US5917898A
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Telecommunications network traffic management system
Assignee: British Telecommunications PLC
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Filing: 1994-10-24
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Granted: 1999-06-29
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Expires: 2014-10-24
Abstract
Abstract An international telecommunications network includes a set of international exchanges located in a particular country which connect a national telecommunications network situated in that country with networks situated in other countries. The international network includes a traffic management system in the form of an expert system having a set of knowledge sources. An identifier identifies alarms relating to traffic and a priority arranges the alarms in order of priority. A diagnose diagnoses the cause or causes of the alarms by proposing suspected causes and investigating them in relation to traffic and network data. A resolver proposes remedies for the causes of the alarms by reasoning over each cause in relation to data on traffic associated with the cause, reasoning over each remedy in relation to data on traffic in the neighborhood of the remedy to determine a figure of merit for the remedy and then arranging the remedies in order of merit. Remedies may be implemented automatically or under the control of an operator.
Inventors
- 👤 Paul Anthony Bassa
- 👤 Joseph James Isaac
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-28 23:21
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04Q; H04Q3/00; H04Q3/64; H04Q3/66; H04M; H04M3/00; H04M3/22; H04M3/2254; H04Q3/0016; H04Q3/0062; H04Q3/0075; H04Q3/0079; H04M3/36; H04Q2213/00; H04Q2213/13054; H04Q2213/13103; H04Q2213/13106; H04Q2213/13163; H04Q2213/13164; H04Q2213/13166; H04Q2213/1325; H04Q2213/13349; H04Q2213/13383
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 24
Claim 1
Independent Claim
133 words
A telecommunication network including a plurality of exchanges, a set of routes for carrying telecommunications traffic between said exchanges, and a traffic management system, said traffic management system composing: means for receiving traffic data from said exchanges; means for identifying alarms from said traffic data, said identifying means comparing traffic parameter values derived from said traffic data with threshold valves and identifying an alarm when one of said traffic parameter valves is on the alarm side of a threshold value; means for diagnosing at least one suspected cause for said alarms by applying predetermined cause selection rules to said alarms; means for proposing at least one remedy for each cause by applying remedy selection rules to the cause; and means for arranging the remedies proposed for each cause in an order of merit.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
133 words
A telecommunication network including a plurality of exchanges, a set of routes for carrying telecommunications traffic between said exchanges, and a traffic management system, said traffic management system composing: means for receiving traffic data from said exchanges; means for identifying alarms from said traffic data, said identifying means comparing traffic parameter values derived from said traffic data with threshold valves and identifying an alarm when one of said traffic parameter valves is on the alarm side of a threshold value; means for diagnosing at least one suspected cause for said alarms by applying predetermined cause selection rules to said alarms; means for proposing at least one remedy for each cause by applying remedy selection rules to the cause; and means for arranging the remedies proposed for each cause in an order of merit.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
63 words
A telecommunication network as in claim 1, in which, in the traffic management system, said means for proposing at least one remedy for each cause includes: means for requesting data on traffic associated with each cause, and means for reasoning over each cause in relation to the data on traffic associated with the cause in order to propose said at least one remedy.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
70 words
A telecommunication network as in claim 1 or 2, in which, in the traffic management system, the means for arranging the remedies in order of merit includes: means for requesting data on traffic associated with each remedy, and means for reasoning over the effect of applying each remedy in relation to the data on traffic in the neighborhood of the remedy to determine a figure of merit for the remedy.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
24 words
A telecommunication system as in claim 1 or 2, in which the traffic management system includes means for arranging alarms in order of priority.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
53 words
A telecommunication network as in claim 1 or 2 in which, the traffic management system, the means for diagnosing at least one suspected cause for the alarms includes means for investigating said at least one suspected cause in relation to traffic data by applying predetermined investigation rules to said at least one cause.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
24 words
A telecommunication system as in claim 1 or 2, includes means for permitting an operator to select and apply one of the proposed remedies.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
30 words
A telecommunications system as in claim 1 or 2, in which the traffic management system includes means for automatically applying the proposed remedy having the greatest merit for each cause.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
24 words
A telecommunication system as in claim 6, in which the traffic management system includes means for monitoring traffic in relation to the applied remedies.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
26 words
A telecommunication system as in claim 1 or 2, including at least one route for carrying telecommunications traffic between the said telecommunications network and anther network.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
133 words
A traffic management system for a telecommunications network including a plurality of exchanges and a set of routes for carrying telecommunications traffic between said exchanges, said traffic management system comprising: means for receiving traffic data from said exchange; means for identifying alarms from said traffic data, said identifying means comparing traffic parameter values derived from said traffic data with threshold values and identifying an alarm when one of said traffic parameter values in on the alarm side of a threshold value; means for diagnosing at least one suspected cause for said alarms by applying predetermined cause selection rules to said alarms; means for proposing at least one remedy for each cause by applying remedy selection rules to the cause; and means for arranging the remedies proposed for each cause in order of merit.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
133 words
A traffic management system for a telecommunications network including a plurality of exchanges and a set of routes for carrying telecommunications traffic between said exchanges, said traffic management system comprising: means for receiving traffic data from said exchange; means for identifying alarms from said traffic data, said identifying means comparing traffic parameter values derived from said traffic data with threshold values and identifying an alarm when one of said traffic parameter values in on the alarm side of a threshold value; means for diagnosing at least one suspected cause for said alarms by applying predetermined cause selection rules to said alarms; means for proposing at least one remedy for each cause by applying remedy selection rules to the cause; and means for arranging the remedies proposed for each cause in order of merit.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
127 words
A traffic management system for a telecommunications network comprising: a plurality of exchanges and a set of routes for carrying telecommunications traffic between said exchanges, said traffic management system comprising a computer controlled by a program so as to: receive data from said exchanges, identify alarms said traffic data by comparing traffic parameter values derived from said traffic data with threshold value and identify an alarm when one said traffic parameter value is on the alarm side of a threshold value, diagnose at least one suspected cause for the alarms by applying predetermined cause selection rules to said alarms, propose at least one remedy for each cause by applying remedy selection rules to the cause, and arrange the remedies proposed for each cause in order of merit.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
127 words
A traffic management system for a telecommunications network comprising: a plurality of exchanges and a set of routes for carrying telecommunications traffic between said exchanges, said traffic management system comprising a computer controlled by a program so as to: receive data from said exchanges, identify alarms said traffic data by comparing traffic parameter values derived from said traffic data with threshold value and identify an alarm when one said traffic parameter value is on the alarm side of a threshold value, diagnose at least one suspected cause for the alarms by applying predetermined cause selection rules to said alarms, propose at least one remedy for each cause by applying remedy selection rules to the cause, and arrange the remedies proposed for each cause in order of merit.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
24 words
A telecommunication system as in claim 7, in which the traffic management system includes means for monitoring traffic in relation to the applied remedies.
Claim 16
Independent Claim
124 words
A method for managing a telecommunications network, said telecommunications network composing a plurality of exchanges and a set of routes for carrying telecommunications traffic between said exchanges, the method comprising the steps of: receiving traffic data from the exchanges; identifying alarms from said traffic data by comparing traffic parameter values derived from said traffic data with threshold values and identifying an alarm when of said traffic parameter values in on an alarm side of a threshold value; diagnosing at least one suspected cause for said alarms by applying predetermined cause selection rules to said alarms; proposing at least one remedy for each cause by applying remedy selection rules to the cause; and arranging the remedies proposed for each cause in an order of merit.
Claim 17
Independent Claim
124 words
A method for managing a telecommunications network, said telecommunications network composing a plurality of exchanges and a set of routes for carrying telecommunications traffic between said exchanges, the method comprising the steps of: receiving traffic data from the exchanges; identifying alarms from said traffic data by comparing traffic parameter values derived from said traffic data with threshold values and identifying an alarm when of said traffic parameter values in on an alarm side of a threshold value; diagnosing at least one suspected cause for said alarms by applying predetermined cause selection rules to said alarms; proposing at least one remedy for each cause by applying remedy selection rules to the cause; and arranging the remedies proposed for each cause in an order of merit.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
54 words
The method of claim 13, wherein said step of proposing at least one remedy for each cause includes the steps of: requesting data on traffic associated with each cause; an reasoning over each cause in relation to the data on traffic associated with the cause in order to propose said at least one remedy.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
60 words
The method of claim 13, wherein the step of arranging the remedies in an order of merit includes the steps of: requesting data on traffic associated with each remedy; and reasoning over the effect of applying each remedy in relation to the data on traffic in the neighborhood of the remedy to determine a figure of merit for the remedy.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
17 words
The method of claim 13, further comprising the step of: arranging the alarms in order of priority.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
42 words
The method of claim 13, wherein the step of diagnosing at least one suspected cause for the alarms includes: investigating said at least one suspected cause in relation to traffic data by applying predetermined investigation rules to said at least one cause.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
18 words
The method of claim 13, further comprising the step of: selecting and applying on of the proposed remedies.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method of claim 13, further comprising the step of: automatically applying the proposed remedy having the greatest merit for each cause.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
18 words
The method of claim 18, further comprising the step of: monitoring traffic in relation to the applied remedies.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
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| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2002-06-28 | 2002-12-28 | 2003-06-29 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2006-06-28 | 2006-12-28 | 2007-06-29 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2010-06-28 | 2010-12-28 | 2011-06-29 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |