Network management device, method, and program

Abstract

A network management device according to an embodiment comprises: a failure impact calculation unit that, when a condition is applied in which a failure occurs in communication between some wireless base stations and user terminals due to a failure in one of a plurality of communication facilities including a plurality of wireless base stations that configure a network, calculates which communication facility among the plurality of communication facilities is affected by the failure that has occurred; and a priority calculation unit that, in a state where the above conditions are applied, when a condition is applied in which communication is restored between a single wireless base station in which communication with the user terminal has failed and the user terminal, calculates the priority of the communication facility at which work is to be done to repair the failure that has occurred, on the basis of a total number of user terminals that are permitted to communicate with each of the wireless base stations that can communicate with any of the user terminals.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Embodiments of the present invention relate to a network management apparatus, method, and program.

Background Art

[0002] A radio base station that provides wireless communication may experience a communication interruption when, due to a disaster such as an earthquake or a typhoon, the power supply from a power plant is cut off, a connection to a backbone network (NW) is lost, a landslide, or a flood causes the base station itself to malfunction. At this time, the terminal searches for radio waves of other effective base stations to communicate, but there are times when it becomes difficult to connect due to the radio wave situation or connection to other terminals.

[0003] At this time, the communication carrier dispatches a repair team to the malfunction location that caused the communication interruption. The communication carrier needs to select a dispatch destination for the repair team in a short time from among a large number of base stations that are out of communication and device or cable malfunctions that cause this communication failure, under the condition of limited personnel resources, in order to minimize the impact of the communication interruption. The selection of the dispatch destination for the repair team needs to be determined according to various situations such as the affected base station, device or cable, the impact on the NW service spreading from there, the location, and the traffic situation until the repair team reaches the above dispatch destination, and manual consideration requires a great deal of time and skill.

[0004] Also, the operator who manages the radio base station and the operator who manages the backbone NW are often different, and it is difficult to cooperate.

[0005] Disaster response requires urgency, and since the occurrence frequency is low and it is difficult to train skilled personnel, there is a need for a technology that can automatically and quickly determine a repair arrangement plan by selecting a restoration location in view of the situation during a disaster.

[0006] In determining the patrol plan described above, for wired networks, regarding the rescue of each communication building where communication equipment is housed, Patent Document 1 proposes a flexible building importance calculation technique that takes into account network configuration information and fault impact information as a technology for evaluating the priority of rescue. [Prior art documents] [Patent Documents]

[0007] [Patent Document 1] International Publication No. 2022 / 130475 [Overview of the project] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0008] In the event of a large-scale disaster, communication disruptions are expected not only in wired networks but also in wireless networks due to large-scale power outages resulting in loss of power to base stations, landslides, or communication cable breaks or equipment failures caused by strong winds, affecting the communication of users using wireless terminals.

[0009] While Patent Document 1 proposes a method using NOIM (Network Operation Injected Model) to calculate the impact of network failures for developing disaster recovery plans for wired networks, no established method has been proposed for assessing the impact of failures and developing recovery plans that also consider wireless networks. Wired and wireless connections are often handled by different companies or have different skill sets, and understanding the impact on users in a mixed wireless and wired network environment requires manual analysis, time, and skill.

[0010] This invention was made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to provide a network management device, method, and program that can appropriately determine the priority of recovery when a failure occurs in multiple communication facilities. [Means for solving the problem]

[0011] A network management device according to one aspect of the present invention includes: a fault impact calculation unit that calculates other communication equipment among the plurality of communication equipment, including a plurality of wireless base stations that make up a network, that are affected by the fault that occurs when a condition is met in which a fault occurs in any of the plurality of communication equipment, including a plurality of wireless base stations that make up a network, causing a failure in communication between some wireless base stations and user terminals; and a priority calculation unit that calculates the priority of the communication equipment that is the target of the work to restore the fault that occurred, based on the total number of user terminals that are allowed to communicate with each of the wireless base stations that can communicate with any of the user terminals, when the condition is met in which the communication between a single wireless base station that experienced a failure in communication with a user terminal is restored.

[0012] A network management method according to one aspect of the present invention is a method performed by a network management device, comprising: calculating the other communication equipment among the plurality of communication equipment that is affected by the failure that occurred when a condition is met in which a failure occurs in any of the plurality of communication equipment, including a plurality of radio base stations that make up a network, causing a failure in communication between some radio base stations and user terminals; and, when the condition is met in which communication between a single radio base station that experienced a failure in communication with a user terminal and that user terminal is restored, calculating the priority of the communication equipment that is the target of the work to restore the failure that occurred, based on the total number of user terminals that are allowed to communicate with each of the radio base stations that can communicate with any of the user terminals. [Effects of the Invention]

[0013] According to the present invention, it is possible to appropriately determine the priority for recovery when a failure occurs in multiple communication devices. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0014] [Figure 1]FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an application example of a network management apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2A] FIG. 2A is a flowchart showing an example of a processing procedure by a network management apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2B] FIG. 2B is a flowchart showing an example of a processing procedure by a network management apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an example of functions of a priority calculation unit and a deployment plan processing unit. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a coverage area of a base station in a wireless communication area. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of modeling elements in a wireless communication area. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of calculation of failure impact in a wireless communication area. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of an impact when communication by a base station with no communication is restored. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of an impact when communication by a base station with no communication is restored. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining an example of generation of a restoration equipment list. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining an example of generation of a deployment plan. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of an impact when an area with double system outage has occurred. [Figure 12] FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a restoration equipment list in a tabular form when an area with double system outage has occurred. [Figure 13] FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of a network management apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Embodiments of the Invention]

[0015] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an application example of a network management apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, a network management apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an input unit 10, a failure impact calculation unit 20, a priority calculation unit 30, a deployment plan processing unit 40, and a deployment plan output unit 50.

[0016] FIGS. 2A and 2B are flowcharts showing an example of a processing procedure by the network management apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. First, the input unit 10 of the network management apparatus 100 inputs preliminary information by a user's input operation (S11).

[0017] This preliminary information includes, for example, NW resource information and radio base station (sometimes simply referred to as a base station) information (including area, important site information, upper limit connection number, etc.). The input unit 10 inputs the position information of the terminal possessed by the user at a fixed cycle (S12).

[0018] When a failure occurs in the network, the input unit 10 inputs failure information (S13). The failure information includes failure information indicating the situation of the failure in the network and deployment information of a failure repair team related to the failure in the network.

[0019] Based on the failure information input in S11, the failure impact calculation unit 20 calculates, for example, using the failure impact calculation function of NOIM, a communication failure that occurs when the power supply to communication equipment in the network configuration stops, and the failure impact on other buildings in the same network configuration due to the communication failure (S14).

[0020] Based on the calculation results in S12, the priority calculation unit 30 calculates a base station priority (base station service impact) for each base station corresponding to the impact of the communication failure when the condition is applied assuming that the fault location related to a single wireless base station has been restored (S15), and sorts these calculated base station priorities in descending order of value (S16).

[0021] The priority calculation unit 30 identifies the repair locations for restoring the base station fault based on the above fault information (S21).

[0022] The priority calculation unit 30 calculates the service impact that will be restored when the communication function between the base station and the user terminal related to the repaired area is restored as the restoration priority (S22). If the calculation of the repaired areas has not yet been completed for all base stations (N in S23), the process returns to S21 and processes other base stations. When the calculation of the repaired areas has been completed for all base stations (Y in S23), the priority calculation unit 30 sorts the restoration priorities obtained for each base station in descending order of value (S24).

[0023] The deployment plan processing unit 40 generates a worker deployment plan that prioritizes repair locations with higher priority among the above-mentioned recovery priorities, and the deployment plan output unit 50 outputs this deployment plan by displaying it on a display device or the like (S25).

[0024] In this embodiment, the network management device 100 calculates the importance of the wireless base station and outputs a fault recovery plan based on this.

[0025] In this embodiment, NOIM is used as the base, and the impact of wireless base stations is assessed taking into account both the redundancy of the wireless communication coverage area and the wired network redundancy. The network management device 100 generates a recovery equipment list that lists the equipment to be restored in order to repair the communication function between the base station and the user terminal.

[0026] In other words, in this embodiment, the service impact due to a failure of a wireless base station or backbone network is modeled using NOIM. In this embodiment, the connection between user terminals and base stations is not modeled individually, but rather as a connection between a group of users and the base station.

[0027] Next, the network management device 100 calculates the importance of a wireless base station based on the results of the fault impact calculation on the network, assuming that communication by some wireless base stations is restored. Using the NW topology information held by NOIM, it identifies the fault location that caused the communication outage at this wireless base station, and calculates the restoration priority of the communication equipment at this fault location based on the importance of the base station.

[0028] Finally, the network management device 100 calculates a deployment route for the repair teams based on the deployment information of the repair teams, so that, under limited resources, the repair teams are assigned to the fault locations in order of priority for equipment restoration.

[0029] These technologies enable the automation of tasks that were previously performed manually, such as calculating deployment plans for repairing mobile base stations and backbone networks to cover communication disruptions in wireless areas during disasters.

[0030] One embodiment of the present invention makes it possible to calculate a plan for arranging fault repairs for wireless base stations and networks, taking into account the impact on communications. This enables the automatic and rapid determination of a fault arrangement plan that minimizes service disruption time, thereby achieving skill-less and time-saving fault arrangement planning.

[0031] Figure 3 illustrates an example of the functions of the priority calculation unit and the deployment planning processing unit. Figure 3 shows an example of a network modeled using NOIM with respect to the coverage area of ​​wireless base stations and the distribution of user equipment (UEs). The priority calculation unit 30 calculates the priority for restoring the faulty base station, equipment, or cable based on the terminal connection information held by the wireless base station and the fault impact calculation results of NOIM. The deployment planning processing unit 40 generates a deployment plan for fault repair teams that will prioritize visiting equipment with a relatively high priority for restoration under the condition of limited maintenance resources.

[0032] Figure 4 shows an example of the coverage area of ​​a base station in a wireless communication area. In this embodiment, a group of UEs (User Entities) held by users and located in the same predetermined area within a wireless communication area are designated as a UE group (UEG). In the example shown in Figure 4, it is assumed that the number of users corresponding to the number of UEs belonging to each of the areas corresponding to "UEG1" to "UEG4" is distributed. Specifically, the area of ​​the first UE group, "UEG1," has 400 users corresponding to the 400 UEs belonging to "UEG1," the area of ​​the second UE group, "UEG2," has 300 users corresponding to the 300 UEs belonging to "UEG2," the area of ​​the third UE group, "UEG3," has 400 users corresponding to the 400 UEs belonging to "UEG3," and the area of ​​the fourth UE group, "UEG4," has 500 users corresponding to the 500 UEs belonging to "UEG4."

[0033] Furthermore, in the example shown in Figure 4, the first wireless base station, "Building A," has a maximum number of users it can communicate with, which is 1000, and covers all of "UEG1" to "UEG4" as its wireless communication area. The second wireless base station, also "Building A," has a maximum number of users it can communicate with, which is 500, and covers "UEG1" and "UEG3" as its wireless communication area. The third wireless base station, "Building C," has a maximum number of users it can communicate with, which is 600, and covers "UEG1" and "UEG2" as its wireless communication area. Furthermore, it is assumed that under normal circumstances, one repair team is deployed in the radio communication area covered by each of these radio communication stations.

[0034] Figure 5 shows an example of a model of elements in a wireless communication area. The example arm shown in Figure 5 illustrates how each element from the UE group to the core network shown in Figure 4 is modeled using NOIM. For the wireless base station coverage area, the user area distribution is represented by the connections between the UE group and the wireless base station.

[0035] In the example shown in Figure 5, a top-level router is provided in the mobile backhaul (MBH), and three switches (Switch1, Switch2, and Switch3) are connected to this router as elements one level below it.

[0036] "Switch1" is connected to "Core1," the core device of the transmission network one layer below, and then to "Base Station A," a wireless base station one layer below that. "Switch2" is connected to "Core2," the core device of the transmission network one layer below, and then to "Base Station B," a wireless base station one layer below that. "Switch3" is connected to "Core3," the core device of the transmission network one layer below, and then to "Base Station C," a wireless base station one layer below that.

[0037] Then, corresponding to the example shown in Figure 4, "UEG1" to "UEG4" are connected to "Base Station A," "UEG1" and "UEG3" are connected to "Base Station B," and "UEG1" and "UEG2" are connected to "Base Station C." In this example, the total number of users for "UEG1" to "UEG4," which is 1600, is considered the total number of users, and the total number of users that "Base Station A" to "Base Station C" can accommodate, which is 2100, is considered the total number of users that the entire facility can accommodate.

[0038] As shown in Figure 5, the user distribution in the model is categorized by terminal location information and base station data of the UE group. In this example, the number of people to manage is significantly reduced compared to representing the connection between individual terminals in the UE group and wireless base stations, allowing for quicker assessment of subsequent fault impacts.

[0039] Figure 6 shows an example of how interference effects are calculated in a wireless communication area. In this embodiment, when the fault impact calculation unit 20 of the network management device 100 receives information about the occurrence of a fault, such as a malfunction, input by the input unit 10, it maps the location of this fault onto the model in NOIM and calculates the fault impact, taking into account the ripple effect from this location down the network.

[0040] In the example shown in Figure 6, the cable between the router "Router" and the switch "Switch2" in the mobile backhaul is mapped as the first fault location (Figure 6(1)), the core device "Core2" in the transmission network is mapped as the second fault location (Figure 6(2)), and "Base Station C" is mapped as the third fault location (Figure 6(3)).

[0041] Here, since communication is possible between "Base Station A" and the UE group among "Base Station A" to "Base Station C", the number of users that "Base Station A" can handle, which is 1000, is considered the total number of users that the entire facility can handle. Similarly to the example shown in Figure 5, the total number of users of "UEG1" to "UEG4", which is 1600, is considered the total number of users.

[0042] Then, the difference between the total number of users allowed by the entire facility (1000 people) and the total number of users (1600 people), which is 600 people, is designated as the number of users who are expected to be unable to communicate wirelessly due to the failure at the aforementioned fault location.

[0043] Furthermore, "UEG1," which was able to communicate wirelessly between "Base Station A" and "Base Station C," lost the ability to communicate wirelessly with "Base Station B" and "Base Station C" due to the failure at the aforementioned fault location, and transitioned to a state where it could only communicate wirelessly with "Base Station A," resulting in a communication status of "2 / 3 interrupted."

[0044] "UEG2," which was able to communicate wirelessly with "Base Station A" and "Base Station C," lost the ability to communicate wirelessly with "Base Station C" due to the failure at the aforementioned fault location, and transitioned to a state where it could only communicate wirelessly with "Base Station A," resulting in a communication status of "1 / 2 interrupted."

[0045] "UEG3," which was able to communicate wirelessly with both "Base Station A" and "Base Station B," lost the ability to communicate wirelessly with "Base Station B" due to the failure at the aforementioned fault location, and transitioned to a state where it could only communicate wirelessly with "Base Station A," resulting in a communication status of "1 / 2 interruption."

[0046] Figure 7 shows an example of the impact when communication is restored from a base station that was unable to communicate. In this embodiment, the fault impact calculation unit 20 of the network management device 100 simulates the impact of restoring communication to a base station that has become unable to communicate, using NOIM, and ranks the impact on base station services.

[0047] In the example shown in Figure 7, the base station service impact is calculated as the subsequent effects that occur when it is assumed that wireless communication between "Base Station B" (indicated as a in Figure 7) and the UE group is restored (sometimes referred to as "rescue Base Station B") by performing repair work on the first and second fault locations related to "Base Station B" as shown in Figure 6.

[0048] Here, since communication is possible between "Base Station A" and "Base Station B" and the UE group, the total number of users allowed by "Base Station A" and "Base Station B," which is 1500, is considered the total number of users allowed by the entire facility. Similarly to the example shown in Figure 5, the total number of users of "UEG1" to "UEG4," which is 1600, is considered the total number of users. Following the rescue of "Base Station B," the total number of users the facility can accommodate has increased by 500 compared to 1,000 before the rescue of "Base Station B." This number represents the service impact when "Base Station B" was rescued. Then, the difference of 100 people between the total number of users who can be accommodated by the entire facility after the rescue of "Base Station B" (1500 people) and the total number of users (1600 people) is defined as the number of congestion affected users, who are expected to continue to be unable to perform wireless communication due to the failure at the aforementioned fault location.

[0049] Furthermore, due to the rescue of "Base Station B," "UEG1" can now communicate wirelessly with "Base Station A" and "Base Station B," but it still cannot communicate wirelessly with "Base Station C," so the communication status before the rescue, "2 / 3 disconnected," changes to "1 / 3 disconnected." In addition, by rescuing "Base Station B," "UEG3" will be able to communicate wirelessly with "Base Station A" and "Base Station B" again, thus resolving the "1 / 2 disconnection" communication state that existed before the rescue.

[0050] Figure 8 shows an example of the impact when communication is restored from a base station that was unable to communicate. In the example shown in Figure 8, the base station service impact is calculated as the subsequent effects that occur when it is assumed that wireless communication between "Base Station C" (indicated as a in Figure 8) and the UE group is restored (sometimes referred to as "rescue Base Station C") by repairing the third fault location related to "Base Station C" shown in Figure 6.

[0051] Here, since communication is possible between "Base Station A" and "Base Station C" and the UE group, the total number of users allowed by "Base Station A" and "Base Station B," which is 1600, is considered the total number of users allowed by the entire facility. Similarly to the example shown in Figure 5, the total number of users of "UEG1" to "UEG4," which is 1600, is considered the total number of users. The total number of users that the equipment can accommodate after the rescue of "Base Station C" has increased by 600 compared to 1,000 before the rescue of "Base Station C". This number corresponds to the service impact when "Base Station C" was rescued. Then, the difference between the total number of users who can be accommodated by the entire facility after the rescue of "Base Station C" (1600 people) and the total number of users (1600 people), which is 0 people, is positioned as the number of congestion affected.

[0052] Furthermore, due to the rescue of "Base Station C," "UEG3" becomes able to communicate wirelessly with "Base Station A" and "Base Station C," but it continues to be unable to communicate wirelessly with "Base Station B," so the communication status before the rescue, "2 / 3 disconnected," changes to "1 / 3 disconnected." In addition, by rescuing "Base Station C," "UEG2" will be able to communicate wirelessly with "Base Station A" and "Base Station C" again, thus resolving the "1 / 2 disconnection" communication state that existed before the rescue.

[0053] Figure 9 illustrates an example of generating a list of equipment to be restored. The priority calculation unit 30 identifies the faulty communication equipment that is causing the base station to be unable to communicate with user terminals based on the fault information input above, calculates a recovery priority for each faulty location, which is the number of service impacts that will be restored by repairing the faulty location, generates a list of recoverable equipment sorted in descending order of these calculated recovery priorities, and outputs it.

[0054] For example, the priority calculation unit 30 identifies that the faulty location causing the inability of base station B to communicate with the user terminal is (1) cable 1 between the router and Switch 1, and (2) core device 2. The priority calculation unit 30 also identifies that the faulty location causing the inability of base station C to communicate with the user terminal is base station C itself.

[0055] For example, the priority calculation unit 30 calculates that the recovery priority for both "Cable 1" and "Core Device 2" is "500" based on the fact that the service impact when "Base Station B," which is the base station related to the identified fault locations "Cable 1" and "Core Device 2," is restored is "500" as described above.

[0056] Furthermore, for example, the priority calculation unit 30 calculates the recovery priority for "Base Station C" as "500" based on the fact that the service impact when the identified fault location, "Base Station C," is restored is "600" as described above.

[0057] The priority calculation unit 30 then outputs a "List of Restored Equipment (in Priority Order)" as shown in Figure 9, which is obtained by sorting the calculated restoration priorities for each of the above-mentioned repair locations in descending order of value. According to this list, the communication equipment with the highest priority for repair is "Base Station C" itself, followed by "Cable 1" and "Core Device 2," which are communication equipment with relatively high repair priorities.

[0058] Figure 10 illustrates an example of the generation of a deployment plan. The deployment planning processing unit 40 generates a deployment plan for the repair team's work vehicles, prioritizing the higher-priority repair locations listed in the generated repair equipment list based on the resources of the repair team.

[0059] In the example shown in Figure 10, the deployment planning processing unit 40 generates a deployment plan in which the work vehicle of the fault repair team "Team 1" is first deployed to "Base Station C," which has the highest recovery priority in the generated list of recovery equipment.

[0060] Figure 11 shows an example of the effects when both system faults occur in the area. In this embodiment, when an area experiencing a double system outage occurs due to the occurrence of the above-mentioned fault location, the priority calculation unit 30 considers the number of users whose effects from the double system outage will be resolved when the base station is restored when calculating the recovery priority.

[0061] In the example shown in Figure 11, if (1) Cable 1 between Router and Switch 1, (2) Core Device 2, and (3) Base Station A itself fail, communication between Base Station A and user terminals and between Base Station B and user terminals will become impossible. As a result, the communication status of UEG3 and UEG4 will transition to a double-system failure, where there are no base stations capable of communication.

[0062] In detail, in the example shown in Figure 6, the cable between the router "Router" and the switch "Switch2" in the mobile backhaul is mapped as the first fault location (Figure 11 (1)), the core device "Core2" in the transmission network is mapped as the second fault location (Figure 11 (2)), and "Base Station A" is mapped as the third fault location (Figure 11 (3)).

[0063] Here, since communication is possible between "Base Station C" and the UE group among "Base Station A" to "Base Station C", the number of users that "Base Station C" can handle, which is 600, is considered the total number of users that the entire facility can handle. Similarly to the example shown in Figure 5, the total number of users of "UEG1" to "UEG4", which is 1600, is considered the total number of users.

[0064] Then, the difference between the total number of users allowed by the entire facility (600 people) and the total number of users (1600 people), which is 1000 people, is designated as the number of users who are expected to be unable to communicate wirelessly due to the failure at the aforementioned fault location.

[0065] Furthermore, "UEG1," which was able to communicate wirelessly between "Base Station A" and "Base Station C," lost the ability to communicate wirelessly with "Base Station A" and "Base Station B" due to the failure at the aforementioned fault location, and transitioned to a state where it could only communicate wirelessly with "Base Station C," resulting in a communication status of "2 / 3 interrupted."

[0066] "UEG2," which was able to communicate wirelessly with "Base Station A" and "Base Station C," lost the ability to communicate wirelessly with "Base Station A" due to the failure at the aforementioned fault location, and transitioned to a state where it could only communicate wirelessly with "Base Station C," resulting in a communication status of "1 / 2 interrupted."

[0067] UEG3, which had been able to communicate wirelessly with base stations A and B, lost the ability to communicate wirelessly with base stations A and B due to the failure at the aforementioned fault location. As a result, UEG3 transitioned to a state where there were no base stations with which it could communicate wirelessly, and its communication status became "both systems down."

[0068] UEG4, which was previously able to communicate wirelessly only with base station A, lost the ability to communicate wirelessly with base station A due to the failure at the aforementioned fault location. As a result, UEG4 transitioned to a state where there were no base stations with which it could communicate wirelessly, and its communication status became "both systems down."

[0069] In the example shown in Figure 11, the base station service impact is calculated as the continued impact that would occur if "Base Station B" were rescued by performing repair work on the first and second fault locations related to "Base Station B".

[0070] Here, since communication is possible between "Base Station B" and "Base Station C" and the UE group, the total number of users allowed by "Base Station B" and "Base Station C," which is 1100, is considered the total number of users allowed by the entire facility. Similarly to the example shown in Figure 5, the total number of users of "UEG1" to "UEG4," which is 1600, is considered the total number of users. Following the rescue of "Base Station B," the total number of users the facility can accommodate has increased by 500 compared to 600 before "Base Station B" was rescued. This number represents the service impact when "Base Station B" was rescued. Then, the difference of 500 people between the total number of users who can be accommodated by the entire facility after the rescue of "Base Station B" (1100 people) and the total number of users (1600 people) is defined as the number of congestion-affected users who are expected to continue to be unable to perform wireless communication due to the failure at the aforementioned fault location.

[0071] Furthermore, by rescuing "Base Station B," "UEG3" will be able to communicate wirelessly with "Base Station B" again, thus resolving the communication state "both systems down" that existed before the rescue. The number of users affected by the resolution of both outages through the rescue of "Base Station B" is 400, the same number as the users of "UEG3," and this number will be added when calculating the recovery priority.

[0072] Furthermore, in the example shown in Figure 11, the base station service impact is calculated as the subsequent effects that occur when it is assumed that wireless communication between "Base Station A" and the UE group is restored (sometimes referred to as "rescue Base Station A") by performing repair work on the third fault location related to "Base Station A" as shown in Figure 11.

[0073] Here, since communication is possible between "Base Station A" and "Base Station C" and the UE group, the total number of users allowed by "Base Station A" and "Base Station C," which is 1600, is considered the total number of users allowed by the entire facility. Similarly to the example shown in Figure 5, the total number of users of "UEG1" to "UEG4," which is 1600, is considered the total number of users. Following the rescue of "Base Station A," the total number of users the facility can accommodate has increased by 1,000 compared to 600 before "Base Station A" was rescued. This number represents the service impact when "Base Station A" was rescued. Then, the difference between the total number of users who can be accommodated by the entire facility after the rescue of "Base Station A" (1600 people) and the total number of users (1600 people), which is 0, is positioned as the number of congestion-affected users who are expected to continue to be unable to perform wireless communication due to the failure at the aforementioned fault location.

[0074] Furthermore, by rescuing "Base Station A," "UEG3" will be able to communicate wirelessly with "Base Station A" and "Base Station B" again, thus resolving the communication state of "both systems down" that existed before the rescue. Furthermore, by rescuing "Base Station A," "UEG4" will be able to communicate wirelessly with "Base Station A" again, thus resolving the communication state "both systems down" that existed before the rescue. The number of users affected by the resolution of both outages through the rescue of "Base Station A" is 400 users for "UEG3" and 500 users for "UEG4". A total of 900 users will be added to the calculation of the recovery priority.

[0075] Figure 12 is a table showing an example of a list of recovery equipment when both systems are out of service. In the example shown in Figure 11, the priority calculation unit 30 identifies that the fault locations causing the inability of "Base Station B" to communicate with the user terminal are (1) "Cable 1" between the Router and "Switch 1", and (2) "Core 2". The priority calculation unit 30 also identifies that the fault location causing the inability of "Base Station A" to communicate with the user terminal is "Base Station A" itself.

[0076] The priority calculation unit 30 calculates that the service impact when "Base Station B," which is the base station related to the identified fault locations "Cable 1" and "Core 2," is restored is "500" as described above, and the number of users whose outages are resolved by this restoration is "400," and therefore the restoration priority for both "Cable 1" and "Core Device 2" is "900" (=500+400).

[0077] Furthermore, the priority calculation unit 30 calculates the recovery priority for "Base Station A" as "1500" (=600+900) based on the fact that the service impact when the identified fault location, "Base Station A," is restored is "600" as described above, and the number of users whose outages are resolved by this restoration is "900".

[0078] The priority calculation unit 30 then outputs a "List of Restored Equipment (in Priority Order)" as shown in Figure 12, sorting the calculated restoration priorities for each of the above-mentioned repair locations in descending order of value. According to this list, the communication equipment with the highest priority for repair is "Base Station A" itself, followed by "Cable 1" and "Core Device 2," which are communication equipment with relatively high repair priorities.

[0079] Figure 13 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of a network management device according to one embodiment of the present invention. In the example shown in Figure 13, the network management device 100 according to the above embodiment is composed of, for example, a server computer or a personal computer, and has a hardware processor 111A such as a CPU. A program memory 111B, a data memory 112, an input / output interface 113, and a communication interface 114 are connected to this hardware processor 111A via a bus 115.

[0080] The communication interface 114 includes, for example, one or more wireless communication interface units, enabling the transmission and reception of information with the communication network NW. As the wireless interface, for example, an interface employing a low-power wireless data communication standard such as a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) is used.

[0081] Input / output interface 113 is connected to input devices 200 and output devices 300, which are attached to the network management device 100 and used by users. The input / output interface 113 can capture operation data entered by a user or the like through an input device 200 such as a keyboard, touch panel, touchpad, or mouse, and can also output output data to an output device 300, including a display device using liquid crystal or organic EL (electroluminescence), for display. The input device 200 and output device 300 may be devices built into the network management device 100, or they may be input and output devices of other information terminals that can communicate with the network management device 100 via a network NW.

[0082] The program memory 111B is a non-temporary tangible storage medium in which a non-volatile memory that can be written to and read at any time, such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or SSD (Solid State Drive), is used in combination with another non-volatile memory such as ROM (Read Only Memory), and can store programs necessary for executing various control processes according to one embodiment.

[0083] The data memory 112 is a tangible storage medium that, for example, uses a combination of the above-mentioned non-volatile memory and volatile memory such as RAM (Random Access Memory), and can be used to store various data or information acquired and created during the process of various operations.

[0084] One embodiment of the present invention, the network management device 100, can be configured as a data processing device having the parts shown in Figure 1, with a software-based processing function unit.

[0085] Each information storage unit used as work memory by each part of the network management device 100 may be configured using the data memory 112 shown in Figure 13. However, these storage areas are not essential to the network management device 100, and may be, for example, external storage media such as USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory, or areas provided in storage devices such as database servers located in the cloud.

[0086] Each of the processing functions in the above-described section can be implemented by having the hardware processor 111A read and execute a program stored in the program memory 111B. Some or all of these processing functions may be implemented in various other forms, including integrated circuits such as Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) or Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs).

[0087] Furthermore, the methods described in each embodiment can be stored as programs (software means) that can be executed by a computer, such as magnetic disks (floppy disks, hard disks, etc.), optical disks (CD-ROMs, DVDs, MOs, etc.), and semiconductor memories (ROMs, RAMs, flash memory, etc.), and can also be transmitted and distributed via communication media. The programs stored on the media also include configuration programs that configure the computer with software means (including not only the execution program but also tables and data structures) to be executed by the computer. The computer implementing this device reads the program recorded on the recording medium and, if necessary, constructs the software means using the configuration program, and executes the above-described processes by controlling the operation of this software means. The recording medium referred to in this specification is not limited to distribution media, but also includes storage media such as magnetic disks and semiconductor memories provided inside the computer or in devices connected via a network.

[0088] It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and can be modified in various ways during implementation without departing from its essence. Furthermore, each embodiment may be combined as appropriate, and in that case, the combined effects can be obtained. Moreover, the above embodiments include various inventions, and various inventions can be extracted by selecting combinations from the multiple constituent elements disclosed. For example, if the problem can be solved and effects obtained even if some constituent elements are deleted from all the constituent elements shown in the embodiment, then the configuration with these deleted constituent elements can be extracted as an invention. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0089] 100...Network management device 10...Input section 20...Fault Impact Calculation Unit 30…Priority calculation unit 40…Deployment Planning Section 50...Deployment plan output unit

Claims

1. When a failure occurs in any of the multiple communication facilities, including multiple wireless base stations that make up the network configuration, and the conditions are met that cause a failure in communication between some wireless base stations and user terminals, the failure impact calculation unit calculates which of the multiple communication facilities will be affected by the failure. A priority calculation unit calculates the priority of the communication equipment subject to the work of restoring the aforementioned failure, based on the total number of user terminals that are allowed to communicate with each of the wireless base stations that can communicate with any of the user terminals, when the condition is met that communication between a single wireless base station where a communication failure occurred with the user terminal has been restored, A network management device equipped with the following features.

2. The priority calculation unit, When the above conditions are applied, and the condition is met that communication between a single radio base station where communication with the user terminal failed is restored, the increase in the total number of user terminals that are allowed to communicate with each of the radio base stations that can communicate with any of the user terminals is calculated for each of the single radio base stations related to the condition that communication with the user terminal is restored. Based on the calculation result of the increase in the number and the multiple fault locations corresponding to the multiple communication equipment that caused the failure in the wireless base station where the communication failure with the user terminal occurred, the priority of the fault locations to be repaired when restoring communication between the wireless base station where the communication failure with the user terminal occurred and the user terminal is calculated for each fault location. The network management device according to claim 1.

3. The system further includes a planning processing unit that prioritizes communication equipment with a higher priority calculated by the priority calculation unit and generates a plan for deploying repair workers to the malfunctioning communication equipment. The network management device according to claim 1.

4. The aforementioned fault impact calculation unit, When a failure occurs in any of the multiple communication facilities, including multiple wireless base stations that make up the network, and the conditions for a complete failure of communication between some wireless base stations and user terminals are met, the system calculates which other communication facilities among the multiple communication facilities are affected by the failure. The priority calculation unit, The priority of the communication equipment to be restored after the aforementioned failure is calculated as the priority obtained by adding the number of user terminals whose failures have been resolved, assuming that the condition is met when communication between a single wireless base station that experienced a failure in communication with the user terminal and the user terminal has been restored. The network management device according to claim 1.

5. A method performed by a network management device, When a failure occurs in any of the communication equipment, including multiple wireless base stations that make up the network configuration, resulting in a communication failure between some wireless base stations and user terminals, the conditions are met to calculate which other communication equipment among the multiple communication equipment will be affected by this failure. In the state in which the above conditions are applied, the priority of the communication equipment to be restored for the failure that occurred is calculated based on the total number of user terminals that are allowed to communicate with each of the wireless base stations that can communicate with any of the user terminals, when the condition is met that communication between a single wireless base station where communication with the user terminal occurred has been restored. A network management method that includes the following features.

6. Calculating the aforementioned priority means In the state in which the above conditions are applied, when the condition is applied in which communication between a single radio base station that experienced a communication failure with the user terminal and the user terminal is restored, the increase in the total number of user terminals that are allowed to communicate with each of the radio base stations that can communicate with any of the user terminals is calculated for each of the single radio base stations related to the condition in which communication with the user terminal is restored, This includes calculating the priority of the fault locations to be repaired when restoring communication between the wireless base station where the communication failure occurred and the user terminal, based on the calculation result of the increase in the aforementioned number and the multiple fault locations corresponding to the multiple communication equipment that caused the failure in the wireless base station where the communication failure occurred with the user terminal, The network management method according to claim 5.

7. The system further comprises prioritizing the communication equipment with the calculated higher priority and generating a plan for deploying repair personnel to the malfunctioning communication equipment. The network management method according to claim 5.

8. A network management processing program that causes a processor to function as one of the components of the network management device according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

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