Presenting network performance data in the context of a map of path model objects

A method comprising:

• receiving performance data associated with a plurality of network elements that are part of a service provider network, the performance data including information regarding optical power levels at one or more performance monitoring data points associated with the plurality of network elements;
• causing a graphical depiction to be presented illustrating the plurality of network elements and their physical interconnections via respective line ports and client ports of the plurality of network elements;
• and
• concurrently with the graphical depiction, causing information regarding the received performance data to be displayed.

A network management system comprising:

• a storage device having stored thereon one or more routines operable to collect and display performance data associated with network elements of a service provider network;
• and
• one or more processors coupled to the storage device configured to execute the one or more routines to cause (i) a map of a selected path and (ii) information regarding performance data associated with participating network elements of the network elements that are associated with the selected path to be concurrently presented to an end user, where
• the end user identifies the selected path from a plurality of paths associated with the network elements;
• the map includes (i) graphical representations of the participating network elements and (ii) graphical representations of client ports, line ports and port connections associated with the participating network elements;
• and
• the information regarding performance data includes optical power levels upon entry and exit from each of the participating network elements.

A program storage device readable by one or more processors of a network management system, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the one or more processors to perform method steps for displaying performance data associated with network elements associated with a selected path, said method steps comprising:

• receiving information regarding a selected path of a plurality of paths associated with a plurality of network elements that are part of a service provider network;
• responsive to receipt of the information regarding the selected path, displaying a map of the selected path including (i) graphical representations of participating network elements of the plurality of network elements that are associated with the selected path and (ii) graphical representations of client ports, line ports and port connections associated with the participating network elements;
• and
• along with the map, displaying information regarding performance data associated with the participating network elements, the performance data including optical power levels upon entry and exit from each of the participating network elements.