JPH0955737A - Network control system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain detailed information on an alarm generated by a network device by the same interface as used to acquire the state of the network device by simplifying the interface between an agent and the network device. SOLUTION: Once detecting a fault in the network device 3, an alarm detecting device 302 stores alarm data as the detailed information on the fault in a transmission device interface device 303 and sends an alarm signal indicating the fault occurrence to an alarm signal detecting device 204 through an interruption signal line 51. A data access device 206 acquires the alarm data stored in the transmission device state interface device 303 through an information signal line 52 according to an alarm data takeout request signal from the alarm signal detecting device 204 having received the alarm signal. Then the acquired alarm data is sent out to the alarm signal detecting device 204.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a network management system, and more particularly, to a device configuration of an agent and a network device and an information transfer method of managed data.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A network management system including a manager as a management device, a network device as a managed device, and an agent as a management proxy device between the manager and the network device to proxy the management of the network has been conventionally known. Rapid collection of alarms in a transmission device is an important issue, and is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-204811.

Here, the network management device and the managed device in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-204811 correspond to the agent as the management proxy device and the network device, respectively.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-204811 has a configuration having a connection-oriented communication interface and a connectionless communication interface as shown in FIG. 16, and an agent triggers the data acquisition in the network device. Uses a connection-oriented communication interface for giving communication,
By using a connectionless communication interface for communication that triggers a network device such as alarm notification, it is possible to immediately communicate from a network device to an agent when an event occurs, which requires urgent communication such as failure detection. .

[0005]

In network management, it is important to promptly notify a manager of a failure of a network device. Even in the conventional system, the design was made in consideration of this point, but this resulted in the separate communication interface, and the device became complicated.

Further, as described in the above publication, the connectionless communication interface requires a confirmation response because the reliability of communication is low.

An object of the present invention is to simplify the interface between an agent and a network device, and to acquire detailed information of an alarm generated in the network device with the same interface as that used for acquiring the status of the network device. .

[0008] Further, the data to be managed, which is the data required for managing the network, is preferably on the network device side, on the agent side, and on both the network device side and the agent side, depending on the characteristics. It is divided into those that are better in.

Another object of the present invention is to store management target data in a distributed manner among network devices and agents according to its characteristics, so that management suitable for the characteristics of the management target data can be performed. is there.

In addition, notifying the manager of a failure of the network device is the most important function of the agent. However, when the load on the alarm agent increases, the agent detects the alarm from the network device and sends an alarm to the manager. Was late for the notification.

Another object of the present invention is to reduce the load when an alarm occurs in an agent.

Further, the coding rule used for data transfer between the manager and the agent has a drawback that the data transfer is inefficient because the coding becomes redundant, and the coded data is directly stored in the agent. When registering in the database, there was a drawback that a large amount of database procedures were required.

However, the standardized encoding rule is usually used as the encoding rule for communication between the manager and the agent.

Another object of the present invention is to improve the efficiency of data transfer by defining the user-definable part of this standardized coding rule.

[0015]

According to the present invention, there is provided a network device which comprises a communication network and which monitors a transmission state of the communication network, and a device which monitors and manages the network device. In a network management system including an agent and a manager that monitors and manages the network device and the agent as a whole, the network device detects an urgent failure in the network device and outputs an alarm signal. An alarm detection device, a transmission device state interface device for storing the data of the fault detected by the alarm detection device as alarm data, and an agent communication device for communicating with the agent, the agent comprising: Communicate with the network device Network device for communication, and alarm signal detection for detecting an alarm signal from the alarm detection device in the network device and transmitting an alarm data extraction request signal for requesting extraction of alarm data of the network device Device and an alarm data extraction request signal from the alarm signal detection device, and sends an alarm data acquisition command, and the transmission in the network device via the communication device for network device and the communication device for agent A data access device for accessing the device status interface device and acquiring the alarm data stored in the transmission device status interface device, and as a line connecting the agent communication device and the network device communication device, From the alarm detection device to the alarm signal detection device Having a interrupt signal line used when accessing and network management system characterized by having an information communication line to be used when the data access device to access to the transmission device status interface device is obtained.

Further, according to the present invention, in the network management system, the network device includes a transmission device state control and monitoring device having a function of collecting management target data which is data necessary for managing a communication network, And a transmission device state interface device having a function of storing the management target data, the agent being connected to the network device communication device, and periodically connecting to the transmission device state control monitoring device. A polling device having a function of issuing a polling signal representing an instruction to acquire the management target data of the network device, a timer connected to the polling device and periodically activating the polling device, and a communication device for the network device. Connected and instructed by the manager and the alarm signal detection device. The data access device having a function of managing the acquired management target data and the management target data acquired according to the polling signal, and a function of being connected to the data access device and storing the management target data And a management information storage device having a function of storing information regarding a storage location of data to be managed, a network management system is obtained.

Further, according to the present invention, in the network management system, the management target data is first-class management target data which is stored only in the transmission device status interface device in the network device, and Type 2 management target data that is stored in both the management information storage device in the agent and the transmission device status interface device in the network device, and is stored only in the management information storage device in the agent Such as the third type management target data, the management target data is the first
In the case of seed management target data, the data access device is
When the management target data is read and written to the transmission device status interface device in the network device via the communication device for the network device, and the management target data is the second type management target data, The data access device reads the management target data into the management information storage device in the agent, and further, via the communication device to the network device, the transmission device state interface device in the network device. To the management target data,
When the management target data is type 3 management target data, the data access device reads and writes the management target data from the management information storage device in the agent, and further, The data access device responds to the polling signal with second-class management target data stored in the transmission device status interface device in the network device and stored in the management information storage device in the agent. A network management system is obtained, which is obtained by copying the data from the transmission device status interface device in the network device to the management information storage device in the agent.

Further, according to the present invention, in the network management system, the management target data includes the alarm data, and the alarm signal detecting device includes:
When the alarm signal from the alarm detection device is received and the alarm data extraction request signal is sent to the data access device, the data access device preferentially acquires the alarm data. The system is obtained.

Further, according to the present invention, in the network management system, the agent monitors the load of the agent and outputs the current load, and receives and receives the output of the load monitoring device. A network management system having a timer setting time changing device for changing the interval of the timer by the output is obtained.

Further, according to the present invention, in the network management system, when the load monitoring device detects a load increase in the agent, the timer setting time changing device lengthens the time interval of the timer, When the load monitoring device detects a load decrease in the agent, the timer setting time changing device shortens the time interval of the timer to make the polling interval variable, thereby reducing the load in the agent. A characteristic network management system is obtained.

Further, according to the present invention, in the network management system, the communication device for network device determines the priority of the management target data acquisition command input from the polling device and the data access device, A priority determination device that gives a label indicating priority, an operation propriety determination device that stores a management target data acquisition command that is determined to have the lowest priority in the priority determination device, and the determination device Among the management target data acquisition commands, a plurality of priority-based command storage devices for storing management target data acquisition commands excluding the management target data acquisition command determined to have the lowest priority by priority, and the operation propriety determination device And a command to be sent to the agent communication device from the management target data acquisition command stored in the plurality of priority-based command storage devices. Network management system is obtained, characterized in that they are composed of the operation target selection unit for selecting a target data acquisition command.

Further, according to the present invention, in the network management system, the operation target selection device stores a management target data acquisition command with the highest priority at present among the priority order command storage devices. The management target data acquisition command is accessed from the storage device stored in the storage device, and the operation permission determination device receives the management target data acquisition command only when the network device is not communicating. When the network device is communicating, a network management system can be obtained in which a non-acceptance notice is sent to the device that has input the management target data acquisition command.

Further, according to the present invention, in the network management system, the network data management system is characterized in that the alarm data acquisition command of the network device is a management object data acquisition command having the highest priority. .

Further, according to the present invention, in the network management system, the manager and the agent both decode and encode data according to an encoding rule used for data transmission between the manager and the agent. A management protocol execution device having a function and a management protocol coding device, wherein the coding rule defines a data type of a data length, collects the data length and the data type, and shortens the coded data. A network management system is obtained which is characterized by increasing the efficiency of data transfer.

[0025]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the first invention. In FIG. 1, the manager 1 is connected to the agent 2, and the agent 2 is also connected to the network device 3.

The agent 2 includes a manager communication device 201, an alarm generation device 202, an in-agent alarm detection device 203, and an alarm signal detection device 20.
4, a management protocol execution device 205, a data access device 206, a management protocol encoding device 207, a management information storage device 208, a polling device 209, a timer 210, and a network device communication device 211. .

Also, the network device 3 comprises an agent communication device 301, an alarm detection device 302, a transmission device state interface device 303, a transmission device state control monitoring device 304, and a transmission device state interface device control device 305. Composed.

Further, the network device communication device 301
There are two lines, that is, an interrupt signal line and an information communication line, between the agent communication device 211 and the agent communication device 211.

First, a device existing inside the agent 2 will be described.

The manager 1 encodes a request for access to the data to be managed to the agent 2 according to the encoding rule between the manager 1 and the agent 2, and transmits the encoded request. To receive.

The manager communication device 201 receives data from the manager 1 and sends / receives data to / from the manager 1 such as sending a response from the agent 2 to the manager 1 and a notification such as an alarm. It is a communication device for performing.

Here, the data to be managed is data necessary for network management such as the current state and settings of the network device 3 and past performance data. Further, the access request for the management target data is reading of a value from the management target data and setting of the value.

In the network management system 4 of this embodiment, the management target data is stored in either or both of the management information storage device 208 in the agent 2 and the transmission device status interface device 303 in the network device 3. There is.

The management protocol execution device 205 receives the management operation request of the manager 1 via the manager communication device 201, interprets the request according to the encoding rule between the manager 1 and the agent 2, and executes the management operation target. Data to be managed by the data access device 206
Request a management operation for the management target data.

Here, the management operation on the management target data is an operation of reading the value of the management target data or setting the value.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the management information storage device 208 in the present invention. The management information storage device 208 includes a storage location information storage device 2081 and a management target data storage device 20.
And 82. Storage location information storage device 2081
Stores the operation location type of the management target data managed by the network management system and the storage location in the device in which the management target data is stored.

Here, the management target data is the first type management target data which is stored only in the transmission device status interface device 303 in the network device 3, the management information storage device 208 in the agent 2 and the network device 3. In the transmission device state interface device 303 in the same, and third type management target data that is stored only in the management information storage device 208 in the agent 2. Also, the operation differs depending on each management target data.

That is, when the management target data to be operated is the first type management target data, both reading and writing are performed to the transmission device status interface device 303.
The first-class management target data corresponds to data that changes at high speed in the network device 3.

When the management target data to be operated is the second type management target data, the management target storage device 2081 is read.
Write to the device, but writing is performed in the transmission device state interface device 3.
It is done for 03. The second type management target data mainly corresponds to data indicating the performance state of the network device 3. Further, the management target data storage device 2082
Then, when the management target data existing in the network device 3 is stored, it is possible to store the management target data in an expression format in the network device.

When the management target data to be operated is the third type management target data, both reading and writing of the management target data are performed to the management target data storage device 2082 in the management information storage device 208. The third-class management target data mainly includes management target data generated in the agent, an event transmission filter (not shown), and the like. The event sending filter is
For example, it is a filter that determines what kind of event is notified from the agent to the manager by increasing or decreasing the importance of the alarm.

When the data access device 206 accesses the management information storage device 208, the management information storage device 208 determines from the storage location information storage device 2081 that the device to which the corresponding management target data is stored and the corresponding device. It takes out the storage locations in the device and outputs them to the data access device 206.

According to the information of the device storing the management target data and the storage location in the device obtained as a result, the data access device operates the management target data storage device 2082 in order to operate the management target data. Access or access the transmission device state interface device 303 via the communication device for network device 211, the information signal line 52, and the communication device for agent 301.

The management protocol coding device 207 receives the notification generated from the alarm generation device 202 and the result of the operation performed on the data to be managed by the data access device 206, and receives them as a coding rule between the manager and the agent. According to the above, it is converted into a code word and sent to the manager 1 via the manager communication device 201.

Next, the devices existing in the network device 3 will be described.

The alarm detection device 302 detects an urgent fault in the network device 3 and reports that the fault has occurred via the agent communication device 301, the interrupt signal line 51, and the network device communication device 211. A device for notifying the alarm signal detection device 204 and storing detailed information of the failure as alarm data in the transmission device state interface device 303.

The transmission device status interface device 303 is a storage device for storing the management target data existing in the network device 3 and the alarm data from the alarm detection device 302.

The transmitter status interface controller 305
This is a device for controlling the exchange between the device for operating the information stored in the transmission device state interface device 303 and the device for operating the transmission device state interface device 303.

The transmission device status control monitoring device 304 collects the data to be managed in the network device 3 and projects it on the predetermined location of the transmission device status interface device 303 in accordance with the rules of the conversion table contained therein. This is a device having a function and a function of changing the value of the management target data in the network device 3 when the data in the transmission device status interface device 303 is rewritten by the agent.

The agent communication device 301 receives a communication from the agent 2 via the information communication line 52, sends a response from the network device 3 thereto, and outputs an alarm output by the alarm detection device 302. It is a communication device that transmits a signal to the network communication 211 via an interrupt signal line.

Next, the transmission device state interface device 303 and the transmission device state interface device controller 30 in the network device 3
5. The operation of the transmission device status control monitoring device 304 will be described.

4 and 5 show the operations of the transmission device state interface device 303 and the transmission device state interface device control device 305 in the present invention. The transmitter state interface device 303
The transmission device state interface device control device 305 has a storage device for storing the management target data inside the device, and the transmission device state interface device control device 305 performs the management operation on the management target data. Each has a different interface with one device. These two interfaces operate independently in parallel.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of operations performed by the agent-to-agent communication device 301 and the transmission device state interface device control device 305. If the operation is a read request, transmitter state interface controller 305 returns the requested address in transmitter state interface 303 (step 4).
003). If the operation is a write request, the transmitter state interface device controller 305 determines that the transmitter state interface device 3
It is detected whether or not the writing from the transmission device state control monitoring device 304 has been performed in 03 (step 400
3), if a write operation is in progress, a write failure error is returned to the agent communication device 301,
The write operation is stopped (step 4009). if,
If the transmission device state control monitoring device 304 is not in the writing operation, the transmission device state interface device control device 305 starts writing (step 4005). When a write request is issued from the transmission device state control monitoring device 304 during the writing operation of the transmission device state interface device control device 305 (step 4006), the transmission device state interface device control device 305 sends the request to the agent communication device 301. Writing is invalidated, a writing failure error is returned to the agent communication device 301, and the writing operation is stopped (step 4010). When the writing is completed normally (step 4007), the transmission device state interface device control device 305 asynchronously notifies the transmission device state control monitoring device 304 of the address where the data was written and its value (step 4008). That is, when the write between the agent 2 and the network device 3 competes with each other, the transmission device state interface device control device 305 gives priority to the write from the network device 3.

FIG. 5 shows a transmission device state control and monitoring device 304.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a method of accessing the transmission device state interface device 303 via the transmission device state interface device control device 305 of FIG. When there is a write request from the transmitter state control monitoring device 304 to the transmitter state interface device 303 (step 5
002), the transmission device state interface device control device 305 sets a write lock on the transmission device state interface device 303 (step 5003). Thereafter, the transmission device state interface device control device 305 writes to the transmission device state interface device 303 (step 5004). When the transmission device state interface device control device 305 finishes writing to the transmission device state interface device 303, it releases the write lock (step 5005), and the write operation ends (step 5006). Here, the write lock is a control means such that a device other than the device issuing the write request when the lock is applied can read but cannot write.

FIG. 6 shows a transmission device state control and monitoring device 304.
6 is a flowchart showing the operation of FIG. The transmission device status control monitoring device 304 acquires the value of the management target data in the network device 3 at regular time intervals (step 6001) (step 6002), and uses that value as the transmission device in the transmission device status interface device control device 305. For the interface of the status control monitoring device 304, the transmission device status interface device 303 indicated by the conversion table in the transmission device status control monitoring device 304.
Issue a request to write to an address within (step 600
3). Here, the conversion table is a table showing the correspondence relationship between the location where the management target data actually exists in the network device 3 and the storage location in the transmission device status interface device 303.

Further, the transmission device state interface device control device 30
When there is a write interrupt from step 5 (step 60
04), the address of the transmission device status interface device 303 sent at the time of interruption is dereferenced using a conversion table, converted into the actual storage location of the managed data in the network device 3, and the value is stored in the storage location. It is set (step 6005).

Next, the communication device 211 to the network device for communicating between the agent 2 and the network device 3
The agent communication device 301 and the interrupt signal line 51 and the information communication line 52 connecting the two will be described.

The network device communication device 211 is connected to the agent device 301 by the information communication line 52 and the interrupt signal line 51, is connected to the data access device 206 and the polling device 209 by the external information communication line, and detects an alarm signal. An external interrupt signal line is connected to the device 204, and a FIFO (First-In-First) is internally provided.
st-Out) has a storage device.

Also, the agent communication device 301 is
The transmission device status interface device control device 305 is connected by an external information communication line, and the alarm detection device 302 is connected by an external interrupt signal line.

The network communication device 211 is connected to the data access device 206 or the polling device 20.
When the management operation request is received from the storage device 9, the request is stored in the storage device in the network device communication device 211.
If the management operation request stored in the storage device is not empty, the communication device for network device 211 follows the information communication line 52, the agent communication device 301 for the agent, and the transmission device status interface according to the management operation request stored the earliest. Data is acquired from the transmission device state interface device 303 via the device control device 305. In addition, the communication device 2 for the network device
Reference numeral 11 interrupts the alarm signal detecting device 204 when the alarm detecting device 301 interrupts via the interrupt signal line 51 and the agent communication device 301.

Next, a method of copying the management target data stored in the network device 3 to the management information storage device 208 will be described.

The timer 210 has a set time storage device having a polling interval set therein and a counter. Timer 2
First, 10 copies the value set in the set time storage device to the counter and decrements the value of the counter at regular intervals. When the value of the counter becomes 0, the polling device 209 is interrupted, the value stored in the set time storage device is copied to the counter, and the decrement of the counter is started again.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing the operation of the polling device 209. The polling device 209 has a timer 2
When the interrupt from 10 occurs, one of the address of the transmission device status interface device 303 of the polling target data or the address of the management information storage device 208 is acquired, and a polling signal is sent to the network device communication device 21 according to the address.
1 to read the next polling target data. If all the polling target data have not been completed, a polling signal regarding the data is sent to the network device communication device 211.

Next, the operation of notifying the manager 1 of an alarm generated in the network device 3 or the management information storage device 208 will be described.

An operation example of the alarm detection device 302 and the alarm signal detection device 204 in the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9.

The alarm detection device 302 performs an operation of acquiring the status of the notification target to the agent such as a failure in the network device 3 (step 8001) and detects whether the notification target is normal. If an abnormality occurs in the notification target (step 8002), the alarm data, which is the notification target name, detailed information of the failure such as the importance of the alarm and the cause of the alarm, is written in the transmission device status interface device 303 (step 8003) , The alarm signal detecting unit 204, the interrupt signal line 51, and the network device communication apparatus 211 are used to asynchronously notify the alarm signal detecting apparatus 204 of an alarm signal indicating that a failure has occurred (Step 8004). ), And the alarm detection operation is performed again. Further, the alarm signal detection device 204 sends an alarm data takeout request signal requesting the data access device 206 to take out the alarm data in the transmission device state interface device 303. The data access device 306, which has received the alarm data extraction request signal, accesses the transmission device state interface device control device 305 through the network communication device 211, the information communication line 52, and the agent communication device 301 to determine the transmission device state. The alarm data stored in the interface device 303 is acquired (step 9002), and the alarm data is sent to the alarm generation device via the alarm signal detection device (step 9003).

As described above, by physically connecting the network device 3 and the agent 2 with two lines, the same interface can be used for both data required for normal management and alarm data.

Next, an example of the operation of the in-agent alarm detection device 203 according to the present invention will be described. The in-agent alarm detection device 203 monitors the alarm detection target management target data stored in the management information storage device 208 at regular time intervals or at the time of writing to the management information storage device 208. The management target data to be monitored and the alarm generation condition are the management information storage device 208.
The information is stored in the storage location information storage device 208 in the inside, and the in-agent alarm detection device 203 detects the management target data from the management information storage device 208 based on this information and detects whether the alarm generation condition is satisfied. .
When an alarm is detected, alarm data including a notification target name and notification contents is sent to the alarm generation device 202.

An operation example of the alarm generation device 202 according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. When the alarm generation device 202 receives the alarm data from the alarm signal detection device 204 or the in-agent alarm detection device 203 (step 1001), the management information storage device 208.
Write the alarm occurrence information to (step 100
2) Read the information of the event transmission filter from the management information storage device 208 (step 1003), and if the transmission conditions are met, notify the management protocol encoding device 207 that the alarm is necessary to send the alarm to the manager 1. The contents are sent (step 1004).

Next, the procedure for the agent 2 to access the data to be managed will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

The data access device 206 acquires the storage location information of the management target data stored in the storage location information storage device 2081 inside the management information storage device 208 (step 2002). Based on this information, data access device 206 determines which device to access.

When the management target data is the above-mentioned type 1 management target data, the data access device 206 moves from the storage location information storage device 2081 to the transmission device status interface device 303.
The storage location in which the management target data is stored is obtained (step 2011), and the communication device for network device 211, the information communication line 52, and the communication device for agent 30 are acquired.
The transmission device state interface device 303 is accessed through the step 1 (step 2012), and the transmission device state interface device 30 is accessed.
3 is an agent communication device 301, an information communication line 5
2. A response is returned to the data access device 206 via the communication device 211 for the network device (step 200).
9).

When the management target data is the above-mentioned type 2 management target data (step 2005) and the management operation is the reading of the management target data (step 2005), the data access device 206 determines that the management target data storage device 2
The corresponding data is read from 082 (step 200
6). When the management operation is the writing of the management target data, the data access device 206 obtains the storage position of the management target data in the transmission device status interface device 303 from the storage location information storage device 2081 (step 2007), and transmits the data. The device status interface device 303 is accessed (step 2008).

When the management target data is the above-mentioned third type management target data (step 2003), the data access device 206 accesses the management target data storage device 2082 (step 2010).

In any of the above three types of access formats, the response is transferred to the management protocol coding device 207 (step 2014) and converted into a code word according to the coding rule between the agent and the manager in the management protocol coding device. Then, a response is returned to the manager 1 via the manager communication device 201 (step 2009).

As described above, by providing the storage location information of the management target data in the management information storage device 208, even if the management target data is distributed to a plurality of devices, it can be managed uniformly from the viewpoint of the manager. It is possible.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention. Explaining the difference in comparison with FIG. 1,
Agent 2 is newly added inside the agent in FIG.
The load monitoring device 213 for monitoring the load and the timer setting time changing device 212 for changing the timer setting time are added. By using the system described in this embodiment, the data acquisition interval of the transmission device status interface device 303 can be dynamically changed according to the load of the agent 2. The detailed operation will be described below with reference to FIG.

The load monitoring device 213 monitors the load of the agent 2 and outputs its value. The timer setting time changing device 212 receives the output of the load monitoring device 213,
When the load increases, the timer setting time is lengthened according to the timer setting conversion rule that gradually changes the timer setting time according to the load as shown in FIG. 12 or continuously changes as shown in FIG. When the load is reduced, the timer setting time is returned to the original setting time. In the network management system 4 of this embodiment, the load on the agent 2 is high,
By prolonging the polling interval when an operation that requires swiftness is delayed, such as notifying the manager 1 of an alarm, it is possible to reduce the load on the agent and reduce the delay.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing a third embodiment of the present invention. Here, the communication device for network device 211 includes the priority determination device 1404, the priority storage device 1405, the non-priority storage device 1406, the operation availability determination device 1407, the operation target selection device 1408, the information communication line management device 1409, and the interrupt signal line. It is composed of 1401.

In this network device communication device 211, the operation request command input to the external information communication line 1402 is provided with a label indicating the priority of the three steps of high priority, medium priority, and low priority. Request to do. The operation request command to which the high priority label is assigned by the priority determination device 1404 is stored in the priority storage device 1405, and the operation request command to which the priority label of the priority is assigned is stored in the non-priority storage device 1406. Stored in. Further, the operation request command to which the low priority label is attached is sent to the operation permission / inhibition determination device 1407. In the operation propriety determination device 1407,
The operation request command is stored only when the network device communication device 301 is not communicating with the agent communication device 211, and when communicating, a management operation rejection notification is sent to the device that issued the operation request command. To send. The operation target selection device 1408 reads out the operation request command, and the information communication line management device 1409 and the information communication line 14 are read.
An operation request command is issued to the agent communication device 301 via 10. The operation request instruction of the operation target selection device 1408 is read as follows. First, it is checked whether or not an operation request command is present in the priority storage device 1405, and if it is present, the operation request command is sent to the agent communication device. In the case where the operation request command is not stored in both the priority storage device and the non-priority storage device and the operation request command is stored in the operation propriety determination device 1408, the operation request command is transmitted to the agent communication device 301. To send.

Next, the network device communication device 21
A method of detecting an alarm in the network device using the method 1, controlling access to the transmission device state interface device 303 by an instruction from the manager, and a polling control method will be described.

The alarm signal detection device 204 which has received the alarm signal from the alarm detection device 302 sends a request for acquiring the alarm data of the transmission device state interface device 303 to the data access device 206, and the data access device 206 which has received the request. Attaches a high-priority label to the alarm data acquisition command, and communicates with the network device 211
Send to The operation request command from the manager 1 is attached to the priority level label and sent to the network device communication device 211. In addition, the polling device 209
Sends the polling request data with a low priority label to the network device communication device 211, and when the request is rejected, sends the polling request data again to the network device communication device 211 after a certain period of time has elapsed. To do.

As a result, the transmission device state interface device 3
Even when access to 03 occurs frequently, the alarm can be preferentially processed for the transmission device status interface device 303.

Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described.

In an encoding rule that handles a plurality of data types and variable data lengths, data type information of
It has data length and data value information.

However, in network management, many data often have the same data length. Therefore, in the present invention, type information indicating a data type of such a data length is newly defined, and for the data type of such a data length, the data type information and the data value are configured as code words. . This makes it possible to omit the part that represents the data length. The definition of this new data type encoding method must be recognized by the transmitting side and the receiving side prior to data transmission.

[0087]

EXAMPLE As an example of the fourth embodiment of the present invention, ASN. 3 shows a coding rule based on the 1 / BER coding rule. ASN. In 1 / BER, in order to represent data, a conventional tag field 1501 indicating the attribute of the data, a conventional length field 1502 indicating the number of octets in the value field, and a conventional value field 1503 encoding the data are configured. To be done. Since each field is configured in units of 1 octet, even if the value field is 1 octet, 3 octets are required for encoding. Such a complicated encoding method is applied to ASN. The reason why 1 / BER is taken is that the data length is not limited. However, the length of one data used in actual network management is mostly one to several octets. In this specific example, ASN. In the 1 / BER tag field, by defining a tag that represents fixed length data in a private tag that allows the user to define the meaning of the tag independently, and omitting the length field, a fixed length is fixed. Shorten the code length of the long data.

Here, the tag field 1504 in the present invention indicating "1 octet integer" is defined. The private tag has the first 2 bits of the tag field
It can be defined by setting to 11 ". Therefore, the first 2 bits are set to" 11 ", and the next structural type flag bit is set to 0, and then the bit string indicating" 1 octet integer "is arranged in 5 bits. In this example, A
SN. In 1 / BER, the tag field 00010 representing "integer" is used. However, if both the communicating parties recognize the tag definition, what is defined as long as it does not overlap with other encoding rules. There is no problem. If the data encodes an integer "20" of 1 octet, then the data is converted to ASN. 1 / BE
When encoded into R, the tag field 1 in the present invention
504 is a bit string 11000010, and the value field 1505 in the present invention is a normal ASN. The encoding rule of 1 / BER remains 20000100100, which is 11000010, which is the combination of the tag field 1504 of the present invention and the value field 1505 of the present invention.
00010100 is the encoded string. In this method, when all the data to be transmitted / received is an 1-octet integer, the amount of data is reduced to 2/3 as compared with the conventional method which does not perform compression. In addition, other ASN. The type 1 can be similarly configured if it has a fixed length.

[0089]

As described above, according to the present invention,
In collecting alarms of network devices, the network device transmits an alarm signal indicating occurrence of an alarm to an agent by using an interrupt signal line, and then the agent transmits alarm data, which is detailed information of the alarm corresponding to the alarm signal, to the network. By acquiring from the device, it is possible to acquire and set the alarm and device status with the same interface.

Further, by storing the storage location of the management target data of the management operation target and its operation type in the management information storage device and performing the management operation based on the information, the management target data existing in a plurality of locations can be stored. It is possible to configure an agent that can handle all of them.

Further, even if the load on the agent is increased, the polling interval is lengthened, and in the communication between the agent and the network device, the communication device that prioritizes the acquisition of alarm data is introduced to delay the alarm collection and the alarm notification. It becomes executable without priority.

Further, the coding rule used for the data transfer between the manager and the agent is defined as the coding rule for sending the data length and the data type together, and the coding rule is used for the data having the frequent data length. By doing so, the required code length can be reduced, and further, when the management target data is stored in the management information storage device in the format of the encoding rule between the manager and the agent, the data amount can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart relating to management target data acquisition in the first embodiment example of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a management information storage device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operations of the agent communication device and the transmission device state interface device control device according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing access to the transmission device state interface device via the transmission device state interface device control device of the transmission device state control and monitoring device according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the transmission device state control and monitoring device in the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the polling device in the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the alarm detection device in the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the operation of the alarm signal detection device in the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of the alarm generation device according to the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a timer setting value rule in the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing another example of timer setting value rules in the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an agent-to-agent communication device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is an AS in the fourth embodiment of the present invention.
N. It is a figure which shows the encoding by the fixed length tag of 1 / BER.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Manager 2 Agent 201-Manager Communication Device 202 Alarm Generation Device 203 In-Agent Alarm Detection Device 204 Alarm Signal Detection Device 205 Management Protocol Execution Device 206 Data Access Device 207 Management Protocol Encoding Device 208 Management Information Storage Device 2081 Storage Location Information Storage Device 2082 Managed data storage device 209 Polling device 210 Timer 211 Network device communication device 212 Timer setting time changing device 213 Load monitoring device 3 Network device 301 vs Agent communication device 302 Alarm detection device 303 Transmission device state interface device 304 Transmission device state control Monitoring device 305 Transmission device status Interface device control device 4 Network management system 51 Interrupt signal line 52 Information communication line 1401 Interrupt signal line 1402 External information communication line 1404 Priority determination device 1405 Priority storage device 1406 Non-priority storage device 1407 Operation availability determination device 1408 Operation target selection device 1409 Information communication line management device 1410 Information communication line 1501 Conventional tag field 1502 Conventional Length field 1503 Conventional value field 1504 Tag field in the present invention 1505 Value field in the present invention

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A communication network is configured, and
The network device includes a device for monitoring the transmission status of the communication network, an agent for monitoring and managing the network device, and a manager for monitoring and managing the network device and the agent as a whole. In the network management system, the network device stores an alarm detection device that detects an urgent fault in the network device and outputs an alarm signal, and the fault data detected by the alarm detection device as alarm data. A transmission device state interface device; and an agent communication device for communicating with the agent, wherein the agent communicates with the network device for communicating with the network device; Alarm detection An alarm signal from the storage device, and an alarm signal detection device for transmitting an alarm data extraction request signal requesting the extraction of alarm data of the network device; and an alarm data extraction request signal from the alarm signal detection device. , Sending an alarm data acquisition command, accessing the transmission device state interface device in the network device via the communication device for network device and the communication device for agent, and storing it in the transmission device state interface device. A data access device for acquiring the alarm data, and an interrupt signal line used when the alarm detection device accesses the alarm signal detection device as a line connecting the agent communication device and the network device communication device. And the data access device is Network management system characterized by having an information communication line to be used when accessing the transmission device status interface device. 2. The network management system according to claim 1, wherein the network device has a transmission device state control and monitoring device having a function of collecting management target data that is data necessary for managing a communication network, and the transmission device. And a transmission device state interface device having a function of storing the management target data, the agent being connected to the network device communication device, and periodically the network device. Of a polling device having a function of issuing a polling signal representing an instruction to acquire the managed data, a timer connected to the polling device and periodically activating the polling device, and connected to the network device communication device. , Before acquisition by an instruction from the manager and the alarm signal detection device The management target data and the data access device having a function of managing the management target data acquired according to the polling signal, and a function and a management target connected to the data access device and storing the management target data A network management system comprising: a management information storage device having a function of storing information regarding a data storage location. 3. The network management system according to claim 2, wherein the management target data is first-class management target data stored only in the transmission device status interface device in the network device, and in the agent. Second management data that is stored in both the management information storage device and the transmission device status interface device in the network device, and is stored only in the management information storage device in the agent. When the management target data is classified into the third type management target data and the management target data is the first type management target data, the data access device transmits the transmission device status interface in the network device via the network device communication device. The management target data is read and written to the device, and the management target data is the second type management target. In the case of data, the data access device reads the management target data into the management information storage device in the agent, and further, via the communication device for network device, the data access device in the network device. The management target data is written to the transmission device status interface device, and when the management target data is the third type management target data, the data access device writes to the management information storage device in the agent. Read and write the management target data; further, the data access device in the agent is stored in the transmission device status interface device in the network device, and the management information storage device in the agent. Type 2 managed data that is stored in the Network management system characterized in that it acquired, copying from the transmission device status interface device in the network device in the management information storage device in said agent. 4. The network management system according to claim 3, wherein the management target data includes the alarm data, the alarm signal detection device receives an alarm signal from the alarm detection device, and sends the data access device to the data access device. ,
The network management system, wherein the data access device preferentially acquires the alarm data when the alarm data extraction request signal is transmitted. 5. The network management system according to claim 1, wherein the agent monitors a load on the agent and outputs a current load, and a load monitoring apparatus. A network management system comprising: a timer setting time changing device that receives an output and changes the interval of the timer according to the received output. 6. The network management system according to claim 5, wherein when the load monitoring device detects a load increase in the agent, the timer setting time changing device lengthens a time interval of the timer, When the device detects a load decrease in the agent, the timer setting time changing device shortens the time interval of the timer to make the polling interval variable, thereby reducing the load in the agent. Network management system. 7. The network management system according to claim 1, wherein the communication device with respect to the network device has priority of a management target data acquisition command input from the polling device and the data access device. A priority determination device that determines the degree of priority and assigns a label indicating the priority, an operation propriety determination device that stores a management target data acquisition command that has been determined to have the lowest priority by the priority determination device, and the determination Among the management target data acquisition commands determined by the device, a plurality of priority-based instruction storage devices that store the management target data acquisition commands excluding the management target data acquisition command determined to have the lowest priority by priority. , The communication with the agent from the management availability data and the management target data acquisition command stored in the plurality of priority-based command storage devices Network management system characterized in that it is constituted by the operation target selection unit for selecting a managed data acquisition command issued to the location. 8. The network management system according to claim 7, wherein the operation target selection device is a priority-based instruction storage device,
The management target data acquisition command having the highest priority at present is retrieved from the storage device in which the highest priority command is stored, and the access target communication device is accessed. A network management characterized in that a management target data acquisition command is accepted only when communication is not being performed, and when a network device is communicating, an unacceptance notification is sent to the device that has input the management data acquisition command. system. 9. The network management system according to claim 7, wherein the alarm data acquisition command of the network device is a management target data acquisition command having the highest priority. 10. The network management system according to claim 1, wherein the manager and the agent both perform data in accordance with an encoding rule used for data transmission between the manager and the agent. A management protocol execution device and a management protocol coding device having a function of decoding and coding the data, and the coding rule defines the data type of the data length, and the data length and the data type are collectively coded. A network management system characterized by increasing the efficiency of data transfer by shortening the data. 11. A network device comprising a device that configures a communication network and monitors the transmission status of the communication network, an agent that is a device that monitors and manages the network device, the network device and the agent. In a network management system consisting of a manager that generally monitors and manages, the agent receives a signal from the manager via the partner manager communication device that communicates with the manager, and the partner manager communication device, A management protocol execution device that interprets the signal according to a management protocol between the agent and the manager to specify management target data necessary for network management, and data related to the management target data and the storage location of the management target data. Store Based on the output of the management information storage device and the management protocol execution device, the storage location of the management target data stored in the management information storage device or stored in the network device is searched and the data is searched. A data access device for reading and writing
A communication device for communicating with the network device, and a management protocol encoding device for converting a response obtained as a result of access by the data access device into a format according to a management protocol between the agent and the manager. And a polling device that periodically issues a request to acquire data to be managed by the network device, a timer that periodically activates the polling device, and that a failure has occurred in the network device from within the network device. An alarm signal detection device for detecting an alarm signal and transmitting an alarm data extraction request signal to the data access device, the alarm data extraction request signal requesting extraction of alarm data, which is detailed information of the fault stored in the network device, The management target data in the management information storage device And an alarm generation device that receives an output from the alarm detection device in the agent and the alarm signal detection device and generates an alarm, and the network device collects the management target data. A transmission device state control monitoring device, and stores the management target data acquired by the transmission device state control monitoring device,
Also, a transmission device state interface device having a function of performing writing from the agent and giving priority to writing from the network device when writing from the agent and writing from the network device overlap, and the network device. To communicate with the agent and an alarm detection device having a function of detecting a failure in the alarm signal, outputting an alarm signal to the alarm signal detection device in the agent, and storing the alarm signal in the transmission device state interface device. And an interrupt signal line used when accessing the alarm signal detection device from the alarm detection device, as a line connecting the agent communication device and the network device communication device, and , The data access device is Transmission device status: A network management system having an information communication line used for accessing an interface device.