Network Element Failure Detection via Connectivity Trail Mapping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional cable network monitoring systems lack visibility into connectivity trails of network elements, leading to reactive issue resolution only after significant customer account disruptions, rather than proactive addressing of small or intermittent issues.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that provide visibility into the performance of network elements by mapping connectivity trails from customer premise devices to cable headends, enabling detection of small issues and identifying failed parent network elements, allowing for proactive repair before downstream child elements are affected.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If conventional cable network monitoring systems are used, then system simplicity is maintained, but visibility into connectivity trails is lost and reactive issue resolution occurs only after significant customer account disruptions
Solution Approach 1:
The monitoring system segments the network into connectivity trails, grouping network elements and customer accounts along signal paths. This segmentation enables targeted monitoring of specific trail segments, providing visibility into connectivity trails while managing complexity through organized data structure rather than requiring complete system overhaul.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces connectivity trail data as an intermediary layer between network elements and customer accounts. This intermediary structure aggregates performance information across multiple network elements, enabling visibility into end-to-end connectivity without requiring direct monitoring of every individual element, thus reducing overall system complexity.
2Reliability
If reactive issue resolution is used, then operational simplicity is maintained, but service disruption time increases and network reliability decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The monitoring system performs preliminary detection of performance degradation by continuously tracking operational metrics along connectivity trails. When metrics indicate potential failures, the system proactively identifies and reports issues before they cause significant customer account disruptions, enabling preventive maintenance and reducing both resolution time and service disruption.
Solution Approach 2:
The system establishes feedback loops that continuously monitor operational metrics from network elements and customer accounts, comparing real-time performance against threshold values. This feedback mechanism enables dynamic detection of degradation trends, allowing the system to transition from reactive to proactive issue resolution and improve network reliability through timely intervention.
3Ease of repair
If monitoring waits for significant customer account disruptions, then detection simplicity is maintained, but the root cause of downstream issues remains unidentified
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments monitoring into individual network element levels along connectivity trails, allowing independent detection at each segment. This segmentation enables identification of small issues at specific locations without requiring widespread customer account failures, facilitating root cause analysis by isolating problematic segments from healthy ones.
Solution Approach 2:
The monitoring system applies local quality assessment by evaluating operational metrics at each network element and connectivity trail segment individually. This localized detection capability identifies small issues at specific locations rather than waiting for them to propagate and affect multiple customer accounts, enabling early root cause identification and targeted repair efforts.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments determine failures of a network element (NE) in an outside plant utilizing a connectivity trail that indicates NEs starting at the headend and ending at a distribution tap that serves one or more customer premise devices associated to a customer account. Embodiments determine a failed NE that serves the highest number of customers for which a trouble is reported to a ticketing system. Embodiments avoid reporting downstream child NEs that may be performing poorly due to the upstream failed parent NE. Embodiments associate the one or more customer premise devices, and a customer account with respective NEs of the connectivity trail, perform operational metric tests to determine whether a customer premise device associated with a customer account has failed, determine when an NE of the connectivity trail has failed. Embodiments also include rebooting the failed NE and/or notifying a ticketing system accordingly.