EP0963076A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Method for computer internet remote management of a telecommunication network element
Assignee: Nokia of America Corp
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Filing: 1999-05-18
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Granted: —
•
Expires: 2019-05-18
Abstract
Abstract In accordance with the invention, a method is provided for remotely managing a plurality of network element of a telecommunications network through a special communication link including a computer internet such as a local area network, the world_wide web or the Internet. A management computer is connected to an element management system server through a communication link including the computer internet. At least one of the plurality of network elements is also coupled to the element management server through the computer internet and the at least one of the plurality of network elements is managed via communications conveyed through the element management server between the management computer and the at least one network element. Preferably, management is facilitated by the management server generating an interactive web page at a client workstation with objects associated with management of the at least one network element. The interactive web page is transmitting from the management server through the computer internet to the management computer and displayed at the interactive web page at the management computer for management communications between the management computer and the network element. Objects of the interactive web page include objects associated with preferably all three of operation, administration and maintenance of the network lement. The interactive web page includes detailed status summary page for each network element of the telecommunications network, a relatively high system status summary of all the plurality of network elements and a list of all active alarms within the telecommunications network. The plurality of network elements each have an associated applications processor with a management agent application for interfacing the element management server with the network element. The application processor includes a maintenance application for performing maintenance of the network element command request are interfaced from the element management server through the management agent application to the maintenance application to selectively perform maintenance tasks. The element management server is provided with application processor specific events and command acknowledgments.
Inventors
- 👤 William Edward Barker
- 👤 Lisa M. Connelly
- 👤 Marvin A. Eggert
- 👤 Michael P. Foley
- 👤 Kenneth R. Macfarlane
- 👤 Philip M. Parsons
- 👤 Girish Rai
- 👤 Jerry Edward Rog
- 👤 Kurt A. Vangsness
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-30 03:29
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04L; H04L41/00; H04L41/02; H04L41/0213; H04L12/00; H04L12/28; H04L41/0246; H04L41/0253; H04L41/0273; H04L41/028; H04L41/04; H04L41/045; H04L41/046; H04L41/22
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 33
Claim 1
Independent Claim
93 words
In a telecommunications network having a plurality of network elements,
a method of managing at least one of the network elements, comprising the steps of: connecting a management computer to an element management server through a
communication link including a computer internet; coupling the at least one of the plurality of network elements to the element
management server through the computer internet; and managing the at least one of the plurality of network elements via
communications conveyed through the element management server between the
management computer and the at least one network element.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
77 words
The method of claim 1 in which the step of managing includes the steps of generating from the management server an interactive web page with objects
associated with management of the at least one network element, transmitting the interactive web page from the management server through the
computer internet to the management computer, and displaying the interactive web page at the management computer for management
communications between the management computer and the at least one network
element.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
33 words
The method of claim 2 in which the objects of the interactive web page
include objects associated with at least one of operation, administration and maintenance
of the at least one network element.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of claim 3 in which the web page includes objects associated
with all three of operation, administration and maintenance of the at least one network
element.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
37 words
The method of claim 2 including the step of generating signals through
interaction with the interactive web page at the management computer to achieve at least
one of command, control and fault management of the network element.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
42 words
The method of claim 5 in which the step of generating includes the step of
generating signals through interaction with the interactive web page at the management
computer to achieve all three of command, control and fault management of the network
element.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
20 words
The method of claim 2 in which the interactive web page includes a menu
of individual maintenance unit command options.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method of claim 2 in which the interactive web page includes a
detailed status summary page for the at least one individual network element.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method of claim 2 in which the interactive web page includes a high
level system status summary of all the plurality of network elements.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method of claim 2 in which the interactive web page includes a list of
all active alarms within the telecommunications network.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
46 words
The method of claim 1 in which the step of coupling includes the step of
coupling the at least one of the plurality of network elements to an associated
applications processor with a management agent application for interfacing the element
management server with the network element.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
51 words
The method of claim 11 in which the AP includes a maintenance application for performing maintenance of the
network element, and the step of coupling includes the step of interfacing command request from the element management server through the
management agent application to the maintenance application to selectively perform
maintenance tasks.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
31 words
The method of claim 11 in which the step of interfacing by the network
element includes the step of providing the element management server with AP specific
events and command acknowledgments.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
42 words
The method of claim 1 in which the computer internet is the world wide
web and the steps of connecting and coupling include the step of operating world wide
web based JAVA applications at the management computer and the element
management server.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
41 words
The method of claim 1 in which the network element has a management
agent application which responds to various actions and the step of managing includes
the step of correlating responses from the agent with the actions which caused the
actions.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of claim 1 in which the step of managing includes the step of
automatically routing command responses, polling results and traps back to the
management computer.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
60 words
The method of claim 1 in which the network element has a management agent application, and including the steps
of queuing multiple commands simultaneously received from a plurality of different
management computers including the one management computer, and successive responding to the multiple commands by sending reponses to
appropriated ones of the different management computers that originated the commands,
respectively.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
30 words
The method of claim 1 in which the step of connecting includes the step
of enabling the connection in response to entry of a correct password at the management
computer.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 18 including the step of encrypting the password
prior to sending to the management server.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
38 words
The method of claim 1 in which the step of managing includes the steps of selecting network element attributes from a plurality of network element
attributes available for polling, and polling for only the selected network element attributes.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
85 words
The method of claim 1 in which the step of managing includes the steps of receiving requests at the network element from a plurality of different
management computers to poll for network element attributes which are the same, polling for the attributes which are the same only as if there were only one
request for polling of the same attributes, and providing the results of the polling of the same attributes to all of the different
management computers that requested polling of the same attributes.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
37 words
The method of claim 1 including the step of automatically updating a list
of active alarms of the network element upon occurrence of either one of actuation of a
new alarm and clearing of a former alarm.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
118 words
In a communication network having a plurality of network elements, a
method for managing the network element, comprising the steps of: selectively running a management application at a plurality of different work
station for command, control and fault management of the network element; interfacing an element management server through a computer internet to the
plurality of different work stations to provide distributed network element management
services to the client application at all of the plurality of work stations; and interfacing the network element with the element management server through a
management agent application associated with the network element for communicating
command acknowledgment and command requests through the computer internet
between the network management server and the network element.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of claim 23 in which the element management server includes
an object server having managed objects representing the network element and other
resources of the system.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
33 words
The method of claim 23 in which the step of communicating command
acknowledgment and command request between the element management server and
the network element is conducted using a simple node management protocol.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
58 words
The method of claim 23 in which the step of communicating includes the
steps of establishing a set of SNMP service objects that communicate with the SNMP
network element; establishing a SNMP mediator process that communicates with the SNMP
service objects; polling for the SNMP service objects; and converting commands of the managed object to SNMP set commands.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
15 words
The method of claim 23 including the step of filtering events of the
network element.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
36 words
The method of claim 27 in which the events of the step of filtering events
includes at least one of the events of alarm notification, state change and configuration
change to the element network system server.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
33 words
The method of claim 23 in which the step of interfacing the network
element includes the step of maintaining within the element management server a list of
current active alarms within the network.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
31 words
The method of claim 23 including the steps of: monitoring the operation of events within the communication network, and diminishing the operation of events to prevent overloading of the communication
system.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
46 words
The method of claim 23 in which the management application is written in JAVA, and the step of interfacing the work stations with the element management server is
performed through an interactive web page that visually displays a menu of command,
control and fault management options.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
26 words
The method of claim 31 in which the web page includes a separate status
summary display for each of the command, control and fault management options.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
27 words
The method of claim 3 lin which the web page includes a display of a list
of active alarms for all network elements within the communication network.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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