Knowledge based fault location in a data communication network

The architecture of an expert system developed to investigate the potential of expert-system shell technology for diagnosing faults in a computer-communications network to evaluate the fast prototyping capabilities of a shell tool, and to demonstrate the potential to decision makers in the network-maintenance field is described. The demonstration system was constructed using the knowledge engineering environment (KEE) on a Sperry Explorer workstation, and used simulations of the real-world environment in which an operational system would function. The system used many of the KEE paradigms, including object-oriented programming, and rules and methods. An evaluation of the demonstration and of the KEE/Explorer environment is also presented.<>