• 专利附录
  • 专利说明
  • 权利要求
  • 类似技术
  • 同族专利
  • 引用文献
  • 法律状态
  • 优先权
    • 专利摘要:
    A computer implemented method of setting maintenance priority for a set of network devices of communication network. The set of network devices are arranged in an ordered list based on at least one of: customer information and usage information; and maintenance priority classes are dynamically set (13) for the network devices based on the ordered list, wherein there are at least two different maintenance priority classes.
    公开号:FI20195536A1
    申请号:FI20195536
    申请日:2019-06-19
    公开日:2020-12-20
    发明作者:Henri Karikallio
    申请人:Elisa Oyj；
    IPC主号:
    专利说明:

    [0001] [0001] The present application generally relates to maintenance priority in communication networks.BACKGROUND
    [0002] [0002] This section illustrates useful background information without admission of any technique described herein representative of the state of the art.
    [0003] [0003] Base stations and other network devices of a communication network may be set to have different maintenance priorities. The maintenance priority sets a time limit for fixing faults in the network device. In this way one achieves that maintenance resources are assigned so that communication problems may be quickly solved in places where it is important to have communication ability at all times and in other places there is more time to solve the problems.
    [0004] [0004] The maintenance priorities may be set by radio network designer, when the respective network device is set up. The radio network designer may make an educated guess of the appropriate maintenance priority class e.g. based on geographical location of the network device. The maintenance priority is set individually for each base station.
    [0005] [0005] Now a new solution is provided.SUMMARY
    [0006] [0006] Various aspects of examples of the invention are set out in the O claims. Any devices and/or methods in the description and/or drawings which are not N covered by the claims are examples useful for understanding the invention. S [0007] According to a first example aspect of the present invention, there is 2 provided a computer implemented method of setting maintenance priority for a set of E network devices of a communication network. The method comprises O arranging the set of network devices in an ordered list based on at least one 3 of: customer information and usage information; and > dynamically setting maintenance priority classes for the network devices based on the ordered list, wherein there are at least two different maintenance priority classes.
    [0008] [0008] In an embodiment, the method further comprises obtaining the usage information from network operation systems.
    [0009] [0009] In an embodiment, the method further comprises obtaining the customer information from a customer database.
    [0010] [0010] In an embodiment, the method further comprises obtaining numbers of network devices that may be dynamically assigned to different maintenance priority classes, and using these numbers in the dynamic setting of maintenance priority classes.
    [0011] [0011] In an embodiment, a highest maintenance priority class corresponds to a shortest delay in maintenance actions and lower ranking maintenance priority classes correspond to longer delays in maintenance actions, and the dynamic setting of maintenance priority classes comprises setting the highest maintenance priority class for the first network devices in the ordered list and setting the lower ranking maintenance priority classes for the following network devices in the ordered list.
    [0012] [0012] In an embodiment, the method further comprises overriding any previous maintenance priority classes of the network devices while setting the maintenance priority classes.
    [0013] [0013] In an embodiment, the method further comprises taking any previous maintenance priority classes of the network devices into account while setting the maintenance priority classes so that new maintenance priority class of a certain network device is one step higher, one step lower or the same as the previous maintenance priority class of said certain network device.
    [0014] [0014] In an embodiment, the method further comprises, when setting up a new network device, setting for the new network device a default maintenance O priority class.
    [0019] [0019] According to a third example aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer program comprising computer executable program code which when executed by a processor causes an apparatus to perform the method of the first aspect or any related embodiment.
    [0020] [0020] The computer program of the third aspect may be a computer program product stored on a non-transitory memory medium.
    [0021] [0021] Different non-binding example aspects and embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated in the foregoing. The embodiments in the foregoing are used merely to explain selected aspects or steps that may be utilized in implementations of the present invention. Some embodiments may be presented only with reference to certain example aspects of the invention. It should be appreciated that corresponding embodiments may apply to other example aspects as well.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
    [0022] [0022] For a more complete understanding of example embodiments of the present invention, reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:
    [0023] [0023] Fig. 1 shows an example scenario according to an embodiment;
    [0024] [0024] Figs. 2-4 show flow diagrams illustrating example methods according to certain embodiments; and
    [0025] [0025] Fig. 5 shows an apparatus according to an embodiment.D
    [0028] [0028] Network devices of a communication network may be divided into network devices that have static maintenance priority and network devices whose maintenance priority may be dynamically changed. For example, base stations serving hospitals, police stations and fire stations may be permanently set to have the highest maintenance priority in order to minimize downtime of communication services in those places. The embodiments of the invention provide continuous automatic adjustment of maintenance priorities of the network devices whose maintenance priority may be dynamically changed.
    [0029] [0029] There may be for example four different maintenance priority classes, but also other number of classes is possible. In any case there are at least two different maintenance priority classes in various embodiments of the invention. A highest maintenance priority class corresponds to a shortest delay in maintenance actions and lower ranking maintenance priority classes correspond to longer delays in maintenance actions. In an example scenario, there are the following maintenance priority classes: - Prio1, wherein faults are fixed in 1-2 hours, - Prio2, wherein faults are fixed in 2-5 hours, - Prio3, wherein faults are fixed in 24 hours, and - Prio4, wherein faults are fixed in one week.
    [0030] [0030] Fig. 1 shows an example scenario according to an embodiment. The scenario shows a communication network 101 comprising a plurality of base stations O and other network devices, and an automation system 111 configured to dynamically N change maintenance priorities of network device of the communication network 101. S Further, the scenario shows a network operations system 102 and a customer 2 relationship database 103, a list 105 of maintenance priority classes provided by the E automation system 111 and maintenance personnel! 106. O [0031] In an embodiment t of the invention the scenario of Fig. 1 operates as 3 follows: In phase 11, the automation system 111 collects usage information > associated with network devices of the communication network 101. The usage information is obtained from the network operation system 102 and the usage information may comprise for example KPI, key performance indicator, values for 4 different network devices or other usage information. Such usage information is in general readily available in the network operation system 102 for other purposes. In phase 12, the automation system 111 collects customer information from the customer relationship database 103. The customer information may comprise for example information about requirements of different customers. The phases 11 and 12 may be performed concurrently and continuously repeated.
    [0032] [0032] In phase 13, the automation system 111 dynamically sets maintenance priority classes for the network devices of the communication network 101 based on the collected usage information and/or customer information. For example, usage rates of different customers and customer specific requirements may be taken into account. In phase 14, the automation system 111 outputs the list 105 of maintenance priority classes of different network devices for use by the maintenance personnel 106.
    [0033] [0033] In phase 15, a communication failure occurs in one or more of the network devices of the communication network 101 and the maintenance personnel 106 use the list 105 to appropriately schedule the required maintenance operations to fix the communication failure.
    [0034] [0034] The shown phases 11-14 may be continuously repeated after a predefined period of time. The predefined period of time may be one of the following: 1 day, 3 days, 1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month, 2 months, and 3 months. If the period is for example 1-2 days, the maintenance priorities may be quickly adapted to changes in network traffic. In this way for example increased network traffic during mass events may be taken into account and maintenance priority classes in the area of the mass events may be set to correspond to short maintenance delays. In this way it O may be possible to minimize service disruptions experienced by large amount of N people as any occurring problems are set to be fixed guickly. The maintenance S priorities may then be reverted to normal situation after the network traffic in the area 2 returns to normal. It is to be noted that adaptation of maintenance priority classes for E the whole network for example every 1-2 days or even 1-2 weeks cannot be O reasonably implemented by human resources. Instead, an automated system is 3 needed.
    [0036] [0036] Fig. 2 shows a flow diagram illustrating a method according to an embodiment of the invention. The method concerns the process of setting the maintenance priority classes. The method comprises following phases:
    [0037] [0037] Phase 201: Usage information and/or customer information are obtained. The customer information may be obtained from a customer relationship database and may indicate requirements of the customers. The usage information may be obtained from network operation systems and the usage information may comprise for example KPI, key performance indicator, values for different network devices. The usage information may comprise also identities of the users of the network traffic in the network devices.
    [0038] [0038] Phase 202: Network devices are arranged in an ordered list based on at least one of: customer information and usage information. For example, network devices serving customers with specific requirements or with high usage rates and network devices serving large amount of different users may be ranked high in the ordered list.
    [0039] [0039] Phase 203: Maintenance priority classes are dynamically set for the network devices based on the ordered list of the network devices. This phase may involve obtaining numbers of network devices that may be dynamically assigned to O different maintenance priority classes (i.e. sizes of the maintenance priority classes). N These numbers may then be used in the dynamic setting of maintenance priority S classes. The first network devices in the ordered list may be set to have the highest 2 maintenance priority class until the highest maintenance priority class is full or nearly E full. Subseguent network devices in the ordered list may then be set to have the O second highest maintenance priority class until the second highest maintenance 3 priority class is full or nearly full. In this way the network devices receive highest > available maintenance priority class. It is to be noted that in alternative implementation the last network devices in the ordered list may be set to have the highest maintenance priority class, while the first network device in the list receive 6 the lowest maintenance priority class.
    [0040] [0040] Phase 204: The maintenance priority classes are output for use by maintenance personnel. They may be for example listed on a display, saved in a storage medium, or printed on a paper.
    [0041] [0041] Fig. 3 shows a flow diagram illustrating a method according to an embodiment of the invention. The method concerns some example details of the process of setting the maintenance priority classes. The method comprises following phases:
    [0042] [0042] Phase 301: Setting of the maintenance priority classes is started. The maintenance priority classes are being set for plurality of network devices arranged in an ordered list.
    [0043] [0043] Phase 302: The highest maintenance priority class is set for the first (or the last) network devices in the ordered list and the lower ranking maintenance priority classes are set for the following network devices in the ordered list. Herein, the highest maintenance priority class corresponds to a shortest delay in maintenance actions and the lower ranking maintenance priority classes correspond to longer delays in maintenance actions.
    [0044] [0044] Phase 303: The method overrides any previous maintenance priority classes of the network devices.
    [0045] [0045] Phase 304: The method takes previous maintenance priority classes of the network devices into account so that new maintenance priority class of a network device is one step higher, one step lower or the same as the previous maintenance priority class of the network device.
    [0046] [0046] Herein it is noted that phases 402 and 403 concern network devices O whose maintenance priority may be dynamically changed. Network devices that are N set to have static maintenance priority class are set separately.
    [0050] [0050] Phase 403: The maintenance priority class of the new network device is dynamically changed when the network device is in use. This is done based on associated customer information and/or usage information. In this way the default maintenance priority class may be quickly set to correct level by the automation system.
    [0051] [0051] Herein it is noted that phases 402 and 403 concern network devices whose maintenance priority may be dynamically changed. Network devices that a set to have static maintenance priority class are set separately.
    [0052] [0052] Fig. 5 shows an apparatus 50 according to an embodiment. The apparatus 50 is for example a general-purpose computer or server or some other electronic data processing apparatus. The apparatus 50 can be used for implementing embodiments of the invention. That is, with suitable configuration the apparatus 50 is suited for operating for example as the communication network monitoring and control system 111 of foregoing disclosure.
    [0053] [0053] The general structure of the apparatus 50 comprises a processor 51, and a memory 52 coupled to the processor 51. The apparatus 50 further comprises software 53 and database 54 stored in the memory 52 and operable to be loaded into and executed in the processor 51. The software 53 may comprise one or more O software modules and can be in the form of a computer program product. The N database 54 may be usable for storing e.g. rules and patterns for use in data S analysis. Further, the apparatus 50 comprises a communication interface 55 coupled 2 to the processor 51.
    [0055] [0055] The memory 52 may be for example a non-volatile or a volatile memory, such as a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory 8
    [0056] [0056] The communication interface 55 may comprise communication modules that implement data transmission to and from the apparatus 50. The communication modules may comprise, e.g., a wireless or a wired interface module. The wireless interface may comprise such as a WLAN, Bluetooth, infrared (IR), radio frequency identification (RF ID), GSM/GPRS, CDMA, WCDMA, or LTE (Long Term Evolution) radio module. The wired interface may comprise such as Ethernet or universal serial bus (USB), for example. Further the apparatus 50 may comprise a user interface (not shown) for providing interaction with a user of the apparatus. The user interface may comprise a display and a keyboard, for example. The user interaction may be implemented through the communication interface 55, too.
    [0057] [0057] The database 54 may be certain memory area in the memory 52 or alternatively the database 54 may be a separate component or the database 54 may be located in a physically separate database server that is accessed for example through the communication unit 55. The database unit 54 may be a relational (SQL) or a non-relational (NoSOL) database.
    [0058] [0058] A skilled person appreciates that in addition to the elements shown in Fig. 5, the apparatus 50 may comprise other elements, such as microphones, displays, as well as additional circuitry such as memory chips, application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), other processing circuitry for specific purposes and the O like. Further, it is noted that only one apparatus is shown in Fig. 5, but the N embodiments of the invention may egually be implemented in a cluster of shown S apparatuses.
    [0061] [0061] If desired, the different functions discussed herein may be performed in a different order and/or concurrently with each other. Furthermore, if desired, one or more of the before-described functions may be optional or may be combined.
    [0062] [0062] Although various aspects of the invention are set out in the independent claims, other aspects of the invention comprise other combinations of features from the described embodiments and/or the dependent claims with the features of the independent claims, and not solely the combinations explicitly set out in the claims.
    [0063] [0063] It is also noted herein that while the foregoing describes example embodiments of the invention, these descriptions should not be viewed in a limiting sense. Rather, there are several variations and modifications, which may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims.
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    权利要求:
    Claims (13)
    [1] 1. A computer implemented method of setting maintenance priority for a set of network devices of a communication network, the method comprising arranging (202) the set of network devices in an ordered list based on at least one of: customer information and usage information; and dynamically setting (13, 203) maintenance priority classes for the network devices based on the ordered list, wherein there are at least two different maintenance priority classes.
    [2] 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising obtaining (201) the usage information from network operation systems (102).
    [3] 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising obtaining (201) the customer information from a customer database (103).
    [4] 4. The method of any preceding claim, further comprising obtaining numbers of network devices that may be dynamically assigned to different maintenance priority classes, and using these numbers in said dynamic setting of maintenance priority classes.
    [5] 5. The method of claim 4, wherein a highest maintenance priority class corresponds to a shortest delay in maintenance actions and lower ranking maintenance priority classes correspond to longer delays in maintenance actions, O and wherein N the dynamic setting of maintenance priority classes comprises setting (302) S the highest maintenance priority class for the first network devices in the ordered list 2 and setting the lower ranking maintenance priority classes for the following network E devices in the ordered list. = O 6. The method of any preceding claim, further comprising > overriding (303) any previous maintenance priority classes of the network devices while setting the maintenance priority classes.
    [6] 11
    [7] 7. The method of any preceding claim, further comprising taking (304) any previous maintenance priority classes of the network devices into account while setting the maintenance priority classes so that new maintenance priority class of a certain network device is one step higher, one step lower or the same as the previous maintenance priority class of said certain network device.
    [8] 8. The method of any preceding claim, further comprising when setting up a new network device, setting (402) for the new network device a default maintenance priority class.
    [9] 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the default maintenance priority class is a second lowest maintenance priority class.
    [10] 10. The method of any preceding claim, further comprising consecutively repeating said arranging and dynamic setting after a predefined period of time.
    [11] 11. The method of claim 10, wherein said predefined period of time is one of the following: 1 day, 3 days, 1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month, 2 months, and 3 months.
    [12] 12. An apparatus (50, 111) comprising a processor (51), and a memory (52) including computer program code; the memory and the O computer program code configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to N perform the method of any one of claims 1-11. 3 >
    [13] 13. A computer program comprising computer executable program code (53) z which when executed by a processor causes an apparatus to perform the method of O any one of claims 1-11. 3
    N 12
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    引用文献:
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    US7523182B2|2001-11-27|2009-04-21|Isochron, Inc.|Method and system for predicting the services needs of remote point of sale devices|
    JP4717579B2|2005-09-30|2011-07-06|株式会社小松製作所|Maintenance work management system for work machines|
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    PCT/FI2020/050400| WO2020254721A1|2019-06-19|2020-06-09|Maintenance priority in communication network|
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