Method and apparatus for operating and maintaining a wireless communication system

In a wireless communication system, an operation and maintenance center comprising:

• a memory, the memory including a causal data structure containing causal data;
• a user interface, the user interface including a graphic display and an input device;
• and
• a processor coupled to each of the memory and the user interface, the processor arranged for generating on the graphic display a graphic representation of the causal data the user interface arranged to permit modification of the graphic representation via the input device to create a modified graphic representation and the processor arranged to revise the casual data to reflect the modified graphic representation;
• wherein the causal data comprising effects data and causes data.

A method of obtaining operation and maintenance data for a wireless communication system comprising the steps of:

• providing a user interface including a graphic display and an input device;
• identifying at least one system effect and using an objects pallet and the input device, representing the system effect on the graphic display;
• for the at least one system effect, identifying a plurality of cause classifications, and using the objects pallet and the input device, revising the graphic data to represent the cause classifications;
• for each cause classification, identifying at least one cause, and using the objects pallet and the input device, graphically linking the cause to the cause classification;
• determining a plurality of conditions associated with the at least one cause, and using the object pallets and the input device, graphically linking the plurality of conditions to the cause;
• processing the graphic display to generate causal data;
• storing the causal data in a memory.