Arrangement for controlling network elements

A configuration used to control network components

The present invention relates to the transmission of information for network management in a communication system.

In some network management systems, network components such as wireless repeaters are connected to the network management system using modem connections. In this article, modem means an adapter used to connect a device to a transmission network. This system is shown in Figure 1. This figure depicts a network management system (NMS) with three wireless repeaters, repeater 1, repeater 2, and repeater 3. The NMS and repeater are connected to a transmission network such as a telephone network via a modem. Through the modem connection, the network management system sends the wireless repeater architecture parameters, such as the wireless channel to be used, the transmission power, and the telephone number of the modem of the management system. Similarly, the wireless repeater sends out management system alarms indicating error conditions and failures, and acknowledges the framework messages received from the NMS.

The establishment of the connection between the NMS and the repeater can be initiated by the management system NMS or the repeater. When the NMS wants to change or check the architecture parameters of a repeater, it will initiate a connection with a repeater. In order to contact the repeater, the modem of the network management system NMS establishes a connection with the repeater modem via a transmission network. When the transmitting modem identifies an empty modem line in the transmission network, the connection is established. When the transmitting network is a general telephone line network, the identification is the telephone number of the modem.

The repeater contacts the NMS to send out an alarm. This is done using the identification code of the modem of the management system stored for the repeater.

The modem of the network management system NMS may be busy due to the initial connection of the NMS used to construct a line element. This architecture allows for quite a long delay. At the same time, another network component can try to initiate a connection to the management system to send an alarm message with the highest priority. This situation is shown in Figure 2. In the figure, the arrow shows an attempt to establish and relay a connection between a network management system NMS and two wireless repeaters, repeater 1 and repeater 2, and the sequence starts from the top of the figure.

The network management system initiates a modem connected to the repeater 1 for the purpose of architecture (201). When the connection is still active, the repeater 2 tries to initiate a modem connected to the network management system for alarm purposes (202). However, when the modem of the network management system NMS is busy, the connection cannot be successfully established. The repeater 2 must therefore initiate the connection again (not shown in the figure). On the other hand, the retry to occupy the capacity of the modem, therefore, increases the probability of collision. Once all the required information has been transmitted, the repeater 1 and the network management system NMS interrupt the connection, thereby releasing the modem. At this time, the modem of the network management system is no longer busy, and the connection request of the repeater 2 can be executed (205). Alarm messages and messages triggered by alarm messages are now being sent. When all required information is sent, the connection is interrupted (206).

The problem with the prior art is the delay in the transmission of messages used for network component management. The purpose of the present invention is to reduce or eliminate these problems. This problem is accomplished by using the configurations and devices defined by the independent items.

The purpose of the present invention is to use at least two modems on the side of the network management system. At least one of the modems is only used for the connection initiated by the network management system. At least one other modem is only used for connections initiated by any one or a group of network elements controlled by the network management system.

The number of modems used for the connection initiated by the management system can be more than one, thus enabling the network management system to initiate simultaneous connections to more than one network element. Likewise, more than one modem can be designated as the connection initiated by the network element. In this arrangement, it is preferable to divide the network elements into groups. The connection establishment initiated by a group of network elements is then directed to a predetermined modem in the network management system. This can be done by assigning different groups of network components to the identification codes of different modems in the network management system.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of receiving modems are used, and the network components controlled by the network management system are assigned at least two sets of modem identification codes to the network management system. When trying to establish a connection to the network management system for alarm purposes, if the first dial-up modem is busy, the network component tries to establish a connection via another receiving modem in the group. However, this embodiment may require some changes in controlling network components.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, at least one of the controlled network components is a wireless repeater.

The present invention is explained with reference to the drawings, in which Figure 1 is a known configuration for controlling network components; Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the initial connection of the known configuration in Figure 1; and Figure 3 The figure shows a configuration according to the present invention; and the fourth figure is for a network management system and a simultaneous connection between two wireless repeaters.

Figure 3 shows a configuration with two sets of modems. The first group, the transmission data set is used for the connection initiated by the network management system NMS. The second group, the receiving data set is used for the connection initiated by the wireless repeater. The connection initiated by the wireless repeater is directed to the receiving modem by configuring the data rack to send its alarm to the telephone number of the modem belonging to the group of receiving modems. The network management system NMS obtains the capacity to initiate the connection to the wireless repeater via the transmitting modem, and uses the receiving modem to participate in the connection, and is initiated by the controlled network element. Compared with the previous technique shown in Figure 1, no other changes are required.

The set of transmitting modems used for the connection initiated by the management system may include a modem or a plurality of modems. The use of multiple modems enables the network management system to initiate simultaneous connections to more than one wireless repeater. This improves the delay characteristics of the framework process initiated by the management system, but requires an additional telephone line for repeater control purposes.

Similarly, the group of receiving modems can include one or more modems. When using multiple receiving modems, the wireless repeaters are preferably divided into groups. The connection establishment initiated by a group of network elements is then directed to a specific modem of the network management system. This can be done simply by giving the telephone numbers of the same receiving modems to a group of repeater network management systems. On the network management system side, different groups give phone numbers to different modems in turn.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, which uses a plurality of modems, the controlled network element, for example, a wireless repeater, is given at least two modem number sets for use in the network management system. The numbers are preferably arranged in a priority list. When establishing a connection to the network management system for an alarm, the repeater first dials the modem number with the highest priority. If the first dial-up modem is busy, the repeater tries to establish a connection via the receiving modem with the next highest priority, etc. However, this embodiment requires some changes in the repeater.

When a repeater tries to establish a connection, the use of multiple receiving modems reduces the possibility of a busy modem line and therefore improves the delay characteristics of the system. This is due to the fact that a small number of repeaters point their connections to a single modem. On the other hand, more modems and telephone lines are needed.

Fig. 4 shows the configuration of the present invention according to Fig. 3 to try to connect to the timing sequence between the network management subsystem and the wireless repeater. The same timing for configuring according to the previous art is shown in Figure 2.

When the initial one is connected to a repeater 1 (401), the network management system NMS uses it to transmit the modem. When the NMS connected to the repeater 1 is activated, the repeater 2 observes the demand for sending an alarm to a management system. In order to send an alarm, the repeater 2 establishes a connection to the receiving modem of the management system (402). When all the required information is sent, the connection is interrupted.

It should be noted that the scope of the present invention is not limited to controlling the configuration of the wireless repeater, and can also be used to control other network components. The invention can be used in all modems to establish a network management system connected between a network management system and a controlled network element.