Method and Apparatus for Monitoring a Status of Nodes of a Communication Network

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for monitoring a status of nodes of a communication network. The method determines first node status data at a first node by diagnosing the own status of the first node and the status of at least one second node, sends the first node status data to at least one second node, receives second node status data from at least one second node, and determines node status evaluation data at the first node based on the determined first node status data and the received second node status data. Furthermore, improvements are proposed for the sake of efficiency and/or robustness of the method.

1 . Method for monitoring failure status of nodes of a communication network, the method comprising:
 dividing the communication network into clusters of nodes;   determining node status data regarding presence or absence of a failure at each node of the communication network by causing each node to diagnose its own status and the status of the other nodes of the communication network;   sending first node status data relating to the nodes of the cluster of the determining node from the determining node to the other nodes of the communication network;   each node receiving from the other nodes of the communication network, second node status data relating to presence or absence of a failure at the nodes of the cluster of the sending node; and   determining node status evaluation data for identifying a particular failed node or nodes of the communication network by majority voting, based on the determined first node status data and the second node status data received from the other nodes of the communication network.   
     
     
         2 . Method for monitoring a status of nodes of a communication network, the method comprising:
 determining first node status data at a first node by causing said first node to diagnose its own status and the status of at least one second node;   sending the first node status data to at least one other node;   receiving second node status data from at least one other node, said sending and receiving being performed periodically in communication rounds;   determining node status evaluation data for the first node based on the determined first node status data and the received second node status data; and   determining that a certain node is faulty by majority vote, based on the node status evaluation data; wherein said method further comprises,   initializing an outage counter, when the certain node is detected as faulty after a predetermined number of communication rounds in which the certain node was working correctly; and   incrementing the outage counter in each communication round in which the certain node remains faulty after the initialization of the outage counter.   
     
     
         3 . Method according to  claim 2 , further comprising notifying an application that uses said communication network of a fault of the certain node if the outage counter reaches a predetermined threshold value. 
     
     
         4 . Method according to  claim 1 , wherein the nodes are in-vehicle devices of a vehicle control system. 
     
     
         5 . Method according to  claim 1 , wherein the status of a node is either correct or fault. 
     
     
         6 . Apparatus for monitoring failure status of nodes of a communication network, the apparatus comprising:
 means for dividing the communication network into clusters of nodes;   means for determining node status data regarding presence or absence of a failure at each node of the communication network by causing each node to diagnose its own status and the status of the other nodes of the communication network;   means for sending first node status data relating to the nodes of a cluster of the determining node from the determining node to the other nodes of the communication network;   means for receiving, from the other nodes of the communication network, second node status data relating to a presence or absence of a failure at the nodes of the cluster of the sending node; and   means for determining node status evaluation data for identifying a failed node or nodes of the communication network by majority voting, based on the determined first node status data and the second node status data received from the other nodes of the communication network.   
     
     
         7 . Apparatus for monitoring a status of nodes of a communication network, the apparatus comprising:
 means for determining first node status data at a first node by causing said first node to diagnose its own status and the status of at least one second node;   means for sending the first node status data to at least one other node;   means for receiving second node status data from at least one other node, said sending and receiving being performed periodically in communication rounds;   means for determining node status evaluation data for the first node based on the determined first node status data and the received second node status data;   means for determining that a certain node is faulty by majority vote, based on the node status evaluation data; wherein said apparatus further comprises,   means for initializing an outage counter, when the certain node is detected as faulty after a predetermined number of communication rounds in which the certain node is working correctly; and   means for incrementing the outage counter in each communication round in which the node remains faulty after the initialization of the outage counter.   
     
     
         8 . Apparatus according to  claim 7 , further comprising means for notifying an application that uses said communication network of a fault of the certain node if the outage counter reaches a predetermined threshold value. 
     
     
         9 . Apparatus according to  claim 6 , wherein the nodes are in-vehicle devices of a vehicle control system. 
     
     
         10 . Apparatus according to  claim 6 , wherein the status of a node is either correct or fault. 
     
     
         11 . A computer program product, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium and a computer program recorded therein in form of a series of state elements corresponding to instructions which are adapted to be processed by a data processing means of a data processing apparatus such that a method according to  claim 1  is carried out. 
     
     
         12 . A computer program product, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with a computer program that includes instructions which, when loaded into a data processor, cause the data processor to be configured to perform the method of  claim 1 .