Patent · US Active

Message log analysis for system behavior evaluation

US8073806B2 · kind B2 · utility

33Cited by
2References
18Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateOct 17, 2007
Grant dateDec 6, 2011
Priority date
Expiry dateFeb 6, 2030

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04L12/66
  • WIPO fieldDigital communication
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A technique is disclosed that enables the run-time behavior of a data-processing system to be analyzed and, in many cases, to be predicted. In particular, the illustrative embodiment of the present invention comprises i) transforming the messages that constitute an unstructured log into a numerical series and ii) applying a time-series analysis on the resultant series for the purpose of pattern detection. Indeed, it is recognized in the illustrative embodiment that the problem really is to detect patterns that depict aspects of system behavior, regardless of the textual content of the individual log messages. In other words, by analyzing the totality of the messages in the log or logs—as opposed to looking for pre-defined patterns of the individual messages—system behavior can be mapped and understood. The mapping helps in characterizing the system for the purposes of predicting failure, determining the time required to reach stability during failure recovery, and so forth.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.