Granted Patent B2

US 8,996,668 · App. 11/498,722 · Granted Mar 31, 2015

Inventors: Lay Been Tan (Kanata, CA); Felix M. Landry (Gatineau, CA); Stephen Rosenberger (Nepean, CA)

Assignee: Alcatel Lucent

H04Q3/0095H04L41/0843H04L41/0883H04L41/0206H04L41/0233H04L41/06H04L41/22

Abstract

Claims (38)

1. A method for storing, in a network management system (NMS), configuration information for network nodes in a network, the method comprising:

installing a node type package in the NMS, the node type package corresponding to a node type that is not currently supported by the NMS, the node type package being a pluggable software module containing the configuration information, wherein the pluggable software module allows the NMS to support the corresponding node type, providing common functionality to different supported node types;

receiving a signal from a user in the NMS after installation of the node type package to create a new node as an instance of the node type;

presenting one or more items of the configuration information to a user in a configuration form displayed on a display screen of the NMS, the presented configuration information relating to the new node, wherein at least one of the items is a communication script for launching a function for the node type; and

receiving one or more signals from a user for adjusting one or more of the items to configure the new node.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising reading the configuration information from the node type package and storing the configuration information in a configuration file for the new node.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the items relates to configuration parameters for the node type.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the items is a node type string for identifying the node type within the NMS.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the items is an icon for the node type for presentation on the display screen.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the function is an element manager for the node type.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the function is defined in the communication script.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein parameters of the communication script are controlled by the node type package.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the items is an alarm plug-in for the node type.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising storing the node type package in a database accessible by the NMS.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the configuration information identifies which of the one or more items is presented on the display screen.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the items is a licensing key for the node type.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the configuration information identifies a number of components within the node type.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the number of components is one or more of a number of shelves, a number of cards, and a number of ports.

15. A network management system (NMS) for storing configuration information for nodes in a network, the NMS comprising:

a processor coupled to memory; and

modules within the memory and executed by the processor, the modules including:

a module for installing a node type package in the NMS, the node type package corresponding to a node type that is not currently supported by the NMS, the node type package being a pluggable software module containing the configuration information, wherein the pluggable software module allows the NMS to support the corresponding node type, providing common functionality to different supported node types,

a module for receiving a signal from a user in the NMS after installation of the node type package to create a new node as an instance of the node type,

a module for presenting one or more items of the configuration information to a user in a configuration form displayed on a display screen of the NMS, the presented configuration information relating to the new node, wherein at least one of the items is a communication script for launching a function for the node type, and

a module for receiving one or more signals from a user for adjusting one or more of the items to configure the new node.

16. The NMS of claim 15 , further comprising a module for reading the configuration information from the node type package and for storing the configuration information in a configuration file for the new node.

17. The NMS of claim 15 , wherein at least one of the items relates to configuration parameters for the node type.

18. The NMS of claim 15 , wherein at least one of the items is a node type string for identifying the node type within the NMS.

19. The NMS of claim 15 , wherein at least one of the items is an icon for the node type for presentation on the display screen.

20. The NMS of claim 15 , wherein the function is an element manager for the node type.

21. The NMS of claim 15 , wherein the function is defined in the communication script.

22. The NMS of claim 15 , wherein parameters of the communication script are controlled by the node type package.

23. The NMS of claim 15 , wherein at least one of the items is an alarm plug-in for the node type.

24. The NMS of claim 15 , further comprising a module for storing the node type package in a database accessible by the NMS.

25. The NMS of claim 15 , wherein the configuration information identifies which of the one or more items is presented on the display screen.

26. The NMS of claim 15 , wherein at least one of the items is a licensing key for the node type.

27. The NMS of claim 15 , wherein the configuration information identifies a number of components within the node type.

28. The NMS of claim 27 , wherein the number of components is one or more of a number of shelves, a number of cards, and a number of ports.

Assignments (12)

Continuity (1)