Diagnostic system for a distributed control switching network

A diagnostic for a distributed control digital switching network including a plurality of data processors having diagnostic data stored therein for use in the digital switching network, said diagnostic system comprising:

• a plurality of digital switching elements, each digital switching element including a plurality of bidirectional ports arranged in pairs for receiving or transmitting digital signals at either port of said pairs of bidirectional ports, each of said bidirectional ports having a unique address in a designated portion of the network;
• means for providing a plurality of bidirectional communication paths from each of the data processors, each of said processors being associated with a designated portion of said network, to certain of said switching elements each of which switching elements being associated with corresponding designated portions of the network;
• and
• means associated with said data processors for providing a plurality of spatially separate diagnostic paths, each of said diagnostic paths beginning at one of said data processors, interconnecting pairs of bidirectional ports in different switching elements and terminating at another of said data processors, each of said diagnostic paths having a unique network address, and being associated with a designated portion of the network, such that said network is divided into a plurality of designated portions, each having its own distributed diagnostic system.

A method for locating faults in a distributed control switching network having a plurality of digital switching elements interconnected to a plurality of data processors having unique addresses and diagnostic data stored therein for use in the network, whereby diagnostic paths are set up through said switching elements comprising the steps of:

• distributing the diagnostics for designated portions of the network in a plurality of processors each associated with a designated portion of the network, the digital switching elements of which form a plurality of bidirectional ports, a plurality of which bidirectional ports are associated with each of said digital switching elements;
• transmitting diagnostic information to the bidirectional ports within each digital switching element into a plurality of port modules;
• establishing a plurality of diagnostic paths through the switching network, each of which begins at one data processor, follows a predetermined path through the port modules of different switching elements and terminates at another data processor so that each of said diagnostic paths is spatially separate and associated with a designated portion of the network;
• and
• algorithmically relating the addresses of the port modules of each of said diagnostic paths to the addresses of said data processors which begin and terminate said diagnostic paths.