System and method for detecting continuity of network lines
The present disclosure provides a system and method for detecting faults related to lines linked to provide network services. The method includes storing a synthetic value for the performance of a line, receiving a measured value of a performance parameter of the line measured at a customer end and comparing the synthetic value with the measured value to determine if a fault condition exists.
1. A tangible computer readable storage medium including instructions for detecting a fault condition in a DSL transmission path, the instructions embedded in the computer readable storage medium, the instructions comprising instructions to:
receive from a customer gateway a measured value for upstream attenuation of the DSL transmission path and a measured value for downstream attenuation of the DSL transmission path, connected to the customer gateway and to a switch, the switch being connected to a plurality of other customer gateways, that provides a network service, wherein the upstream attenuation is indicative of attenuation of a signal transmitted from the customer gateway to the switch and wherein the downstream attenuation is indicative of attenuation of a signal transmitted from the switch to the customer gateway; and
send an indication of a fault condition for the line if the difference between the downstream attenuation and upstream attenuation is less than a selected value.
2. The computer readable storage medium of claim 1 , further comprising instructions to:
retrieve from the customer gateway an upstream bit rate value and a downstream bit rate value.
3. The computer readable storage medium of claim 2 , further comprising instructions to:
compare at least one of the retrieved values to a respective theoretical value.
4. The computer readable storage medium of claim 3 , further comprising instructions to:
indicate a fault if a difference between the at least one retrieved value and the respective theoretical value exceeds a selected value.
5. The computer readable storage medium of claim 2 , wherein the retrieved values and the theoretical values correspond to a selected length and gauge of a wire pair.
6. The computer readable storage medium of claim 1 , further comprising instructions to:
periodically retrieve the upstream and downstream attenuation values from the customer gateway.
7. The tangible computer readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the customer gateway comprises a digital subscriber line (DSL) modem, the switch comprises a DSL access multiplexer (DSLAM), and the network service comprises a DSL service.
8. A method of determining a fault condition for a DSL line, connected to the customer gateway and to a switch, the switch being connected to a plurality of other customer gateways, the line being used for providing a network service, comprising:
retrieving over a network from a customer gateway an upstream attenuation value and downstream attenuation value for the DSL line, wherein the upstream attenuation is indicative of attenuation of a signal transmitted from the customer gateway to the switch and wherein the downstream attenuation is indicative of attenuation of a signal transmitted from the switch to the customer gateway; and
indicating a fault condition for the line when the downstream attenuation value does not exceed the upstream attenuation value by at least a specified threshold difference.
9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
retrieving from the customer gateway an upstream bit rate value and a downstream bit rate value.
10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
comparing at least one of the retrieved values to a respective theoretical value.
11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
indicating a fault if a difference between the at least one retrieved value and the respective theoretical value exceeds a selected value.
12. The method of claim 9 , wherein the retrieved values and the theoretical values correspond to a selected length and gauge of a wire pair.
13. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
periodically retrieve the upstream and downstream attenuation values from the customer gateway.
14. The method of claim 8 , wherein the customer gateway comprises a digital subscriber line (DSL) modem, the switch comprises a DSL access multiplexer (DSLAM), and the network service comprises a DSL service.
15. A data processing system including a processor and memory, said memory including processor executable instructions for determining a fault condition for a DSL line, connected to the customer gateway and to a switch, the switch being connected to a plurality of other customer gateways, the line being used for providing a network service, the instructions comprising instructions to:
retrieve from a customer gateway an upstream attenuation value and downstream attenuation value for the DSL line, wherein the upstream attenuation is indicative of attenuation of a signal transmitted from the customer gateway to the switch and wherein the downstream attenuation is indicative of attenuation of a signal transmitted from the switch to the customer gateway; and
indicate a fault condition for the line if the downstream attenuation value exceeds the upstream attenuation value by less than a threshold value.
16. The data processing system of claim 15 , further comprising instructions to:
retrieve from the customer gateway an upstream bit rate value and a downstream bit rate value.
17. The data processing system of claim 16 , further comprising instructions to:
compare at least one of the retrieved values to a respective theoretical value.
18. The data processing system of claim 17 , further comprising instructions to:
indicate a fault if a difference between the at least one retrieved value and the respective theoretical value exceeds a selected value.
19. The data processing system of claim 16 , wherein the retrieved values and the theoretical values correspond to a selected length and gauge of a wire pair.
20. The data processing system of claim 15 , further comprising instructions to:
periodically retrieve the upstream and downstream attenuation values from the customer gateway.