IEICE Transactions on Communications
Online ISSN : 1745-1345
Print ISSN : 0916-8516
Special Section on Towards Management for Future Communications and Services in Conjunction with Main Topics of APNOMS2021
Proposals and Evaluations of Robotic Attendance at On-Site Network Maintenance Works
Takayuki WARABINOYusuke SUZUKITomohiro OTANI
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2022 Volume E105.B Issue 11 Pages 1299-1308

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Abstract

While the introduction of softwarelization technologies such as software-defined networking and network function virtualization transfers the main focus of network management from hardware to software, network operators still have to deal with various and numerous network and computing equipment located in network centers. Toward fully automated network management, we believe that a robotic approach will be essential, meaning that physical robots will handle network-facility management works on behalf of humans. This paper focuses on robotic assistance for on-site network maintenance works. Currently, for many network operators, some network maintenance works (e.g., hardware check, hardware installation/replacement, high-impact update of software, etc.) are outsourced to computing and network vendors. Attendance (witness work) at the on-site vendor's works is one of the major tasks of network operators. Network operators confirm the work progress for human error prevention and safety improvement. In order to reduce the burden of this, we propose three essential works of robots, namely delegated attendance at on-site meetings, progress check by periodical patrol, and remote monitoring, which support the various forms of attendance. The paper presents our implementation of enabling these forms of support, and reports the results of experiments conducted in a commercial network center.

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© 2022 The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers
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