Method and apparatus for analyzing a network or a network element fault

An apparatus to diagnose a Passive Optical Network (PON) fault, the apparatus comprising:

• a collection unit to collect state information about a PON element prior to an analysis of a fault attributed to the PON element;
• a storage unit coupled to the collection unit to store the state information about a PON element prior to an analysis of the fault attributed to the PON element;
• and
• a diagnostic unit coupled to the storage unit to diagnose a cause of the fault from the state information.

A method for diagnosing a Passive Optical Network (PON) fault, the method comprising:

• determining whether a diagnostic condition has occurred independent of a fault occurring;
• performing a corresponding diagnostic action in an event the diagnostic condition has occurred;
• and
• diagnosing a cause of the fault in a PON or attributed to a PON element from the diagnostic action performed.

A computer program product comprising a computer usable medium embodying computer usable code to diagnoses a Passive Optical Network (PON) fault, the computer program product including computer usable program code, which when executed by a processor, causes the processor to:

• collecting state information about a PON element prior to analyzing a fault attributed to the PON element;
• storing the state information about the PON element prior to analyzing the fault attributed to the PON element;
• and
• diagnosing a cause of the fault from the state information.