NEOPILOT: an integrated ISDN fault management system

A network fault management system called NEOPILOT (network operations system for isolation and localization of troubles in the network) is introduced. NEOPILOT collects network fault indication data such as circuit trouble messages and transmission alarm data from local operations systems and analyzes them to clarify fault causes. NEOPILOT makes the best use of expert system technologies to localize networkwide faults and outlines restoration procedures to maintenance operators. A statistical analysis function is included in NEOPILOT to clarify intermittent failure causes. For rapid fault location, NEOPILOT analyzes correlations between fault messages and alarms and infers the fault location based on a hierarchical AI (artificial intelligence) engineering method. For appropriate healing measures, NEOPILOT analyzes the affected circuits using a network configuration database, estimates the affected grade of service by forecasting the affected traffic quantity and infers healing measures using AI technology. >