Network operational flaw detection using metrics

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9917753-B2
Application number	US-201514738380-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 12, 2015
Priority date	Jun 12, 2015
Publication date	Mar 13, 2018
Grant date	Mar 13, 2018

Abstract

In an embodiment, a computer-implemented method receives and monitors performance metrics from network element. The method also includes receiving periodic control metrics corresponding to object instances. Performance metrics and control metrics provide information about operation of object instances. By monitoring the metrics, a network server is able to detect an operational flaw in the network. Monitoring the performance and control metrics in real time increases the speed of detecting any operational flaw in the network.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer implemented method for detecting operation flaws in a network comprising of network elements, the method comprising:
(a) receiving, by a network management server, metrics corresponding to network instances of objects associated with network elements;
(b) generating, by the network management server, a stream of tuples, wherein a tuple includes a network element identifier, a metric, and a network instance identifier, and wherein the metric is either one of one or more performance metrics or a control metric corresponding to the network instance, and wherein the control metric appears periodically in the stream;
(c) monitoring, by a monitoring server, the stream of tuples;
(d) setting, by the monitoring server, a first flag when a first performance metric corresponding to the network instance is received;
(e) detecting, by the monitoring server, the control metric corresponding to the network instance;
(f) determining, by the monitoring server, after detecting the control metric in step (e), whether the first flag is set;
(g) creating an alert, by an alert server, when step (f) determines that the first flag is not set, wherein the alert indicates an operational flaw;
(h) resetting the first flag, by the monitoring server after detection of the control metric in step (e); and
(i) setting, by the monitoring server, a second flag when a second performance metric corresponding to the object instance is received;
wherein determining in step (f) further comprises determining, after detecting the control metric in step (e), whether the second flag is set;
wherein creating the alert in step (g) further comprises creating an alert when either of the first flag or the second flag is not set in step (f), and wherein the alert includes information in the tuple corresponding to the first performance metric when the first flag is not set in step (f) or to the second performance metric when the second flag is not set in step (f), respectively; and
wherein resetting in step (h) further comprising resetting the second flag by the status monitoring module after detection of the control metric in step (e).

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising allocating memory to each network instance, and wherein setting the first flag in step (d) includes storing a value corresponding to the first performance metric in the allocated memory for the instance, and resetting the first flag in step (h) includes erasing the stored value corresponding to the first performance metric of the instance.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein steps (d), (f), and (h) are performed using the memory allocated to the network instance.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein setting the second flag in step (i) includes storing a value corresponding to the second metric in the allocated memory for the instance, and resetting the second flag in step (h) includes erasing the stored value corresponding to the second flag stored in the allocated memory.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the steps (a)-(h) are performed in real-time.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
(j) monitoring, by the monitoring server, a value of the first performance metric, wherein the value indicates operation status of the object instance;
and wherein creating an alert in step (g) further comprises creating an alert when the value indicates operational flaw for the object instance.

7. A network monitoring system for detecting operational flaws in a network comprising of network elements, the system comprising:
a network management server configured to:
receive metrics corresponding to object instances of objects associated with network elements;
generate a stream of tuples, wherein a tuple includes a network element identifier, a metric, and an object instance identifier, and wherein the metric is either one of one or more performance metrics or a control metric corresponding to the object instance, and wherein the control metric appears periodically in the stream;

a monitoring server configured to:
monitor the stream of tuples;
set a first flag when a first performance metric corresponding to the object instance is received;
detect the control metric corresponding to the object instance;
determine, after detecting the control metric, whether the first flag is set; and
reset the first flag after detection of the control metric;

an alert server configured to:
create an alert when the monitoring server determines that the first flag is not set, wherein the alert includes information in the tuple corresponding to the first performance metric;
set a second flag when a second performance metric corresponding to the object instance is received;
determine, after detecting the control metric, whether the second flag is set; and
reset the second flag after detection of the control metric;
the alert server further configured to: create an alert when either of the first flag or the second flag are not set, after detecting the control metric, and wherein the alert includes information in the tuple corresponding to the first performance metric or to the second performance metric when the first flag or the second flag is not set, respectively.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the monitoring server further comprises a memory, and the monitoring server further configured to allocate a memory portion to each object instance, and wherein setting the first flag includes storing a value corresponding to the first performance metric in the allocated memory portion for the instance, and resetting the first flag includes erasing the stored value corresponding to the first performance metric of the instance.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein the monitoring server is further configured to store a value corresponding to the second metric in the allocated memory portion for the instance to set the second flag, and erasing the stored value corresponding to the second flag stored in the allocated memory portion to reset the second flag.

10. The system of claim 7 , wherein the monitoring server is further configured to monitor a value of the first performance metric, wherein the value indicates operation status of the object instance, and wherein the alert server is further configured to create an alert when the value indicates operational flaw for the object instance.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by at least one computing device, causes the at least one computing device to perform a method for detecting operational flaws in a network comprising of network elements, the method comprising:
(a) receiving, by a network management server, metrics corresponding to object instances of objects associated with network elements;
(b) generating, by the network management server, a stream of tuples, wherein a tuple includes a network element identifier, a metric, and an object instance identifier, and wherein the metric is either one of one or more performance metrics or a control metric corresponding to the object instance, and wherein the control metric appears periodically in the stream;
(c) monitoring, by a monitoring server, the stream of tuples;
(d) setting, by the monitoring server, a first flag when a first performance metric corresponding to the object instance is received;
(e) detecting, by the monitoring server, the control metric corresponding to the object instance;
(f) determining, by the monitoring server, after detecting the control metric in step (e), whether the first flag is set;
(g) creating an alert, by an alert server, when step (f) determines that the first flag is not set, wherein the alert includes information in the tuple corr

Assignees

• Level 3 Communications Llc

Inventors

• Captuo Ii Pete Joseph
• Yermakov Sergey

Classifications

• H04L41/0233

  Object-oriented techniques, for representation of network management data, e.g. common object request broker architecture [CORBA] · CPC title

• H04L41/069

  using logs of notifications; Post-processing of notifications · CPC title

• H04L41/0823

  characterised by the purposes of a change of settings, e.g. optimising configuration for enhancing reliability (for optimising operational conditions of wireless networks H04W24/02) · CPC title

• H04L41/0686

  Additional information in the notification, e.g. enhancement of specific meta-data · CPC title

• H04L43/0823 Primary

  Errors, e.g. transmission errors · CPC title