Throttling network management and element management system messaging

An element management system (EMS) for forwarding event messages to a network management system (NMS), comprising:

• a Qs channel process for communicating with the NMS;
• a set of at least one proxy buffer maintained by the Qs channel process, the set having a fill level;
• an event logger for receiving an event message associated with a network element, for determining from at least the fill level whether the event message is to be forwarded, and for forwarding the event message to the Qs channel process for storage in the at least one proxy buffer in the event that the event message is to be forwarded,
• wherein the event logger is adapted to maintain a state of the at least one proxy buffer, the state being variable, being reflective of the fill level, and being at any point in time one of Low, High, or Full, wherein the event message has a priority which is either high or low, and wherein the event logger comprises:
• instructions for determining that the event message is to be forwarded, in the event that the state is Low;
• instructions for determining that the event message is to be forwarded, in the event that the state is High and the event message has a high priority;
• instructions for determining that the event message is not to be forwarded, in the event that the state is High and the event message has a low priority;
• and
• instructions for determining that the event message is not to be forwarded, in the event that the state is Full.

A method of monitoring a fill level of a set of at least one proxy buffer at a Qs channel process responsible for forwarding event messages from an element management system (EMS) to a network management system (NMS), comprising the steps of:

• configuring a first threshold TLH, a second threshold THF, a third threshold TFH, and a fourth threshold THL the thresholds having values satisfying the relationship
• THL≦TLH<TFH≦THF;
• upon receipt of an event message from the EMS:
• forwarding the event message to the NMS;
• adding the event message to the set;
• and
• determining whether addition of the event message to the set caused the fill level of the set to rise to or above either the first threshold or the second threshold;
• upon receipt of an acknowledgment message from the EMS:
• deleting an event message corresponding to the acknowledgment from the set;
• and
• determining whether deletion of the event message from the set caused the fill level of the set to fall to or below either the third threshold or the fourth threshold;
• and
• if addition of the event message to the set caused the fill level of the set to rise to or above either the first threshold or the second threshold, or if deletion of the event message from the set caused the fill level of the set to fall to or below either the third threshold or the fourth threshold, sending a callback message to an event logger in the EMS indicative of which threshold has been crossed by the fill level.

A computer-readable medium storing software for monitoring a fill level of a set of at least one proxy buffer at a Qs channel process responsible for forwarding event messages from an element management system (EMS) to a network management system (NMS), the computer-readable medium comprising:

• instructions for configuring a first threshold TLH, a second threshold THF, a third threshold TFH, and a fourth threshold THL, the thresholds having values satisfying the relationship
• THL≦TLH<TFH≦THF;
• instructions for forwarding an event message to the NMS upon receipt of the event message from the EMS;
• instructions for adding the event message to the set upon receipt of the event message from the EMS;
• instructions for determining whether addition of the event message to the set caused the fill level of the set to rise to or above either the first threshold or the second threshold, upon addition of an event message to the set;
• instructions for deleting an event message corresponding to an acknowledgment from the set, upon receipt of an acknowledgment message from the EMS;
• instructions for determining whether deletion of the event message from the set caused the fill level of the set to fall to or below either the third threshold or the fourth threshold, upon deletion of an event message from the set;
• instructions for sending a callback message to an event logger in the EMS indicative of which threshold has been crossed by the fill level, in the event that addition of the event message to the set caused the fill level of the set to rise to or above either the first threshold or the second threshold, or that deletion of the event message from the set caused the fill level of the set to fall to or below either the third threshold or the fourth threshold.

A method of throttling event messages at an element management system (EMS), the EMS including a Qs channel process for communicating with a network management system (NMS) and for maintaining a set of a plurality of proxy buffers collectively having a fill level, the method comprising the steps of:

• intermittently receiving from the Qs channel process a callback message indicative of the fill level;
• receiving an event message associated with a network element;
• determining from at least the fill level whether the event message is to be forwarded;
• if the event message is to be forwarded, forwarding the event message to the Qs channel process for storage in the set of at least one proxy buffer;
• and
• the step of storing a state of the set, the state being variable, reflective of the fill level, and being at any point in time one of Low, High, and Full, wherein the callback message is indicative of the state, wherein the event message has a priority which is either high or low, and wherein the step of determining whether the event message is to be forwarded comprises the steps of:
• if the state is Low, determining that the event message is to be forwarded;
• if the state is High and the event message has a high priority, determining that the event message is to be forwarded;
• if the state is High and the event message has a low priority, determining that the event message is not to be forwarded;
• and
• if the state is Full, determining that the event message is not to be forwarded.