AT&T Intellectual Property I, LP

At+t Corp.

John Soares

Hossein Eslambolchi

Paritosh Bajpay

David H Lu

John McCanuel

Wen-Jui Li

Carolyn Bekampis

Mihail Vasilescu

Roberta Ann Bienfait

Nino Girardi

Mark Rogaski

Mohammed Shariff

Thomas Dickey

A method and apparatus for collecting and processing line performance data transmitted over cables, e.g., Y-cables, is disclosed. The present invention applies a method based on specific performance measurements, specific measurement time intervals, and compare results from different measurement time intervals to produce a 'signature' that indicates deteriorating performance of a particular Y-cable. Once a 'signature' is detected, the method will proactively and automatically generate a trouble ticket to trigger the dispatch maintenance staffs to service the cable, e.g., to perform the replacement of the Y-cable in question, thus completing the predictive maintenance process. A trouble ticket is a record used to report and manage the resolution of network related problems.

Method and apparatus for providing signature based predictive maintenance in communication networks

Computer systems and techniques for predicting a cable failure in a network system begin by receiving a remote alarm indicator followed by a remote alarm indicator clear as a transmission alarm indicator of an intermittent short duration failure on the transmission path of a circuit. If the transmission alarm indicator is of a duration less than or equal to a preset threshold D it is considered an acceptable short hit transmission alarm. When at least N acceptable transmission alarms have been received and the time stamps of the last N acceptable transmission alarms have been recorded, then a determination is made as to whether N acceptable transmission alarms have been received within a preset time period. A moving window time period is calculated as the difference between the time stamp of the present acceptable transmission alarm K and the time stamp of the [(K&#x2212;N)+1] acceptable transmission alarm. If the difference is less than or equal to T, a cable error signature is indicated. Based on the cable error signature, a cable failure may be predicted.

Predicting cable failure through remote failure detection of error signatures

Growing community of inventors

Yonkers, NY, United States of America

John Soares