US5726979A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Network management system
Assignee: MCI Corp
•
Filing: 1996-02-22
•
Granted: 1998-03-10
•
Expires: 2016-02-22
Abstract
Abstract A system and method for managing a telecommunications network. The system and method employs a network management architecture that provides an overlay in which network management functions are performed. The network management architecture includes a workstation function that provides a graphical user interface (GUI) for a user to interact with an object model of the physical telecommunications network, a telecommunications network management subsystem that provides an object model of the network including object models of network equipment and connectivity between the equipment, a database subsystem that stores "current" and "future" views of the network, and an object request broker that translates objects from a first object-oriented paradigm to a second object-oriented paradigm for use by the GUI. The network management architecture facilitates network design by determining network performance metrics. The network architecture can also be used to assess the performance of a given network configuration by virtue of simulation. The network architecture can also be used to initialize switchover logic for network restoration.
Inventors
- 👤 Gregory Scott Henderson
- 👤 Wayne B. Perry
- 👤 Thomas Dennie Franklin
- 👤 Ed J. Sanders, Jr.
- 👤 Von A. Cooley
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-27 08:52
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04Q; H04Q3/00; H04Q3/0016; H04Q3/0062; H04Q3/0083; H04J; H04J3/00; H04J3/02; H04J3/06; H04J3/0635; H04J3/0685; H04J3/0688; H04L; H04L41/00; H04L41/02; H04L41/0213; H04L41/0233; H04L41/024; H04L41/04; H04L41/052; H04L41/06; H04L41/0654; H04L41/0663; H04L41/08; H04L41/0803; H04L41/0813; H04L41/0866; H04L41/0873; H04L41/14; H04L41/145; H04L41/20; H04L41/22; H04L41/50; H04L41/5003; H04L41/5009; H04L41/5019; H04Q3/0075; H04Q3/0079; H04L41/0876; H04L41/0879; H04L41/0886; H04L41/5061; H04L41/5067; H04L69/00; H04L69/08
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 18
Claim 1
Independent Claim
145 words
A system to manage a telecommunications network having network equipment, comprising: a telecommunications management network (TMN) subsystem to store a run-time object model representation of the telecommunications network equipment; a database subsystem coupled to said telecommunications management network subsystem to provide long-term storage for records describing the network equipment and connectivity between the network equipment from which the said run-time object model representation of the telecommunications network is constructed; a workstation coupled to said TMN subsystem on which to operate a graphical user interface (GUI) that provides a graphical representation of said run-time object model representation, and further provides access to said run-time object model representation, and on which to perform at least one network management function; and a translator coupled to said workstation and said telecommunications management network subsystem to translate said object model representation into a form that is usable by said GUI.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
145 words
A system to manage a telecommunications network having network equipment, comprising: a telecommunications management network (TMN) subsystem to store a run-time object model representation of the telecommunications network equipment; a database subsystem coupled to said telecommunications management network subsystem to provide long-term storage for records describing the network equipment and connectivity between the network equipment from which the said run-time object model representation of the telecommunications network is constructed; a workstation coupled to said TMN subsystem on which to operate a graphical user interface (GUI) that provides a graphical representation of said run-time object model representation, and further provides access to said run-time object model representation, and on which to perform at least one network management function; and a translator coupled to said workstation and said telecommunications management network subsystem to translate said object model representation into a form that is usable by said GUI.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
71 words
The system as recited in claim 1, further comprising: a first workset containing a "current" view of the network, wherein said first workset is stored in said database subsystem; and a workset manager coupled to said TMN subsystem to create a second workset from records stored in said database subsystem, wherein said second workset is stored in said database subsystem and said second workset represents a "future" view of the network.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
79 words
The system as recited in claim 1 further comprising a view controller coupled to said GUI and to said translation device to accept a request from said GUI and to convert said request into a command understandable by said translator to manipulate said run-time object model representation, and further to accept a results of any object model manipulation for transmission to said view controller, said view controller converting said result into said useable form for display on said GUI.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
58 words
The system as recited in claim 3, further comprising a common management interface protocol (CMIP) interface, said run-time object model representation created from information extracted from the telecommunications network over said CMIP interface, and stored in a manner consistent with the TMN standard, but having extensions thereto for representing particular connections between the network equipment in the network.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
16 words
The system as recited in claim 4, wherein said translator is an object request broker (ORB).
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
32 words
The system as recited in claim 5, wherein said ORB translates an object from the TMN standard, and the extensions thereto, to a common object request broker architecture (CORBA) standard compliant representation.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
19 words
The system as recited in claim 2, wherein said at least one "future" view is indexed according to date.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
19 words
The system as recited in claim 2, wherein said at least one "future" view is indexed according to project.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
20 words
The system as recited in claim 1, wherein said GUI presents linked topographical and topological representations of the telecommunications network.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
23 words
The system as recited in claim 4, wherein said particular connections are line, link, and section connections in a SONET or SDH network.
Claim 12
Independent Claim
80 words
A method for managing a telecommunications network having a plurality of network elements comprising the steps of: modeling the network in an object oriented-programming language using object models to create a run-time object model of the telecommunications network; storing the run-time object model in a telecommunications management network subsystem; providing access to the model via a graphical user interface (GUI); translating from the object model representation stored in the telecommunications management network subsystem to a representation useable by the GUI.
Claim 13
Independent Claim
80 words
A method for managing a telecommunications network having a plurality of network elements comprising the steps of: modeling the network in an object oriented-programming language using object models to create a run-time object model of the telecommunications network; storing the run-time object model in a telecommunications management network subsystem; providing access to the model via a graphical user interface (GUI); translating from the object model representation stored in the telecommunications management network subsystem to a representation useable by the GUI.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
33 words
The method as recited in claim 11, wherein said run-time object model is modeled in accordance with the telecommunications management network (TMN) standard, but having extensions thereto to represent particular network element connections.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
61 words
The method as recited in claim 12, further comprising the step of: extracting information required to build said run-time object model representation across a common management interface protocol (CMIP) compliant interface; translating said object model representation to be compliant with the common object request broker architecture (CORBA) standard; and providing run-time object model information to said GUI across a CORBA-compliant interface.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
52 words
The method as recited in claim 11, further comprising the steps of: modifying said run-time object model in accordance with a desired configuration of the telecommunications network at some point in the future to create a "future" view of the network; and storing said "future" view as a workset in said database.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method as recited in claim 14, further comprising the step of indexing said "future" view according to date.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method as recited in claim 14, further comprising the step of indexing said "future" view according to project.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
US5276789A
Cited
US5490276A
Cited
US5375199A
Cited
US5285494A
Cited
US5432932A
Cited
US5457797A
Cited
US5495607A
Cited
US5546577A
Cited
US5572640A
Cited
US5568471A
Cited
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2001-03-09 | 2001-09-08 | 2002-03-10 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2005-03-09 | 2005-09-08 | 2006-03-10 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2009-03-09 | 2009-09-08 | 2010-03-10 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |