Patent Publication Number: US-7911974-B1

Title: Service layer availability

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
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     FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
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     MICROFICHE APPENDIX 
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     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The invention relates to telecommunications, and in particular, to service layer availability for communication services. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     Modern communication providers often times offer a wide variety of communications services to customers. For example, customers frequently purchase, subscribe to, or otherwise obtain voice calling, ring tone, text messaging, or Internet access services from communication providers. 
     Typically, provisioning and providing communication services involves a multitude of service layers. For instance, many communication services require a customer access layer for providing a user via a device with access. A network access layer is frequently required for bridging the customer access layer to a service layer. The service layer commonly provides the communication service itself. In support of the communication service, a service bureau layer or business applications layers could be included. 
     Many different physical systems or elements are used to provide the above mentioned service layers. In the design of communication services, the various service layers can be defined and categorized as desired. For example, customer access layer elements could include cable modems, wireless base stations, and communication devices. Examples of network access layer elements could include media gateways, session border controllers, and next generation gateways. Examples of service layer elements could include email servers, text messaging servers, and ring tone servers. Examples of service bureau layer elements could include credit check systems. Examples of business application layer elements could include billing systems and call record systems. It should be understood that single element could be defined as included in one or more service layers. 
     In the prior art, performance monitoring systems are well know. As part of most performance monitoring systems, the physical elements involved in a particular service monitor their own performance and transmit performance information to a central repository or system for analysis by professionals. For instance, many network elements transmit status and performance information to network operations centers. Such performance information usually indicates bandwidth utilization, processor capacity, and the like. 
     At the central repository or network operation center, the performance information is usually displayed via a graphical user interface in a manner so as to inform a user of the status of a particular network element. The performance information is frequently processed to generate an availability metric that is then displayed to the user. 
     In a metro-area example, a graphical user interface could display all of the elements involved with a particular service, such as wireless voice calls. The actual elements, such as the base stations, mobile switching center, and base station controllers, required to provide the service generate and transmit performance information to the central repository. The performance information is then processed on a per-element basis to determine an availability metric for each element. In an example, an element is described as 99.999% available (five-nine availability). A user could then click on or otherwise read the availability of the various network elements to determine their availability. 
     Unfortunately, performance monitoring systems in the prior art only account for and display performance information on a per-network element basis. As a result, a great amount of time and effort is required by technicians and other such professionals to determine the availability of an entire service layer, rather than the individual elements of the service layer. It would be preferred if such professionals could be freed from having to infer or predict the availability of a service layer and thereby avoid costly and time consuming errors. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In an embodiment of the invention, a method of operating a service availability system to monitor the availability of a communication service having a plurality of service layers provided by a plurality of service elements comprises receiving performance data from each of the service elements indicating the performance of each of the service elements, processing the performance data to determine availability levels of each of the service layers, and displaying on a graphical user interface the availability levels of each of the service layers. 
     In an embodiment of the invention, a first service layer of the plurality of service layers comprises a customer access layer. 
     In an embodiment of the invention, a second service layer of the plurality of service layers comprises a network access layer. 
     In an embodiment of the invention, a third service layer of the plurality of service layers comprises a service access layer. 
     In an embodiment of the invention, a fourth service layer of the plurality of service layers comprises a business applications layer. 
     In an embodiment of the invention, a fifth service layer of the plurality of service layers comprises a service bureau layer. 
     In an embodiment of the invention, a software product for operating a service availability system to monitor the availability of a communication service having a plurality of service layers provided by a plurality of service elements comprises a storage medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by a processing system, direct the processing system to receive performance data from each of the service elements indicating the performance of each of the service elements, process the performance data to determine availability levels of each of the service layers, and display on a graphical user interface the availability levels of each of the service layers. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The same reference number represents the same element on all drawings. 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a communication network in an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a communication network in an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 3  illustrates a communication network in an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 4  illustrates a communication network in an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 5  illustrates a service availability system in an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 6  illustrates a graphical user interface in an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 7  illustrates a graphical user interface in an embodiment of the invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       FIGS. 1-7  and the following description depict specific embodiments of the invention to teach those skilled in the art how to make and use the best mode of the invention. For the purpose of teaching inventive principles, some conventional aspects have been simplified or omitted. Those skilled in the art will appreciate variations from these embodiments that fall within the scope of the invention. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the features described below can be combined in various ways to form multiple embodiments of the invention. As a result, the invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described below, but only by the claims and their equivalents. 
       FIG. 1  illustrates communication network  100  in an embodiment of the invention for providing a communication service. Communication network  100  includes device  101 , local network  102 , data network  103 , service provider network  104 , and service network  105 . 
     In operation, a customer uses device  101  to access the communication service. In order access the communication service, device  101  is in communication with or otherwise operatively coupled to local network  102 . In turn, local network  102  is operatively coupled to data network  103 . Data network  103  is operatively coupled to service provider network  104 , and service provider network  104  is operatively coupled to service network  105 . The communication service is provided over the link between service network  105  and device  101 . 
     Typically, many different networks and network elements are required to provide the communication service between service network  105  and device  102 . While in operation, many network elements transmit performance data indicating the current performance of the network elements. Such performance data could include, for example, processor utilization levels, bandwidth, loss, disk utilization, and congestion data, as well as other types of performance data. The network elements often times transmit the performance data to centralized databases for analysis. In many cases, network personnel examine the data to determine how well each element or group of elements is performing. 
     It should be understood that any service, when provided by several diverse networks and many different network elements, could be comprised of several or even many different service layers. Service layers can be defined for any given service. In some examples, standardized service layer models are applied to a service. 
       FIG. 2  provides one service layer model for a service provided over communication network  100 . In  FIG. 2 , a service has five service layers consisting of customer access layer  106 , network access layer  107 , service layer  108 , business applications layer  109 , and service bureau layer  110 . Customer access layer  106  is overlayed on local network  102  and data network  103 . Network access layer  107  is overlayed on data network  103  and service provider network  104 . Service layer  108  is overlayed on service provider network  104  and service network  105 . Service bureau layer  110  is overlayed on service network  105 . Likewise, business applications layer  109  is overlayed on service network  105 . 
     As a part of the service layer model illustrated in  FIG. 2 , any particular service layer could be defined as including any variety of network elements, such as servers, switches, gateways, base transceiver systems, backhaul elements, or the like.  FIG. 3  illustrates how the service layers illustrated in  FIG. 2  could be each defined as encompassing multiple network elements. Customer access layer  106  includes element A  111 , element B  112 , and element C  111 . Network access layer  107  includes element D  114  and element E 115 . Service layer  108  includes element F  116  and element G  117 . Service bureau layer  110  includes element H  120  and element I  121 . Business applications layer  109  includes element J  118  and element K  119 . 
     In operation, the elements of the various service layers of communication network  100  generate and transmit performance data to performance database  130 . A service availability system (SAS)  131  could be operatively coupled to or otherwise in communication with performance database  130 . 
       FIG. 5  illustrates a service availability system  500  in an embodiment of the invention. Service availability system  500  includes graphical user interface (GUI)  510 , data interface  520 , processing system  530 , storage system  540 , and software  550 . Storage system  540  stores software  550 . Processing system  530  is linked to data interface  520 . Service availability system  500  could be comprised of a programmed general-purpose computer, although those skilled in the art will appreciate that programmable or special purpose circuitry and equipment may be used. Service availability system  500  may use a client server architecture where operations are distributed among a server system and client devices that together comprise elements  510 - 550 . 
     Data interface  520  could comprise a network interface card, modem, port, or some other communication device. Data interface  520  may be distributed among multiple communication devices. Processing system  530  could comprise a computer microprocessor, logic circuit, or some other processing device. 
     Processing system  530  may be distributed among multiple processing devices. Storage system  540  could comprise a disk, tape, integrated circuit, server, or some other memory device. Storage system  540  may be distributed among multiple memory devices. GUI  510  could comprise a monitor, a screen, or other type of display capable displaying information in a graphical format to a user. 
     Processing system  530  retrieves and executes software  550  from storage system  540 . Software  550  may comprise an operating system, utilities, drivers, networking software, and other software typically loaded onto a general-purpose computer. Software  550  could also comprise an application program, firmware, or some other form of machine-readable processing instructions. When executed by the processing system  530 , software  550  directs processing system  530  to operate as described for service availability system  131 . 
     In operation, SAS  131  could access the performance data stored in performance database  130 . SAS  131  could retrieve the various individual performance data and process the performance data to determine availability levels of the various service layers. For instance, SAS  131  could retrieve performance data from some or all of the network elements illustrated in  FIG. 4 . SAS  131  could then process the individual performance data for each element in a particular service layer to determine the overall availability of the service layer. SAS  131  could then display the availability of a service layer on a graphical user interface. 
       FIG. 6  illustrates a particular graphical user interface (GUI)  601  in an embodiment of the invention. GUI  601  could display multiple graphical representations of services, such as service A  603  and service B  602 . Services A  603  and B  602  could be any communication service provided by communication network  100 . A user could select one of either service to determine the availability of the service. SAS  131  could then process performance data from performance database  130  to determine the availability of each service layer of the selected service. 
       FIG. 7  illustrates GUI  601  after a user has selected on of either service A  603  or service B  602 . As illustrated in  FIG. 7 , upon selecting a service, SAS  131  determines the availability of each service layer involved with the service as defined by a service layer model. In this example, the service layers are graphically represented by a customer access layer  606 , a network access layer  607 , a service layer  608 , business applications layer  609 , and a service bureau layer  610 . Included in each graphical representation of the service layers are the resulting availability levels of each service layers. The availability levels are represented in  FIG. 7  by a percentage metric generically stated as X.XX %. In an example, a service layer could have 99.999% availability, 99.99% availability, 99.9% availability, or the like. 
     Those skilled in the art will appreciate variations from these embodiments that fall within the scope of the invention. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the features described above could be combined in various ways to form multiple embodiments of the invention. As a result, the invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described above, but only by the claims and their equivalents.