CN1155200C - Method and apparatus for display information in a fault management system - Google Patents

Abstract

A system and method for monitoring alarm information in a fault management system of a network and for minimizing the amount of alarm information displayed in a graphical display system. An alarm message indicating an alarm condition for a specific element in the network is received (100) by the graphical display system. Information about the specific element is extracted from the alarm message, and a graphical object for the specific element is created (106) based on the extracted information. The graphical object is then displayed on a network operator interface. Once the alarm condition is cleared (110), the graphical object is removed (120) from the graphical display system.

Description

Method and device for displaying information in a fault management system

Background of the invention

Technical Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to network resource management, and is specifically designed to methods and systems for displaying network management information in data or telecommunications networks.

Description of the technology

A fault management system is an alarm monitoring system used to deal with errors or failures occurring in a telecommunications or data communication network. Such a network generally includes a large number of network elements, such as computer switches, routers, ports, or T1 circuits. In a fault management system, network elements are represented as management objects, which are software objects corresponding to actual network elements under alarm monitoring. When the fault management system receives an alarm from a specific network unit, the fault management system stores the alarm status of the network unit corresponding to the managed target. Thus, a fault management system monitors the occurrence and status of faults throughout the managed network.

The fault management system further includes a graphic display system for displaying network alarms on an operator monitor. The graphical display system operates graphical objects or icons representing network elements in the network. The management information base connected to the image display system stores information about each image object, including the location of the network element with respect to other network elements corresponding to the image object and the name of the network element represented by the image object. When the fault management system receives an alarm carrying the name of the "alarm" network element, the graphic display system searches for a graphic object representing the alarming network element. If the search is successful, the visual display system alerts the visual object status to indicate a warning state (eg, by flashing the appropriate icon in red to indicate a hazard warning). On the other hand, if the search fails, the image display system will alert the state of the specified generated image object to indicate an alert carrying a network resource name unknown to the image display system.

The graphical display system informs the operator of current faults in the fault management system in the system by displaying the network elements and indicating alarms on the display. Typically, a graphical object is superimposed on a graphical background image so that the operator perceives the location of the alerting network element. In addition, the interconnection of various graphical objects is represented so that the operator can visualize the relationship between the alarm network elements. According to the relationship between the displayed network elements and the operator's work experience, the operator can confirm the correctness of multiple alarms to help deal with system failures.

Such image display systems have become increasingly problematic as data and telecommunications networks continue to grow in size. To protect data on every element in the network, the MIB must be very large. As a result, it is clearly impossible to keep the management information base and image display system up-to-date with the current layout and continuously evolving network structure. Also, if the network operator manages the network through an Internet server, the download time of the image display system may be too long for a large network.

As an alternative to including a graphical object corresponding to each network element, the graphical display system can be set up such that a single graphical object represents a large number of network elements in the graphical display system. However, this approach requires greater demands on processing resources, since the image display system must consider the status of a large number of network elements to determine the characteristics of the deferred image objects. If the number of network elements represented by a single object is relatively large, it is possible that the image object is always in an alarm state, since it is possible that at any given time at least one of many corresponding network elements is in an alarm state. This result reduces the effectiveness of the image display system.

Therefore, there is a need for a system and method for displaying information in an effective and efficient manner in an image display system of a fault management system. Preferably, such a system and method should not require a large amount of memory to store data about each of a large number of network elements and should not require time consuming updating of the image display system so that it corresponds exactly to the actual network. Such an image display system should reduce the amount of data required to operate the fault management system so that it can be implemented in an Internet browser environment without imposing an excessive load on the processing resources of the fault management system. Finally, the system should preferably include a graphical object for each network element to help operators more quickly identify the cause of a failure in the network and deal with it.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention includes a system and method for monitoring alert information using a visual display system in a data or telecommunications network. Such a network typically includes a plurality of network elements. When one of the network elements detects a failure, the network element generates an alarm message which is passed on to the image display system. The image display system extracts the alarm information from the alarm message and generates an image object corresponding to the alarm network element. In addition, the graphic display system generates additional graphic objects necessary to display the alerting network element in the appropriate circumstances. Typically, this includes graphical objects representing each network element, which form a network element monitoring chain to alerting network elements. The characteristics of the warning graphic object are selected to indicate a warning condition, for example by causing the warning graphic object to flash red to indicate a hazardous warning condition.

Displaying alarm graphic objects under appropriate circumstances allows network operators to take action to correct or reduce the impact of detected faults. Once the alarm is cleared, an aging timer is started. When the aging timer expires, the graphics display system determines whether the graphics object has been designated as one of the selected set of permanently displayed graphics objects. If not, the image display system then determines whether the image object contains any active alerts. If the image object does not contain one or more active alarms, the image object is retained by the image display system until all active alarms are cleared. On the other hand, if the graphic object does not contain any other active alarms, the graphic object is removed from the display and deleted. The next higher image object in the hierarchy is then evaluated to determine if it has been designated as a permanent image object or if it has any active alerts. If not, then the taller image object is also deleted. This looping process continues until an image object that has been designated as permanent or contains active alerts is reached.

Thus, the method and system of the present invention avoids the need for a database storing information for all elements on the network by reconfiguring the necessary portions of the network based on the information contained within the alert message. In addition, the graphical display system only displays those graphical objects related to existing alarms in the network to increase the efficiency of the fault management system.

Brief description of the drawings

For a more complete understanding of the present invention, the detailed description shall be referred to in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numbers represent like parts throughout the various drawings, in which:

1A, 1B, and 1C are respectively an exemplary image object tree structure, an exemplary management object tree structure, and a layered structure of an exemplary network unit forming a network;

2A, 2B, and 2C are exemplary image object tree structures, exemplary management object data structures, and exemplary network element hierarchy forming a network, wherein there is a blocking image object representing a management object group;

3A, 3B, and 3C are respectively an exemplary image object tree structure, an exemplary management object tree structure, and an exemplary network element hierarchical structure forming a network, wherein some network elements are not represented in the management object tree structure or Image objects within the tree structure;

Fig. 4 is a flowchart of a method for displaying network failure information in the image display system according to the present invention;

Figure 5 is an exemplary structure of an alert message used in conjunction with an embodiment of the present invention;

6A, 6B, and 6C are respectively an exemplary image object tree structure, an exemplary management object tree structure, and an exemplary network unit layered structure forming a network, representing an embodiment of the present invention.

Examples; and

Figure 7 is a system for monitoring alert messages within a network according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description of the Invention

In data and telecommunications networks, network elements can be organized in various topologies, although hierarchical designs are the most common. This design is implemented, for example, in the numerical hierarchy of transmission networks, intra-network and subnetwork relationships and in logical naming conventions.

Referring now to Figures 1A, 1B and 1C, there are shown an exemplary image object tree structure 9, an exemplary management object tree structure 6 and a hierarchical structure of exemplary network elements 10 forming the network 4, respectively. Each network element 20 is represented by a corresponding management object 12, which resides within the software of the fault management system. The management object tree structure 6 also represents the relationship between various network elements. The management object tree structure 6 is then represented by a corresponding image object tree structure 8 in the image display system, each management object 12 representing an image object 14 . Because of this one-to-one relationship between management objects 12 (and/or network elements 10) and image objects 14, alarms for a particular network element 10 can be uniquely displayed on the image display system by unique image objects 14 .

This one-to-one relationship is desired. However, in a large network with millions of network elements 10, a complete image object tree structure 8 is impossible because the network 4 is too large to maintain the image object tree structure, management object tree structure 6 and the correlation (or synchronization) between the hierarchy of network elements 10. Such a large network would take several hours to perform a full sync. By the time the synchronization task is completed, the actual network has been further developed or changed compared to the updated management object and image object tree structures 6 and 8 . In addition, the time required for downloading the entire image display system from the server-based Internet may be too long, preventing the possibility of realizing the image display system under the environment of a general Internet browser.

Referring now to Figures 2A, 2B, 2C, there is illustrated an exemplary image object tree structure 8, an exemplary management object tree structure 6 and an exemplary hierarchical structure of network elements forming a network 4, one of which represents a group of management objects 12 Jam image target for 14'. This design reduces the size of the image object tree structure 8 and can be used to increase the speed of the image display system to an acceptable level and limit the synchronization problems mentioned above. As a result, however, the jamming image object 14' must display an alert indication whenever any network element 10 within its controlled subtree generates an alert. In addition, the congestion image object 14' must represent the highest alarm severity of all management objects 12 in its subtree. If administrative object ₁₂₁ has a critical alert severity and administrative object ₁₂₂ has a minor alert, the jammed graphic object 14' will indicate a hazardous alert state since this is the highest severity alert.

Implementing an image display system of this type places a high burden on processing resources. This is because the blockage image object 14' is related to the alarm status of all administrative objects 12 under control. In the event that network elements 10 corresponding to one of the managed objects 12 under control report alarms in rapid succession, for example, the processing load of determining the nature of a congested image object 14' may slow the image display system to an unacceptable level. The processing load can be further increased by the navigation and zoom functions of the image display system.

In addition, when the congestion graph object 14' represents a large number of managed objects 12 under control, the congestion graph object 14' may be in an alert state most or all of the time since there is likely to be at least one managed object under control at any given time. 12 in alarm state. For example, if the congestion graph object 14' corresponds to a switch representing thousands of network elements within the switch, then it is likely that the congestion graph object 14' is always in an alarm state. This result eliminates the use of the image monitoring system and reduces the effectiveness of the image display system.

Referring now to FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C, there is shown an exemplary image object tree structure 8, an exemplary management object tree structure 6, and an exemplary hierarchical structure of network elements 10 forming a network 4, wherein some network elements 10 Not represented in the management object tree structure 6 or image object tree structure 8 . This condition often arises where the image display system and/or fault management system is not synchronized with the network. In this case, when the fault management system receives an alarm from an unrepresented management object 12, the image display system indicates the alarm status through the alarm "manager" image object 14", which is used to display the relevant fault management system Unknown fault information for all network elements 10. If a large number of network elements 10 are unknown to the fault management system, the "manager" graphical object 14" will almost always be in an alarm state and the effectiveness of the graphical display system will be diminished.

An alternative is to use a management information base that must be manually updated to keep in sync with the actual network, which allows the graphics display system to generate new graphics objects 14 whenever an alert containing an unknown network element 10 name is received. The problem with this solution is that the image object tree structure becomes larger after a period of operation causing many of the problems associated with Figures 1A-1C and 2A-2C. In addition, image objects 14 and management objects 12 corresponding to withdrawn network elements 10 (that is, network elements 10 that have been eliminated from the network 4) may remain in the management information base, reducing the accuracy and potential of the image display system. confuse the operator.

According to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, a fault management system includes a graphical display system which does not maintain a management information base of the entire network 4. In practice, the graphics display system initially generates a small number of top-level graphics objects 14 . These top-level graphical objects 14 are never deleted from the visual display system, and the visual display system displays these top-level graphical objects 14 regardless of their alert status (ie, active alert or no alert). Preferably, top-level image objects 4 represent network elements 10 that are not spawned and destroyed very often and tend to be stable in configuration. Top-level image objects 14 may represent exchanges, service areas, submarine cables, satellite and terrestrial base stations, for example. Alerts for top-level network elements 10 can easily be represented using these persistent image objects 14 .

When the fault management system receives an alarm from a lower-level network element 10, the image display system generates an image object 14 for each affected network element 10, and only displays the newly generated image object 14 and their alarm status. instruct. Typically, affected network elements 10 include all network elements 10 above the alerting element 10 in the hierarchy. Once the fault that caused the alarm is dealt with, the visual object 14 that was the source of the alarm will be deleted from the visual display system. In addition, any other graphical objects 14 that were generated and displayed as a result of this alert are also deleted (eg, graphical objects 14 representing network elements 10 above the alerted network element 10 in the network hierarchy).

Therefore, according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the image display system does not require a large management information base to store messages and image objects 14 for all network elements 10 throughout the network. The problem of maintaining synchronization between the image object tree structure 8, the management object tree structure 6 and the actual network elements 10 is avoided, as well as the need for manual updating of the management information base. The number of image objects 14 is also maintained at the same level as the current number of network alerts. Because the number of image objects 14 in this case is relatively small (only on the order of a few hundred, rather than thousands or millions in an image display system of all image objects 14 in the display system), the image display The system can respond to alarms quickly and can be implemented in the Internet environment. In addition, the graphical display system maintains a one-to-one relationship between network elements 10 and topic-related graphical objects 14, thereby improving the graphical display compared to systems that use one graphical object 14 to represent many network elements 10 The effectiveness of the system (see Figures 2A-2C).

Referring now to FIG. 4, there is shown a flowchart of a method for displaying network failure information in an image display system according to the present invention. In step 100, an alert message is received by the image display system. The alert message includes an alert event indicating or alerting the condition and name of the network element 10 . In addition, the alert message identifies the context of the alerting network element 10, which preferably includes the complete chain from the network element 10 immediately monitoring the alerting network element 10 to the higher network element 10 of the highest network element 0 in the hierarchy. In step 102, the name of the alerting network element 10 is extracted from the alerting message, and in step 104, a prompt is made to find the image object 14 of the alerting network element 10 concerned. This relevant image object 14 may already exist, for example, if the alarming network unit 10 already has an existing alarming condition, if it is part of a unit related to an existing alarming condition (i.e., for an alarming unit's subordinate unit's alarm), Or if the alerting network element 10 is one of a small number of permanent top-level image objects 14 .

If a graphical object 14 for the alerting network element 10 does not already exist, then the graphical object 14 is created in step 106 . In addition, when identified based on the information extracted from the warning message, the environment of the warning image object 14 is also generated. Once generated, the graphical object 14 associated with the alerting network element 10 is displayed on the operator monitor along with the environmental graphical object 14 . If a graphical object 14 for the alerting network unit 10 already exists, a new graphical object 14 need not be created. If the warning graphic object 14 may have been displayed, then the appropriate environmental graphic object 14 has also been displayed. However, an appropriate ambient image object 14 can be generated if desired.

Once the alert image object 14 is located or generated, its properties are alerted at step 108 to reflect the type of alert event indicated in the alert message. For example, the warning image display system may cause the warning image object 14 to flash red if the warning condition is dangerous, and change to yellow if the warning is a non-dangerous condition. Next, at step 110, it is determined whether the alarm condition has cleared. This can be done by checking the alert message to see if it indicates that the alert has been cleared. Typically, an initial warning message indicates a specific fault condition. Once the fault is corrected, another alert message is sent with the severity field of the previously received message set to "clear". If the alert message received at step 100 is not an alert "clear" message, then the process ends at step 124 .

Eventually, the alert condition will be cleared and an alert message is received indicating the image object for which the alert should be cleared. Once the alert is cleared, at step 112 the aging timer is started. The aging timer allows the alerting graphical object 14 and its surrounding graphical object 14 to remain graphically displayed for a predetermined period of time after the alerting condition has been addressed. Using a predetermined time period for operator convenience and preventing the need to generate another visual object 14 representing the same network element 10 eliminates another alarm involving the same visual object 14 occurring shortly after the original alarm. Preferably, during a predetermined period of time, the property of the graphical object 14 is again alerted to indicate that no alert condition currently exists.

At step 114, it is determined whether the aging timer has expired. Once the aging timer has expired, a determination is made as to whether a previously alerted graphical object 14 has been designated as one of a relatively small number of permanent graphical objects 14 within the memory of the associated graphical display system. If so, the process ends without further action of step 124 . If the graphical object 14 has not been designated as permanent, then at step 118 it is determined whether the graphical object 14 is related to a management object 12 or network element 10 that has an active alert by checking the graphical display system that stores the alert message. If the graphical object 14 does have an active alarm, the process ends without further action at step 124. The resulting graphical object 14 remains on the operator display until at least the remaining network element 10 alarm is cleared (and all network elements 10 subordinate to it). If there are no active alerts associated with the graphical object 14, at step 120 the graphical object 14 is removed from the display and deleted from the memory of the graphical display system.

The process then continues at step 122 to check the next higher image object 14 in the hierarchy to determine if it should be removed from the image display system. In other words, the next higher graphics object 14 is analyzed at steps 116 and 118 to determine if it has been designated as permanent or if it (or any of its other subordinate network elements 10) remains in active alert. The process repeats these steps 116 to 122 until an image object 14 is reached which is either permanent or contains an active alert. In this manner, each environmental image object 14 is deleted from the image display system to prevent unnecessary display of the image object 14 .

Referring now to FIG. 5, an exemplary structure of an alert message 20 for use with an embodiment of the present invention is illustrated. The alarm message 20 includes an alarm indication field 22, which indicates the alarm condition and the severity of the alarm awareness. The alert message 20 further comprises a plurality of fields 24, 30 and 36 representing information about each network element 10 in the chain descending from the highest network element 10 of the hierarchy (field 24) to the alerting network element 10 (field 36). Each of these fields 24, 30, 36 contains data 26, 32 and 38 identifying the type of network element 10, while a name 28, 34 and 40 identifies each network element 10 in the chain. In the above example, "unit 3" is the alerting network unit 10 . Using the encoded information in the alert message 20, the visual display system can reconstruct the affected network 4 portion as interconnected visual objects 14 on the operator monitor.

Referring now to Figures 6A, 6B, and 6C, an exemplary image object tree structure 8, an exemplary management object tree structure 6, and an exemplary layered structure of network elements 10 forming a network 4 are shown, illustrating an embodiment of the present invention . The network 4 comprises a plurality of network elements 10 ₁ -10 ₁₂ interconnected in a hierarchical design. In this example network element ₁₀₈ has generated a critical alert (indicated by filled nodes) and network element ₁₀₁₁ has generated a non-critical alert (indicated by cross-hatched nodes). The corresponding management object tree structure 6 includes a number of management objects 12 ₁ -12 ₄ and 12 ₁₀ (above the dotted line), which have been designated as permanent. Similarly, image object tree structure 8 includes a plurality of corresponding image objects 14 ₁ -14 ₄ and 14 ₁₀ , which have been designated as permanent. No other management objects 12 or image objects 14 remain in the image display system in a permanent manner.

Actually, the management objects ₁₂₈ and ₁₂₁₁ corresponding to the alarm network units ₁₀₈ and ₁₀₁₁ are generated by the image display system according to the reception of the alarm message. These management objects 12 ₈ and 12 ₁₁ are used to store alarm messages for the corresponding network elements 10 ₈ and 10 ₁₁ . In addition, the environment management objects ₁₂₅ and ₁₂₇ are generated by the image display system and used to store an indication that their subordinate management objects ₁₂₈ have generated an alarm message. Similarly, image objects _{148 and 1411 corresponding to alarm network elements 108 and 1011 are} generated by the image display system upon receipt of an alarm message and assigned appropriate characteristics to display their respective alarm conditions. In addition, the environment image objects ₁₄₅ and ₁₄₇ are generated by the image display system to let the operator know the environment of the alarm network element ₁₀₈ , in this case by displaying the alarm image objects 148 and ₁₄₈ down from the top of the hierarchy. 14 complete chains of ₁₁ image targets 14.

Once the alarm condition of the network element ₁₀₁₁ is cleared, the management object ₁₂₁₁ and the graphical object ₁₄₁₁ are cleared from the graphical display and deleted from memory. Similarly, once the alarm condition of the network element ₁₀₈ is cleared, the management object ₁₂₈ and its superior management objects ₁₂₅ and ₁₂₇ and the image object ₁₄₁₁ and its superior image objects ₁₄₅ and ₁₄₇ are removed from the image display Clear and delete from memory. In both cases, the elimination and deletion process does not affect the superordinate management objects 12 ₁ , 12 ₃ , 12 ₄ and 12 ₈ or the superordinate image objects 14 ₁ , 14 ₃ , 14 ₄ and 14 ₈ because of their permanent status.

Referring now to FIG. 7, a system for monitoring alarm information in a network 4 according to an embodiment of the present invention is illustrated. Network 4 includes a plurality of network elements 10 ("NE1"-"NE4") that are monitored by fault management system 50. As shown in FIG. The fault management system 50 receives alarms from the network elements 10 and communicates the alarm information to the accompanying graphic display system 52 . The image display system 52 stores the alert information in the attached memory 54 and generates the appropriate management object 12 according to the alert received. Graphical display system 52 and accompanying memory are shown adjacent to fault management system 50 for ease of illustration. In the illustrated example, an operator using computer terminal 58 can then access image display system 52 via Internet 56 to display alert image objects 14 . Using the displayed information, the operator can quickly and efficiently evaluate faults in the network 4 and initiate appropriate corrective actions. Preferably, however, image display system 52 and accompanying memory reside within computer 58 . For example, the necessary software for the image display system 52 can be downloaded via the Internet 56 and run on the operator's workstation 58 .

Although preferred embodiments of the method and apparatus of the present invention have been illustrated in the drawings and foregoing description, it should be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but is susceptible to numerous redesigns, modifications and substitutions without departing from the following claims The scope of the invention is set forth and defined in this book.

Claims (29)

1. method that is used for the monitoring network state information comprises step:

Receive the status message of the particular state of specified unit in (100) indication networks;

From status message, extract the information of (102) relevant specified unit; This method feature is following steps:

Produce an image object of (106) specified unit according to institute's information extraction;

On operator interface, show this image object;

Discern the variation in the specified location mode; With

Response is eliminated (120) this image object to the identification that changes (110) in the specified location mode from operator interface.

2. the process of claim 1 wherein that this network comprises a communication network.

3. the process of claim 1 wherein that this network comprises a data network.

4. the method for claim 1 further comprises step:

This image object of storage in a memory; With

Response is deleted this image object to the identification that specified location mode changes from memory.

5. the process of claim 1 wherein that status message comprises the failure message of a specified unit.

6. the method for claim 5, wherein this image object comprises an indication of the fault message that receives.

7. the method for claim 6, wherein discerning the step that specified location mode is changed is the troubleshooting that response is undertaken by network operator.

8. the method for claim 5, the wherein hierarchy of these a plurality of unit of network packet includes network design, specified unit have a plurality of in the hierarchy design than institute's information extraction appointment and the higher monitoring network unit of recognition unit, further comprise step:

For each monitoring network unit produces one with regard to image object; With

On operator interface, show each environmental image target.

9. the method for claim 8 comprises that further identification that the specified location mode of response changes eliminates the step of each environmental image target from operator interface.

10. the method for claim 8 further comprises step:

Produce a plurality of permanent image object of a plurality of preselected network element of representative; With

On operator interface, show each permanent image object.

11. the method for claim 10 further comprises step:

Respond the identification that specified location mode changes for a plurality of network element that in the hierarchy design, are higher than specified unit, determine whether that each higher network element is one of permanent image object in the hierarchy design;

Eliminate from image shows is not one of a plurality of permanent image objects and each image object of representing network element higher in the hierarchy design.

12. the method for claim 8, wherein status message is identified in an interconnection between a plurality of monitoring networks unit that is higher than specified unit in specified unit and the hierarchy design.

13. the method for claim 5 further is included in the step of storage failure information in the database.

14. comprising, the method for claim 12, the step of wherein discerning specified location mode variation determine whether the fault message relevant with specified unit is stored in the database.

15. the process of claim 1 wherein that the step of eliminating image object from operator interface comprises step:

Start a timeliness timer; With

When the timeliness timer to from operator interface, eliminating image object constantly.

16. a system that is used for the monitoring network warning information comprises:

A network that comprises a plurality of network element;

A fault management subsystem is used for receiving (100) alarm from least one Alarm Unit of network;

A user interface is used for display alarm information;

A visual display subsystem that is connected to fault management subsystem and user interface the system is characterized in that this system comprises:

From alarm information, extract the device of an identifier of (102) at least one Alarm Unit;

The alarm information that response receives from least one Alarm Unit produces the device that (104) represent an image object of at least one Alarm Unit;

The device that on user interface, shows the image object that is produced; With

After being eliminated, the alarm conditions by the alarm information indication eliminate the device of image object from user interface.

17. the system of claim 16, wherein visual display subsystem further comprises:

Generation is used for the device about a plurality of environmental image targets of the network element of at least one Alarm Unit; With

The device that on user interface, shows a plurality of environmental image targets.

18. the system of claim 17, the alarm conditions that wherein visual display subsystem further is included in by the alarm information indication are eliminated the device of eliminating a plurality of environmental image targets afterwards from user interface.

19. the system of claim 17, wherein visual display subsystem comprises the device according to the identifier of alarm information retrieval network unit, and this network element is relevant with at least one Alarm Unit.

20. the system of claim 16, the predetermined amount of time of wherein visual display subsystem after the alarm conditions by the alarm information indication are eliminated eliminated image object to after date from user interface.

21. one kind is used for the monitoring network warning information and does not use the method that keeps the management of information information bank of unit in relevant network configuration and the network, comprises step:

Alarm Unit receives (100) alarm information in the network; This method feature is:

Produce the alarm image object (102,104) of corresponding Alarm Unit; With

On user interface, show the alarm image object that is produced, be in moment under the equal state continuously up to Alarm Unit.

22. the method for claim 21 further comprises the step of extracting relevant Alarm Unit information from alarm information, wherein alarms image object and produces according to institute's information extraction.

23. the method for claim 22 further comprises step:

Determine to remove by the alarm conditions of alarm information mark; With

Change the alarm image object in the user interface.

24. the method for claim 23 further comprises:

Produce at least one environmental image target according to institute's information extraction, each environmental image target is represented a network element of relevant Alarm Unit;

On user interface, show at least one environmental image target; With

Response is determined to be removed by the alarm conditions of alarm information mark, eliminates at least one environmental image target from user interface.

25. the method for claim 24 further comprises showing that the step that interconnects between at least one image object and the alarm image object, wherein said interconnection represent the interconnection between at least one network element of Alarm Unit and relevant Alarm Unit.

26. the method for claim 24 is wherein eliminated at least one environmental image target response and is determined not have the current alarm condition relevant with at least one environmental image interface and carry out from user interface.

27. the method for claim 26 further comprises step:

Producing at least one represents at least one by the permanent image object of preselected permanent display network unit;

On user interface, show at least one permanent image object, wherein from user interface, eliminate at least one environmental image target response and determine that further at least one environmental image interface is not a permanent image object and carrying out.

28. the method for claim 23 is wherein eliminated the step of alarming image object and is performed pre-determined number from user interface after determining to have been removed by the alarm conditions of alarm information mark.

29. the method for claim 22, wherein alarm information is to receive by the Internet.

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