System and method for analyzing and displaying telecommunications switch report output

Abstract

A system and methods are provided for collecting, analyzing, and reporting data supplied on the report data stream of an electronic switching system or other generator of a report or log data stream or file. Local data storage facilities are provided to receive and store report data stream information for one or more switches. A centralized data storage and analysis facility receives the data collected by the local facilities. A parser parses the collected report data to select and reformat report items of interest according to predefined selection triggers. A post processing facility includes pattern identification and pattern classification components. The pattern identification component reads the parsed, selected report items and extracts a pattern comprising the selection triggers and function call addresses associated with each event. The pattern classification component determines whether the identified pattern for each event is old or newly encountered. If new, a new pattern identification is assigned and the pattern information is stored. If old, the pattern identification is retrieved from storage and associated with the event. The system provides a facility for users with subject matter expertise to associate a group of related patterns as a “problem.” After post-processing, pattern and report information is imported into a database. A user interface, which may include a world-wide-web server and browser, is provided to display the analyzed information to the user. The system determines switch performance indices, including an Operational Risk index, which measures the risk of being unable to provide services from a switch.