EP1413087A1 - Procede et interface graphique de gestion d'un systeme de telecommunications - Google Patents

Procede et interface graphique de gestion d'un systeme de telecommunications

Info

Publication number
EP1413087A1
EP1413087A1 EP01944864A EP01944864A EP1413087A1 EP 1413087 A1 EP1413087 A1 EP 1413087A1 EP 01944864 A EP01944864 A EP 01944864A EP 01944864 A EP01944864 A EP 01944864A EP 1413087 A1 EP1413087 A1 EP 1413087A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
elements
user interface
graphical user
managed objects
view
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP01944864A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Inventor
Markus Günther
Philip Mason
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Aastra Technologies Ltd
Original Assignee
Aastra Technologies Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Aastra Technologies Ltd filed Critical Aastra Technologies Ltd
Publication of EP1413087A1 publication Critical patent/EP1413087A1/fr
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L41/00—Arrangements for maintenance, administration or management of data switching networks, e.g. of packet switching networks
    • H04L41/22—Arrangements for maintenance, administration or management of data switching networks, e.g. of packet switching networks comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a method and a graphical interface for controlling a telecommunication system according to claim 1 and claim 10.
  • the present invention relates in particular to a method and a graphical user interface for controlling, configuring and preferably also maintaining, wired or wireless, private or public telecommunication systems, such as private branch exchanges located on customer premises, local exchanges, mobile switching centers, cross-connect systems or complete private and public networks.
  • private or public telecommunication systems such as private branch exchanges located on customer premises, local exchanges, mobile switching centers, cross-connect systems or complete private and public networks.
  • the present invention relates to a method and a graphical user interface designed for implementation in the management plane of said equipment or networks.
  • Means used by said parties for describing a model differ normally significantly.
  • the developers will use formal logic and language while the users will describe their requirements in natural language by common sense. Due to differences in said communication means misunderstandings between the parties involved may therefore frequently occur.
  • the interfaces provided to the users often comprise formalistic views such as hierarchical tree structures comprising system elements.
  • formalistic views often contain insufficient information or information which can not be interpreted by users due to incorporation of technical elements and language.
  • Performing the configuration of customer premises equipment such as a private branch exchange based on a formalistic user interface is usually done by a trained specialist.
  • formalistic graphical interfaces may create irresolvable problems.
  • the inventive method and graphical user interface allow to control wired or wireless, private or public telecommunication systems, such as private branch exchanges located on customer premises, local exchanges, mobile switching centers, cross- connect systems or complete private and public networks with interconnected managed objects which are visualised to users or maintenance personnel in at least one dimension, in at least one view and in at least one window through the graphical user interface, comprising the steps of displaying the managed objects of the controlled telecommunication systems in a first view as elements of a mind map.
  • private or public telecommunication systems such as private branch exchanges located on customer premises, local exchanges, mobile switching centers, cross- connect systems or complete private and public networks with interconnected managed objects which are visualised to users or maintenance personnel in at least one dimension, in at least one view and in at least one window through the graphical user interface, comprising the steps of displaying the managed objects of the controlled telecommunication systems in a first view as elements of a mind map.
  • the invention proposes to use a mind map to display the managed objects and their interconnections.
  • a mind map allows to dissolve connections between managed objects which are layered in previously used views close to the final branch where the link to a managed object deviates from a highway of connections.
  • DECT terminal M4 When looking for an element, for example DECT terminal M4 , in a tree structure as shown for example in figure 4, a user will follow a connection highway, possibly over more than one page and several element groups, such as servers, gateways, routers, switches, workstations to the group of DECT-terminals, where the link to DECT terminal M4 deviates (see also [2], Ascotel ISDNInstitutmunikationssysteme, Ascotel 2025/2045/2065, System- handbuch B, Version 5.0, Ascom Business Systems, Solothurn February 2001, menu-trees and configuration . parameters, pages 5.31-5.44) .
  • element groups such as servers, gateways, routers, switches, workstations to the group of DECT-terminals, where the link to DECT terminal M4 deviates (see also [2], Ascotel ISDNInstitutmunikationssysteme, Ascotel 2025/2045/2065, System- handbuch B, Version 5.0, Ascom Business Systems, Solothurn February 2001, menu-tree
  • Mind maps however comprise structures with branches for every distinct group of elements or distinct element in a hierarchical flow which allow a user to quickly and correctly visualise the controlled telecommunication system despite of its complexity.
  • Planning, set-up and configuration of the controlled telecommunication system is therefore significantly facilitated, which allows to reduce project costs, including training and documentation expenditures considerably.
  • a private branch exchange preferably the topology of a controlled network, the geographical location of managed objects, the users of the managed objects and/or predominantly dynamic dimensions such as time variable interactions between managed objects are displayed through the graphical user interface.
  • the graphical user interface displays preferably also applications implemented within the system.
  • the graphical user interface provides two or more windows displaying identical or different dimensions of the controlled telecommunication system.
  • a complex telecommunication system can therefore be viewed from different angles or dimensions which are most suitable to perform planned tasks.
  • page 26 it is suggested to iteratively achieve symmetry of the models proposed by users and designers. However, in many cases, partly due to the heterogeneous requirements and notions of different users or different designers, the optimum solution can not be found in a compromise.
  • the inventive graphical user interface therefore provides in a preferred embodiment different views, such as said mind map view, a tree view and/or a table view for displaying said dimensions in corresponding windows.
  • the systems elements can individually be configured and dragged and dropped within one or between two or more windows .
  • branches of the mind map used for mutually connecting elements contained in different levels of a dimension, provide access to or display static and/or dynamic states of the controlled telecommunications system such as present interactions between managed objects or current or accumulated traffic, costs or error data.
  • branches contained in a mind map are therefore important elements which are suitable to display predominantly dynamic states of the systems by means of linked pop-up menus or by means of differently formatting said branches.
  • a branch carrying a high traffic load may for example be drawn broader while a branch on which a high number of errors had been accumulated could be highlighted red. Maintenance personnel could therefore detect problems or an overload of the system with a short look at the graphical user interface.
  • the graphical user interface is preferably adaptable to different users by means of a filter which provides for each user only access to the required parts of the system.
  • Figure 1 shows a first display provided by the inventive graphical interface with mind maps of a telecommunication system shown in two separate windows;
  • Figure 2 shows a second display provided by the inventive graphical interface with the mind map view of a network dimension of a telecommunication system, displaying a network and a sub-network thereof in a first and a second window;
  • Figure 3 shows a third display provided by the inventive graphical interface with dynamic states of a network displayed by means of a mind map in a first window and locations of equipment displayed in two additional windows;
  • Figure 4 shows a fourth display provided by the inventive graphical interface with a tree view of the network shown in a first window and locations of equipment shown in two additional windows;
  • Figure 5 shows a fifth display provided . by the inventive graphical interface with a mind map view of subscribers and with a tree view of configured routing functions and
  • Figure 6 shows a sixth display provided by the inventive graphical interface with a category of network elements shown in tree view and the same "category of network elements shown in table view.
  • the inventive method allows to control a telecommunication system by means of an improved graphical interface.
  • ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network
  • three distinct but interacting protocol stacks are required, namely, the user-network signalling protocol on the D-channel, the interoffice signalling system CCS 7, and the user information protocol on the B-channel. Since the OSI-model alone is not sufficient to describe this communications, a specific ISDN protocol reference model has been defined (see [3], Jerry D. Gibson, THE COMMUNICATIONS HANDBOOK, CRC PRESS LLC, Boca Raton 1997, chapter 42, Erwin P. Rathgeb, Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) and Broadband (B-ISDN) , pages 577-590).
  • the control plane (C) representing protocols used for transfer of signalling information.
  • the user plane (U) representing the blocks used for transfer of user information.
  • the management plane (M) representing the functions needed to coordinate the activities in the U- and C-plane.
  • U- and C-plane are usually layered stacks, whereas the M-plane is represented as a monolithic block, because its functions can not be described properly by using the OSI concepts.
  • the M-plane functions can be structured into plane related functions and functions which are related to specific layers in other planes.
  • a management plane is implemented in the entities located within a public telecommunications network such as local exchanges as well as in end systems or customer premises equipment such as private branch exchanges connected to the public network.
  • the management plane comprises corresponding modules and functions which allow the set-up and configuration of the concerned systems.
  • a modern private branch exchange is similar to a telephone company central office in that it is a digital switch complete with central control, program and call store, line and trunk interfaces and many further common features.
  • the private branch exchange differs from central office switch primarily in its capacity to serve lines and process calls (see [3], chapter 33, pages 433-449) .
  • Control of switching modules integrated in a central office switch or in a private branch exchange is performed by an administrative module which comprises processing-, communications- and storage modules as well as a terminal acting as man machine interface (see [4], Peter R. Gerke, Digitale Karlunikationsnetze, Springer-Verlag, Berlin 1991, page 150, figure 4.8).
  • a graphical user interface implemented within the management plane provides a display of the controlled telecommunication system or entity for example on the display of the terminal contained in the above mentioned administrative module or in a telecommunication management system.
  • Figure 1 shows a first display provided by the inventive graphical interface with mind maps of the controlled telecommunication system shown in two separate windows WWl, WW2, which are embedded in a main window which further comprises tool bars with drop-down menus and symbols for selecting window arrangements.
  • the graphical user interface in this preferred embodiment of the invention allows to view the controlled telecommunication system in five dimensions Dl, ..., D5, in two different views VI, V2 and in a maximum of four windows WWl, ..., WW4 (see the symbols in the window selection tool bar) .
  • buttons OV In the first window WWl the system overview (button OV) has been selected as well as view VI, which displays the system with the available dimensions Dl, ..., D5 as a mind map.
  • the system overview button OV is an option since the buttons for selection of a dimension Dl; ...; D5 may be self-explanatory.
  • the second dimension D2 is displayed in mind map view VI as well, with system elements D2-E1, ..., D2- E224, which correspond to managed objects within the telecommunication system.
  • the system dimension Dl, D2, D3 may completely or predominantly be static while other system dimensions D4, D5 may completely or predominantly be dynamic.
  • the system elements D2-E1, ..., D2-E224 shown in window WW2 may be static or may change dynamically.
  • a major advantage of the selected mind map view VI is the resolution of the branches which interconnect the system elements D2-E1, ..., D2-E224. Said branches may be static or dynamically indicating the performance of the controlled system.
  • mind maps comprise structures with branches for every distinct group of elements or distinct element in a hierarchical flow. This allows a user by means of the implemented mind maps to quickly and correctly visualise the controlled telecommunication system despite of its complexity.
  • the branches of the shown mind maps which in other views are layered, may in addition be used to display static or dynamic system data which allow a user not only to detect but also to locate the position of an incorrect system state, such as a malfunction, an increased error rate or an overload situation.
  • the graphical interface preferably allows to display five system dimensions .
  • Fig. 2 shows a second display provided by the inventive graphical user interface designed for controlling a private branch exchange comprising five selectable dimensions D NE , D L0 , s u r D R0 and D A p.
  • the private branch exchange in this case is the core of the controlled telecommunication system.
  • the first, predominantly static dimension D NE allows to display the system as a network which, as shown in the mind map view V MM of figure 2, can fully or partly be displayed in selected windows WWl, WW2.
  • D L o (see figure 3) the graphical user interface shows the physical location of the managed objects within the customer premises.
  • D so see figure 5
  • the graphical user interface shows the subscribers connected to the system.
  • the a fourth predominantly dynamic dimension D R0 the graphical user interface shows the established routing functions (see figure 5) .
  • applications installed within the controlled telecommunications system are visualised.
  • the complete network of the controlled telecommunications system is displayed.
  • the displayed network comprises two main branches, a sub-network for the marketing department and a sub-netwo k for the production department which may be partly or fully displayed in this or further windows WW.
  • the elements of the network, the managed objects such as routers, switches, gateways, servers, workstations and terminals and their interconnections are shown in mind map view V MM .
  • the second window WW2 shows the enlarged mind map view of the sub-network for the marketing department only.
  • Fig. 3 shows a third display provided by the inventive graphical interface with dynamic states of the network displayed in mind map view V M in the first window WWl and locations of equipment installed in the customer premises displayed in two additional windows WW2, WW3.
  • the second window WW2 the locations of the marketing department including system connections are displayed.
  • the third window WW3 shows the locations of the production department.
  • the user of the inventive graphical user interface can therefore visualise the complete telecommunication system including the related environment.
  • the display of different dimensions D NE , D L0 including in particular the display of customer premises, facilitates significantly the planning and setup of the telecommunication system since the complete system and its related environment can be visualised before physically visiting customer premises.
  • the branches of the mind map used for mutually connecting elements contained in different levels of a dimension, preferably provide access to or display static and/or dynamic states of the controlled telecommunications system such as present interactions between managed objects or current or accumulated traffic, costs or error data.
  • the traffic load in the displayed branches may preferably be represented by a corresponding format such as the' breadth or colour of the branches.
  • window WWl the branch leading to switch Ml is displayed broader indicating occurrence of a relatively high traffic volume. Clicking a mouse button with the pointer on this branch may also open a pop-up window which contains, as shown in figure 3, related dynamic data such as traffic figures or error data.
  • inventive graphical user interface therefore provides in a preferred embodiment different views, such as said mind map view V MM , a tree view V TR and/or a table view V TB for displaying said dimensions D NE ; D L0 ; Dsu/ D R0 ; D AP in corresponding windows WWl, ..., WW4, ... WWn.
  • said mind map view V MM a tree view V TR and/or a table view V TB for displaying said dimensions D NE ; D L0 ; Dsu/ D R0 ; D AP in corresponding windows WWl, ..., WW4, ... WWn.
  • Figure 4 shows a fourth display provided by the inventive graphical interface with a tree view V TR of the network dimension D NE shown in the first window WWl and locations of equipment shown in two additional windows WW2, WW3.
  • FIG. 5 shows a fifth display provided by the inventive graphical interface with a mind map view V M of subscribers and with a tree view V TR of configured routing functions.
  • the tree view V TR may be sufficient.
  • the mind map view V MM is selected, which allows the user of the graphical interface to visualise the complete routing organisation.
  • Figure 6 shows a sixth display provided by the inventive graphical interface with a category of network elements shown in tree view V TR and the same category of network elements shown in table view V TB .
  • a user or maintenance personnel may require an overview of all servers installed.
  • the user could sequentially click on each server invoking the related configuration window as shown for example in figure 4, window WWl. Since at least part of the configuration data may be identical for most of the servers it may be easier to use the table view V TB for configuration purposes . Common data entered for a first server could in this view V TB easily be copied to the rows of the remaining servers.
  • Table view V TR may however only be useful for maintenance personnel.
  • a local administrator may prefer to use only mind map views V MM . Further the local administrator may require to display only part of the dimensions and part of the elements.
  • the complete model of the telecommunication system is therefore preferably viewed to different users through a filter according to an access code assigned.
  • a subscriber can also be reallocated to a different department by means of dragging and dropping the concerned symbols accordingly within the first window WWl or to a different window in which the new location is displayed.
  • a further advantage of the mind map view V MM can be recognised from the first window WWl displayed in figure 5 in which the status of the subscribers is indicated.
  • Internal subscriber Siegfried has called external subscriber Hill.
  • External subscriber Grand has called internal subscriber Johnson.
  • Call connections are preferably visualised by differently formatting the concerned branches of the mind map. In case that a line is interrupted, for example due to a broken cable, then the fault can easily be located by setting up a test connection (Nunn >» Miller) which will only partially be established .

Abstract

L'invention porte sur un procédé de gestion de systèmes de télécommunications filaires ou sans fil, privés ou publics tels que des centraux privés situés dans les locaux de clients, des centraux locaux, des centres de commutation mobiles, des systèmes d'interconnexions, ou des réseaux complets privés ou publics à l'aide d'objets interconnectés gérés et présentés visuellement aux utilisateurs ou au personnel d'entretien dans au moins une dimension (D1, D2,, Dn), dans au moins une vue (V1, V2, ), et dans au moins une fenêtre (WW1, WW2, ) par l'intermédiaire d'une interface graphique. Ledit procédé comporte les étapes suivantes: présentation des objets gérés du système de télécommunications traité, dans une première vue (VMM), sous forme d'éléments (D1-E1,, Dx-Ey) d'un arbre conceptuel à structure ramifiée présentant des branches pour chaque groupe distinct d'éléments ou pour chaque élément distinct de flux hiérarchisés.
EP01944864A 2001-07-10 2001-07-10 Procede et interface graphique de gestion d'un systeme de telecommunications Withdrawn EP1413087A1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
PCT/CH2001/000434 WO2003007549A1 (fr) 2001-07-10 2001-07-10 Procede et interface graphique de gestion d'un systeme de telecommunications

Publications (1)

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EP1413087A1 true EP1413087A1 (fr) 2004-04-28

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EP01944864A Withdrawn EP1413087A1 (fr) 2001-07-10 2001-07-10 Procede et interface graphique de gestion d'un systeme de telecommunications

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EP (1) EP1413087A1 (fr)
WO (1) WO2003007549A1 (fr)

Families Citing this family (6)

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Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JP4176587B2 (ja) * 2003-08-12 2008-11-05 株式会社東芝 情報処理装置およびプログラム
US20050120103A1 (en) * 2003-11-28 2005-06-02 Telefonaktiebolaget L M Ericsson (Publ) Method and graphical user interface (GUI) for multiple managed objects(MOs) viewing and editing
EP1881642A1 (fr) * 2006-07-19 2008-01-23 Nokia Siemens Networks Gmbh & Co. Kg Contrôle d'informations de réseau
US20080267145A1 (en) * 2007-04-27 2008-10-30 Symbol Technologies, Inc. Methods and Apparatus for Managing Wireless Networks Using Geographical-Level and Site-Level Visualization
EP2040205A1 (fr) * 2007-09-14 2009-03-25 Siemens Aktiengesellschaft Procédé et dispositif destinés à l'échange de données en temps réel
US10268345B2 (en) 2016-11-17 2019-04-23 General Electric Company Mehtod and system for multi-modal lineage tracing and impact assessment in a concept lineage data flow network

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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Also Published As

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