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
  • H04L41/08—Configuration management of networks or network elements
  • H04L41/0803—Configuration setting
  • H04L41/0806—Configuration setting for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play
• • 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
  • H04L41/06—Management of faults, events, alarms or notifications
  • H04L41/0631—Management of faults, events, alarms or notifications using root cause analysis; using analysis of correlation between notifications, alarms or events based on decision criteria, e.g. hierarchy, tree or time analysis
• • 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
  • H04L41/06—Management of faults, events, alarms or notifications
  • H04L41/0654—Management of faults, events, alarms or notifications using network fault recovery
  • H04L41/0663—Performing the actions predefined by failover planning, e.g. switching to standby network elements
• • 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
  • H04L41/06—Management of faults, events, alarms or notifications
  • H04L41/0681—Configuration of triggering conditions
• • 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
  • H04L41/08—Configuration management of networks or network elements
  • H04L41/0876—Aspects of the degree of configuration automation
  • H04L41/0886—Fully automatic configuration
• • 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
  • H04L41/50—Network service management, e.g. ensuring proper service fulfilment according to agreements
  • H04L41/5003—Managing SLA; Interaction between SLA and QoS
  • H04L41/5019—Ensuring fulfilment of SLA
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L43/00—Arrangements for monitoring or testing data switching networks
  • H04L43/08—Monitoring or testing based on specific metrics, e.g. QoS, energy consumption or environmental parameters
  • H04L43/091—Measuring contribution of individual network components to actual service level
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L43/00—Arrangements for monitoring or testing data switching networks
  • H04L43/16—Threshold monitoring
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04Q—SELECTING
  • H04Q3/00—Selecting arrangements
  • H04Q3/0016—Arrangements providing connection between exchanges
  • H04Q3/0062—Provisions for network management

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a method for providing network elements in a communication system, a communication network control and monitoring system and a control program for a communication connection management device.
• Network operators offer numerous services to customers in the telecommunications market, in particular Internet services. Services offered by network operators are broken down into different levels of service to meet customer needs for guaranteed levels of service and to stand out from the competition. For example, services are offered at low costs for private customers and services with an extended scope at higher costs for business customers. The expanded scope of services consists, for example, of ensuring high availability and low data loss.
• service level agreements SLA
• Proof of compliance with the service level agreement towards the customer is of particular importance. For such proof, services must be monitored, for example, to register failures and to determine the availability of a service. Measurements are also taken to capture quality of service parameters such as data loss.
• the provision of services is therefore not limited to the pure administration of service parameters, such as bandwidth or telephone number, but also service-specific additional functions are controlled.
• service parameters such as bandwidth or telephone number
• service-specific additional functions are controlled.
• relevant network elements are available for a service provision.
• unnecessarily many unused network elements should not be made available, since the operation, maintenance and repair of these network elements can be associated with considerable costs.
• the object of the present invention is to provide a method for providing network elements in a communication system which is optimized from an economic and network-operating point of view, and to provide a suitable implementation of the method and a communication network control and monitoring system suitable for carrying out the method.
• An essential aspect of the present invention is that network elements that are at least partially utilized are determined by providing a service, and that utilization threshold values are defined for network elements. This enables bookkeeping to be carried out on network elements or equipment which are already being used by the services already provided, and an assessment of a respective degree of utilization based on the utilization threshold values. In the case of a service provision request, an exceeding of the defined utilization threshold values associated with provision of the requested service is then checked, for example, on the basis of updated utilization values and, if necessary, a loading Providing required network elements.
• the procedure described offers the advantage of an improved utilization of available network elements in that additionally required network elements or operating resources are requested if necessary.
• a requirement-based request for network elements prevents unused network elements from being provided or installed over longer periods of time, which in turn brings about a reduction in the costs associated with provision or installation.
• network monitoring there is also the advantage that only actually utilized network elements or equipment have to be monitored, which enables further cost savings due to omitted monitoring tasks.
• FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of a communication network control and monitoring system
• FIG. 2 shows a diagram to illustrate a provision of network elements required for a service in a broadband network which is coupled to a transport network.
• the communication network control and monitoring system shown schematically in FIG. 1 comprises a service provision device 101, a communication connection management device 102, an error monitoring device 104 and a quality of service monitoring device 105.
• the service provision device 101 is provided for setting up or changing services.
• the service provision device 101 receives messages 121 with service orders and converts these into messages 122 with connection orders, which are transmitted to the communication connection management device 102.
• the communication connection management device 102 is provided for storing information which describes network elements relevant to the provision of a service in terms of their functional properties and in their topological arrangement. This information is assigned to the respective service and stored in a network element database 103 assigned to the communication connection management device 102.
• the network elements relevant for the provision of a service include, for example, network access points, connections and line connections along an end-to-end network path between two service access points.
• Functional properties of network elements include bandwidth, supported communication protocols and switching technologies used.
• the description of the topological arrangement of network elements includes a subdivision of the network elements into node network elements, such as measuring points and switching points, and edge network elements, such as line connections, and preparation as topological information in accordance with a node-edge model.
• the information stored in the network element database 103 is made available to the error monitoring device 104 and the quality of service monitoring device 105 so that it can be called up.
• the service provider 101 transmits a message 123 to the error monitoring device 104 with an order to monitor the availability of network elements which are specified as relevant for the provision of the respective service.
• a message 125 with an order for monitoring the quality of service is transmitted to the quality of service monitoring device 105.
• These monitoring jobs cause the error monitoring device 104 and the quality of service monitoring device .105 to send error messages 127 and measured values 128, which are recorded in sub-networks 106, 107, 108 via a network operating system 109, 110, 111 assigned to the respective subnetwork to the error monitoring device 104 or the quality of service monitoring device 105, with the information stored in the network element database 103 to compare for impermissible deviations.
• corresponding network element database information is queried by the error monitoring device 104 or the quality of service monitoring device 105 and transmitted to the latter as messages 126.
• the error monitoring device 104 or service quality monitoring device 105 generates a message 129, 130 about an under-performance of the service, specifying the service concerned.
• the availability and the quality of service are monitored in accordance with a quality of service agreement made between a customer and a network operator. Therefore, only information on the network elements specified as relevant by a service level agreement for the provision of a service is stored in the network element database 103. In addition, error messages or measured values are only recorded for the network elements specified as relevant by the service level agreement for the provision of the service.
• a message 123 with an order for monitoring a quality of service agreement is transmitted from the service provision device 101 to the error monitoring device 104.
• the alarm message 130 contains a statement about the availability of service or quality of service and is transmitted to a service operating system 109, 110, 111, which is assigned to the subnetwork 106, 107, 108, in which an error or a violation of the quality of service criterion occurs.
• the respective network operating system 109, 110, 111 converts the alarm message 130 into a control command 131, which is transmitted as a message for the elimination of underperformance to a selected control device, not explicitly shown, in the respective subnetwork 106, 107, 108.
• the network element affected by the elimination of low-performance services is reconfigured by the respective network operating system 109, 110, 111 with access to the information stored in the network elements database 103. This also applies to the configuration of a network element when a service is set up, changed or deleted.
• the alarm message 130 about a violation of a quality of service agreement is also transmitted to the service provision device 101. There it is processed with customer data and converted into a report 132 about compliance with or violation of a service level agreement.
• a supply of network elements required for a service is illustrated in FIG. 2 in a broadband network which is coupled to a transport network.
• the broadband network comprises three ATM subnets 201, 202, 203 (asynchronous transfer mode), which are connected to one another via a first 208 and a second line connection 209 of an SDH transport network 204 (synchronous digital hierarchy).
• a scenario is discussed below according to which a connection 207 is requested as a new service between a first 205 and a second service access point 206 in the broadband network and is to be set up (step 210).
• the connection 207 is configured with access to information stored in the network element database 103 by the communication connection management device 102 (step 211).
• the prerequisite for this is that network elements that are already at least partially utilized are determined and that utilization threshold values for network elements are defined.
• Utilization values of network elements associated with the provision of a service are preferably stored in the network element database 103.
• the network elements which are utilized by the provision of services can then be determined on the basis of these utilization values. This has the advantage that complex network calculations or planning can be dispensed with, which in turn leads to cost savings.
• the defined utilization threshold values are also advantageously stored in the network element database 103. The advantage here is that bottlenecks in available network elements can be automatically recognized by the communication connection management device 102 and fewer power measurements need to be carried out and evaluated in the quality of service monitoring device 105.
• a check 212 is carried out to determine whether a provision of the requested service is associated with exceeding defined utilization threshold values.
• the check 212 can either be performed by accessing the utilization values stored in the network element database 103 and comparing them with the load threshold values are carried out or by comparison of load values determined as part of performance measurements with the load threshold values. In this way it can be checked whether, for example, the bandwidth still available on the two SDH line connections 208, 209 is still sufficient.
• an order 213 of additional bandwidth is made, for example in the form of a further SDH line connection.
• provision of required network elements can be initiated by a work instruction to a network planning system (not shown in more detail) or to a network operating system 109, 110, 111.
• provision can also be initiated by automatic installation of the network elements required in each case, initiated by the communication connection management device 102.
• the implementation of the method steps carried out in the service provision device 101, the communication connection management device 102, the error monitoring device 104 and the service quality monitoring device 105 is in each case carried out by a service provided for the service provision device 101, the communication connection management device 102, the error monitoring device 104 and the service quality monitoring device 105 control program.
• the respective control program runs on a data processing system assigned to the service provision device 101, the communication connection management device 102, the error monitoring device 104 or the quality of service monitoring device 105.
• the steps of the described method for providing network elements are preferably carried out by a control program for the communication connection management device 102.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
• Signal Processing (AREA)
• Environmental & Geological Engineering (AREA)
• Automation & Control Theory (AREA)
• Data Exchanges In Wide-Area Networks (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (1)

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• 2003
  • 2003-07-25 EP EP03783923A patent/EP1525757A1/de not_active Ceased
  • 2003-07-25 WO PCT/DE2003/002524 patent/WO2004016003A1/de not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2003-07-25 US US10/522,474 patent/US20060164977A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2003-07-25 CN CN03822910.2A patent/CN1685742A/zh active Pending

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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