British Telecommunications Public Limited Company

Carl Freudenberg Kg

Simon Barnett

Richard Gedge

Uwe Felber

Lukas GÄRTNER

This invention relates to a method of managing a digital subscriber line, where classification for a potential fault on a line is generated. The invention continuously measures the signal to noise (SNR) margin on the DSL line, and compares the measurements to predetermined conditions based on SNR margin characteristics associated with a population of good lines. Once the SNR margin measurements fail to meet the predetermined conditions, the line is flagged as experiencing a potential fault. Further measurements from weather sensors are gathered, and correlated with the SNR margin characteristics. The resulting correlation is used to generate a classification of a potential fault on the line. This can then be used to more specifically direct diagnosis and further testing.

Line fault classification

This invention relates to a method of managing a digital subscriber line, where an optimum point at which to trigger a line test on the DSL line is determined. The invention continuously measures the signal to noise (SNR) margin on the DSL line, and compares the measurements to predetermined conditions based on SNR margin characteristics associated with a population of good lines. Once the SNR margin measurements fail to meet the predetermined conditions, an electrical line test is triggered. Thus, monitoring is done in the DSL domain, but the line test triggered is in the electrical domain. In an improved method, moisture level sensors provide a measure of the atmospheric moisture levels experienced by the line. If the SNR margin measurements fail to meet the predetermined conditions, and in addition there is a correlation with atmospheric moisture levels, then a line test is triggered on the line. This improvement picks up faults associated with wet joints that are generally intermittent in nature, and otherwise difficult to identify and properly test.

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London, United Kingdom

Simon Barnett