JPH06125389A - Remote maintenance equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To allow the remote maintenance equipment to make sure maintenance without need of a skill of a maintenance personnel. CONSTITUTION:A remote maintenance equipment has an analysis means analyzing a cause to a fault and its countermeasure based on received failure information and obtains a fault cause and its countermeasure automatically. Furthermore, a storage means storing information (new program or the like) to be sent corresponding to the fault countermeasure information is provided and when a fault countermeasure is obtained as the result of analysis, the information to be sent corresponding to it is read from the said storage means 16. Furthermore, a database 17 of fault history is generated based on the state information including the obtained fault information and the information to be sent is generated and the content of the storage means 16 is revised to improve the maintenance accuracy.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a remote maintenance device for remotely servicing a program-controlled electronic device such as a digital private branch exchange or a computer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 8 shows a maintenance system for a digital private branch exchange (hereinafter referred to as PBX) using a remote maintenance device. Here, a plurality of PBXs 1-1 to 1-
m is connected to the networks 2 and 3 by a plurality of lines. Each PBX 1 is provided with extension terminals 4-1 to 4-n. The remote maintenance device 5 is connected to the networks 2 and 3 via a line and sends and receives information relating to maintenance information to and from the PBXs 1-1 to 1-m. For example, the remote maintenance device 5 polls every predetermined time (or at a predetermined time), and the PBX1-
Obtain status information from 1-1-m. In addition, PBX1-1 ~ 1
-M sends failure information (failure status information) to the remote maintenance device 5 when a failure occurs, and also sends status information at a predetermined time interval (or predetermined time) to the remote maintenance device 5.
Send to.

In the system as described above, the remote maintenance device 5 is equipped with, for example, a CRT display device and displays status information including failure information sent from each PBX 1-1 to 1-m. Therefore, in the past, maintenance personnel had to identify the cause of failure and countermeasures by looking at the display. Then, when a countermeasure can be taken by changing the data or the like, the maintenance staff selects the required data by key operation and transmits it, and when necessary, goes to the installation location of the PBX 1 for maintenance.

[0004]

As described above, according to the conventional remote maintenance device, the maintenance personnel are required to identify the cause of the failure and the countermeasure, so that it takes time for skilled workers to perform accurate maintenance. There was a problem. Further, there is a problem in that maintenance personnel have to change the data as a countermeasure, which is troublesome.

The present invention has been made to solve the problems of the conventional remote maintenance device as described above, and its purpose is to automatically and accurately identify the cause of failure and countermeasures, and It is an object of the present invention to provide a remote maintenance device capable of performing reasonable maintenance with less involvement.

[0006]

According to the present invention, information is transmitted and received in a remote maintenance device which is connected to a program-controlled electronic device via a line and which transmits and receives information regarding maintenance to and from the electronic device. Transmitting and receiving means, and analysis means for analyzing the cause and countermeasure of the failure based on the failure information of the electronic device received by the transmitting and receiving means,
Storage means in which information to be transmitted to the electronic device is stored in association with failure countermeasure information, and the storage means is searched based on the failure countermeasure obtained by the analyzing means to extract information to be transmitted, and the transmission / reception is performed. And a database creating means for creating a database relating to maintenance history based on the status information including the failure information received by the transmitting and receiving means and the information sent by the sending and receiving means, and the database creating means. A failure prediction means for updating the contents of the storage means based on a database and for identifying the next predicted failure;
The remote maintenance device is configured by including display means for displaying the failure predicted by the failure prediction means.

[0007]

According to the above construction, the cause of failure and the countermeasure are automatically analyzed by the analyzing means, and the information to be transmitted according to the countermeasure is automatically transmitted by the processing means and the transmitting / receiving means.
Further, since the content of the storage means is updated by the failure predicting means, the accuracy of analysis can be improved, and the next failure can be predicted and displayed, and the maintenance staff can take necessary measures.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The remote maintenance device according to this embodiment is used in the system shown in FIG. 8 and is connected to the network via the line 11 as shown in FIG. A transmission / reception means 12 for transmitting / receiving information is connected to the line 11. The transmission / reception means 12 polls, for example, every predetermined time, or receives the failure information automatically transmitted by the PBX 1 and sends it to the analysis means 13. The analysis unit 13 has data (for example, a memory table) for searching the cause and the countermeasure corresponding to the fault information, analyzes the cause and the countermeasure based on the fault information given from the transmission / reception unit 12, and displays the result. It is given to the processing means 14. If the processing means 14 is mere state information and is “normal” information, it supplies this to the database creating means 15. When the countermeasure is being analyzed, the information necessary for the countermeasure is taken out from the storage means 16, and the information to be transmitted according to this information is given to the transmitting / receiving means 12 and transmitted to the PBX 1 related to the failure. Further, when the cause cannot be identified, a command is sent to the PBX 1 related to the failure so as to send detailed failure information (trace data of program execution until the failure occurs). The database creating means 15 takes in all the information sent by the processing means 14 and the information received by the transmitting / receiving means 12, and the maintenance history for each PBX is made into a database and registered in the database 17. The database of the maintenance history in the database 17 is constantly searched by the failure prediction means 18, and which information is sent as information for the past failure of each PBX 1-1 to 1-m and its countermeasure, and as a result is normal. It is detected whether or not it has become a failure after that, and it is checked which information is optimal as a countermeasure when it is transmitted, and when new information to be transmitted is found, each countermeasure is stored in the storage means 16. The information to be transmitted associated with is updated. Further, the failure predicting means 18 uses the PBX 1-1
Database of past failure occurrence patterns of ~ 1-m 17
Is detected based on the data of P, and the same pattern as this failure occurrence pattern has received any failure information.
As it happens for BX1, this pattern predicts the next failure. This predicted failure is sent to the display means 19,
The display means 19 displays the failure information related to the prediction.

The remote maintenance device having the above configuration is realized by the configuration shown in FIG. That is, in the computer configuration, the main memory 32 is connected to the CPU 31, and the main memory 32 stores the programs executed by the CPU 31 as the above-mentioned means. Specifically, the program of the flowchart shown in FIG. 7 is stored. CP
A transmission / reception unit 33 and a display device to U31 via a bus 32
34, a keyboard input device 35, and a storage device 36 are connected. A line 37 is connected to the transmitting / receiving unit 33. Storage device
The memory table shown in FIGS. 3 to 6 is stored in 36. The memory table shown in FIG. 3 is a memory table in which failure information and cause information thereof are stored in association with each other. For example, data b is associated with failure information ABCD.
The information that the was destroyed is stored. The memory table shown in FIG. 4 is a memory table in which countermeasure information is stored in association with cause information. For example, information indicating that data c should be used instead of data b in correspondence with cause information of data b destruction. Is remembered. The memory table shown in FIG. 5 is a memory table in which information to be transmitted corresponding to the countermeasure information is stored. For example, the transmission command and the data c corresponding to the countermeasure indicating that the data c should be changed.
Furthermore, test commands and the like are stored. Figure 6 shows PB
It is a memory table that stores a maintenance history for each X1-1 to 1-m, and corresponds to the database 17 of FIG. As the history, the year / month / day / hour / minute / second at which the status information is received, the status information, and information such as countermeasures and causes when the status information is failure information are stored. Note that the failure information is a code, and the cause is a hardware abnormality other than an abnormality relating to data (software). In this case, measures such as disconnection of the abnormal portion and activation of the backup board are stored.

The operation of the remote maintenance device having the above configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. CPU31 starts the program of the flowchart of FIG.
Detecting arrival of information to 33. Then, when the failure information is received, the CPU 31 fetches it (701) and starts to identify the cause by using the memory table of FIG. 3 (702). At this time, it is detected whether information is insufficient and it is necessary to collect information (703). For example, if the corresponding failure information is not found in the memory table, it is determined that the information is insufficient. In case of lack of information, select items of data to collect (704)
. For example, to what extent (how many steps) the trace of the execution program of the PBX related to the failure is requested. When the items are selected in this manner, next, a command for collecting information is sent from the transmitting / receiving unit 33 to the PBX related to the failure.
And then collect the information (705). If the information is sufficient, search the memory table in Fig. 4 and consider measures (7
06). Here, it is detected whether the countermeasure can be taken by sending the data (only by sending the command or data remotely) or whether the maintenance staff needs to go to the site (707). If no countermeasure can be taken, the fact (cause, countermeasure, etc.) is displayed on the display device 34 (713), and the database is updated (714). On the other hand, if countermeasures are possible, send data (information)
(708) Then, a confirmation test is performed by giving test data and detecting the return status (709). As a result of this confirmation test,
If it is normal (OK), the changed data is stored in the storage device 36 (710), a necessary display (713) is made, and the database is updated (714). On the other hand, as a result of the confirmation test, if the failure is not recovered, it is detected whether all the measures have been executed (711), and if there are any remaining measures, the operation returns to step 708 to continue the operation. Predict the failure from the database (712), display it (713), and update the database (714). Updating the database involves changing the information in each memory table. That is, even when the same failure information is obtained, the causes and countermeasures are increased, and the frequency order is automatically changed. Further, the cause obtained by the maintenance staff, the countermeasure, and the information to be transmitted are appropriately input from the keyboard input device 35 and made into a database.

Note that the failure prediction may be performed not only when all the measures are not restored but also when there is a possibility that a failure will occur after the recovery.

[0012]

As described above, according to the present invention, the cause and countermeasure are automatically analyzed based on the fault information and the information to be transmitted is transmitted, so that the maintenance staff does not need to be skilled and accurate. Maintenance can be performed.

Further, since the information to be transmitted is updated based on the maintenance history database, the maintenance accuracy can be improved over time.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a memory table used in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a memory table used in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a memory table used in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a memory table used in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing an example of a remote maintenance system.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 line 12 transmission / reception means 13 analysis means 14 processing means 15 database creation means 16 storage means 17 database 18 failure prediction means 19 display means 31 CPU 32 main memory 33 transmission / reception section 34 display device 35 keyboard input device 36 storage device

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A remote maintenance device that is connected to a program-controlled electronic device via a line and sends and receives maintenance-related information to and from the electronic device. Analysis means for analyzing the cause and countermeasure of the failure based on the received failure information of the electronic device; storage means for storing information to be transmitted to the electronic device in association with the failure countermeasure information; A processing unit that searches the storage unit based on the failure countermeasure obtained by the analysis unit, extracts information to be transmitted, and causes the transmission / reception unit to transmit, and status information and transmission including the failure information received by the transmission / reception unit. Database creation means for creating a database regarding maintenance history based on the information The content of the storage means is updated based on the database and the failure prediction means for specifying the next predicted failure and the display means for displaying the failure predicted by the failure prediction means are provided. The remote maintenance device.