Automated Fault Isolation for Leased Transport Networks
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Solution Overview
Problem
Tier 1 and Tier 2 ISPs face challenges in monitoring and repairing faults in their backbone transport networks, particularly in leased sections where direct monitoring is not possible, leading to difficulties in maintaining service reliability and performance.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that utilize automated logic to detect, isolate, and verify faults in leased network sections by receiving and analyzing specific alarm messages, such as LAIS, PAIS, PRDI, and LOS, to identify fault locations and generate trouble tickets, and ensure repairs meet performance criteria.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If ISPs lease transport facilities to expand network capacity, then network bandwidth and coverage are improved, but the ability to directly monitor and detect faults in those facilities is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces intermediary monitoring devices deployed at the ISP's premises that act as mediators between the leased network facilities and the ISP's monitoring system. These devices receive alarm messages from the leased facilities and forward them to the ISP's fault management system, enabling indirect monitoring of facilities that the ISP does not directly control.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms where alarm messages (LAIS, PAIS, PRDI, LOS) are continuously received from network elements and processed to generate fault isolation results. This feedback loop enables the ISP to maintain awareness of the health status of leased facilities despite not directly controlling them.
2Measurement precision
If multiple alarm messages are received from different network elements, then fault detection capability is improved, but the complexity of isolating the root cause increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the fault isolation process into distinct steps corresponding to different alarm message types and their combinations. By dividing the complex problem into manageable segments (receiving individual alarm types, comparing alarm patterns, isolating fault locations), the system makes the overall process more tractable and systematic.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by establishing predefined relationships between different alarm message patterns and their corresponding fault locations. Before actual fault isolation is needed, the system has already configured the logic for interpreting various alarm combinations, enabling faster and more systematic fault diagnosis when alarms actually occur.
3Reliability
If automated logic is implemented to isolate faults in leased networks, then service reliability is improved, but the system complexity and implementation cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements self-service automation where the system automatically receives alarm messages, processes them through predefined logic, isolates fault locations, and generates repair verification workflows without requiring manual intervention. This automation reduces the need for human operators to manually troubleshoot leased network facilities, improving reliability while managing complexity through systematic automation.
Data Source
AI summary
A comprehensive integrated system and method includes (i) proactively monitoring a network for degraded service and to proactively make repairs to components before service outages, (ii) identifying the root causes of hard alarms and failures on a layer 1 transport network and generate trouble tickets; and (iii) after repair, verifying that repaired backbone network meets or exceeds performance criteria of Service Level Agreements (SLAs) with customers. A method includes surveilling first equipment in a network wherein the first equipment is in a controlled portion of the network, observing a set of messages wherein the set of messages relate to second equipment in a leased portion of the network, and detecting a fault in the network based on the surveilling step or the observing step. A fault based on the observing step includes the steps of receiving a first message at a first server indicating that a fault was detected in a portion of a leased network, receiving a second message at a second server indicating that the fault was detected in a portion of the leased network, and isolating the fault based on the first message and the second message.