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Network management system

Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Inc
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Filing: 1998-03-06
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Granted: 2000-05-02
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Expires: 2018-03-06
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Abstract

Abstract A system and method for managing a telecommunications network. The system and method employs a network management architecture that provides an overlay in which network management functions are performed. The network management architecture includes a workstation function that provides a graphical user interface (GUI) for a user to interact with an object model of the physical telecommunications network, a telecommunications network management subsystem that provides an object model of the network including object models of network equipment and connectivity between the equipment, a database subsystem that stores "current" and "future" views of the network, and an object request broker that translates objects from a first object-oriented paradigm to a second object-oriented paradigm for use by the GUI. The network management architecture facilitates network design by determining network performance metrics. The network architecture can also be used to assess the performance of a given network configuration by virtue of simulation. The network architecture can also be used to initialize switchover logic for network restoration.

Inventors

  • 👤 Gregory Scott Henderson
  • 👤 Wayne B. Perry
  • 👤 Thomas Dennie Franklin
  • 👤 Ed J. Sanders, Jr.
  • 👤 Von A. Cooley

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-01 21:35
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04Q; H04Q3/00; H04Q3/0016; H04Q3/0062; H04Q3/0083; H04J; H04J3/00; H04J3/02; H04J3/06; H04J3/0635; H04J3/0685; H04J3/0688; H04L; H04L41/00; H04L41/02; H04L41/0213; H04L41/0233; H04L41/024; H04L41/04; H04L41/052; H04L41/06; H04L41/0654; H04L41/0663; H04L41/08; H04L41/0803; H04L41/0813; H04L41/0866; H04L41/0873; H04L41/14; H04L41/145; H04L41/20; H04L41/22; H04L41/50; H04L41/5003; H04L41/5009; H04L41/5019; H04Q3/0075; H04Q3/0079; H04L41/0876; H04L41/0879; H04L41/0886; H04L41/5061; H04L41/5067; H04L69/00; H04L69/08

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 20
Claim 1
Independent Claim 203 words
A telecommunications network management system, comprising: a network object model representing a telecommunications network having a plurality of sites that are physically interconnected by a plurality of physical connections and logically interconnected by a plurality of logical connections, said network object model being created from information extracted from said telecommunications network; first display means for displaying a topological view of said telecommunications network, said topological view providing a view of said plurality of sites and said plurality of logical connections interconnecting said sites according to said network object model, each of said plurality of logical connections identifying a pair of sites that are configured to communicate with one another, and each of said plurality of logical connections being associated with one or more of said plurality of physical connections; second display means for displaying a topographical view of said telecommunications network, said topographical view providing a view of said plurality of sites and said physical connections interconnecting said plurality of sites; selecting means for selecting a logical connection displayed in said topological view; and a linking means for linking said topographical view with said topological view, wherein said linking means highlights said one or more physical connections associated with a selected logical connection.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 203 words
A telecommunications network management system, comprising: a network object model representing a telecommunications network having a plurality of sites that are physically interconnected by a plurality of physical connections and logically interconnected by a plurality of logical connections, said network object model being created from information extracted from said telecommunications network; first display means for displaying a topological view of said telecommunications network, said topological view providing a view of said plurality of sites and said plurality of logical connections interconnecting said sites according to said network object model, each of said plurality of logical connections identifying a pair of sites that are configured to communicate with one another, and each of said plurality of logical connections being associated with one or more of said plurality of physical connections; second display means for displaying a topographical view of said telecommunications network, said topographical view providing a view of said plurality of sites and said physical connections interconnecting said plurality of sites; selecting means for selecting a logical connection displayed in said topological view; and a linking means for linking said topographical view with said topological view, wherein said linking means highlights said one or more physical connections associated with a selected logical connection.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 24 words
The telecommunications network management system of claim 1, wherein said plurality of sites include a source site, a sink site, and an intervening site.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 27 words
The telecommunications network management system of claim 1, wherein said first display means includes means for highlighting failed portions of said telecommunications network in said topological view.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 27 words
The telecommunications network management system of claim 1, wherein said second display means includes means for highlighting failed portions of said telecommunications network in said topographical view.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 41 words
The telecommunications network management system of claim 1, wherein said information extracted from said telecommunications network is stored in a manner consistent with a telecommunications management network (TMN) standard having extensions for representing connections between network elements in said telecommunications network.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 25 words
The telecommunications network management system of claim 1, further including a selection device to enable a user to select one of said plurality of sites.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 40 words
The telecommunications network management system of claim 6, further including means for displaying a logical view of said telecommunications network upon said user selecting said one of said plurality of sites, said logical view displaying connectivity for said selected site.
Claim 9
Independent Claim 172 words
A method for managing a telecommunications network having a plurality of sites that are physically interconnected by a plurality of physical connections and logically interconnected by a plurality of logical connections, wherein each of the plurality of logical connections are associated with one or more of the plurality of physical connections, and each logical connection identifies a pair of sites that are configured to communicate with one another, comprising the steps of: extracting information from the telecommunications network to create a network object model representing the telecommunications network; displaying a topological view of the telecommunications network according to said network object model, said topological view providing a view of the plurality of sites and the plurality of logical connections interconnecting the plurality of sites; displaying a topographical view of the telecommunications network, said topographical view providing a view of the plurality of sites and the physical connections interconnecting the plurality of sites; and upon a user selecting one of said plurality of logical connections, linking said topographical view with said topological view.
Claim 10
Independent Claim 172 words
A method for managing a telecommunications network having a plurality of sites that are physically interconnected by a plurality of physical connections and logically interconnected by a plurality of logical connections, wherein each of the plurality of logical connections are associated with one or more of the plurality of physical connections, and each logical connection identifies a pair of sites that are configured to communicate with one another, comprising the steps of: extracting information from the telecommunications network to create a network object model representing the telecommunications network; displaying a topological view of the telecommunications network according to said network object model, said topological view providing a view of the plurality of sites and the plurality of logical connections interconnecting the plurality of sites; displaying a topographical view of the telecommunications network, said topographical view providing a view of the plurality of sites and the physical connections interconnecting the plurality of sites; and upon a user selecting one of said plurality of logical connections, linking said topographical view with said topological view.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 49 words
The method of claim 8, wherein said step of linking said topographical view with said topological view includes the step of highlighting the one or more physical connections displayed in said topographical view that are associated with said one of said plurality of logical connections selected by said user.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim 21 words
The method of claim 8, further including the step of highlighting failed portions of said telecommunications network in said topological view.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim 21 words
The method of claim 10, further including the step of highlighting failed portions of said telecommunications network in said topographical view.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim 38 words
The method of claim 8, further comprising the step of storing said information extracted from the telecommunications network in a manner consistent with a TMN standard having extensions for representing connections between network elements in the telecommunications network.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim 33 words
The method of claim 8, further including the stop of displaying a logical matrix upon a user selecting a portion of the telecommunications network displayed in said topological view or said topographical view.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim 15 words
The method of claim 13, wherein said logical matrix displays connectivity for a selected site.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim 16 words
The method of claim 14, wherein said logical matrix displays connectivity for a selected logical connection.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim 16 words
The method of claim 15, wherein said logical matrix displays connectivity for a selected physical link.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim 25 words
The method of claim 8, further including the step of predicting where the telecommunications network is likely to fail using said topographical and topological views.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim 23 words
The method of claim 8, further including the step of monitoring self-restoration capabilities of the telecommunications network using said topographical and topological views.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 2003-05-02 2003-11-01 2004-05-02 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 2007-05-02 2007-11-01 2008-05-02 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 2011-05-02 2011-11-01 2012-05-02 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

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