Abstract: A method for identifying service critical faults in a communications network and a network management system employing the method are provided. A service provisioning tool associated with the network management system and operating in accordance with the method, performs operations on a multitude of managed entity instances stored in a containment hierarchy associated with the network management system, the managed entity instances corresponding to managed field installed equipment. Received alarm information is used to ascribe operational states to corresponding managed entities in the containment hierarchy. Operating in accordance with the presented method, the service provisioning tool inspects low-level managed entities in the containment hierarchy and, if each managed entity of a group of low-level managed entities which provide a unitary function is “unavailable”, then the operational state of a corresponding high-level managed entity is set to the “unavailable” state.

Abstract: A bulk Soft Permanent Virtual Circuit (SPVC) trace processor is provided. The bulk SPVC trace processor receives notifications of newly established SPVCs and SPVC re-routing instances. The bulk SPVC trace processor submits SPVC connection trace commands to corresponding trace source network nodes, and retrieves trace transit list information therefrom. The aggregate SPVC transport path information derived from trace transit list information is stored and provided to higher network management and service provisioning functions. The bulk SPVC trace processor may also be employed to trace SPVC portions of Hybrid SPVCs. As SPVC connection tracing is necessary subsequent to a failure, load balancing techniques are used to spread SPVC connection tracing over time, network resources, and network partitions to prevent weighting down the network. Network planning and design functions previously built for Permanent Virtual Circuit (PVC) provisioning may be seamlessly upgraded in migrating to (H)SPVC connectivity.

Abstract: A method for identifying service critical faults in a communications network and a network management system employing the method are provided. A service provisioning tool associated with the network management system and operating in accordance with the method, performs operations on a multitude of managed entity instances stored in a containment hierarchy associated with the network management system, the managed entity instances corresponding to managed field installed equipment. Received alarm information is used to ascribe operational states to corresponding managed entities in the containment hierarchy. Operating in accordance with the presented method, the service provisioning tool inspects low-level managed entities in the containment hierarchy and, if each managed entity of a group of low-level managed entities which provide a unitary function is “unavailable”, then the operational state of a corresponding high-level managed entity is set to the “unavailable” state.

Abstract: A bulk Soft Permanent Virtual Circuit (SPVC) trace processor is provided. The bulk SPVC trace processor receives notifications of newly established SPVCs and SPVC re-routing instances. The bulk SPVC trace processor submits SPVC connection trace commands to corresponding trace source network nodes, and retrieves trace transit list information therefrom. The aggregate SPVC transport path information derived from trace transit list information is stored and provided to higher network management and service provisioning functions. The bulk SPVC trace processor may also be employed to trace SPVC portions of Hybrid SPVCs. As SPVC connection tracing is necessary subsequent to a failure, load balancing techniques are used to spread SPVC connection tracing over time, network resources, and network partitions to prevent weighting down the network. Network planning and design functions previously built for Permanent Virtual Circuit (PVC) provisioning may be seamlessly upgraded in migrating to (H)SPVC connectivity.