Conflict Detection in Collaborative Network Planning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional planning software tools are inadequate for effectively managing and anticipating the complexities of communications networks, particularly in distributed or collaborative environments, where multiple planners work concurrently, leading to conflicts that are difficult to detect and resolve.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that utilize version control principles to create, merge, and manage parallel plan branches, perform equipment and service conflict analyses, and provide resolutions by suggesting modifications such as slot reassignment or time constraint adjustments to prevent conflicts, ensuring compatibility and consistency across network layers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If multiple planners work concurrently on the same network plan, then planning productivity is improved, but conflicts between plans become more difficult to detect and resolve
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements automatic feedback mechanisms by continuously monitoring plan branches for conflicts. When conflicts are detected between parallel plans, the system automatically notifies planners and provides conflict resolution suggestions, enabling real-time detection and resolution without manual intervention.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces an intermediary conflict detection and resolution mechanism that mediates between multiple planners working concurrently. This intermediary automatically analyzes plan compatibility, identifies conflicts, and suggests resolutions, eliminating the need for planners to manually detect and resolve conflicts.
2Device complexity
If conventional planning software provides feedback on textual changes, then change tracking is simple, but the software cannot effectively anticipate network planning intricacies
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary conflict detection and resolution analysis before plans are merged or deployed. By anticipating potential conflicts in advance through automated compatibility checking, the system prevents incompatible plans from being combined, ensuring reliable plan integration.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions from simple textual change tracking to comprehensive parameter-based conflict detection. It analyzes multiple plan parameters including equipment specifications, service requirements, and network constraints to reliably determine plan compatibility beyond mere text comparison.
3Productivity
If parallel plan branches are merged without conflict detection, then merging process is fast and simple, but conflicts create deployment errors
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary conflict detection and resolution before the merging process completes. By checking plan compatibility in advance and resolving conflicts proactively, the system ensures that only compatible plans are merged, guaranteeing deployment reliability without sacrificing merging speed.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for enabling collaboration for planning changes to a communications network are provided. A method, according to one implementation, includes receiving a first branch of a provisional plan, where the first branch includes information regarding a change to at least one of a network element and services to be provided by the network element. The method also includes receiving a second branch of the provisional plan, where the second branch includes information regarding a change to at least one of the network element and the services to be provided by the network element. The method also includes determining if the first branch and the second branch are compatible with each other. In response to determining that merging the second branch with the first branch would create a conflict, the method further includes providing a resolution to the conflict.