An expert system for the management of the Italian public packet-switched network

The authors present a prototype network management system designed to monitor and control the Italian public packet-switched network (Itapac). This system, called the Itapac Assistance System (IAS), was designed to ease and improve the actions carried out by the network operators. The heart of IAS is an expert system which implements the network management knowledge provided by the experts and uses it for advising the network operators. The system continuously monitors the network in real time through a connection with the network control center, and as soon as an anomaly is detected in warns the operator about the problem and its severity. Upon request, it can provide information about the detected anomaly and can suggest smart corrective actions deduced from expert rules. The authors describe functionality and implementation issues of the system, which is presently under evaluation in the field