Graphic interface of a telecommunication network monitoring expert system

This paper describes the person-system graphic interface designed and implemented for the Itapac Assistance System (IAS), an expert system for the Italian data packet-switched Network (Itapac) monitoring and repair assistance. The IAS graphic interface plays a very important role and has been built using the up-to-date X Window System running on a Digital VAXstation II/GPX. The human factors issues involved in the design are discussed and special techniques used to implement the design are described. The windowing interface permits the simultaneous presentation of multiple information, colours permit high-lighting urgent problems and graphics provides concise tools for displaying data. Special work has been done to develop tools for image compression and fast refreshment, and a simple anti-aliasing technique has been adopted. The expert system has been operating for 2 years at the Network Control Centers of Itapac. During this period the impact of the human interface has been analysed and a few changes were made to ease the interface usability. In the paper the impact of this interface is also outlined together with the presentation of future prospects.