Communication network management system for displaying operation states of network elements on a remote display unit

What is claimed is:

1. A communication network management system comprising:

a network manager for collecting management information, including operational status, of physical objects in a communication network, each of the physical objects having an instance which is a network node address of the corresponding physical object in said communication network; and

display means located remote from said network manager and coupled through a transmission path with said network manager for displaying operational statuses of the physical objects in said communication network on its display screen by displaying graphic representations of said communication network physical objects,

wherein said network manager includes,

a data table used for converting an instance of a physical object into a corresponding display identifier to be used by said display means when displaying the physical objects operational status, and for storing management information to be displayed, and

transmission means for selecting the management information to be displayed on said display means from among the management information stored in said data table, and for transmitting said selected management information to said display means together with the display identifier corresponding to the instance of the physical object for which management information is to be displayed

wherein said display means comprises a plurality of display units for displaying different types of management information of physical objects,

said network manager has a distribution destination table for storing correspondence between a type of management information and one of said plurality of display units to which the type of management information will be distributed, and

said transmission means distributes said selected management information to said plurality of display units using said distribution destination table.

2. A communication network management system as set forth in claim 1, wherein said physical objects have hierarchical levels,

said data table further has a pointer indicative of a higher level of the physical object, and

said transmission means retrieves management information of the higher level to be displayed using said pointer and said data table, and transmits management information of both higher and lower levels together with the display identifier corresponding to the higher level to one of said plurality of display units using said distribution destination table.

3. A communication network management system as set forth in claim 1, wherein a data length of said display identifier is shorter than that of the corresponding instance.

4. A communication network management system for monitoring on a display screen, operational status of network elements selected as objects of management among a plurality of components of a communication network, the management system comprising:

a network manager for collecting status information of said objects of management from the communication network, each of the status information being associated with one of said objects of management specified by an instance which includes an address name indicative of where the corresponding object belongs in said communication networks;

display terminal with a display screen located remote from said network manager and coupled through a transmission path with said network manager for presenting network configuration on the display screen in which a change in the operational status of each of the objects of management is indicated by changing a display status of a graphic representation representative of the object,

wherein said display terminal further includes;

first table means for defining relationships between the instance of each of objects of management to be displayed on the screen and a display identifier assigned to the object;

second table means for defining relationships between coordinate data of each of graphic representation of objects to be displayed on the screen and a display identifier corresponding to the object;

communication control means for informing said network manager of the relationships between the instance and the display identifier defined in said first table means;

wherein said network manager further includes;

data table means for indicating relationships between the instance of each of said objects of management and a display identifier assigned to the instance and informed from said display terminal; and

means for transmitting status information of one of said objects collected from said communication network to said display terminal together with the display identifier corresponding to the instance of the object which is specified by referring to said data table means, whereby said display terminal operates to change on the screen a display status of one of the graphic representations specified by the display identifier and in accordance with the status information received from the network manager.

5. A communication network management system as set forth in claim 4, wherein said display means includes display data conversion means for converting object management information to be displayed into a symbol shape having a distinct color.

6. A network management/display processing method in a communication network management system including a network manager for collecting management information, including operational status, of physical objects in a communication network, each of the physical objects having an instance which is a model address of the corresponding physical object in said communication network, and display means located remote from said network manager and coupled through a transmission path to said network manager for displaying operational statuses of the physical objects in said communication network, on a display screen by displaying graphic representations of said communication network physical objects, said method comprising the steps of:

creating, in said display means, a display identifier indicative of physical object management information to be displayed on said display screen;

transmitting relationships between an instance of the physical object management information to be displayed and said display identifier from said display means to said network manager;

creating, in said network manager, a data table for storing the management information of the physical objects which were collected from said communication network along with their associated display identifiers;

selecting, in said network manager, the management information of physical objects to be displayed that have a same display identifier from said data table; and

transmitting said selected management information with the display identifier from said network manager to said display means.

7. A network management/display processing method as set forth in claim 6, wherein said physical objects have hierarchical levels,

said data table further has a pointer indicative of a higher level of the physical object, and

in said transmission step, retrieving a higher level management information to be displayed of the physical object which is not contained in the management information to be displayed using said pointer of said data table, and transmitting management information of both higher and lower level physical objects together with the display identifier corresponding to the higher level physical object to said display means.

8. A network management/display processing method as set forth in claim 6, wherein said display means comprises a plurality of display units for displaying different types of management information, and further comprises the step of:

creating, in said network manager, a distribution destination table for storing correspondence between a type of management information and one of said plurality of display units to which the type management information is distributed, and

in said transmission step, distributing said selected management information to said plurality of display units using said distribution destination table.

9. A method as set forth in claim 8, wherein a data length of said display identifier is shorter than that of the corresponding instance.

10. A method as set forth in claim 6, wherein a data length of said display identifier is shorter than that of the corresponding instance.

Description Submit all comments and votes

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to a network management/display processing system and method and, more particularly, to a system and method for displaying on a display unit a state of a communication network including exchanges and data multiplexers using data of a network manager collected from the communication network.

To more efficiently operate and maintain a communication network, the invention provides a communication network managing system which manages the communication network based on operational data collected from the network. IEEE, 1988, Network Operations and Management Symposium, 17-1, discloses a technique in which the above operational data is used to display the operating state on the screen of a display unit in the form of a simulated communication network. However, a detailed description of the data processing of the display unit is not given.

Disclosed in JP-A-64-81990 is an example of an ordinary display processing technique, when a display unit has an insufficient ability, for realizing on the display unit such conversion and processing of display data as display attribute conversion and control.

Problems occur with the aforementioned communication network management system where the display unit is located away from the network manager, where a plurality of display units have different application purposes or where the communication network contains many objects to be managed. When the network manager transmits management data to the display unit or units to convert the management data into the display data on the display unit or units, the display unit must have a very large memory capacity, which results in an increased processing load and an enlarged communication quantity between the network manager and display unit(s). In particular, in a communication network management system based on OSI specifications, ISO/IEC DIS 10165-1 and 10165-2 of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the representation format of a standard object to be managed has a very long data length. Thus, communication between the network manager and display unit using this standard format without any modification results in an enormous communication quantity therebetween and a reduced data processing efficiency of the display unit.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a method and a network management/display processing system which includes a network manager and a display unit which reduces the memory capacity of the display unit, the display processing load and the communication quantity between the network manager and display unit.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and a network management/display processing system in which a user of a display unit can freely set the display format of the display unit according to his or her preference.

To attain the above objects, a network manager is provided which can select, convert and process data necessary for display while a display unit previously sets display data sorts and presentation methods to be handled. In more detail, the display unit has a means for generating a display identifier corresponding to a management object in a network arrangement to be displayed on the screen of the display unit. Meanwhile, the network manager has a means for registering a data table showing correspondences between management data (component data) collected from the communication network and the aforementioned display identifier. The network manager selects, converts and processes the above component data into display data which in turn is sent to the display unit in the form of a minimal signal necessary for the display unit. The aforementioned display identifier is used for communication between the communication network and the display unit.

In accordance with a preferable aspect of the present invention, the display unit has a display presentation format setter for setting the presentation format of the display screen selected by a user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a network management/display processing system in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of a display unit 103 prior to operation of the network management/display processing system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a status display color matrix table used in the embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a table showing correspondences between display identifiers and display coordinates for use in the embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a list showing correspondences between display identifiers and instances for use in the embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of a network manage prior to the operation of the network management/display processing system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a network configuration/display data table for use in the embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the network manager prior to the operation of the network management/display processing system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the display unit during the operation of the network management/display processing system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 10 is a communication network configuration displayed on a display screen;

FIG. 11 is a network configuration/display data table including containment pointers;

FIG. 12 is a communication network configuration displayed on a display screen (2);

FIG. 13 is an arrangement of a network management/display processing system comprising a plurality of display units;

FIG. 14 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of a network manager with respect to the plurality of display units;

FIG. 15 shows a distribution destination table;

FIG. 16 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of a display presentation format setter 119;

FIG. 17 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of a display data setter 118;

FIG. 18 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of a display data selector/setter 108;

FIG. 19 is a flowchart for explaining the first state of a management data collector 107;

FIG. 20 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of a display data converter/processor 109;

FIG. 21 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of a screen converter/display controller 117;

FIG. 22 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of an I/O controller 121; and

FIG. 23 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the display data selector/setter 108 used in Embodiment (3).

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the present invention will be explained with reference to the attached drawings.

Referring first to FIG. 1, there is shown an arrangement of a network management/display processing system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

The illustrated system includes a communication network 102 to be managed, a network manager 101 and a display unt 103. The network manager 101 comprises a communication controller 104 for collecting management data on the communication network 102 to be managed and also for performing communication of display data with the display unit 103, a data base 105 for storing therein the management data and the display data, a work memory 106 for retrieving necessary data from the data base 105 and temporarily storing therein the retrieved data or a conversion result to the display data, a program memory 110, and a central processing unit (CPU) 111. In more detail, the program memory 110 stores a management data collecting program 107 for controlling the collection of the management data from the communication network 102, a display data selecting/setting program 108 for selecting and setting the display data to be transmitted to the display unit 103, a display data converting program 109 for converting the selected display data and a main program 122 of these subroutine programs for a displaying maid controller A. The CPU 11 controls access to these programs, the memory and the data base.

Meanwhile, the display unit 103 comprises a communication controller 114 for controlling communication of the display data with the network manager 101, a data base 115 for storing the display data and screen data, a work memory 116 for temporarily storing the display data or storing a conversion result to the screen data, a program memory 122, a CRT 113 for displaying the display data, an input means such as a keyboard 120 for entering various sorts of parameters therethrough, and a CPU 112. In more detail, the program memory 122 has a screen conversion/display control program 117 for converting the display data into the screen data and controlling the display screen, a display-data setting program 118 for setting the display data in the data base 105 of the network manager 101 through the communication controller 114, a display-presentation-system setting program 119 for assigning the conversion system of the display data to the screen data, an I/O control program 121 for controlling input/output to the input/output unit, and a main program 123 of these subroutine programs for a display main controller B. The CPU 112 controls the access to these input/output means, the memory and the data base.

Explanation will next be made as to the arrangements and operations of the respective parts of the above embodiment in accordance with a network management/display method of an embodiment of the present invention.

Shown in FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the display unit 103 under control of display main controller B prior to the operation of the network management/display processing system. First, prior to the operation of the network management/display processing system, a user at the display unit 103 sets colors of elements in the communication network to be displayed on the CRT 113 according to their status values (administrative state value, operational state value and severity) as shown in a state display color matrix table in FIG. 3, using the keyboard 120 and the display-presentation-system setter 119 (step 201) to store the set data in the screen configuration/display data base 115 (step 202).

The operation of the display presentation format setter 119 is shown by a flowchart in FIG. 16. More specifically, the presentation format setter 119, when receiving a status display color setting request from the input of the keyboard 120 (step 1601), extracts the status display color setting table from the display data base 115 and puts the table in the work memory 116 to display the table on the CRT 113 (step 1602). Next, the display presentation format setter 119 receives set values of status colors for different table items from the keyboard 120 (step 1603). Finally, the setter 119 receives a notification indicative of completion of the setting of status display colors from the keyboard 120 (step 1604), whereby the set table is shifted from the work memory 116 to the screen/display data base to be stored therein (step 1605), at which stage the setter 119 completes its processing operation.

Turning again to FIG. 2, the display unit 103 performs, through the display data setter 118, correspondences between instances (address names indicative of where the object to be managed belongs in the communication network) of the elements of the communication network to be displayed on the CRT 113 and display identifiers as well as correspondences between the display identifiers and the screen component data (display coordinates on the screen) (step 203) to prepare a list showing the correspondences between the display identifiers and the instances as shown in FIG. 5 as well as a table showing the correspondences between the display identifiers and the screen display coordinates as shown in FIG. 4, stores the correspondence table of FIG. 4 in the data base 115 (step 204) and transmit the correspondence list of FIG. 5 to the network manager 101 (step 205).

The operation of the display data setter 118 is shown by a flowchart in FIG. 17. More specifically, the display data setter 118, when receiving a user's request via keyboard 120 for setting the instance/display identifier correspondence list and the display identifier/display coordinate correspondence table (step 1701), extracts the table and list from the data base 115, puts them in the work memory 116, and displays them on the CRT 113 (step 1702). Next, the display data setter 118 receives instance values, screen display coordinate values and display identifier values for the table and list from the user via keyboard 120 and sets the input values in the table and list (step 1703). Finally, the display data setter 118, when receiving a notification indicative of completion of the setting of the table and list parameters from the user via keyboard 120 (step 1704), transfers the display identifier/display coordiante correspondence table from the work memory 116 to the data base 115, and transmits the instance/display identifier correspondence list to the network manager 101 (step 1705).

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the network manager under control of the display main control program A prior to the operation of the network management processing system of FIG. 1. The network manager 101, when receiving the above display identifier/instance correspondnece list (refer to FIG. 5) from the display unit 103 (step 601), stores in a data field of the management object having the corresponding key instance name of such a network configuration/display data table as shown in FIG. 7, through the display data selector/setter 108, a display identifier corresponding to the instance (step 602).

The operation of the display data selector/setter 108 is shown by a flowchart in FIG. 18. More specifically, the display data selector/setter 108 receives the display identifier/instance correspondence list from the display unit 101 as a request for setting the network configuration/display data table and stores the list in the work memory 106 (step 1801). Next, the display data selector/setter 108 extracts the network configuration/display data table from the network configuration/display data base 105 and stores the extracted table in an area of the work memory 106 different from that of the list (step 1802). The selector/setter 108 then retrieves a line of the network configuration/display data table having the key instance value with respect to each of the instances of the display identifier/instance correspondence list, and sets in the display identifier field of the corresponding line the display identifier value set in the list transmitted from the display unit 101 (step 1803). Finally, the display data selector/setter 108, after completing the setting of the all display identifiers, transfer the network configuration/display data table from the work memory 106 to the data base 105 (step 1804).

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the network manager 101 (which is executed under control of the display main control program A) during the operation of the network management/display processing system of FIG. 1.

During the operation of the system, the network manager 101 receives management data such as status data (for example, instance=packet network, packet exchange No. 01; administrative state value=01; operational state value=10; severity=3) an autonomous reporting by network elements or under control of the management data collector 107 through the communication controller 104 from the communication network 102 (step 801), and stores the received management data in the work memory 106 (step 802).

The first-time collecting operation of the management data collector 107 is shown by a flowchart in FIG. 19. More specifically, respective communication nodes in the communication network 102 detect their own status changes. The communication controller 104 receives the status data from the communication network 102 and informs the management data collector 107 of the reception of the status change notification (step 1901). The management data collector 107 then stores the received status data in the work memory 106 (step 1902) and finally informs the display main controller A of the storage completion (step 1903).

Returning again to FIG. 8, the display data converter/processor 109 next retrieves the network configuration/display data table based on the key instance contained in the status data and converts the instance to a display identifier (01) (step 803). This causes the display data converter/processor 109 to create a display data (in the above example, display identifier =01; administrative state value=01; operational state value=10; severity=3) comprising the display identifier and the status value (step 804) and to send the created display data through the communication controller 104 to the display unit 103 (step 805).

The operation of the display data converter/processor 109 is shown by a flowchart in FIG. 20. More specifically, the display data converter/processor 109, when first receiving a request for creation of a display data from the display main controller A (step 2001), retrieves the network configuration/display data table associated with a display identifier coinciding with the instance value in the status data placed in the work memory 106, provides a display data creation area on the work memory 106, and stores the corresponding identifier value at the head part of the creation area (step 2002). The display data converter/processor 109 then extracts the status value and sets the extracted status value in a field of the display data creation area behind the display identifier value to create a display data (step 2003). Then the display data converter/processor 109 informs the display main controller A of completion of the creation of the display data (step 2004).

Shown in FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of