IP Library › Granted Patent US 7,778,979
Granted Patent B2
US 7,778,979 · App. 10/507,907 · Granted Aug 17, 2010

Method and apparatus for compressing log record information

Assignee: Nokia Siemens Networks Oy
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 7,778,979
App. No.
10/507,907
Granted
Aug 17, 2010
Kind
B2
Abstract

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for compressing a log record information provided e.g. to a monitoring system. Frequent patterns in the log information are detected and, then, redundant frequent patterns whose value or record combination is a subset of a value or record combination of another one of said detected frequent patterns are removed. Accordingly, a general method is provided which can be applied to all event logs arising from communication networks or other monitoring systems. The detection of frequent patterns is only based on value or record combinations and is thus independent of the specific application. On the other hand, the size of the stored log files can be decreased remarkably while remaining readable for human beings.

Claims (61)

1. A method, comprising:

finding, by a processor, redundant frequent patterns having a value or a record combination that is a subset of a value or record combination of a larger one of a plurality of detected frequent patterns in log record information;

removing, by the processor, said redundant frequent patterns having the value or the record combination that is the subset of the value or the record combination of said larger one of said detected frequent patterns from the found redundant frequent patterns while maintaining said larger one of said detected frequent patterns; and

compressing said log record information after removing said redundant frequent patterns having the value or the record combination that is the subset of the value or the record combination of said larger one of said detected frequent patterns using the remaining found redundant frequent patterns.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said frequent patterns correspond to one or more of frequently occurring values and frequently occurring records of said log record information.

3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein said values comprise constant field, set or sequence values of a set of said log record information.

4. The method according to claim 2 , wherein said records comprise frequent line sequences of said log record information.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said detecting comprises counting occurrences of patterns, and comparing the counting result with a predetermined threshold.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said removing of redundant frequent patterns comprises creating a condensed representation of said log record information.

7. The method according to claim 6 , wherein said creating comprises:

ordering said detected frequent patterns into a linear order, wherein a superset precedes its subsets until no more detected frequent patterns are left; and

removing all frequent patterns that are subsets of the first pattern and that occur in said log record information when said first pattern occurs.

8. The method according to claim 7 , wherein said removing of all frequent patterns comprises decreasing support information allocated to a subset of said first pattern when said subset also occurs in said log record information when said first pattern does not occur by support information allocated to said first pattern, and by removing said subset when the support information becomes zero.

9. The method according to claim 6 , further comprising:

creating adequate information of said log record information by removing or marking lines or line combinations that support said detected frequent patterns, and by adding said condensed representation.

10. The method according to claim 6 , further comprising:

creating an adequate information log by linking said detected and compressed frequent patterns to said log record information.

11. The method according to claim 6 , further comprising:

creating adequate information by constructing an inclusion hierarchy of said detected and compressed frequent patterns, and by ordering said detected and compressed frequent patterns using an estimation function.

12. The method according to claim 6 , further comprising:

creating adequate information by extracting association or episode rules and linking an inclusion hierarchy of said detected and compressed frequent patterns to said extracted rules.

13. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

restricting said detection by setting constraints on predetermined field or field combinations of said log record information.

14. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said removing of redundant frequent patterns comprises creating a condensed directory structure to separate and code said log record information in order to be stored in a log file.

15. The method according to claim 14 , further comprising:

applying a query, first to said detected and compressed frequent patterns, and then to unmatched portions of said log file.

16. The method according to claim 15 , further comprising:

returning all lines of a pattern when said pattern matches with said query.

17. The method according to claim 14 , further comprising:

grouping reduced lines of said log file by said detected and said compressed frequent patterns.

18. The method according to claim 14 , further comprising:

adding a pattern identification to lines of said log file, from which fields already included in said detected and said compressed frequent patterns have been removed.

19. The method according to claim 14 , further comprising:

attaching a regular expression or a query to each of said detected and said compressed frequent patterns, wherein said regular expression matches only to the lines of said log file where the values included in the corresponding pattern are present.

20. The method according to claim 19 , wherein said removing of redundant frequent patterns comprises:

reading a file header of said log file;

removing constant values from each line of said log file;

when said regular expression of a detected and compressed frequent pattern matches to a line, removing all values included in said pattern from said line and adding said line to a list of lines matched by said pattern; and

adding remaining lines of said log file to a list of unmatched lines.

21. The method according to claim 19 , further comprising:

appending said lists of matched lines and unmatched lines to individual printouts of the lines.

22. The method according to claim 14 , further comprising:

adding markup language tags to said log file.

23. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

providing said log record information to a monitoring system.

24. An apparatus, comprising:

a processor configured to

find redundant frequent patterns having a value or a record combination that is a subset of a value or a record combination of a larger one of a plurality of detected frequent patterns in log record information;

remove the redundant frequent patterns having the value or the record combination that is the subset of the value or the record combination of said larger one of said detected frequent patterns from the found redundant frequent patterns while maintaining said larger one of said detected frequent patterns; and

compress said log record information after removing said redundant frequent patterns having the value or the record combination that is the subset of the value or the record combination of said larger one of said detected frequent patterns using the remaining found redundant frequent patterns.

25. The apparatus according to claim 24 , wherein said processor is configured to create a condensed representation of said log record information.

26. The apparatus according to claim 24 , wherein said processor is configured to create a condensed directory structure to separate and code said log record information in order to be stored in a log file.

27. The apparatus according to claim 24 , wherein said processor is configured to provide said log record information to a monitoring system.

28. A computer program embodied on a computer readable storage medium, the computer program configured to control a processor to perform a process, the process comprising:

finding redundant frequent patterns having a value or a record combination that is a subset of a value or record combination of a larger one of a plurality of detected frequent patterns in log record information;

removing the redundant frequent patterns having the value or the record combination that is the subset of the value or the record combination of said larger one of said detected frequent patterns from the found redundant frequents patterns while maintaining said lager one of said detected frequent patterns; and

compressing said log record information after removing said redundant frequent patterns having the value or the record combination that is the subset of the value or the record combination of said larger one of said detected frequent patterns using the remaining found redundant frequent patterns.

29. An apparatus, comprising:

finding means for finding redundant frequent patterns having a value or a record combination that is a subset of a value or record combination of a larger one of a plurality of detected frequent patterns in log record information;

removing means for removing the redundant frequent patterns having the value or the record combination that is the subset of the value or the record combination of said larger one of said detected frequent patterns from the found redundant frequent patterns while maintaining said larger one of said detected frequent patterns; and

compressing means for compressing said log record information after removing said redundant frequent patterns having the value or the record combination that is the subset of the value or the record combination of said larger one of said detected frequent patterns using the remaining found redundant frequent patterns.

Assignments (10)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 28, 2021
From: PROVENANCE ASSET GROUP LLC
To: RPX CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 059352/0001 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Nov 30, 2021
From: CORTLAND CAPITAL MARKETS SERVICES LLC
To: PROVENANCE ASSET GROUP HOLDINGS LLC; PROVENANCE ASSET GROUP LLC
Reel/Frame 058983/0104 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Nov 30, 2021
From: NOKIA US HOLDINGS INC.
To: PROVENANCE ASSET GROUP HOLDINGS LLC; PROVENANCE ASSET GROUP LLC
Reel/Frame 058363/0723 →
ASSIGNMENT AND ASSUMPTION AGREEMENT Recorded Feb 14, 2019
From: NOKIA USA INC.
To: NOKIA US HOLDINGS INC.
Reel/Frame 048370/0682 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Sep 13, 2017
From: PROVENANCE ASSET GROUP HOLDINGS, LLC; PROVENANCE ASSET GROUP LLC
To: NOKIA USA INC.
Reel/Frame 043879/0001 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Sep 13, 2017
From: PROVENANCE ASSET GROUP HOLDINGS, LLC; PROVENANCE ASSET GROUP, LLC
To: CORTLAND CAPITAL MARKET SERVICES, LLC
Reel/Frame 043967/0001 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Sep 13, 2017
From: NOKIA TECHNOLOGIES OY; NOKIA SOLUTIONS AND NETWORKS BV; ALCATEL LUCENT SAS
To: PROVENANCE ASSET GROUP LLC
Reel/Frame 043877/0001 →
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Nov 19, 2014
From: NOKIA SIEMENS NETWORKS OY
To: NOKIA SOLUTIONS AND NETWORKS OY
Reel/Frame 034294/0603 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 21, 2008
From: NOKIA CORPORATION
To: NOKIA SIEMENS NETWORKS OY
Reel/Frame 020550/0001 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Sep 16, 2004
From: HATONEN, KIMMO; MIETTINEN, MARKUS
To: NOKIA CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 016344/0151 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20050138483A1 · Jun 23, 2005