located in different work-centers throughout, for example, a telephone company. Specific screens may be invoked in a windowed environment at a terminal when a given alert is received to inform the operator as to the problem or condition being reported. 
     Moreover, the features of telecommunication devices have advanced significantly thus helping the long distance carrier to run a more efficient and stable network. Even though there is constant pressure to upgrade older devices and expand capacity, there are many situations where this is simply not practical. As a result, much of the network may still contain older equipment which does not include the latest features. For example, the newer switches have automatic reporting features that periodically communicate traffic data to the network control center via communication links. Older switches, however, do not have automatic reporting capability. Instead, the traffic data accumulated by these older switches must be retrieved manually by the network control center by calling into the switch via communication links. Note that these older switches may only support trunk side connections, such as the DEX 600 or 600E manufactured and sold by DSC Communications, which is now owned by Alcatel USA, Inc. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention provides a system, method and apparatus for monitoring and analyzing traffic data from manual reporting switches. The present invention establishes a communication link between a remote computer and the switch. Thereafter, the present invention requests and receives the traffic data from the switch via the communication link. The remote computer then parses one or more data elements from the traffic data, compares the parsed data with corresponding threshold data, and performs one or more predefined functions based on the comparison of the parsed data with the corresponding threshold data. 
     The apparatus and system may include a first database for storing the traffic report, a second database for storing the parsed data, a third database for storing the threshold data, and a fourth database for storing the one or more predefined functions. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The above and further advantages of the invention may be better understood by referring to the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an illustrative telecommunications network; 
     FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a network control center in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 3 is a typical trunk group report retrieved from a manual reporting switch; 
     FIG. 4 is a flow chart of the monitoring and control process in accordance with the present invention; and 
     FIG. 5 is a flow chart of the automated monitoring and control process in accordance with the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     While the making and using of various embodiments of the present invention are discussed in detail below, it should be appreciated that the present invention provides many applicable inventive concepts which can be embodied in a wide variety of specific contexts. The specific embodiments discussed herein are merely illustrative of specific ways to make and use the invention and do not delimit the scope of the invention. 
     Now referring to FIG. 1, an example of a telecommunication network configuration  10  will be described. Switches  12 ,  14 ,  16  and  18  are used to direct traffic through the network  10 . Switches  12 ,  14 ,  16  and  18  are connected to each other and the off network  20  by trunks, which may include access lines  22 , inter-machine trunks  24  and off network trunks  26 . In addition, switches  12 ,  14 ,  16  and  18  are connected to private and public branch exchanges  28  by the access lines  22 , and to customers  32  by telephone lines  31 . As illustrated by switch  16 , some types of manual switches only support trunk side connections. Customers  30  access the long distance network via the private and public branch exchanges  28 ; whereas customers  32  access the long distance network via switches  14  and  18 . 
     Switches  12 ,  14 ,  16  and  18  are also connected to a network control center  34  by communication links  36  and  38 . The network control center  34  monitors and controls the long distance network and provides network administration and maintenance functions. Typically, the network control center  34  is operated by a long distance carrier that owns or leases switches  12 ,  14 ,  16  and  18 , inter-machine trunks  24 , and communication links  36  and  38 . Areas not served by the long distance network are accessed through the off network  20  via off network trunks  26 . 
     Each switch  12 ,  14 ,  16  and  18  can have the capacity to serve thousands of stations and trunks  22 ,  24  and  26 . The number of trunks  22 ,  24  and  26  served by each switch  12 ,  14 ,  16  or  18  will vary depending on the size of the trunk group and its traffic patterns. Thus, each switch  12 ,  14 ,  16 , or  18  may serve a large geographical area with 1,000 trunk groups per switch or a smaller area with 100 trunk groups per switch. In addition, the trunks  22 ,  24  and  26  may be mixtures of satellite and terrestrial circuits. 
     Moreover, each switch  12 ,  14 ,  16  and  18  has network control features which allow dynamic call routing and translation, and retrieval of traffic data. These controls can typically be activated via either the network control center  34  or a designated local control terminal at each switch  12 ,  14 ,  16  and  18 . Dynamic control of switches  12 ,  14 ,  16  and  18  by the network control center  34  is accomplished with a high speed data communication links  36  and  38 . 
     Each switch  12 ,  14 ,  16  and  18  monitors its own operational characteristics and periodically generates a block of operational or traffic data. This traffic data can then be analyzed by a traffic engineer to locate anomalies and conditions which indicate current problems or could lead to future problems. Typically, the specific interval for reporting the traffic data to the network control center  34  is thirty minutes. But any suitable interval, such as 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 60 minutes, or daily, may be employed as a general matter of design choice. 
     In addition to traffic data, many newer switches  12  and  14  are able to detect component failures and to generate corresponding messages, hereinafter referred to as network alarm data, indicative of such failures. The network alarm data is also reported to the network control center  34 . The network alarm data and traffic data are both reported to network control center  34  via data links  36 . 
     As telecommunication systems have advanced, the ability of long distance carriers to monitor and control their networks has greatly increased. But much of the network may still contain older equipment which does not include the latest features. For example, the newer switches  12  and  14  have automatic reporting features that periodically communicate traffic data to the network control center  34  via communication links  36 . Older switches  16  and  18 , however, do not have automatic reporting capability. Instead, the traffic data accumulated by switches  16  and  18  must be retrieved manually by the network control center  34  by calling into the switches  16  and  18  via communication links  38 . Switches  16  and  18  are older switches that may only support trunk side connections, such as the DEX 600 or 600E manufactured and sold by DSC Communications, which is now owned by Alcatel USA, Inc. 
     Obtaining and analyzing this traffic data is critical to the successful and profitable operation of a long distance network because in most long distance networks&#39; transmission facility costs dominate overall network costs. Thus, obtaining the desired grade-of-service with the fewest trunks is an important goal. To achieve this goal, the overall network must first be engineered by choosing the proper number and location of network nodes and properly dimensioning the interconnecting trunk groups. Once the network is put in operation, initial traffic measurements are necessary to verify that the specified grade-of-service on each trunk group is achieved with minimum trunking. Following the initial traffic verification period, a plan of regular traffic measurements and trunk adjustments is required to accommodate changes in traffic patterns arising from network growth and other causes. 
     Referring now to FIG. 2, the network control center  34  is described in relation to the present invention. The network control center  34  is comprised of many components, such as a network interface  40 , traffic monitor and control system  42 , alarms and network display  44 , operator console  46 , and other monitoring and control devices  48 . The traffic monitor and control system  42  has main processor and memory capable of accessing various data bases containing trunk reports  50 , parsed data  52 , reporting and alarm limits  54 , and programmed instructions  56 . These databases  50 ,  52 ,  54  and  56  are also used for traffic analysis  58 . The other monitoring and control devices may include additional data storage devices, operator terminals, an alarm and exception character printer, dynamic color graphics display, remote trunk testing system and system line printer. 
     The traffic monitor and control system  42  and operator console  46  provide the necessary data manipulation human interface to support the central control functions. The color graphics display can provide a real-time, global view of network traffic and switch equipment status. The trunk test system is software and communications hardware that transmits control signals to the switches  12 ,  14 ,  16  and  18  (FIG. 1) via the control network  60  and communication links  36  and  38 . The line printer is used to output high-volume reports. The alarm and exception printer is used to output messages of critical importance. 
     The typical network control center  34  provides numerous features and advantages. For example, the extensive traffic measurement features of the automatic reporting switches  12  and  14  allow automated centralized traffic data collection at the network control center  34 . The network control center  34  analyzes the traffic data from all nodes in the network, and produces trunk group grade-of-service reports with system configuration recommendations to meet specified traffic objectives. In addition, traffic data is recorded for subsequent off-line analysis. These features ensure that the desired grade-of-service is achieved at the lowest transmission costs. The present invention, however, involves one aspect of the traffic monitor and control system  42 : the ability to automatically access, retrieve and analyze traffic data from manual reporting switches  16  and  18  (FIG.  1 ). In contrast, the automatic reporting switches  12  and  14  can generate data messages to the network control center  34  according to operator defined schedules, such as by designated days, daily, hourly, etc. 
     Upon the detection of a fault condition or other network element malfunction, an alarm message is generated to call the attention of an operator  46  to the problem. The alarm message may, of course, take any desired format, but is typically displayed either graphically or textually on a suitable display. Alternatively, however, the alarm might take the form of an audible message, utilizing a voice synthesizer or beeper. A trouble ticket might also be generated and sent to another system. 
     Once traffic measurements indicative of service affecting problems have been identified, thresholds or limits for each measurement are defined and monitored by appropriate software instructions within the traffic monitor and control system  42  so that exception conditions can be detected in the incoming raw data. The traffic monitor and control system  42  validates the incoming traffic data, scans it for user-defined exception conditions, and stores it in trunk report database  50  or other suitable database so that it is available for subsequent analysis by network engineers and planners. Reference data, such as configuration information about the network elements, is typically stored in the reporting and alarm limits database  54 . The incoming traffic data may be supplied to other monitoring and control devices  48 . 
     Now briefly referring to FIG. 3, a typical trunk group report  100  from a manual reporting switch  16  and  18  (FIG. 1) is shown. Each trunk group report  100  provides the date  102  and time  104  the report was generated, the time period  106  in which the data was accumulated, and the trunk group  108  that the information pertains to. The trunk data  110  contained in the trunk group report  100  is incoming attempts, incoming abandons, invalid billing #, time restrict auth., not on network count, in exclusion failure, misc. translate error, trunk circuits on group, average in/out atts/trk, calls abandoned in queue, calls disc due ALCD, TCNI received, outgoing attempts, failure count, answer count, all trunks busy count, primary route attempts, primary no circuits avail., alt. route attempts, alt. no circuits avail., calls in queue, average queue time, ported number received, and misrout ported #. 
     Of the trunk data  110 , there is key trunk data  112  that is most commonly parsed from the trunk data  110  and used to analyze the current traffic flow and status of the switch  116  and  118 . This key trunk data  112  is typically incoming attempts, incoming abandons, outgoing attempts, failure count, answer count, all trunks busy count, primary route attempts, primary no circuits avail., alt. route attempts, alt. no circuits avail., ported number received, and misrout ported #. 
     Referring back to FIG. 2, the traffic monitor and control system  42  retrieves the trunk group reports  100  (FIG. 3) for each trunk group  22 ,  24  and  26  (FIG. 1) on each manual reporting switch  16  and  18  (FIG. 1) via network interface  40  and communication link  38 . Each trunk group report  100  (FIG. 3) is stored in the trunk reports database  50  for a relatively short period of time due to the extremely large amount of data. The trunk group reports  100  (FIG. 3) are parsed for key information that is stored in the parsed data database  52 . The parsed data is then compared against the reporting and alarm limits in database  54 . A report is generated if the parsed data exceeds the reporting limits and an alarm is issued if the parsed data exceeds the alarm limits. In addition, programmed instructions stored in database  56  may be executed by the traffic monitor and control system if certain alarm limits are exceeded. Note that the reporting and alarm limits may also be based on a conditions frequency of occurrence. This would apply, for example, to intermittent hardware or software failures. 
     The network control center  34  alarm notification system and programmed instructions are necessary due to the extremely high volume of data that must be analyzed. Thus, the operator  46  must be made aware of critical conditions, rather than every irregularity on the network. If an alarm is generated, an alert is typically displayed to the operator  46  and the alarm is printed and recorded in an alarm log. The alarm log typically includes the date and time of occurrence, switch identification, message type, status, alarm log entry number, and space for an operator-entered free-format text area. The operator  46  is given wide-ranging ability to print, display or update alarm log entries at any time through the terminal. 
     Similarly, the network control center  34  provides a computerized trouble ticket log to coordinate and track general troubles. The trouble ticket format, displayed upon operator request, provides a time, date and trouble ticket number field already entered by the system. In addition, there are fields for the switch identifier, the operator&#39;s name, the site telephone number, an area for trouble descriptions and a status field (open and closed). As with the alarm log, entries may be sorted by time, date, switch, trouble ticket number or status. Also provided is a printed trouble ticket summary report. Both the alarm and trouble ticket management summary reports provide management with visibility and documentation of problems handled by the staff, and may be used as a gauge of switch and transmission performance. 
     Referring now to FIG. 4, a flow chart of the monitoring and control process in accordance with the present invention is described. The switch monitoring and analysis process  200  as it pertains to manual reporting switches  116  and  118  begins in block  202 . The communications link  38  (FIG. 1) between the network control center  34  (FIG. 1) and the manual reporting switch  16  or  18  (FIG. 1) is established in block  204 . Next, in block  206 , the system logs into the manual reporting switch  16  or  18  (FIG.  1 ), which typically requires the entry of access codes and/or passwords. The trunk file for the manual reporting switch  16  or  18  (FIG. 1) is opened in block  208 . The trunk file contains a listing of all trunks connected to the manual reporting switch  16  or  18  (FIG.  1 ). One or more trunks are selected from the trunk file in block  210 . The system may select only one trunk at a time or select a group of trunks listed in the trunk file. 
     The system issues a report request to the manual reporting switch  16  or  18  (FIG. 1) for the selected trunk(s) in block  212 . If the trunk report  100  (FIG. 3) is not successfully received, as determined in block  214 , the system determines whether a fatal error or a maximum number of retries has occurred in decision block  216 . If a fatal error or a maximum number of retries has occurred, the process ends or returns indicating that an error has occurred in block  218 . Otherwise, the process repeats and another report request is issued to the manual reporting switch  16  or  18  (FIG. 1) for the selected trunk(s) in block  212 . If, however, the trunk report  100  was successfully received, as determined in decision block  214 , the trunk report  100  is stored in the trunk reports database  50  (FIG. 2) in block  220 . Next, the trunk data  110  is parsed to retain the key trunk data  112  and the key trunk data  112  is stored in the parsed data database  52  (FIG. 2) in block  222 . 
     If the key trunk data  112  is not within the reporting limits stored in the reporting and alarm limits database  54  (FIG.  2 ), as determined in decision block  224 , the key trunk data  112  that is outside the reporting limits is reported in block  226 . If, however, the key trunk data  112  is within the reporting limits stored in the reporting and alarm limits database  54  (FIG.  2 ), as determined in decision block  224 , or the report is complete in block  226 , the key trunk data  112  is compared to the action limits stored in the reporting and alarm limits database  54  (FIG. 2) in decision block  228 . If the key trunk data  112  is not within the action limits stored in the reporting and alarm limits database  54  (FIG.  2 ), one or more programmed instructions are performed based on the key trunk data  112  that is outside the action limits in block  230 . The programmed instructions are stored in the programmed instruction database  56  (FIG. 2) and may include anything from the notification of key personnel of the problem or a set of system instructions to attempt to correct or contain the problem. If, however, the key trunk data  112  is within the action limits stored in the reporting and alarm limits database  54  (FIG.  2 ), as determined in decision block  228 , or the programmed instructions have been performed in block  230 , the system determines whether there are any more trunks in the trunk file that need to have a trunk report  100  (FIG. 3) run in decision block  232 . If there are more trunk reports  100  (FIG. 3) to be run, the system selects the next trunk(s) from the trunk file in block  210  and the process repeats as previously described. If, however, there are no more trunk reports  100  (FIG. 3) to be run, processing ends or returns in block  234 . 
     Now referring to FIG. 5, a flow chart of the automated monitoring and control process in accordance with the present invention is described. The switch monitoring and analysis process  200  can be automated to run on all switches  16  and  18  (FIG. 1) within the network. The automated process begins in block  250  and then runs the previously described switch monitoring and analysis process  200 . After process  200  is complete, if there are any more switches  16  and  18  (FIG. 1) within the network to be checked, as determined in decision block  252 , the next switch  16  and  18  (FIG. 1) is selected in block  254  and process  200  is run for that switch. This loop continues until there are no more switches  16  and  18  (FIG. 1) to be checked, in which case the process ends in block  256 . Alternatively, this process could continuously loop based on a schedule such that the process would wait in block  256  until the next time for the process to run. Moreover, the process does not have to check the same switches  16  and  18  (FIG. 1) on each cycle. 
     Although preferred embodiments of the invention have been described in detail, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.