TWI897061B - Monitoring system and monitoring method for outlying island communication network - Google Patents

Abstract

A monitoring system and a monitoring method for outlying island communication network are provided. The monitoring method includes: receiving first information of an outlying island submarine cable, wherein the outlying island submarine cable contains a plurality of core wires, and a first core wire in the plurality of core wires contains a plurality of high speed circuits; obtaining a plurality of first traffics respectively corresponding to the plurality of first high speed circuits from the first information, and detecting whether the first information includes a plurality of first fault messages respectively corresponding to the plurality of first high speed circuits; in response to each of the plurality of first traffics being less than a first traffic threshold and the first information including the plurality of fault messages, determining the first core wire is faulty; and outputting an alarm message, wherein the alarm message indicates the first core wire is faulty.

Description

Monitoring system and monitoring method for offshore communication networks

The present invention relates to a communication technology, and in particular to a monitoring system and method for an offshore communication network.

In recent years, submarine fiber optic cables connecting Taiwan's outlying islands have been damaged several times by sand dredging vessels, severely impacting communication quality for residents. This has necessitated the urgent need for backup submarine cables and microwave links during repairs. Whether during a cable outage, repairs, or peacetime, maintenance personnel currently monitor and observe the network management systems for the submarine and microwave cables separately, lacking a comprehensive monitoring method to quickly assess the status of outlying island communications.

The present invention provides a monitoring system and a monitoring method for an offshore communication network, which can be used to monitor the status of the offshore communication network.

The present invention provides a monitoring system for an off-island communication network, comprising a processor and a transceiver. The processor is coupled to the transceiver and configured to: receive, via the transceiver, first information from an off-island submarine cable, wherein the off-island submarine cable houses multiple cores, and a first core among the cores houses multiple first highways; obtain, from the first information, multiple first flows corresponding to the multiple first highways, and detect whether the first information includes multiple first fault messages corresponding to the multiple first highways; determine, in response to each of the multiple first flows being less than a first flow threshold and the first information including the multiple first fault messages, that a fault has occurred in the first core; and output, via the transceiver, an alarm message, wherein the alarm message indicates a fault has occurred in the first core.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a first high-speed circuit among the plurality of first high-speed circuits accommodates a plurality of first low-speed circuits, and the processor is further configured to: obtain a plurality of second flows corresponding to the plurality of first low-speed circuits from first information, and detect whether the first information includes a plurality of second fault messages corresponding to the plurality of first low-speed circuits; and in response to each of the plurality of second flows being less than a second flow threshold and the first information including the plurality of second fault messages, determine that a fault has occurred in the first high-speed circuit, wherein an alarm message indicates that a fault has occurred in the first high-speed circuit.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the processor is further configured to: determine whether a plurality of core lines are faulty; and in response to a fault occurring in each of the plurality of core lines, determine that a fault has occurred in the offshore cable, wherein an alarm message indicates that a fault has occurred in the offshore cable.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the processor is further configured to: receive, via a transceiver, second information from an off-island microwave transceiver, wherein the off-island microwave transceiver houses a plurality of second highways; obtain, from the second information, a plurality of third traffic flows and a plurality of first unavailable times corresponding to the plurality of second highways, and detect whether the second information includes a plurality of third fault messages corresponding to the plurality of second highways; and, in response to each of the plurality of third traffic flows being less than a third traffic flow threshold, each of the plurality of first unavailable times being greater than a first time threshold, and the second information including the plurality of third fault messages, determine that a fault has occurred in the off-island microwave transceiver, wherein an alarm message indicates that the off-island microwave transceiver has failed.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a second expressway among the plurality of second expressways accommodates a plurality of second low-speed circuits, and the processor is further configured to: obtain, from second information, a plurality of fourth flows and a plurality of second unavailable times corresponding respectively to the plurality of second low-speed circuits, and detect whether the second information includes a plurality of fourth fault messages corresponding respectively to the plurality of second low-speed circuits; and in response to each of the plurality of fourth flows being less than a fourth flow rate threshold, each of the plurality of second unavailable times being greater than a second time threshold, and the second information including the plurality of fourth fault messages, determine that a fault has occurred in the second expressway, wherein an alarm message indicates that a fault has occurred in the second expressway.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the processor is further configured to: obtain a first-level relationship table through the transceiver; and query the first-level relationship table to determine that the island cable accommodates multiple core wires, the first core wires accommodate multiple first high-speed circuits, and the first high-speed circuits accommodate multiple first low-speed circuits.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the processor is further configured to: obtain a second-level relationship table through the transceiver; and query the second-level relationship table to determine whether the outlying island microwave receiver accommodates a plurality of second high-speed circuits, and the second high-speed circuits accommodate a plurality of second low-speed circuits.

The present invention provides a monitoring method for an off-island communication network, comprising: receiving first information from an off-island submarine cable, wherein the off-island submarine cable houses multiple cores, and a first core among the cores houses multiple first highways; obtaining multiple first flows corresponding to the multiple first highways from the first information, and detecting whether the first information includes multiple first fault messages corresponding to the multiple first highways; in response to each of the multiple first flows being less than a first flow threshold and the first information including the multiple first fault messages, determining that a fault has occurred in the first core; and outputting an alarm message, wherein the alarm message indicates that a fault has occurred in the first core.

Based on the above, the present invention allows maintenance personnel to quickly grasp the status of the off-island communication network regardless of whether the cable is disconnected, during maintenance, or in peacetime.

The present invention mainly analyzes the status of inter-island submarine cables and microwave communications, and then infers the status of inter-island communications. First, a hierarchical relationship table of the cable core and microwave circuit is generated by the cable core and microwave circuit hierarchical architecture analysis method, and the accommodation relationship between the cable core and the microwave circuit is obtained. Through (1) the cable core obstacle analysis method and (2) the cable core signal analysis method, the hierarchical relationship table is used to collect relevant core alarm and signal data, analyze the status of the accommodation core, and then use the cable status analysis method to infer the cable status. The present invention also collects relevant circuit alarms and signal data through a hierarchical relationship table through (3) microwave circuit obstacle analysis method, (4) microwave circuit traffic analysis method and (5) microwave equipment performance monitoring (PM) value analysis method, collects microwave PM values through a monitoring system, analyzes the circuit status and microwave equipment PM values, and then uses the microwave status analysis method to infer the microwave status. From the cable and microwave status, the current island communication status can be inferred using the island communication status analysis method.

FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a monitoring system 100 for an offshore communication network according to an embodiment of the present invention. The monitoring system 100 may include a processor 110, a storage medium 120, and a transceiver 130.

The processor 110 may be, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), or other programmable general-purpose or special-purpose microcontrol unit (MCU), microprocessor, digital signal processor (DSP), programmable controller, application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), graphics processing unit (GPU), image signal processor (ISP), image processing unit (IPU), arithmetic logic unit (ALU), complex programmable logic device (CPLD), field programmable gate array (FPGA), or other similar components or combinations thereof. The processor 110 may be coupled to the storage medium 120 and the transceiver 130 , and access and execute multiple modules and various applications stored in the storage medium 120 .

The storage medium 120 is, for example, any type of fixed or removable random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, hard disk drive (HDD), solid state drive (SSD), or similar devices or a combination of the above devices, and is used to store multiple modules or various applications that can be executed by the processor 110.

Transceiver 130 transmits or receives signals wirelessly or wired. Transceiver 130 may also perform operations such as low-noise amplification, impedance matching, frequency mixing, up- or down-frequency conversion, filtering, amplification, and the like. Processor 110 may be directly or indirectly communicatively coupled to an island cable or island microwave transceiver via transceiver 130 to receive information from the island cable or island microwave transceiver.

Processor 110 can obtain a hierarchical relationship table associated with an island cable through transceiver 130. The hierarchical relationship table may include the accommodation relationships of island cables, cores, high-speed circuits, and low-speed circuits. Figure 2 illustrates a schematic diagram of the accommodation relationships of an island cable according to one embodiment of the present invention. Based on the hierarchical relationship table, processor 110 can determine that island cable 201 can accommodate N cores (e.g., core 202), core 202 can accommodate M high-speed circuits (e.g., high-speed circuit 203), and high-speed circuit 203 can accommodate K low-speed circuits (e.g., low-speed circuit 204), where N, M, and K can be any positive integers. The low-speed circuit 204 can communicate with clients who subscribe to network services. Telecommunications operators can provide network services to clients via the offshore cable 201.

Processor 110 can receive information from island cable 201 via transceiver 130 and obtain multiple flows corresponding to multiple low-speed circuits (e.g., low-speed circuit 204) from the information. Processor 110 can also detect whether the information contains multiple fault messages (e.g., signal loss or server signal failure) corresponding to the multiple low-speed circuits (e.g., low-speed circuit 204). If each of the multiple flows is less than a flow threshold and the information contains multiple fault messages, processor 110 can determine that high-speed circuit 203, which accommodates the multiple low-speed circuits, has failed. Accordingly, the processor 110 may output an alarm message via the transceiver 130, wherein the alarm message may indicate to the network administrator that a fault has occurred in the highway 203.

Processor 110 can obtain multiple traffic flows corresponding to multiple highways (e.g., highway 203) from the information on offshore cable 201. Processor 110 can also detect whether the information contains multiple fault messages corresponding to the multiple highways (e.g., highway 203). If each of the multiple traffic flows is less than a traffic threshold and the information contains multiple fault messages, processor 110 can determine that a fault has occurred in core cable 202, which houses the multiple highways. Based on this, processor 110 can output an alarm message via transceiver 130, which can inform network administrators that a fault has occurred in core cable 202.

Processor 110 can determine whether a core wire (e.g., core wire 202) contained within island cable 201 has a fault. If every core wire contained within island cable 201 has a fault, processor 110 can determine that island cable 201 has a fault. Based on this, processor 110 can output an alarm message via transceiver 130, where the alarm message can inform network administrators that island cable 201 has a fault.

In one embodiment, the alarm message may include the fault status of the island cable 201. If all components housed in the island cable 201 generate fault messages and the traffic flow of all components is less than the threshold, the fault status is critical. If multiple cores housed in the island cable 201 fail, the fault status is major. If a single core housed in the island cable 201 fails, the fault status is minor. If no components housed in the island cable 201 generate fault messages and the traffic flow of all components is greater than the threshold, the fault status is normal.

Processor 110 can obtain a hierarchical relationship table associated with the remote microwave transceiver through transceiver 130. The hierarchical relationship table may include the accommodation relationship between the remote microwave transceiver, core lines, high-speed circuits, and low-speed circuits. Figure 3 illustrates a schematic diagram of the accommodation relationship of the remote microwave transceiver according to one embodiment of the present invention. Based on the hierarchical relationship table, processor 110 can determine that remote microwave transceiver 301 can accommodate I high-speed circuits (e.g., high-speed circuit 302), and that high-speed circuit 302 can accommodate J low-speed circuits (e.g., low-speed circuit 303), where I and J can be any positive integers. The low-speed circuit 303 can communicate with clients that subscribe to network services. Telecommunications operators can provide network services to clients through the offshore microwave transceiver 301.

Processor 110 can receive information from remote microwave transceiver 301 via transceiver 130 and obtain multiple traffic flows and PM values corresponding to multiple low-speed circuits (e.g., low-speed circuit 303) from the information from remote microwave transceiver 301. The PM values may include unavailable seconds (UAS). Processor 110 can also detect whether the information contains multiple failure messages (e.g., signal loss or server signal failure) corresponding to the multiple low-speed circuits (e.g., low-speed circuit 303). If each of the multiple flow rates is less than a flow threshold, each of the multiple unavailable times is greater than a time threshold (e.g., 0 seconds), and the information includes multiple fault messages, processor 110 may determine that high-speed circuit 302, which houses the multiple low-speed circuits, has failed. Accordingly, processor 110 may output an alarm message via transceiver 130, informing network administrators that high-speed circuit 302 has failed.

Processor 110 can obtain multiple flow rates and PM values corresponding to multiple highways (e.g., highway 302) from information from the remote island microwave transceiver 301. The PM values may include unavailable time. Processor 110 can also detect whether the information contains multiple fault messages corresponding to the multiple highways (e.g., highway 302). If each of the multiple flow rates is less than a flow threshold, each of the multiple unavailable time periods is greater than a time threshold (e.g., 0 seconds), and the information contains multiple fault messages, processor 110 can determine that the remote island microwave transceiver 301 that houses the multiple highways has failed. Accordingly, the processor 110 may output an alarm message via the transceiver 130, wherein the alarm message may instruct the network administrator that the microwave transceiver 301 on the island has failed.

In one embodiment, the alarm message may include the microwave status of the remote island microwave transceiver 301. If all components within the microwave transceiver 301 generate fault messages and the unavailable time of all components is greater than 0, the microwave status is critical. If some components within the microwave transceiver 301 generate fault messages and the unavailable time of all components is greater than 0, the microwave status is minor. If no components within the microwave transceiver 301 generate fault messages and the unavailable time of all components is equal to 0, the microwave status is normal.

Network administrators can determine the communication status of the offshore island coast based on the alarm messages output by monitoring system 100. If the fault status of offshore cable 201 is critical and the microwave status of offshore microwave transceiver 301 is critical, the network administrator can determine that offshore communication is interrupted. If the fault status of offshore cable 201 is severe, minor, or normal, and the microwave status of offshore microwave transceiver 301 is critical, the network administrator can determine that the offshore island is currently primarily provided with network services by offshore cable 201. If the fault status of offshore cable 201 is critical and the microwave status of offshore microwave transceiver 301 is minor or normal, the network administrator can determine that the offshore island is currently primarily served by offshore microwave transceiver 301. If the fault status of offshore cable 201 and the microwave status of offshore microwave transceiver 301 are both non-critical, the network administrator can determine that the offshore island is currently primarily served by offshore cable 201.

FIG4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for monitoring an off-island communication network according to an embodiment of the present invention. The monitoring method can be implemented by the monitoring system 100 shown in FIG1 . In step S401, first information about an off-island submarine cable is received, wherein the off-island submarine cable includes multiple cores, and a first core among the cores includes multiple first highways. In step S402, multiple first flows corresponding to the multiple first highways are obtained from the first information, and the first information is detected to determine whether it includes multiple first fault messages corresponding to the multiple first highways. In step S403, in response to each of the multiple first flows being less than a first flow threshold and the first information including multiple first fault messages, a fault is determined to have occurred in the first core. In step S404, an alarm message is output, wherein the alarm message indicates that a fault has occurred in the first core line.

In summary, when compared with other conventional technologies, the present invention has the following advantages: (1) The monitoring method of the present invention has the advantage of integration. Regardless of whether the communication is interrupted on the offshore island, during maintenance, or in peacetime, maintenance personnel currently monitor and observe the network management system of the cable or microwave separately. The present invention provides an integrated monitoring method that can fully grasp the communication status of the offshore island. (2) The monitoring method of the present invention has the advantage of efficiency. Currently, maintenance personnel monitor and observe the network management system of the cable or microwave separately. The present invention collects relevant data from the cable and microwave network management systems, uses computer programming to calculate the analysis method, and quickly presents the results to the maintenance tool. (3) The monitoring method of the present invention has the advantage of accuracy. The monitoring system can integrate network management alarms and network traffic to comprehensively judge the status of offshore communications, eliminating the possibility of false alarms from network management and thus improving the accuracy of judgment. (4) This invention can reduce the personnel cost of network maintenance and operation, and can also ensure the reliability and stability of offshore communication networks, thereby enhancing the company's image. Its economic benefits are very obvious.

100: Surveillance system 110: Processor 120: Storage media 130: Transceiver 201: Off-island submarine cable 202: Core wire 203, 302: High-speed circuit 204, 303: Low-speed circuit 301: Off-island microwave transceiver S401, S402, S403, S404: Steps

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a monitoring system for an off-island communication network according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the storage relationship of off-island cables according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the storage relationship of off-island microwave transceivers according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 4 is a flow chart of a monitoring method for an off-island communication network according to an embodiment of the present invention.

S401, S402, S403, S404: Steps

Claims (6)

A monitoring system for an off-island communication network comprises: a transceiver; and a processor coupled to the transceiver and configured to: receive, via the transceiver, first information about an off-island submarine cable, wherein the off-island submarine cable houses a plurality of cores, and a first core among the cores houses a plurality of first high-speed circuits, wherein a first high-speed circuit among the plurality of first high-speed circuits houses a plurality of first low-speed circuits; obtain, from the first information, a plurality of first flows corresponding to the plurality of first high-speed circuits, and detect whether the first information includes a plurality of first fault messages corresponding to the plurality of first high-speed circuits; in response to each of the plurality of first flows being less than a first flow threshold and the first information including the plurality of first fault messages, determine that a fault has occurred in the first core; Outputting an alarm message via the transceiver, wherein the alarm message indicates a fault in the first core line; Acquiring a plurality of second flows corresponding to the plurality of first low-speed circuits from the first information, and detecting whether the first information includes a plurality of second fault messages corresponding to the plurality of first low-speed circuits; In response to each of the plurality of second flows being less than a second flow threshold and the first information including the plurality of second fault messages, determining that a fault has occurred in the first high-speed circuit, wherein the alarm message indicates a fault in the first high-speed circuit; Acquiring a first hierarchical relationship table via the transceiver; and Querying the first hierarchical relationship table to determine that the offshore cable accommodates the plurality of core lines, the first core line accommodates the plurality of first high-speed circuits, and the first high-speed circuit accommodates the plurality of first low-speed circuits. The monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to: Determine whether a fault has occurred in the plurality of core cables; and Determine that a fault has occurred in the offshore cable in response to a fault in each of the plurality of core cables, wherein the alarm message indicates that a fault has occurred in the offshore cable. The monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to: receive, via the transceiver, second information from an off-island microwave transceiver, wherein the off-island microwave transceiver accommodates a plurality of second high-speed circuits; obtain, from the second information, a plurality of third traffic flows and a plurality of first unavailable times corresponding to the plurality of second high-speed circuits, and detect whether the second information includes a plurality of third fault messages corresponding to the plurality of second high-speed circuits; and in response to each of the plurality of third traffic flows being less than a third traffic flow threshold, each of the plurality of first unavailable times being greater than a first time threshold, and the second information including the plurality of third fault messages, determine that a fault has occurred in the off-island microwave transceiver, wherein the alarm message indicates that the off-island microwave transceiver has failed. The monitoring system of claim 3, wherein a second high-speed circuit among the plurality of second high-speed circuits houses a plurality of second low-speed circuits, and the processor is further configured to: obtain, from the second information, a plurality of fourth flow rates and a plurality of second unavailable times corresponding respectively to the plurality of second low-speed circuits, and detect whether the second information includes a plurality of fourth fault messages corresponding respectively to the plurality of second low-speed circuits; and in response to each of the plurality of fourth flow rates being less than a fourth flow rate threshold, each of the plurality of second unavailable times being greater than a second time threshold, and the second information including the plurality of fourth fault messages, determine that a fault has occurred in the second high-speed circuit, wherein the alarm message indicates that the fault has occurred in the second high-speed circuit. The monitoring system of claim 4, wherein the processor is further configured to: obtain a second-level relationship table through the transceiver; and query the second-level relationship table to determine whether the island microwave receiver accommodates the plurality of second high-speed circuits and the second high-speed circuits accommodate the plurality of second low-speed circuits. A method for monitoring an off-island communication network comprises: Receiving first information about an off-island submarine cable, wherein the off-island submarine cable houses multiple cores, and a first core among the cores houses multiple first high-speed circuits, wherein a first high-speed circuit among the multiple first high-speed circuits houses multiple first low-speed circuits; Acquiring multiple first flows corresponding to the multiple first high-speed circuits from the first information, and detecting whether the first information includes multiple first fault messages corresponding to the multiple first high-speed circuits; In response to each of the multiple first flows being less than a first flow threshold and the first information including the multiple first fault messages, determining that a fault has occurred in the first core; Outputting an alarm message, wherein the alarm message indicates that a fault has occurred in the first core; Retrieving a plurality of second traffic flows corresponding to the plurality of first low-speed circuits from the first information, and detecting whether the first information includes a plurality of second fault messages corresponding to the plurality of first low-speed circuits; In response to each of the plurality of second traffic flows being less than a second traffic threshold and the first information including the plurality of second fault messages, determining that a fault has occurred in the first high-speed circuit, wherein the alarm message indicates that the fault has occurred in the first high-speed circuit; Retrieving a first hierarchical relationship table; and Querying the first hierarchical relationship table to determine that the offshore cable houses the plurality of core wires, the first core wires house the plurality of first high-speed circuits, and the first high-speed circuits house the plurality of first low-speed circuits.