US6816461B1
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Method of controlling a network element to aggregate alarms and faults of a communications network
Assignee: Ciena Corp
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Filing: 2000-07-27
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Granted: 2004-11-09
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Expires: 2020-07-27
Abstract
Abstract A distributed method and system of controlling a communications network having a plurality of spans of interconnected network elements some of which include a network element processor distributes network topology information to respective span databases; stores original fault objects in the respective span databases; advertises fault objects to other network element processors in a local span when the original fault affects network elements other than a network element in which the fault occurred; advertises alarm objects to other network element processors that are respectively associated with a circuit affected by the original faults; stores the advertised fault and alarm objects in the respective span databases; and performs distributed processing of the advertised fault and alarm objects with the other network element processors and the respective span databases. Aggregation of other faults and alarms that may be occurring on the communications network due to other faults other than the received fault aids in determining causality of the fault. Causality may be determined by correlating other faults and alarms with the received fault. If not a root cause of another fault or alarm, the received fault is sympathetic to another fault or alarm. Sympathetic faults are suppressed while root cause faults are promoted to an alarm and reported to affected network elements. The number of alarms viewed by a network manager as well as the reporting of alarms and underlying faults are reduced by performing such distributed alarm correlation and fault reporting suppression.
Inventors
- 👤 Clark Scrandis
- 👤 Michael B. Peters-Rodbell
- 👤 Rajan Kapur
- 👤 Srinivasa Hebbar
- 👤 Martha Dunbar
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-28 20:20
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04L; H04L41/00; H04L41/16; H04L41/06; H04L41/0631; H04L41/12; H04L43/00; H04L43/08; H04L43/0805; H04L43/0811; H04L43/0817
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 19
Claim 1
Independent Claim
103 words
A method of controlling a network element to perform distributed management of a communications network having at least one span, comprising: receiving a fault; aggregating other faults, one or more alarms associated with the fault and one or more alarms that may occur on the communications network due to other faults other than the received fault; and correlating the one or more alarms associated with the received fault and the other faults with the received fault to determine if the received fault is sympathetic to at least one of the one or more alarms associated with the received fault or the other faults.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
103 words
A method of controlling a network element to perform distributed management of a communications network having at least one span, comprising: receiving a fault; aggregating other faults, one or more alarms associated with the fault and one or more alarms that may occur on the communications network due to other faults other than the received fault; and correlating the one or more alarms associated with the received fault and the other faults with the received fault to determine if the received fault is sympathetic to at least one of the one or more alarms associated with the received fault or the other faults.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
40 words
The method of controlling a network element to perform distributed management of a communications network having at least one span according to claim 1 , said aggregating step aggregating alarms and other faults by delaying operation of said correlating step.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
42 words
The method of controlling a network element to perform distributed management of a communications network having at least one span according to claim 2 , said aggregating step introducing a delay related to a number of network elements in the communications network.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
59 words
The method of controlling a network element to perform distributed management of a communications network according to claim 1 , further comprising: suppressing reporting of the received fault to a network monitoring interface if said determining step determines that the received fault is sympathetic to at least one of the alarms or at least one of the other faults.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
98 words
The method of controlling a network element to perform distributed management of a communications network according to claim 1 , wherein the communications network includes multiple spans, said correlating step including: multispan aggregating one or more multispan alarms associated with the received fault and one or more multispan alarms that may be occurring on the communications network due to the other faults; multispan correlating the one or more multispan alarms with the received fault to determine if the received fault is sympathetic to at least one of the other faults or at least one of the multispan alarms.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
36 words
The method of controlling a network element to perform distributed management of a communications network according to claim 5 , said multispan aggregating step aggregating the multispan alarms by delaying operation of said multispan correlating step.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
39 words
The method of controlling a network element to perform distributed management of a communications network according to claim 6 , said multispan aggregating step introducing a delay related to a number of network elements in the multispan communications network.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
55 words
The method of controlling a network element to perform distributed management of a communications network according to claim 1 , further comprising: suppressing reporting of the received fault if said determining step determines that the received fault is sympathetic to at least one of the multispan alarms or at least one of the other faults.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
127 words
A network element of a communications network having at least one span, comprising: a span database; and a controller operatively connected to said span database and to other network elements of the communications network, said span database receiving a fault; said controller aggregating other faults, one or more alarms associated with the fault and one or more alarms that may occur on the communications network due to other faults other than the received fault in said span database; and said controller correlating the one or more alarms associated with the received fault and the other faults with the received fault to determine if the received fault is sympathetic to at least one of the one or more alarms associated with the received fault or the other faults.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
127 words
A network element of a communications network having at least one span, comprising: a span database; and a controller operatively connected to said span database and to other network elements of the communications network, said span database receiving a fault; said controller aggregating other faults, one or more alarms associated with the fault and one or more alarms that may occur on the communications network due to other faults other than the received fault in said span database; and said controller correlating the one or more alarms associated with the received fault and the other faults with the received fault to determine if the received fault is sympathetic to at least one of the one or more alarms associated with the received fault or the other faults.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
31 words
The network element of a communications network having at least one span according to claim 9 , said controller aggregating alarms and other faults by delaying execution of said correlating step.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
36 words
The network element of a communications network having at least one span according to claim 10 , said controller delaying correlating by a delay related to a number of other network elements in the communications network.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
55 words
The network element of a communications network having at least one span according to claim 9 , said controller suppressing reporting of the received fault to a network monitoring interface if said controller determines that the received fault is sympathetic to at least one of the alarms or at least one of the other faults.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
95 words
The network element of a communications network having at least one span according to claim 9 , wherein the communications network includes multiple spans, said controller multispan aggregating one or more multispan alarms associated with the received fault and one or more multispan alarms that may be occurring on the communications network due to the other faults; said controller multispan correlating the one or more multispan alarms with the received fault to determine it the received fault is sympathetic to at least one of the other faults or at least one of the multispan alarms.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
28 words
The network element of a communications network having multiple spans according to claim 13 , said controller multispan aggregating the multispan alarms by delaying execution of multispan correlating.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
35 words
The network element of a communications network having multiple spans according to claim 14 , said controller delaying multispan correlating by a delay related to a number of other network elements in the communications network.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
51 words
The network element of a communications network having at least one span according to claim 13 , said controller suppressing reporting of the received fault if said controller determines that the received fault is sympathetic to at least one of the multispan alarms or at least one of the other faults.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
22 words
A system of network elements of a communications network wherein at least two network elements are configured according to claim 9 .
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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) | 2007-11-09 | 2008-05-10 | 2008-11-09 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2011-11-09 | 2012-05-10 | 2012-11-09 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2015-11-09 | 2016-05-10 | 2016-11-09 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |