WO2022019718A1

WO2022019718A1 - A method and system for managing alarms in a wireless communication network

Info

Publication number: WO2022019718A1
Application number: PCT/KR2021/009585
Authority: WO
Inventors: Sandeep Kumar JAISAWAL; Varadarajan SEENIVASAN
Original assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2020-07-23
Filing date: 2021-07-23
Publication date: 2022-01-27

Abstract

In an embodiment, a method for managing alarms in a wireless communication network is disclosed. The method includes monitoring one or more alarms received from at least one network node at the wireless communication network. The method includes queueing the one or more alarms into a queue in a queue as a bulk of alarms. The method includes transmitting the bulk of alarms to a network operation center (NOC) upon detecting the bulk of alarms.

Description

A METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MANAGING ALARMS IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORK

The present disclosure, in general, relates to network procedures performed in a wireless communication network, and, in particular, relates to methods and systems for managing one or more alarms in the wireless communication network.

During a proof of concept (PoC) for developing microservice based Service assurance for Next generation container based element management system (EMS), observed several performance bottleneck in current EMS product which hampers alarm handling capability.

One such bottleneck was handling and processing of alarms in a sequential one by one methodology, which decreases the throughput time of alarms processing at every module of EMS/ network management system (NMS) layer, hence it gets reported late at Network operator center causing overall delay in corrective measurement action.

We did initial development to understand the proportion of benefit for stated mechanism, the results shows ten fold increase in alarms processing rate at Samsung Core System manager product.

Problem Statement: Delayed propagation of Network alarms to Network operator center, when there are burst of alarms generated from single or multiple network elements managed by current EMS.

In telecommunication management forum (TMN) for operation support system (OSS)/business support system (BSS), the EMS and the 5g Service Assurance, is responsible for directly interacting with deployed physical and virtual network elements of 4g and 5g such as an evolved node B (eNodeB), a mobility management entity (MME), a 3GPP　5G　next generation base (gNodeB), an access and mobility management function (AMF), and a session management function (SMF).

Network elements time to time report its status, alarms, KPI key performance indicator (KPI) entities like device central processing unit (CPU) utilization percentage to connected EMS via network alarms/trap/KPI file, handled, processed and reported to north bound application located at network operator center (NOC). The NOC exposes a simple IP and port based interface used by the EMS to send alarms/trap/KPI files, the EMS will convert the alarms/traps/KPI file from various network element (NE) formats such as a transaction language-1 (TL1) in to a NOC interface specific format like a simple network management protocol (SNMP).

Once they are reported to the NOC, corrective action will be taken based on the type and criticality of alarm in the form of Trouble Ticket system.

The action time of Trouble Ticket system depends on the alarm reported time.

The EMS and a NMS, include similar process groups for processing the alarms/traps/KPI files, the EMS and the NMS introduce significant delay in generation of alarms and reporting to the NOC.

Reason for this delay is EMS/NMS inter component processing of alarm before it actually reported to NOC. Also, at each layer, alarms/events are handled one by one and not as a bulk.

These reporting time to NOC significantly increases during burst alarm scenarios leading to restart of various processes.

The current alarms mechanism suffer decreased throughput primarily because:

a) Too much of extra internal alarm processing inside EMS.

b) Serialization of received alarms by converting of burst of alarms into sequence of single alarms.

c) This bottleneck in the design of EMS forces the existing EMS customers to directly collect the alarms from network element for alarm analytics system.

Thus, there is a need for a solution that overcomes the above deficiencies.

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts, in a simplified format, that are further described in the detailed description of the invention. This summary is neither intended to identify key or essential inventive concepts of the invention and nor is it intended for determining the scope of the invention.

In accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure, a method for managing alarms in a wireless communication network is disclosed. The method includes monitoring one or more alarms received from at least one network node at the NMS. The method includes queueing the one or more alarms into a queue and transmit the one or more alarms in the queue as a bulk of alarms to a bulk transmission engine. The one or more alarms is greater than one. The method includes transmitting the bulk of alarms received from the queueing engine to a network operation center (NOC) interface upon detecting the bulk of alarms.

In accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure, an element management system (EMS) for managing alarms in a wireless communication network is disclosed. The EMS includes a monitoring engine configured to monitor one or more alarms received from at least one network node at the NMS. The EMS includes a queueing engine configured to queue the one or more alarms into a queue and transmit the one or more alarms in the queue as a bulk of alarms to a bulk transmission engine. The one or more alarms is greater than one. The EMS includes a bulk transmission detection engine configured to pass the bulk of alarms received from the queueing engine to a network operation center (NOC) interface upon detecting the bulk of alarms.

In accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure, a method for managing alarms in a wireless communication network is disclosed. The method includes monitoring one or more alarms received from at least one network node at the wireless communication network. The method includes queueing the one or more alarmsin a queue as a bulk of alarms. The method includes transmitting the bulk of alarms to a network operation center (NOC) interface upon detecting the bulk of alarms.

In accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure, an apparatus for managing alarms in a wireless communication network is disclosed. The apparatus comprises a transceiver and at least one processor coupled to the transceiver, wherein the at least one processor is configured to monitor one or more alarms received from at least one network node at the wireless communication network, queue the one or more alarms into a queue as a bulk of alarms and transmit the bulk of alarms to a network operation center (NOC) interface upon detecting the bulk of alarms.

To further clarify advantages and features of the present invention, a more particular description of the invention will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof, which is illustrated in the appended drawings. It is appreciated that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope. The invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail with the accompanying drawings.

These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood when the following detailed description is read with reference to the accompanying drawings in which like characters represent like parts throughout the drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 illustrates an environment including an element management system (EMS) for managing alarms in a wireless communication network, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Fig. 2 illustrates a schematic block diagram of the EMS for managing alarms at a wireless communication network, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates an operational flow diagram depicting a process for managing alarms, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Fig. 4A illustrates a tabular representation depicting a handling speed of alarms, in accordance with an existing technique; and

Fig. 4B illustrates a tabular representation depicting a handling speed of alarms when the alarms is passed to the bulk transmission detection engine, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

Fig. 5 illustrates a block diagram depicting a method for managing alarms, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Further, skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the drawings are illustrated for simplicity and may not have been necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the flow charts illustrate the method in terms of the most prominent steps involved to help to improve understanding of aspects of the present invention. Furthermore, in terms of the construction of the device, one or more components of the device may have been represented in the drawings by conventional symbols, and the drawings may show only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the drawings with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having benefit of the description herein.

For promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now be made to the embodiment illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended, such alterations and further modifications in the illustrated system, and such further applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated therein being contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are explanatory of the invention and are not intended to be restrictive thereof.

Reference throughout this specification to "an aspect", "another aspect" or similar language means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, appearances of the phrase "in an embodiment", "in another embodiment" and similar language throughout this specification may, but do not necessarily, all refer to the same embodiment.

The terms "comprises", "comprising", or any other variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process or method that comprises a list of steps does not include only those steps but may include other steps not expressly listed or inherent to such process or method. Similarly, one or more devices or sub-systems or elements or structures or components proceeded by "comprises. a" does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of other devices or other sub-systems or other elements or other structures or other components or additional devices or additional sub-systems or additional elements or additional structures or additional components.

Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skilled in the art to which this invention belongs. The system, methods, and examples provided herein are illustrative only and not intended to be limiting.

Fig. 1 illustrates an environment 100 including an EMS 102 for managing one or more alarms in a wireless communication network, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. Examples of the one or more alarms may include, but are not limited to, a communication failure alarm, and an alarm associated with a temperature raise of device. In an embodiment, the device may be at least one network node communicating with the EMS 102. In an embodiment, the EMS 102 may be configured to perform a high-performance bulk reporting for the one or more alarms through a bulk reporting mechanism. Furthermore, the EMS 102 may be configured to employ a passing mechanism for the one or more alarms to achieve the high-performance alarm reporting.

Continuing with the above embodiment of the present disclosure, the EMS 102 may be configured to monitor the one or more alarms received from the at least one network node. In an embodiment, the one or more alarms may be received at an alarm channel associated with the wireless communication network. In an embodiment, monitoring the one or more alarms may include collecting the one or more alarms before queueing the one or more alarms.

In accordance with the above embodiment of the present disclosure, monitoring the one or more alarms may be followed by queueing the one or more alarms. In an embodiment, the EMS 102 may be configured to arrange the one or more alarms into a queue. Moving forward, the EMS 102 may be configured to determine that the one or more alarms is greater than one. In response to determining that the one or more alarms is greater than one, the EMS 102 may be configured to pass the one or more alarms to a Network Operation Center (NOC) interface 104 as the bulk of alarms.

Continuing with the above embodiment, in response to receiving the bulk of alarms, the NOC interface 104 may be configured to execute the bulk of alarms. In an embodiment, executing the bulk of alarms may include taking an action corresponding to each alarm amongst the bulk of alarms associated with the one or more alarms.

As an example, the present disclosure may be implemented to any management system and service for any wireless network 3G, 4G, 5G, 6G, virtualized, distributed, legacy EMS, NMS or orchestrator engine, network subnet slice manager, network slice manager, software defined network controller, virtual and physical managers in any hierarchy.

As a further example, the present disclosure may be implemented to current network architecture, vRAN, cRAN, ORAN and O-RAN.

In an embodiment, the present disclosure includes a hierarchy consisting of the at least one network node, the EMS 102, the NOC 104. In an embodiment, the hierarchy may consist of the at least one network node, the EMS 102, a Network Management System (NMS), and the NOC interface 104. Furthermore, the hierarchy may consist of the at least one network node, the NMS, the NOC interface104.

Fig. 2 illustrates a schematic block diagram 200 of the EMS 102 for managing one or more alarms at a wireless communication network, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. Furthermore, the EMS 102 may be configured to communicate with the at least one network node and the NOC interface 104. In an embodiment, the EMS 102 may be configured to communicate with the at least one network node for receiving the one or more alarms. Furthermore, the EMS 102 may be configured to transmit the one or more alarms to the NOC interface 104. In an embodiment, the EMS 102 may be configured to detect that the one or more alarms is greater than one. To that understanding, the EMS 102 may be configured to transmit the one or more alarms as a bulk of alarms to the NOC interface 104. In an embodiment, where it is determined that the one or more alarms is one, the EMS 102 may be configured to process the one or more alarms prior to transmitting the one or more alarms to the NOC interface 104. In an embodiment, the EMS 102 may interchangeably be referred as a Network Management System (NMS). In an embodiment, the NMS may be a separate entity such that the NMS may be communicating with one or more EMS 102. In an embodiment, the one or more EMS 102 may be communicating with the at least one network node.

In an embodiment, the one or more alarms may be related to a network. In an embodiment, the one or more alarms may be an alert corresponding to a network issue at a remote location. Examples of the one or more alarms may include, but are not limited to, a communication failure alarm, and an alarm associated with a temperature raise of device. In an embodiment, the device may be the at least one network node communicating with the EMS 102. In an embodiment, the EMS 102 may be configured to simultaneously pass the bulk of alarms to the NOC interface 104 and queue other alarms being received at the EMS 102.

Continuing with the above embodiment, the EMS 102 may include a processor 202, a memory 204, data 206, module(s) 208, a resource (s) 210, a display unit 212, a communication interface unit(s) 214, a monitoring engine 216, a queueing engine 218, and a bulk transmission detection engine 220. In an embodiment, the processor 202, the memory 204, the data 206, the module(s) 208, the resource (s) 210, the display unit 212, the communication interface unit(s) 214, the monitoring engine 216, the queueing engine 218, and the bulk transmission detection engine 220may be communicably coupled to one another.

As would be appreciated, the EMS 102, may be understood as one or more of a hardware, a software, a logic-based program, a configurable hardware, and the like. In an example, the processor 202 may be a single processing unit or a number of units, all of which could include multiple computing units. The processor may be implemented as one or more microprocessors, microcomputers, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, central processing units, processor cores, multi-core processors, multiprocessors, state machines, logic circuitries, application-specific integrated circuits, field-programmable gate arrays and/or any devices that manipulate signals based on operational instructions. Among other capabilities, the processor 202 may be configured to fetch and/or execute computer-readable instructions and/or data 206 stored in the memory 204.

In an example, the memory 204 may include any non-transitory computer-readable medium known in the art including, for example, volatile memory, such as static random access memory (SRAM) and/or dynamic random access memory (DRAM), and/or non-volatile memory, such as read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), flash memory, hard disks, optical disks, and/or magnetic tapes. The memory 204 may include the data 206.

The data 206 serves, amongst other things, as a repository for storing data processed, received, and generated by one or more of, the processor 202, the memory 204, the data 206, the module(s) 208, the resource (s) 210, the display unit 212, the communication interface unit(s) 214, the monitoring engine 216, the queueing engine 218, and the bulk transmission detection engine 220. In an embodiment, the data 206 may include the one or more alarms received by the EMS 102.

The module(s) 208, amongst other things, may include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc., which perform particular tasks or implement data types. The module(s) 208 may also be implemented as, signal processor(s), state machine(s), logic circuitries, and/or any other device or component that manipulate signals based on operational instructions.

Further, the module(s) 208 may be implemented in hardware, instructions executed by at least one processing unit, for e.g., processor 202, or by a combination thereof. The processing unit may be a general-purpose processor which executes instructions to cause the general-purpose processor to perform operations or, the processing unit may be dedicated to performing the required functions. In another aspect of the present disclosure, the module(s) 208 may be machine-readable instructions (software) which, when executed by a processor/processing unit, may perform any of the described functionalities.

In some example embodiments, the module(s) 208 may be machine-readable instructions (software) which, when executed by a processor/processing unit, perform any of the described functionalities.

The resource(s) 210 may be physical and/or virtual components of the EMS 102 that provide inherent capabilities and/or contribute towards the performance of the EMS 102. Examples of the resource(s) 210 may include, but are not limited to, a memory (e.g., the memory 204), a power unit (e.g. a battery), a display unit (the display unit 212), etc. The resource(s) 210 may include a power unit/battery unit, a network unit, etc., in addition to the processor 202, and the memory 204.

The display unit 212 may display various types of information (for example, media contents, multimedia data, text data, etc.) on the EMS 102. The display unit 212 may include, but is not limited to, a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light-emitting diode (LED) display, an organic LED (OLED) display, a plasma cell display, an electronic ink array display, an electronic paper display, a flexible LCD, a flexible electrochromic display, and/or a flexible electrowetting display.

The communication interface unit(s) 214 may enable (e.g., facilitate) communication by the EMS 102. In an embodiment, the communication interface unit(s) 214 may include a transceiver.

Continuing with the above embodiment, the communication interface unit(s) 214 may be configured to communicate with the at least one network node. In an embodiment the communication interface unit(s) 214 may be configured to receive the one or more alarms from the at least one network node. In an embodiment, the one or more alarms may be received through an alarm stream channel associated with the EMS 102. In an embodiment, the alarm stream channel may be a network path connecting the at least one network node with the EMS 102. In an embodiment, the alarm stream channel may be based on one of an internet protocol version (IPV) 4 and an IPV6 connectivity.

Continuing with the above embodiment, receiving the one or more alarms may be followed by monitoring the one or more alarms. In an embodiment, the monitoring engine 216 may be configured to monitor the one or more alarms received from the at least one network node. In an embodiment, the monitoring engine 216 may be configured to pass the one or more alarms to the queueing engine 218.

Subsequent to monitoring the one or more alarms, the queueing engine 218 may be configured to arrange the one or more alarms into a queue. In an embodiment, the queue may function as a path for the one or more alarms to be processed and executed. In an embodiment, the queueing engine 218 may be configured to arrange the one or more alarms into the queue based on counting the one or more alarms. In an embodiment, where it is determined upon counting that the one or more alarms is greater than one, the queueing engine 218 may be configured to queue the one or more alarms as a bulk of alarms. Further, the queueing engine 218 may be configured to transmit the bulk of alarms to the bulk transmission detection engine 220. In an embodiment, the queueing engine 218 may be configured to simultaneously transmit the bulk of alarms and arrange other alarms received at the NMS in the queue.

In an embodiment, the queueing engine 218 may be configured to determine that the one or more alarms is greater than a queueing capacity of the queueing engine 218 in response to counting the one or more alarms. In an embodiment, the queueing capacity may correspond to an ability of the queueing engine 218 to queue and transmit a number of alarms at an instant. Furthermore, upon determining that the one or more alarms is greater than the queueing capacity associated with the queueing engine 218, the queueing engine 218 may be configured to arrange a fixed number of alarms from the one or more alarms in the queue and arrange another fixed number of alarms amongst the one or more alarms in the queue. In an embodiment, the queueing capacity may be configured by a network operator.

In an embodiment, the queueing engine 218 may be configured to determine that the one or more alarms is equal to one in response to counting the one or more alarms. Upon determining that the one or more alarms is equal to one, the queueing engine 218 may be configured to transmit the one or more alarms to the processor 202 for further processing, prior to execution by the NOC interface 104.

In an embodiment, the queueing engine 218 may be configured to determine whether it is feasible to transmit more than one alarm as the bulk of alarms to the bulk transmission detection engine 220 or not. In an embodiment, where it is determined by the queueing engine 218 that it is not feasible to transmit the bulk of alarms, the queueing engine 218 may be configured to transmit the bulk of alarms, one at a time to the processor 202 the bulk of alarms. In an embodiment, feasibility to transmit the bulk of alarms may be based on a frequency of receiving the one or more alarms at the NMS.

Continuing with the above embodiment, the bulk transmission detection engine 220 may be configured to receive the one or more as the bulk of alarms. Upon receiving the bulk of alarms, the bulk transmission engine 220 may be configured to detect that the bulk of alarms include more than one alarm. In continuation with the above embodiment, the bulk transmission detection engine 220 may be configured to process the bulk of alarms. In an embodiment, the processing the bulk of alarms may include one or more of de-queueing the bulk of alarms as one of a bulk alarm and a batch alarm to mediation layer, internal processing of the bulk of alarms as one of the bulk alarm and the batch alarm, bulk/batch database operations and a bulk/batch messaging.

Continuing with the above embodiment, in response to processing of the bulk of alarms, the bulk transmission detection engine 220 may be configured to transmit the bulk of alarms received from the queueing engine 218 to the NOC interface 104.

Subsequently, the processor 202 may be configured to receive the one or more alarms when the one or more alarms is equal to one. Moving forward, the processor 202 may be configured to process the one or more alarms. In an embodiment, the processing may include filtering the one or more alarms. Furthermore, the processing may include performing a number of EMS functions on the one or more alarms. In an embodiment, the number of EMS functions may include determining whether the one or more alarms is present in an EMS database as one or more of previously received alarms, and based on that marking the one or more alarms as duplicate if it is determined that the one or more alarms is stored in the EMS database as the one or more previously received alarms, correlating the one or more alarms with the one or more previously received alarms stored in the EMS database, mapping alarm fields to an operator specific text.. Furthermore, upon processing the one or more alarms, the processor 202 may be configured to store information related to the one or more alarms in an EMS database. In an embodiment, the EMS database may be stored in the memory 204. Furthermore, the processor 202 may be configured to pass the one or more alarms to the NOC interface 104 for execution.

Continuing with the above embodiment, the NOC interface 104 may be configured to execute the bulk of alarms received from the bulk transmission detection engine 220 and the one or more alarms received from the processor 202. In an embodiment, executing may include taking an action corresponding to each alarm by the NOC interface 104. In an embodiment, the bulk of alarms and the one or more alarms may be processed by a simple network management protocol (SNMP) converter prior to being received by the NOC interface 104.

FIG. 3 illustrates an operational flow diagram 300 depicting a process for managing one or more alarms, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. In an embodiment, the one or more alarms may be transmitted by at least one network node. In an embodiment, the at least one network node may be one or more of a 4G network element, and a 5G network element.

Examples of the 4G network element and the 5G network element may include, but are not limited to, an evolve node base station (enodeB), a 5G node base station (gnodeB), a mobility management entity (MME), a S serving gateway (S-gateway), a packet data network gateway(P-gateway). In an embodiment, the one or more alarms may be related to one or more network issues faced by the at least one network node. Examples of the one or more alarms may include, but are not limited to, a communication failure alarm, and an alarm associated with a temperature raise of device. In an embodiment, the device may be at least one network node communicating with the EMS 102. In an embodiment the process may be performed by the EMS 102.

In an embodiment, the EMS 102 may be configured to consistently pass the one or more alarms to the NOC interface 104 for instant execution of the one or more alarms. In an embodiment, the EMS 102 may be configured to pass the one or more alarms as a bulk of alarms to the NOC interface 104 instantly upon receiving the one or more alarms. Furthermore, each alarm amongst the bulk of alarms may be executed by the NOC interface 104 such that an action corresponding to each alarm is taken. In an embodiment, the NOC interface 104 may include an analytic system, a NOC, and a number of operations support system　(OSS) tools and probes for executing each alarm.

Continuing with the above embodiment, the process may include receiving (step 302) the one or more alarms from the at least one node. In an embodiment, the one or more alarms may be received by the communication interface unit(s) 214 as referred in the fig. 2. In an embodiment, the one or more alarms may be received through an alarm stream channel associated with the NMS. In an embodiment, the alarm stream channel may be a network path connecting the at least one network node with the wireless communication network. In an embodiment, the alarm stream channel may be based on one of an internet protocol version (IPV) 4 and an IPV6 connectivity.

In an embodiment, the one or more alarms may constantly be transmitted by the at least one network node to the communication interface unit(s) 214. Continuing with the above embodiment, receiving the one or more alarms may be followed by monitoring the one or more alarms. In an embodiment, the monitoring of the one or more alarms may be performed by the monitoring engine 216 as referred in the fig. 2.

Subsequent to monitoring the one or more alarms, the process may proceed towards queueing (step 304) the one or more alarms. In an embodiment, the queueing may be performed by the queueing engine 218 as referred in the fig. 2. In an embodiment, queueing may include arranging the one or more alarms into a queue. In an embodiment, the queue may function as a path for the one or more alarms to be processed and executed.

In an embodiment, queueing the one or more alarms by the queueing engine 218 may be based on counting the one or more alarms. In an embodiment, where it is determined that the bulk of alarms is greater than one, the process may include transmitting the bulk of alarms to the bulk transmission detection engine 220 and the process may further proceed towards step 306a. In an embodiment, the queueing engine 218 may be configured to simultaneously transmit the bulk of alarms to the bulk transmission detection engine 220 and arrange other alarms received at the wireless communication network in the queue.

In an embodiment, where it is determined that the one or more alarms is greater than a queueing capacity of the queueing engine 218, the process may include arranging a fixed number of alarms amongst the one or more alarms in the queue. In an embodiment, the queueing capacity may correspond to an ability of the queueing engine 218 to queue and transmit a number of alarms at an instant. In an embodiment, the fixed number of alarms may be transmitted to the bulk transmission detection engine 220 as a bulk of alarms. As a simultaneous action to transmitting the fixed number of alarms, the queueing engine 218 may be configured to arrange another fixed number of alarms amongst the other alarms in the queue. In an embodiment, the queueing capacity may be configured by a network operator.

In an embodiment, where it is determined that the one or more alarms is equal to one, the process may proceed towards step 308a. In an embodiment, the determination may be performed by the queueing engine 218.

In an embodiment, the one or more alarms may prioritized based on a severity associated with the one or more alarms. In an embodiment, the severity may be defined as one or more of high, medium, and low. In an embodiment, prioritization may be performed for queueing the one or more alarms.

In an embodiment, the process may proceed towards detecting (step 306a) that the bulk of alarms received from the queueing engine 218 is greater than one upon receiving the bulk of alarms at the bulk transmission detection engine 220. In an embodiment, the bulk transmission detection engine 220 may be configured to receive the bulk of alarms from the queueing engine 218 where it is determined by the queueing engine 218 that the bulk of alarms is greater than one.

Continuing with the above embodiment, the process may include transmitting (step 306b) the bulk of alarms to the NOC interface 104 as referred in the fig. 1. In an embodiment, the bulk of alarms may be passed by the bulk transmission detection engine 220 as referred in the fig. 2.

Furthermore, the process may include processing the bulk of alarms greater than one by the bulk transmission detection engine 220 prior to transmitting the bulk of alarms to the NOC interface 104. In an embodiment, the processing may include one or more of de-queueing as one of a bulk and a batch alarm to mediation layer, internal processing as one of the bulk alarm and the batch alarm, bulk/batch database operations and a bulk/batch messaging.

Subsequently, the process may include transmitting (308a) the one or more alarms to the processor 202 for further processing prior to transmitting the one or more alarms to the NOC interface 104.

Moving forward, the process may proceed towards processing (step 308b) the one or more alarms by the processor 202 as referred in the fig. 2 in response to receiving the one or more alarms from the queueing engine 218. In an embodiment, the processing may include filtering the one or more alarms. Furthermore, the processing may include performing a number of EMS functions on the one or more alarms. In an embodiment, the number of EMS functions may include determining whether the one or more alarms is present in an EMS database as one or more of previously received alarms, and based on that marking the one or more alarms as duplicate if it is determined that the one or more alarms is stored in the EMS database as the one or more previously received alarms, correlating the one or more alarms with the one or more previously received alarms stored in the EMS database, mapping alarm fields to an operator specific text.. In an embodiment, the processing may further include storing information related to the one or more alarms in the EMS database in the memory 204 as referred in the fig. 2.

Continuing with the above embodiment, the process may include executing (step 310) the bulk of alarms received from the bulk transmission detection engine 220 and the one or more alarms received from the processor 202 such that the one or more alarms is a single alarm. In an embodiment, the execution may be performed by the NOC interface 104. In an embodiment, executing the one or more alarms may include taking an action corresponding to each alarm by the NOC interface 104. In an embodiment, the one or more alarms and the bulk of alarms may be processed by a Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) converter prior to being received by the NOC interface 104.

Fig. 4A illustrates a tabular representation 400a depicting a handling speed of one or more alarms, in accordance with an existing technique. In an embodiment, the handling speed may be based on processing of the one or more alarms per second. In an embodiment, the one or more alarms may be processed one at a time by the processor 202.

Fig. 4B illustrates a tabular representation 400b depicting a handling speed of one or more alarms when the one or more alarms is passed to the bulk transmission detection engine 220, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. In an embodiment, the handling speed may be based on processing of the one or more alarms per second. In an embodiment, the processing of the alarms may be performed in a bulk by the bulk transmission detection engine 220.

Fig. 5 illustrates a block diagram 500 depicting a method for managing one or more alarms, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The method may be implemented by the EMS 102 using components thereof, as described above. In an embodiment, the method may be executed by the communication interface unit(s) 214, the monitoring engine 216, the queueing engine 218, and the bulk transmission detection engine 220. Further, for the sake of brevity, details of the present disclosure that are explained in details in the description of fig. 1 to fig. 4b are not explained in detail in the description of fig. 5.

At block 502, the method includes monitoring the one or more alarms received from at least one network node at the wireless communication network.

At block 504, the method includes queueing the one or more alarms into a queue and transmit the one or more alarms in the queue as a bulk of alarms to a bulk transmission engine, wherein the one or more alarms is greater than one.

At block 506, the method includes transmitting the bulk of alarms received from the queueing engine to a Network Operation Center (NOC) Interface upon detecting the bulk of alarms.

In an embodiment, the present disclosure may include a number of advantages such as a cost savings in 5G as ten-fold increase in alarm handling capability saves ten Service Assurance systems, a faster network alarm processing as reduced latency of a fault to report to NOC interface, robustness of the operator NOC as burst alarm scenarios make NOC out of service unable to handle the huge numbers, and preventing loss of critical alarms in the burst scenarios.

While specific language has been used to describe the present disclosure, any limitations arising on account thereto, are not intended. As would be apparent to a person in the art, various working modifications may be made to the method to implement the inventive concept as taught herein. The drawings and the foregoing description give examples of embodiments. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that one or more of the described elements may well be combined into a single functional element. Alternatively, certain elements may be split into multiple functional elements. Elements from one embodiment may be added to another embodiment.

Claims

A method for managing alarms in a wireless communication network, the method comprising:

monitoring one or more alarms received from at least one network node at the wireless communication network;

queueing the one or more alarmsin a queue as a bulk of alarms; and

transmitting the bulk of alarms to a network operation center (NOC) interface upon detecting the bulk of alarms.
The method of claim 1, further comprising:

executing the bulk of alarms resulting in taking an action corresponding to each alarm amongst the bulk of alarms.
The method of claim 1, wherein a fixed number of alarms amongst the one or more alarms is queued in the queue and the fixed number of alarms is based on a queueing capacity of a queueing engine.
The method of claim 3, further comprising:

queueing another fixed number of alarms amongst the one or more alarms upon transmitting the fixed number of alarms.
The method of claim 1, wherein queueing the one or more alarms is based on counting the one or more alarms.
The method of claim 5, further comprising:

processing the one or more alarms and storing the one or more alarms in a database.
The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more alarms are prioritized based on a severity associated with the one or more alarms.
An apparatus for managing one or more alarms in a wireless communication network, the apparatus comprising:

a transceiver; and

at least one processor coupled to the transceiver, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:

monitor one or more alarms received from at least one network node at the wireless communication network;

queue the one or more alarms into a queue as a bulk of alarms; and

transmit the bulk of alarms to a network operation center (NOC) interface upon detecting the bulk of alarms.
The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

execute the bulk of alarms resulting in taking an action corresponding to each alarm amongst the bulk of alarms.
The apparatus of claim 8, wherein a fixed number of alarms amongst the one or more alarms is queued in the queue and the fixed number of alarms is based on a queueing capacity of a queueing engine.
The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

queue another fixed number of alarms amongst the one or more alarms upon transmitting the fixed number of alarms.
The apparatus of claim 8, wherein queueing the one or more alarms is based on counting the one or more alarms.
The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

process the one or more alarms and store the one or more alarms in a database.
The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the one or more alarms are prioritized based on a severity associated with the one or more alarms.