Integrated operation system for telecommunications power equipment

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) has developed ALICE (Advanced power Plants Integrated maintenance Control systEm), an intelligent system for operating telecommunications power equipment. This system performs not only centralized supervision and control functions, but also information processing (relational database and data communications tasks) and diagnostic functions. It accomplishes diagnoses by applying expert system technology to power equipment. The system is provided with a common standard structure and open communication protocol (OSI) procedure to accommodate the total operations systems of the future. It is equipped with an improved intelligent human-machine interface and preventive system maintenance functions. ALICE can supervise and control up to 210 telephone offices. It can measure up to 96 equipment points (e.g., heat, voltage, amperage for equipment) and monitor up to 576 alarms through remote transmitting equipment in each office. The authors describe the system configuration of ALICE, and explain its system functions for supervision and control, maintenance improvement, database/data communications, expert system diagnostics, and wide-area maintenance support. Issues related to a total integrated operation system are discussed.<>