WO2002030051A1

WO2002030051A1 - Modular network management system

Info

Publication number: WO2002030051A1
Application number: PCT/FI2001/000857
Authority: WO
Inventors: Kimmo Lahdensivu
Original assignee: Sonera Oyj
Priority date: 2000-10-03
Filing date: 2001-10-02
Publication date: 2002-04-11
Also published as: FI20002181A; FI20002181A0; AU2001293894A1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a network management system for monitoring and managing the functions of a telecommunication network. The system comprises entities (23) to which different service components can be connected. The system further comprises service-specific servers (24) for implementing said services, and a database (DB) in which service-specific data are stored, a customer application via which a user can manage different functions of the system, means for retrieving data on the services related to a given entity (23) from the database (DB), means for presenting said services to the user, and means for transferring the identifier of the server (24) implementing the service selected by the user to the customer application in such a way that the user can set up a connection to said server (24) and take the selected service into use for said entity.

Description

MODULAR NETWORK MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to telecommunication networks and particularly to network management systems related thereto. The tasks of network management are dividable into network monitoring and network management. Network monitoring includes monitoring the performance, errors and use of a network. Sub-areas of network management include management of network configuration and security. Network management is based on one or more network management stations monitoring the state of the network. Network management software offers different services to persons responsible for network management, such as network operators. The software may display the network topography graphically on a screen. Generally, a topology map is also used to display malfunction in different devices. Network management software also provides different options to affect net- work operation from an operator terminal, for example. For example in malfunction, the load situation can be analysed and the configuration changed in order to decrease interference caused by the error, and in an update situation services or devices can be added to the network.

The problem in present network management systems is that the development of new network properties and services affects the entire network management system. This means that a new version of the entire system has to be installed when technology elements are to be added or updated. The development of new properties may also harm the properties functioning in the system. This means complex stages of operation and network breaks.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The object of the invention is to solve the above problems by providing a solution allowing new properties to be introduced into a network management system without the need to install a new version of the entire existing system. This object is achieved with a network management system for moni- toring and managing the functions of a telecommunication network, the system comprising entities to which different service components can be connected. Said network management system is characterized in that the system further comprises service-specific servers for implementing said services, a database in which service-specific data are stored, a customer application via which a user can manage different functions of the system, means for retrieving data on the services related to a given entity from the database, means for presenting said services to the user, and means for transferring the identifier of the server implementing the service selected by the user to the customer application in such a way that the user can set up a connection to said server and take the selected service into use for said entity.

The concept entity refers to a combination of a data structure and the operations related thereto. In this context, entities are elements of network management software representing various telecommunication devices, such as devices, ports arranged in devices, links set up between ports, and connec- tions set up by links.

The idea of the invention is to generate a modular network management system allowing the introduction of additional properties into a telecommunication network without the need to install an entirely new version. Modularity is based on the dynamic binding of components to an abstract in- formation model by means of a database, and on commensurate description of services in the database. An abstract information model is composed of devices, ports, links and connections; a device comprising n ports, a link determined by the ports being set up between two ports, and two links determining a logical connection. However, an information model does not take a stand on network technologies. In the system of the invention, a service is associated with an entity in an information model for example such that a firewall service may be associated with a physical link between two devices. When a given entity in the management system is studied, the services associated therewith are shown with the entity. The invention provides the advantage of allowing single service models to be added, deleted and modified without affecting the functioning of other system parts, since each service or property is a whole having only given interfaces to the main system. There may be several embodiments of the management system, each having different properties even though the core is the same. In a first preferred embodiment of the network management system of the invention, at least the name of the service, a reference to the server implementing the service, the entity type with which the service is associated, a condition on which the service is in force for an entity, and the name of the user interface associated with the service are stored in a table describing the services. Storing the data on the different services in this way facilitates the retrieval of data and conditions in the database when they are needed. In a second preferred embodiment of the network management system of the invention, the condition on which a service is in force for an entity is stored in a database as a statement of a specific query language. This provides a way to check when a service is in force for a given entity. If the result of the query is true for an entity, the service exists for said entity.

In a third preferred embodiment of the network management system of the invention, the telecommunication network comprises means for comparing an entity under study with those conditions stored in the database on which the services are in force for an entity, and for presenting those services in the database whose conditions are fulfilled for said entity. This way only those services that can be in force for a given entity are presented and provided for use for said entity.

The preferred embodiments of the network management system of the invention are disclosed in the attached dependent claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

In the following, the invention will be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying figures, of which

Figure 1 shows an example of the relation of the entities of an information model to service components in a system of the invention, Figures 2A and 2B show block diagrams of the implementation of a system of the invention, and

Figure 3 is a signalling diagram of an event sequence in a system of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Figure 1 shows an example of the relation of the entities of an information model to service components. A VPN service (Virtual Private Network) 1 is associated with a network entity 2, because it is a whole covering the entire network. Web-cache 3, i.e. temporary storage of www objects (World Wide Web), in turn, is associated with a device entity 4, because, as a service, web-cache is implemented in one device. An ATM link 5 (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) introduces properties of the ATM technology into a link entity 6 that enable the adjustment of the speed of the link, for example. The last example, a firewall 7, in turn, is associated with a connection entity 8, since the firewall adjusts traffic on the connection even if the service is physically implemented somewhere else. To allow dynamic decisions on whether a service is associated with a given entity, a condition has to be created for finding this out in the database. To allow modular implementation of this, said condition has to be introduced into the system along with the service. The condition can be stored in the da- tabase as a statement of a specific query language of the database or as a reference to the program or program part implementing the inference. The name of the user interface associated with the service is also stored in the database. The user uses this name to instantiate the user interface of the service. The reference of the server implementing the service is also transferred to the user. New services may be taken into use by means of an installation program that is able to consider any mutual dependencies of the services. An example of such dependence could be that an ATM connection cannot exist without an ATM link.

Figures 2A and 2B show block diagrams of the implementation of a system of the invention. Figure 2A shows part of a telecommunication network comprising a customer router 21 , a second router 22, and a link 23 between them. Let us assume that in an exemplary case a firewall property is added to the link 23. This leads to a situation shown in Figure 2B, wherein a firewall function is logically combined to the link 23. In this case, a reference to the FW server 24 implementing the firewall function is associated with the link 23 in the management system. The system also comprises a database DB containing service-specific data. The name of the service, the name of the server 24 implementing the service, the entity type for which the service is in force, i.e. in this case the link, the condition on which the service is in force for the entity, i.e. link, and the name of the user interface are stored in a service table. For said link 23, the service is taken into use by means of link 23 configuration measures. The firewall function is then in force for said link 23.

Figure 3 is a signalling diagram of an event sequence in a system of the invention. The figure shows an end user 31 , e.g. an operator or the cus- tomer, a customer application 32 with which the end user 31 uses the system, a system server 33 that carries out the functions of the network management system, a database 34 in which data describing the services are stored, and a service-specific server 35 that carries out the functions of one service. In the initial position in the figure, the end user 31 has selected a link at the user in- terface for study. In step 1 , the customer application 32 inquires the services associated with the link of the system server 33. In step 2, the system server 33 retrieves the conditional statements of the services associated with the link from the database 34. In step 3, the system server 33 runs through all conditional statements by inquiring all the statements in order of the database 34. In this case, the names and identifiers of only the services whose conditions are fulfilled are returned. In step 4, the customer application 32 displays the names of the returned services to the user. In step 5, the end user 31 selects a service he wants to configure or study. In step 6, the customer application 32 inquires the name of the user interface of the system server 33 and, in step 7, the system server 33 inquires this further of the database 34. Based on the name, the user interface of the service is instantiated in step 8. In step 9, the customer application 32 inquires the address or reference to the service- specific server 35 of the system server 33. In step 10, this inquiry is transferred further to the database 34, in which the reference of the server 35 is found. In steps 11 and 12, the customer application 32 is able to discuss with its server 35, and the end user 31 is able to start managing the service selected. The event sequence described above ensures that the end user always sees a version including the newest services.

As distinct from the event sequence described, in a real implementation, the inquiries regarding the server name and the user interface name can be combined to take place at the same time. Further, as distinct from the example of Figure 3, the conditions are not necessarily in the form of database inquiries, but the conditions may also be tested by a computer program able to verify if the condition is true or not true on given parameters.

It is to be understood that the above specification and the related figures are only intended to illustrate the present invention. Different variations and modifications of the invention are apparent to those skilled in the art, without deviating from the scope and spirit of the invention disclosed in the attached claims.

Claims

1. A network management system for monitoring and managing the functions of a telecommunication network, the system comprising entities (2, 4, 6, 8, 23) to which different service components (1 , 3, 5, 7) can be connected, characterized in that the system further comprises service-specific servers (24, 35) for implementing said services, a database (DB, 34) in which service-specific data are stored, a customer application (32) via which a user can manage functions of the system, means for retrieving data on the services related to a given entity (2, 4, 6, 8, 23) from the database (DB, 34), means (32) for presenting said services to the user (31), and means for transferring the identifier of the server (24, 35) imple- menting the service selected by the user (31) to the customer application (32) in such a way that the user (31) can set up a connection to said server (24, 35) and take the selected service into use for said entity.

2. A network management system as claimed in claim 1 , cha acterized in that the system further comprises means (32) for transferring the name of the user interface associated with the service selected by the user (31) to the customer application (32).

3. A network management system as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that at least the name of the service, a reference to the server (24, 35) implementing the service, the entity type (2, 4, 6, 8) with which the service is associated, a condition on which the service is in force for the entity (2, 4, 6, 8, 23), and the name of the user interface associated with the service are stored in said database.

4. A network management system as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that said condition is stored in the database (DB, 34) as a statement of a specific query language of the database.

5. A network management system as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the telecommunication network comprises means for comparing the entity (2, 4, 6, 8, 23) under study with those conditions stored in the database (DB, 34) on which the services are in force for an entity, and for presenting those services in the database (DB, 34) whose conditions are fulfilled for said entity (2, 4, 6, 8, 23).

6. A network management system as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the database (DB, 34) comprises service- specific tables, each table including data describing one service.