|Publication number||US8060600 B1|
|Application number||US 11/681,575|
|Publication date||Nov 15, 2011|
|Filing date||Mar 2, 2007|
|Priority date||Mar 2, 2007|
|Publication number||11681575, 681575, US 8060600 B1, US 8060600B1, US-B1-8060600, US8060600 B1, US8060600B1|
|Inventors||Steven N. Sturis|
|Original Assignee||Sprint Communications Company L.P.|
|Export Citation||BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan|
|Patent Citations (9), Non-Patent Citations (6), Classifications (9), Legal Events (2)|
|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet|
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to telecommunication systems, and specifically to a network element management system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A telecommunications network is typically comprised of a number of network elements. One example of a network element is a digital cross-connect system. A digital cross-connect system is a network device used by telecom carriers and large enterprises to switch and multiplex low-speed voice and data signals onto high-speed lines and vice versa. The digital cross connect is typically used to aggregate several T1 lines into a higher-speed electrical or optical line as well as to distribute signals to various destinations. For example, voice and data traffic may arrive at the cross-connect on the same facility, but be destined for different carriers. Voice traffic would be transmitted out one port, while data traffic goes out another.
Digital Cross-Connect Systems (DCS) typically consist of a rack with one or more shelves, where each shelf has a number of different cards/modules. The cards/modules can be configured to connect the incoming low speed lines with the outgoing high capacity lines. Over time the DCS may be upgraded by adding additional shelves and/or additional card/modules, or the DCS may be modified by reconfiguring the current cards/modules. To be able to upgrade or modify the DCS, an understanding of the current logical configuration of the DCS is required. The logical configuration of a DCS is the relationship between the current cards, shelves and modules, how the cards/modules and shelves relate to other cards/modules and shelves, and how the DCS logically identifies the links (logical identifiers) between the cards/modules and shelves.
Currently, determining the logical configuration of a DCS is a time consuming and error prone activity. One reason for this difficulty is that the physical location of a card/module in the shelf may not have any relationship with the logical configuration for the card/module.
Current software programs designed to aid with the determination of the logical configuration of a DCS may determine that a shelf has an open slot for a card/module, but do not determine the logical sub-distribution frame (SDF) address for the open slot. For example, the Tellabs 5500 Metro Watch product allows an engineer to determine that there are shelves installed with open slots for cards/modules, but it does not tell the engineer what the logical SDF address is for the slots and cards/modules.
Another problem with current management tools is that the physical dependencies between different cards/modules can not be determined. Therefore there is a need for a network element management system that overcomes these problems.
The present invention advances the art by providing a network element management system that has a user interface that displays a table having a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns. The table has a plurality of logical identifier for a network element listed in the first column. The table has a plurality of physical dependencies listed in the first row. The table has at least one list of physical equipment displayed in a row containing a first logical identifier, where each piece of physical equipment in the list is linked to the first logical identifier and where each piece of physical equipment is located in a column that corresponds to the physical dependency which the physical equipment fulfills.
In one example embodiment of the invention, a display that relates the logical layer of a network element to the physical layer of the network element is used to convey the logical configuration of the network element.
In the data storage field, a “Megabyte” is a unit of measurement for 1024 kilobytes of memory in computer hard drive. The computer assigns a unique identifier (i.e. memory address) for each megabyte. In the data storage field, the logical identifiers are what the computer uses to identify each megabyte of memory. In the telecommunications field, the logical identifier for a Tellabs 5500 Digital Cross Connect System is an SDF, which is a unit of measure for one DS3 of capacity. The Tellabs 5500 assigns each SDF a unique number so it can logically identify each unit of capacity (i.e. each DS3). Other network elements use different names for the logical identifiers, for example an Alcatel 1631s uses T3 as it's logical identifier, and a Tellabs 5320L uses MPC as it's logical identifier.
The first row of the table lists the physical dependencies for the network element. In
The text in the rows corresponding to a given SDF number represents the physical equipment tied or linked to that SDF number. Each piece of physical equipment that is linked to the SDF number is shown in the column that represents the function that that piece of equipment fulfills. In one example embodiment of the invention, the text in the physical layer rows are the part numbers of the cards/modules associated or linked to that SDF number. In other example embodiment of the invention, the text in the physical layer rows may be the type of card, for example a DS1 card. The display screen provides a list of the different physical cards/modules associated with each logical identifier (SDF#) and shows the function that card/module fulfills. For example, a card with part number 81.5514D is associated or tied to SDF number 1 and is used as the working card. Part number 81.5514D corresponds to an electrical DS1 card. The working DS1 card is protected by another DS1 card. Logical identifier 1 (SDF-1) also is equipped with an end stage module (ESM) (part number 81.5509) which is required to make the DS1 working and DS1 protect cards functional. A time slot interchange (TSI) card (part number 81,5516D) is also associated with logical identifier 1 (SDF-1). The TSI card helps the ESM communicate with the DS1 cards. A power card (8X.5535) is also associated with logical identifier 1 (SDF-1) providing power to all the other cards/modules associated with SDF number 1. The mapping column is empty because all the SDF numbers are currently loaded with electrical cards. If any SDF number had an optical card associated or linked to it, a mapping module would be required to make the optical card functional.
By showing the dependencies and relationships between the logical layer and the physical layer, provisioning, monitoring and maintenance of network elements is simplified.
In one example embodiment of the invention, different shades or different colors may be used to show cards/modules of the same type. For example, all the UEQ-DS3 cards are shown using a white background and all the 81.5514D cards are shown using a darker grey background. A different color or shade may also be used to distinguish between optical and electrical cards.
The network element management system produces several advantages and benefits that are not available in other reports, software packages or configuration tools. For example, the Tellabs 5500 Metro Watch product allows an engineer to determine that there are shelves installed with open slots for cards/modules, but it does not tell the engineer what the logical SDF address is for the slots and cards/modules. The engineer also does not know if other dependent cards/modules are installed that are tied to that SDF address. In contrast, the network element management system of the current invention provides all of this information. In another example, an engineer can use the Megasys Telenium 5500 product to graphically locate where a card and shelf can be installed, but the engineer must manually examine all the graphics for the open shelf/slots. This is a tedious process. In addition, the engineer must also have a good understanding of the physical card dependencies. Once the engineer finds the open shelf/slots they must search all the graphics again to see if the dependent cards are installed. The process is extremely time consuming, riddled with human error, and it can not be automated. In contrast, the network element management system quickly provides all of this information right at the finger tips of the engineer. In addition, network elements can be analyzed for government violations and/or business policy violations. For example, a quick scan of the table can identify unprotected cards/modules or missing/incorrect dependent cards.
Network risk analysis can be performed using the network element management system. For example, by scanning the table (either by human eye or by a computer) a report can be generated to identify network elements beyond safe thresholds, how many DS3s are dependent on high risk cards (card out of warranty, cards failing more than usual, etc) and where the DS3s are located. Any number of risk analyses can be performed. Database audits can be done for both physical and logical configurations. Provisioning circuits through a network element requires the database to have both the physical equipment and the logical address of the equipment. No product other than the network element management system can be used to simultaneously audit a provisioning database for both the physical and logical configuration.
The network element management system can also be used to produce conventional capacity analysis and inventory management information.
In one example embodiment of the invention, the network element management system is implemented using a spreadsheet program, running on a computer, where macros are used to interrogate the network element and the results of the macros are displayed in the cells of the spreadsheet. In other example embodiments of the invention, the network element management system is implemented using a programming language that creates a user interface on a display screen that displays a table having a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns that relates the logical layer of a network element to the physical layer of the network element.
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|1||*||Case, J. et al. "Request for Comments (RFC) 1905: Protocol Operations for Version 2 of the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMPv2)", published by Network Working Group, Jan. 1996, 25 pages.|
|2||*||Fowler, Henry J. "TMN-Based Broadband ATM Network Management", IEEE Communications Magazine, Mar. 1995, pp. 74-79.|
|3||*||Tellabs, Inc. "Tellabs 5500 Digital Cross-Connect System (DCS) Integrated Voice Quality Enhancement (IVQE)", Mar. 2006, 2 pages.|
|4||*||Tellabs, Inc. "Tellabs 5500 Digital Cross-Connect", publicly posted to the Internet Jan. 4, 2006, 2 pages.|
|5||*||Tellabs, Inc. "Tellabs 5500 NGX Transport Switch Series", Nov. 2003, downloaded from studiozla.com, 4 pages.|
|6||*||Tellabs. "Tellabs MetroWatch", publicly posted to the Internet Jan. 13, 2006, 2 pages.|
|U.S. Classification||709/224, 715/736, 370/357|
|International Classification||G06F15/177, G06F15/173, H04L12/50, H04Q11/00|
|Mar 2, 2007||AS||Assignment|
Owner name: SPRINT COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY L.P., KANSAS
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:STURIS, STEVEN N.;REEL/FRAME:018954/0687
Effective date: 20070301
|May 12, 2015||FPAY||Fee payment|
Year of fee payment: 4