WO2002047406A2 - Cellular/pcs management system and method - Google Patents
Cellular/pcs management system and method Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- WO2002047406A2 WO2002047406A2 PCT/US2001/046283 US0146283W WO0247406A2 WO 2002047406 A2 WO2002047406 A2 WO 2002047406A2 US 0146283 W US0146283 W US 0146283W WO 0247406 A2 WO0247406 A2 WO 0247406A2
- Authority
- WO
- WIPO (PCT)
- Prior art keywords
- events
- data
- failure
- call
- event
- Prior art date
Links
Classifications
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
- H04W24/00—Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements
Definitions
- the present invention is directed to managing wireless communications networks and, specifically, cellular and/or personal communication system (PCS) networks (hereinafter, collectively, "cellular network(s)” or “cellular system(s)”). More particularly, the present invention is directed to monitoring events in a cellular network and associating a particular event or series of events with a likely type of failure in the cellular system, thereby preempting failures or quickly detecting failures.
- PCS personal communication system
- the underlying cause of a particular failure in the cellular system is not known at the time the failure is detected.
- the failure can, under certain circumstances, cause "ripple" effects throughout the entire cell site, making it appear as though there is a problem with the entire cell site. That is, the fact that the failure is related to only one channel may not be immediately apparent to the cellular system operator. It is not until a technician is dispatched to the cell site to troubleshoot the failure that it is discovered that the underlying cause of the failure was, in fact, the failure of only a single channel module, and that the replacement of that one module will rectify the overall problem. Also, a cellular system failure may sometimes go unnoticed by the cellular system operator until cellular system customers begin complaining about spotty or inadequate service.
- the present invention provides a method and system to more effectively manage and/or monitor a cellular or PCS system or network.
- the network is monitored using event data that is available from the system infrastructure itself, including infrastructure data such as billing data, blocking statistics, call processing data, call activity counters, system alarm information and any other event data that can be collected and analyzed in accordance with the principles of the present invention.
- billing data includes calling and called party telephone numbers and length of call
- blocking statistics include the number and frequency of calls initiated by a cellular system user that cannot be processed as a result of the cellular system being too busy.
- Call processing data includes, for example, cell site handoff data, call activity counters including counters for RF cell loss or high BER, and alarms including autotune combiner failures or power amplifier failures.
- a computer is programmed to perform the tasks of remotely accessing a cellular switch (or database) and downloading data that is available from the cellular system infrastructure.
- the downloaded data is then parsed to capture particular events that have been found to be relevant to cellular system operation. Such events include, for example, blocked calls, dropped calls, noise, lack of audio, one-way audio or any other event that detrimentally impacts a cellular system customer.
- the events just described are, in accordance with the present invention, gleaned from the information or data available from the cellular system infrastructure.
- the events gleaned from the cellular system infrastructure via parsing are then analyzed with respect to a predetermined event-to-failure "mapping" or "correlation" scheme.
- the present inventor has recognized that certain types of failures can be detected by analyzing the information that is available from the cellular system infrastructure.
- billing data along with call processing data, for example, one can find instances of cellular telephone calls that last only a short period of time, e.g., 5 to 7 seconds, and which are initiated and ended by the same cellular telephone user.
- Such short telephone calls can often be attributed to problems with a channel's audio signal.
- a person responsible for tending to or managing the resolution of that particular type of failure is notified by, for example, email, telephone, wireless telephone or pager, or other PCS device.
- the failure or potential failure can then be tended to in a timely and efficient manner.
- the aforementioned information and/or data is captured in real or near-real time over a predetermined period of time (e.g., 4, 6 or 8 hour periods) and analyzed preferably immediately thereafter so that analysis results are quickly made available to the appropriate personnel.
- Quantized periods of time are preferably employed since the information available from the cellular system infrastructure is considerable and, accordingly, it may be beneficial, in view of limited computing power, for example, to limit the amount of data that is being analyzed at any given time.
- event-to-failure mapping after a relatively short period of time, failures can be more quickly identified. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method and system that collects cellular system infrastructure information and/or data, extracts cellular system events therefrom and maps the extracted events into indications of possible or likely cellular system failures.
- Figure 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary system for collecting cellular infrastructure information and identifying a probable failure via event-to-failure mapping, in accordance with the present invention.
- FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating the preferred steps for implementing the present invention.
- FIG. 3 is an exemplary email message sent in accordance with the notification features of the present invention.
- the present invention provides a method and system to more effectively manage and/or monitor a cellular or PCS system or network.
- events in the network are monitored using information or data that is available from the system infrastructure itself.
- Figure 1 shows an exemplary system architecture in accordance with the present invention. The figure illustrates the type of data that the present invention preferably collects and the general flow of this data or information in accordance with the principles of the present invention.
- billing information 100, blocking statistics 110, call process data 120, counter information 130 and system alarm information 140, or some subset of this data are passed to event-to-failure mapping module 150, which is, for example, a software program running on computer 145.
- the foregoing data can be collected in real or near-real time primarily from cellular system switches and/or databases associated with cellular switches, by remotely connecting computer 145 to the switches and downloading data that has been recorded at the switch and the associated databases. Methods for implementing such connectivity to a cellular switch, for example, are well- known to those skilled in the art.
- computer 145 is connected to notification service 170, which may be an email server, paging service or the like.
- Event-to-failure mapping module 150 preferably collects the various forms of data and, through filtering, ordering and data association techniques, maps an event or a series of events to probable or actual failures in the cellular network. By collecting different types of data from the various sources 100-140, it is possible to identify possible points of failure. Examples of event-to-failure mapping are described later herein.
- the output of event-to-failure mapping module 150 is the identification of a probable failure 160.
- This probable failure is then preferably reported to a cellular system manager or technician, for example, who is responsible for resolving the identified failure. For example, if a cellular site channel is determined from the present invention to have failed, then a technician is preferably notified that, e.g., channel X at cell site Y should be replaced.
- a "platform” that stores, records or holds data or information with respect to the cellular system infrastructure is accessed.
- the "platform” may be a hard drive or dynamic random access memory (RAM) at a cellular switch, a database at a location other than a cellular switch, or any other data source that stores cellular system infrastructure information.
- computer 145 is programmed to perform step 205 as well as the other steps described herein.
- data is accessed and downloaded from the platform.
- This accessing and downloading step can be accomplished via, for example, a wire line network employing the Internet using FTP or HTTP, or any other suitable protocol for setting up a connection between a computer and a data source (typically another electronic computing device) for purposes of accessing and downloading data.
- a wire line network employing the Internet using FTP or HTTP, or any other suitable protocol for setting up a connection between a computer and a data source (typically another electronic computing device) for purposes of accessing and downloading data.
- the downloaded data is then parsed to capture information corresponding to cellular system infrastructure events that have been determined to be particularly relevant to cellular system operation. Accordingly, cellular system information tending to provide insight into, for example, blocked calls, dropped calls, noise, lack of audio, or one-way audio are preferably extracted and stored separately from the rest of the available data. Such information can be gleaned from, for example, call release/block data including:
- Data from billing records can also be used, which can provide information on call duration, switch trunks used, cell and channel information and features such as 3-way calling, call forwarding and voice mail.
- the parsed data, or events are then preferably organized into a common format, which is useful because a cellular system might employ switches made by different manufacturers or because the data that is accessed from different "platforms" may be in inconsistent formats.
- a common format may also include step 220, wherein the events are sorted by, for example, the time of the event, the RF channel on which the event occurred, the number of occurrences of the event or a customer's telephone or wireless device identification (ID) number.
- ID wireless device identification
- the parsed and sorted events are then subjected to a predetermined event-to-failure mapping. That is, through experimentation and observation, the present inventor has recognized that certain types of failures can be detected by analyzing the parsed and sorted events extracted from the cellular system infrastructure. Thus, using billing data along with call processing data, for example, one can find instances of cellular telephone calls that last only a short period of time, e.g., 5 to 7 seconds, and which are initiated and ended by the same cellular telephone user. Such short telephone calls can often be attributed to problems with a channel's audio signal. By detecting short calls of this nature and counting how many similar telephone calls that begin and end in such a fashion over a predetermined period of time, it is often possible to correctly predict that a channel's audio signal is about to fail or has already failed.
- a short period of time e.g., 5 to 7 seconds
- Billing data 100 shows a short term call followed by normal length call on the same site, but different channel.
- the billing record also provides channel information, audio trunk information, and calling and called party information.
- Blocking statistics (110) can indicate that there were no echo cancellers available for a digital call, which would create a "no audio" problem.
- the Cell level counters 130 could show a change in call originations due to a retry to get an audio connection.
- some cellular systems e.g., Ericsson
- RF Radio Frequency
- Billing records 100 supply the channel assignment, trunk information, disconnect reason, call duration, calling and called parties information.
- Blocking statistics 110 need not be accessed in this example.
- - Call processing data 120 may show hand off information, additional disconnect information, channel information before and after handoff.
- - Cell level counters 130 indicate if the cell that the call was on is experiencing and an increase in abnormally ending calls. Using trended data it is possible to determine when this started and then use that information to investigate additional billing records and call processing data.
- the cell can be determine if there are any alarms 140 associated with the channels indicated in the billing or call processing data.
- Billing information 100 can be used to show that a call is being handed off from digital to analog and back to digital very often. This will cause the call audio quality to change.
- the billing information also identifies which subscriber was involved, what cell sites and what channels.
- - Blocking statistics 110 may not be necessary in this example.
- Call processing data 120 is preferably used to supply information on which cell the anomaly is occurring, signal strengths of the calls, the BER (Bit Error Rate) of the calls, and the S/N (Signal to Noise) ratio on analog calls.
- a person responsible for tending to or managing the resolution of that particular type of failure is notified by, for example, email, wireless pager or telephone, or other PCS device.
- the appropriate person or persons is/are identified for those probable failures for which he/they are responsible.
- An email, or other well-known form of notification is then preferably sent to that person or persons.
- An email, or other well-known form of notification is then preferably sent to that person or persons.
- the personnel who were identified and notified in step 230 preferably also provide feedback to improve or optimize the event-to-failure mapping. For example, a technician may report that not only did the probable failure turn out to be an actual failure, but that another related failure was also detected when the failure was investigated. By adding the related failure to event-to-failure mapping 150, the overall accuracy of the system and method of the present invention is increased.
- the aforementioned information and/or data is captured in real or near-real time over a predetermined period of time (e.g., 2, 4, 6 or 8 hours, i.e., preferably less than 24 hours) and analyzed thereafter so that results can be quickly made available to the appropriate personnel.
- a predetermined period of time e.g. 2, 4, 6 or 8 hours, i.e., preferably less than 24 hours
- prior art methods of analyzing network operations typically involve reviewing a previous day's data. However, customers expect immediate corrective action when a failure occurs.
- the present invention provides prompt detection of failures and faster failure resolution, as compared to prior art systems and methodologies.
- Figure 3 shows an exemplary email message that is sent to personnel responsible for tending to or resolving cellular system failures.
- the exemplary email message is directed to an RF channel failure and preferably includes a brief description of the failure along with supporting data that is gleaned from the event data.
- frequency or channel 956 at cell site 90 recorded an error code of Supervisory Audio Tone (SAT) loss with a diagnostic of low signal to noise (S/N) ratio. This error code and diagnostic occurred 247 times in the four hour period from 12:00:00 to 16:00:00 on May 14, 2000.
- SAT Supervisory Audio Tone
- S/N low signal to noise
- the specification may have presented the method and/or process of the present invention as a particular sequence of steps. However, to the extent that the method or process does not rely on the particular order of steps set forth herein, the method or process should not be limited to the particular sequence of steps described. As one of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate, other sequences of steps may be possible. Therefore, the particular order of the steps set forth in the specification should not be construed as limitations on the claims. In addition, the claims directed to the method and/or process of the present invention should not be limited to the performance of their steps in the order written, unless that order is required by the description of the process in the specification.
Landscapes
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
- Signal Processing (AREA)
- Mobile Radio Communication Systems (AREA)
Abstract
Description
Claims
Priority Applications (3)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
AU2002239498A AU2002239498A1 (en) | 2000-12-06 | 2001-12-06 | Cellular/pcs management system and method |
EP01987263A EP1340387A2 (en) | 2000-12-06 | 2001-12-06 | Cellular/pcs management system and method |
CA002430996A CA2430996A1 (en) | 2000-12-06 | 2001-12-06 | Cellular/pcs management system and method |
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US09/729,720 US6785541B2 (en) | 2000-01-27 | 2000-12-06 | Cellular/PCS management system and method |
US09/729,720 | 2000-12-06 |
Publications (2)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
WO2002047406A2 true WO2002047406A2 (en) | 2002-06-13 |
WO2002047406A3 WO2002047406A3 (en) | 2003-04-17 |
Family
ID=24932300
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/US2001/046283 WO2002047406A2 (en) | 2000-12-06 | 2001-12-06 | Cellular/pcs management system and method |
Country Status (4)
Country | Link |
---|---|
EP (1) | EP1340387A2 (en) |
AU (1) | AU2002239498A1 (en) |
CA (1) | CA2430996A1 (en) |
WO (1) | WO2002047406A2 (en) |
Cited By (3)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
WO2005029892A1 (en) * | 2003-09-19 | 2005-03-31 | Bell Mobility Inc. | Mobile user location tracking system |
US7177653B2 (en) | 2003-09-19 | 2007-02-13 | Bell Mobility Inc. | Mobile user position locating system |
EP2683190A1 (en) * | 2012-06-07 | 2014-01-08 | Fujitsu Limited | Operation Monitoring Apparatus, Cause Event Estimating Method for the same, and Information Communication Network System |
Citations (4)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
EP0806880A2 (en) * | 1996-05-11 | 1997-11-12 | Alcatel | Method and apparatus for optimising a mobile radio network |
WO1999016274A1 (en) * | 1997-09-26 | 1999-04-01 | Alcatel Usa Sourcing Lp | Merged operations and maintenance center and method of operation |
WO1999053703A1 (en) * | 1998-04-14 | 1999-10-21 | Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ) | Method and apparatus for radio network management |
WO2000011884A1 (en) * | 1998-08-24 | 2000-03-02 | Telefonaktiebolaget L M Ericsson (Publ) | Self-engineering telecommunications network including an operation and maintenance control point |
-
2001
- 2001-12-06 WO PCT/US2001/046283 patent/WO2002047406A2/en not_active Application Discontinuation
- 2001-12-06 CA CA002430996A patent/CA2430996A1/en not_active Abandoned
- 2001-12-06 EP EP01987263A patent/EP1340387A2/en not_active Withdrawn
- 2001-12-06 AU AU2002239498A patent/AU2002239498A1/en not_active Abandoned
Patent Citations (4)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
EP0806880A2 (en) * | 1996-05-11 | 1997-11-12 | Alcatel | Method and apparatus for optimising a mobile radio network |
WO1999016274A1 (en) * | 1997-09-26 | 1999-04-01 | Alcatel Usa Sourcing Lp | Merged operations and maintenance center and method of operation |
WO1999053703A1 (en) * | 1998-04-14 | 1999-10-21 | Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ) | Method and apparatus for radio network management |
WO2000011884A1 (en) * | 1998-08-24 | 2000-03-02 | Telefonaktiebolaget L M Ericsson (Publ) | Self-engineering telecommunications network including an operation and maintenance control point |
Non-Patent Citations (3)
Title |
---|
"Digital cellular telecommunications system (Phase 2+); Performance data measurements; (GSM 12.04 version 7.0.0 Release 1998)" ETSI TS 100 615 V7.0.0, [Online] February 2000 (2000-02), pages 1-32, XP002217170 Retrieved from the Internet: <URL:http://WEBAPP.ETSI.ORG/exchangefolder /ts_100615v070000p.pdf> [retrieved on 2002-10-17] * |
LIN Y-B: "OA&M FOR THE GSM NETWORK" IEEE NETWORK, IEEE INC. NEW YORK, US, vol. 11, no. 2, 1 March 1997 (1997-03-01), pages 46-51, XP000683452 ISSN: 0890-8044 * |
SCHMID E H ET AL: "GSM OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE" ELECTRICAL COMMUNICATION, ALCATEL. BRUSSELS, BE, 1993, pages 164-171, XP000368135 ISSN: 0013-4252 * |
Cited By (4)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
WO2005029892A1 (en) * | 2003-09-19 | 2005-03-31 | Bell Mobility Inc. | Mobile user location tracking system |
US7177653B2 (en) | 2003-09-19 | 2007-02-13 | Bell Mobility Inc. | Mobile user position locating system |
EP2683190A1 (en) * | 2012-06-07 | 2014-01-08 | Fujitsu Limited | Operation Monitoring Apparatus, Cause Event Estimating Method for the same, and Information Communication Network System |
US9100864B2 (en) | 2012-06-07 | 2015-08-04 | Fujitsu Limited | Operation monitoring apparatus, cause event estimating method for the same, and information communication network system |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
EP1340387A2 (en) | 2003-09-03 |
CA2430996A1 (en) | 2002-06-13 |
AU2002239498A1 (en) | 2002-06-18 |
WO2002047406A3 (en) | 2003-04-17 |
Similar Documents
Publication | Publication Date | Title |
---|---|---|
US6785541B2 (en) | Cellular/PCS management system and method | |
KR100416872B1 (en) | Method and apparatus for testing a radio in a base station without using a radio test unit | |
US8611228B2 (en) | Anomaly detection method and system and maintenance method and system | |
US8144599B2 (en) | Binary class based analysis and monitoring | |
US7043237B2 (en) | Method and system for improved monitoring, measurement and analysis of communication networks utilizing dynamically and remotely configurable probes | |
US7466672B2 (en) | System, tool and method for network monitoring and corresponding network | |
US5488715A (en) | Process for integrated traffic data management and network surveillance in communications networks | |
EP1716714B1 (en) | Method for determining mobile terminal performance in a running wireless network | |
US8085677B2 (en) | Remote testing and monitoring to a cell site in a cellular communication network | |
US7764959B2 (en) | Analysis of arbitrary wireless network data using matched filters | |
CN112422344A (en) | Log abnormity warning method and device, storage medium and electronic device | |
US10404525B2 (en) | Classification of detected network anomalies using additional data | |
WO2017041406A1 (en) | Failure positioning method and device | |
US6636486B1 (en) | System, method and apparatus for monitoring and analyzing traffic data from manual reporting switches | |
WO2010022078A1 (en) | System and method for interpreting and classifying signals in communications systems | |
CN102917387A (en) | Method for monitoring multiple wireless networks and a mobile terminal | |
US8055201B1 (en) | System and method for providing integrated voice quality measurements for wireless networks | |
US20050287954A1 (en) | System and method for monitoring a communications network | |
CN113676509A (en) | Active detection method and system for health state of HTTP (hyper text transport protocol) interface | |
EP1340387A2 (en) | Cellular/pcs management system and method | |
WO2009072941A1 (en) | Method and apparatus for performance management in a communications network | |
US20070070915A1 (en) | Apparatus and method for correlating quality information on different layers of a network and a medium thereof | |
CN116546535A (en) | Network exception handling method, device and equipment | |
KR20040049990A (en) | Method for diagnosing mobile network | |
CN115996265A (en) | Large-area fault early warning method and system applied to maintenance call center |
Legal Events
Date | Code | Title | Description |
---|---|---|---|
AK | Designated states |
Kind code of ref document: A2 Designated state(s): AE AG AL AM AT AU AZ BA BB BG BR BY BZ CA CH CN CO CR CU CZ DE DK DM DZ EC EE ES FI GB GD GE GH GM HR HU ID IL IN IS JP KE KG KP KR KZ LC LK LR LS LT LU LV MA MD MG MK MN MW MX MZ NO NZ OM PH PL PT RO RU SD SE SG SI SK SL TJ TM TR TT TZ UA UG US UZ VN YU ZA ZM ZW |
|
AL | Designated countries for regional patents |
Kind code of ref document: A2 Designated state(s): GH GM KE LS MW MZ SD SL SZ TZ UG ZM ZW AM AZ BY KG KZ MD RU TJ TM AT BE CH CY DE DK ES FI FR GB GR IE IT LU MC NL PT SE TR BF BJ CF CG CI CM GA GN GQ GW ML MR NE SN TD TG |
|
121 | Ep: the epo has been informed by wipo that ep was designated in this application | ||
DFPE | Request for preliminary examination filed prior to expiration of 19th month from priority date (pct application filed before 20040101) | ||
WWE | Wipo information: entry into national phase |
Ref document number: 2430996 Country of ref document: CA |
|
WWE | Wipo information: entry into national phase |
Ref document number: 2001987263 Country of ref document: EP |
|
WWP | Wipo information: published in national office |
Ref document number: 2001987263 Country of ref document: EP |
|
REG | Reference to national code |
Ref country code: DE Ref legal event code: 8642 |
|
WWW | Wipo information: withdrawn in national office |
Ref document number: 2001987263 Country of ref document: EP |
|
NENP | Non-entry into the national phase in: |
Ref country code: JP |
|
WWW | Wipo information: withdrawn in national office |
Country of ref document: JP |