optima technical overview v5.0

AIRCOM InternationalIntegrated OSS, Planning & Optimisation Solutions

Technical Overview V5.0

OPTIMA- Network Performance Management and Monitoring Tool

Author: Dominic Kirsten Date: 29 September 2004 Ref: I-SM-EM-OP-03 Sec. Class: Commercial- in Confidence

Technical Overview

AIRCOM International Commercial- in Confidence

Author: Dominic Kirsten Page 1 Date: 29 September 2004

Technical Overview V5.0 I-SM-EM-OP-03

Contents

1 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................ 2 2 PRODUCT POSITIONING ................................................................................................. 3 3 BENEFITS of OPTIMA ....................................................................................................... 5 4 TECHNICAL SOLUTION.................................................................................................... 6

4.1 System Architecture ..................................................................................................... 6 4.1.1 Physical Architecture ........................................................................................... 6 4.1.2 Data Logical Architecture..................................................................................... 9 4.1.3 Architecture Key Features ................................................................................. 10

4.2 Vendor Interfaces ....................................................................................................... 11 4.3 User Functions............................................................................................................ 11

4.3.1 OPTIMA Inspector ............................................................................................. 12 4.3.2 Reporter ............................................................................................................. 14 4.3.3 OPTIMA Work Area ........................................................................................... 15 4.3.4 Database Explorer and Query Builder ............................................................... 15 4.3.5 Administration .................................................................................................... 18 4.3.6 Summary and Busy Hour Calculations .............................................................. 18 4.3.7 KPI/KPI Mapping................................................................................................ 19 4.3.8 Archiving ............................................................................................................ 19 4.3.9 Profiling .............................................................................................................. 19 4.3.10 Performance Alarm Management...................................................................... 20

5 Technical Specifications................................................................................................... 24 5.1 Operating Environment............................................................................................... 24

5.1.1 Server and Data Loading Platforms................................................................... 24 5.1.2 Client .................................................................................................................. 24 5.1.3 Supported Data.................................................................................................. 24 5.1.4 Data Storage...................................................................................................... 25 5.1.5 Report Output Formats ...................................................................................... 25 5.1.6 Report Output Types.......................................................................................... 25 5.1.7 Report Scheduling ............................................................................................. 26 5.1.8 Graph Types ...................................................................................................... 26 5.1.9 Graph Output Formats ....................................................................................... 26




1 INTRODUCTION OPTIMA is an advanced network performance management and monitoring tool, developed for mobile operators who require a fully integrated application with the ability to provide network performance data for multi vendor and multi technology networks. The solution supports the analysis and reporting requirements for all functions within the organisation including:

• Day-to-day operational monitoring and problem identification

• Network System Optimisation (network planning and development)

• Network benchmarking and SLA management

• Network Performance Management Reporting – KPI and key data

• Performance data management and network correlation across different network technologies and elements e.g. BSS, NSS, RAN, PS-CORE, VAS, IN, CDR.

• Generation and management of performance related alarms

OPTIMA’s unprecedented flexibility, powerful functionality and ease of use make it the ultimate tool for any operator looking to improve or enhance the performance of its network.

OPTIMA is perfectly suited to mobile operators progressing to the next generation of mobile technologies. OPTIMA currently supports 2G, 2.5G and 3G networks and the solutions open and configurable architecture means that it is readily configured for new technologies..

The success of an operator’s organisation depends on Quality of Service targets being met. OPTIMA provides the tool to ensure that this is done. It is a truly cost effective, valuable enhancement to an operator’s information system.




2 PRODUCT POSITIONING OPTIMA’s product position is represented on the Tele Management Forum (http://www.tmforum.org), Telecoms Operations Map (TOM) model in the diagram below. The green coloured portion shows where OPTIMA sits with typical outputs servicing wider business functions indicated via the yellow arrows and orange boxes.

Fig 1: OPTIMA Positioning

In an increasingly competitive telecommunications market, it is vital that you provide superior levels of service and quality to end subscribers, thereby attracting new customers, reducing churn, and simultaneously minimising costs. You can only effectively manage and introduce change into the operational network if you have a complete understanding of the current and past performance of your system.

OPTIMA is network performance management & monitoring software that logs and stores network performance information, enabling any employee, with permissions, to gain a complete understanding of the current and past performance of your network.

For example, knowing the past three months dropped call statistics for a cluster of cell sites in a particular city can help you benchmark engineering modifications. You can use daily and weekly dropped call completion after operational changes (for example change of frequency plan) to the same cell sites to understand the improvements, or other, within the city.

By easily accessing and analysing invaluable performance data, you can:




• Identify poor network performance before this becomes customer affecting

• Identify and respond quickly to change

• Pinpoint accurately extra capacity requirements

• Deploy network enhancements in a timely and cost effective manner

• Predict future trends in the network or at any part of the network

Some typical uses of OPTIMA for network operation and performance management are:

• Daily reporting of network performance across all network elements including the radio and switching networks, transmission, IN, VAS and service platforms.

• Daily reporting of any cluster of cell sites or network elements covering particular cities, roads or other geographical regions

• Drill down to determine root cause analysis for network degradation or performance problems

• Identification of performance anomalies across network regions

• Overall monitoring of performance and generation of alarms when thresholds are exceeded

• Identification and strategic reporting of traffic hotspots and network locations generating high traffic and revenues

Not only can you access information across the whole network, but also regional staff can access all data appropriate to them and can monitor network elements within a region and fine tune localised performance.




3 BENEFITS of OPTIMA

Key Technical Features of OPTIMA include: • A powerful ORACLE data ‘warehouse’ which is able to maintain and

retrieve network system performance counter data and trends for the largest networks over many years

• Robust and scaleable IT platform architecture with a choice of PC or UNIX servers to suit IT policy and existing IT investments

• Windows PC based client application requires minimal specialist user training

• True client/server architecture with the ability to support “thick” client and “thin” (web based) multi concurrent user access

• Full Integration with AIRCOM’s market leading PC-based ENTERPRISE tools suite allowing performance data to be seamlessly integrated with design and configuration information.

• Complete flexibility to mix counter and KPI information with coverage and planning data, including geographical mapping

• Ability to query and retrieve PM statistics by selecting network elements on a geographical map

• Ability to combine configuration parameter values with performance data

• Out of the box functionality with interfaces and report and module libraries available for 2G, 2.5G and 3G networks.

• Ability to interface to a wide range of equipment types of different vendors and technologies eg. BSS, NSS, RAN, PS-CORE, VAS, IN, CDR etc

• Highly configurable vendor interface architecture allows rapid configuration to specific customer requirements.

• In-built KPI mapping across vendors allows quality on different vendor networks to be compared easily

• Complete flexibility for the user to create new KPIs, report templates and modules via very flexible report and module designers.

• Ability to define and generate Performance Alarms. Alarm events can either be forwarded to Fault management systems or engineers alerted via e-mail or SMS using the Optima alarm handling module

• Full user security with the ability to manage which reports and modules users or groups of users have the ability to access

• Intuitive data explorer with the ability to define database queries via a user friendly drag and drop interface




4 TECHNICAL SOLUTION

4.1 System Architecture

4.1.1 Physical Architecture

Fig 2:Physical Architecture of an OPTIMA implementation

An overview of the typical physical architecture of an OPTIMA installation is shown in Figure 2. Data is generally exported in a file format from the network Element Managers or OMCs and stored on a local server. When a new file is detected then this is transferred to an OPTIMA Mediation workstation where it is parsed and loaded into a central OPTIMA Oracle datastore and immediately available for end-user clients.

For some vendor systems, PM data may be available in a network or OMC database. In this case, a special OPTIMA database parser is deployed, which regularly accesses the network database to retrieve data. In this case there is no requirement to transfer files.

There may also be links configured from the OPTIMA datastore to other databases. This allows end users to access and combine data from multiple sources in reports. This mechanism may also be used to enrich the PM data loaded – for example a link to a planning or configuration database (as illustrated by ENTERPRISE in Figure 2) may be used to retrieve network topology or planning information.

There are a number of physical elements in the OPTIMA solution as described in the following sections.




Central database server This is the critical component for the operation of OPTIMA as it has a direct impact on data load, storage and retrieval performance of the system. Any type of workstation that supports Oracle 9i or above can be used. AIRCOM provides a number of recommended hardware solutions with both Windows and Unix (HP and Sun) options supported depending on operator preference and the size of system required. Solutions are always proposed that provide cost effective upgrade options to accommodate future expansion of the system. For large installations or where system availability is particularly critical, a clustered server solution can be deployed. The server would be dimensioned as part of the solution development depending on the number of network elements, data storage requirements and expected use of the system. Memory requirements for the server are calculated based on the number of users and data loading processes that need to be supported, plus an overhead for Oracle and the OS. Disk storage requirements will depend on the following factors:

• Number and type of performance counters to be stored • Granularity of counter measurement • Size of network • Archiving requirements • Summary tables and Indexes

AIRCOM provides tools that calculate database growth based on the actual database schema to provide specific and exact predictions for a specific customer on the disk space requirements. Generally RAID disk arrays or external SAN solutions are deployed to provide resilience in the case of hard disk failure.

Parsing/Loading Mediation Devices

Although it is technically possible to have the database loaders and parsers running on the central server, this is generally not recommended and within the typical OPTIMA architecture, these processes are run on separate loading/parsing machines (or mediation devices). This architecture has a number of important advantages:

• Performance: separating the parsing and loading processing from the server ensures that these activities do not significantly impact the end user performance.

• Scalability: if required low cost workstations can be used for the mediation devices. This provides a very cost effective scalable solution. For example the addition of new interfaces can be added without significant server upgrade requirements.

• Reliability: this architecture ensures that any problems that may occur when parsing or loading files do not impact the end user. Also additional mediation devices can be provided as standby purposes. For example it is possible to split a particular interface across two mediation devices. In the case of a hardware problem with one machine then the other can continue to load (perhaps with reduced performance) whilst the failed device is repaired.




• Flexibility: for example a temporary mediation device can be deployed to load backlogged data

• Maintenance: it is possible to perform maintenance and upgrade of the loading processes and interface components without impacting the central server and hence end users

• Both Windows and UNIX (HP and SUN) workstations can be used for mediation devices. Rack mounted units are recommended where space is a premium.

The required specification and number of mediation devices will be determined during customer specific solution design.

Web Server (Optional)

The web server provides the ability to support on-line access to OPTIMA. The recommended solution is to use CitrixTM that provides the full OPTIMA client functionality to end users within a standard Web browser.

AIRCOM also provides a full web based solution, Web Wizard, that allows access to key data and reports on-line over the company intranet. This also allows the ability to display performance statistics geographically over a map.

All reports within OPTIMA can be scheduled to run at future or regular interval intervals via a customisable report scheduler. This may be run on any client, however for regular reporting would tend to be hosted on a dedicated machine or the Web Server. Reports can be exported to HTML and automatically published via Web Wizard.

OPTIMA Clients

Three client options are available for OPTIMA:

Integrated with ENTERPRISE: In this case the OPTIMA application appears as a toolbar within the ENTERPRISE tool suite. This option allows performance analysis to be integrated with planning functions. For example, performance data can be “replayed” on the geographical map overlaying coverage information.

OPTIMA Standalone: In this area, the OPTIMA client can be run independently from the ENTERPRISE tool suite. For example this may be the preferred access method for Operational Engineers who do not need the full planning integration.

OPTIMA online: This allows access to the application via a browser over the company intranet (or internet if enabled). Two options are available:

• Access to the full client application can be supported using CitrixTM. This is suitable for users who require full access to all OPTIMA functionality.

• AIRCOM’s Web Wizard application can be deployed to provide access to key data and reports. This also allows the ability to display performance statistics geographically over a map. This is useful for more casual users who only need access to specific data or reports




4.1.2 Data Logical Architecture

NETWORK

VENDOR/EQUIPMENT INTERFACES

LOA

DER

S

INTE

RFA

CE

SPEC

IFIC

PA

RSE

R

OPTIMADATABASE

(Oracle)

DA

TATR

AN

SFER

(FTP

)

ADMINISTRATION UTILITIES

ARCHIVING AND DATABASEMAINTENANCE

DATA SUMMARY

INSTALLATION AND UPGRADEMANAGER

CONFIGURATION AND ADMINISTRATIONVENDOR

TEMPLATES

VALI

DA

TIO

N A

ND

RU

LES

ENG

INE

SYSTEM MONITOR AND ADMINISTRATOR ALERTS

APPLICATIONALARMS TO

SYSTEMMONITOR ORFM SYSTEM

PM DATA

MANAGEMENTINTERAFACES

Fig 3: Logical Architecture of an OPTIMA implementation

The diagram above shows the logical architecture of an OPTIMA installation in a multi-vendor network. The vendor equipment or OMC is configured to output performance data at regular reporting intervals and the parsers will automatically process this data when it is made available.

The typical process for loading data is illustrated in the figure below and is as follows:

1. The network logs PM data and regularly outputs data in file into a defined directory on the OMC or Element Manager device. For most network equipment the file creation interval is user configurable and would typically be 15 minutes or an hour. Each file may typically contain data for a number of different network elements and different types of measurement classes.

2. An OPTIMA FTP component will regularly pole the OMC directory. When a new file is detected it will be automatically transferred to the




parser input directory on a mediation device. The original file on the OMC may (optionally) be deleted.

3. An OPTIMA Parser component monitors the parser input directory and parses any files that are detected. Specific parsers are developed to match the file format for a particular interface. The parser converts the PM data in the input file into a common OPTIMA file format; comma separated variable (csv). Where the input file contains a number of different measurement classes, a csv file may be produced for each class.

4. If the input file is successfully parsed then it is (optionally) moved to an archive directory or deleted. If there is a problem in the file (for example it is corrupted) then it is moved to an Error directory and the Error details logged.

5. An OPTIMA Loader component monitors the parser output directory. When a new csv file is detected this is loaded into the appropriate database table. The loader component may also combine or apply formulas to individual counters if required during the loading process.

6. If the csv file is successfully loaded then it is deleted or archived. Otherwise, it is moved to an Error directory and the Error details logged.

In order to effectively manage the volume of data in the OPTIMA database, there are programs that regularly summarise and delete old data, calculate busy hours and perform other database housekeeping activities. These are provided in an administrator configurable summary subsystem.

All OPTIMA data collection programs are scheduled and monitored by an OPTIMA scheduler program. This not only allows programs to be scheduled at regular intervals or overnight but also monitors all services and restarts these if necessary in the case of a failure.

4.1.3 Architecture Key Features

The OPTIMA architecture and system components are designed to support the exacting system requirements for a PM data collection, storage and analysis system:

• The system is designed to load data continuously – 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

• Data is loaded as soon as it is available in the network. • Data is made available to all users as soon as it is in the database. • The system is scalable to cost effectively accommodate increases in

network size and the introduction of new interfaces. • The system is designed for very high reliablility and is able to operate

in an unsupervised mode. A process monitor is deployed that monitors all components via heartbeat function and automatically restarts any failed process.

• The system is able to store very large volumes of data without

degradation of loading or end-user performance.




• The data loading architecture minimises overheads on the database server, ensuring that the maximum resources are available for end-user queries and access.

4.2 Vendor Interfaces OPTIMA supports multi-vendor, multi-technology networks and AIRCOM can provide interfaces for each vendor in an operator’s network. Depending on the operator set-up, the data may either be made available from the vendor in data files or in an OMC database. AIRCOM can provide a vendor specific parser for either arrangement.

Each interface is provided with a comprehensive library of KPIs, reports and modules which allows out of the box analysis and reporting functionality.

Fig 4 – The Siemens specific OPTIMA Parser

4.3 User Functions The following figure illustrates the main components of the OPTIMA system. Raw PM counters and configuration data is loaded from the network and stored within the data layer. From this Summary Information and KPIs are derived within the Abstraction layer. Data from both of these layers is made available to the user within the Client and Administrator functions.




Raw Counters Configuration

SummaryKPIsData

DictionaryFilters

Data ExplorerBrowser Query Builder

Data ExplorerBrowser Query Builder

Insp

ecto

r

Rep

orte

r

Work Area / Favourites

Rep

ort

Sch

edul

er

CustomCounters

FilterManager

UserManagement

Administration

Client

AlarmManager

AlarmHandler

Abstraction

Data

Fig 5 – A typical OPTIMA Module

The key user modules illustrated in the above Figure are described in the following sections.

4.3.1 OPTIMA Inspector

OPTIMA Inspector enables users to select data modules from a module library and combine these, as required, to display specific information. Modules are used in the same way that you would use a template, to customise the information you want to display. Using this user friendly method it is possible for users to build up complex specific analysis functions and easily correlate data from different network elements.

With OPTIMA Inspector you can:

• Manage modules and module combinations

• Define your own modules and module combinations to display any network data

• Retrieve, filter and chart large volumes of data

• Use filters to select data for specific network elements. For example define filters to show only problem cells or select a set of cells geographically on a map.

• Define counter thresholds, e.g. display all MSC’s with processor load over 90%

• Display data from any ORACLE® database




• Load data from other ENTERPRISE tools, e.g. ASSET, DATASAFE, PROBE

• Share data modules with other users or groups of users

Fig 6 – A typical OPTIMA Module.

The powerful functionality provided by OPTIMA Inspector within the modular approach ensures that users can be confident in their ability to correctly display and view information in a way that will improve problem solving, which will ultimately enhance the performance of the network.

Data is displayed both within a data grid or graphically on a number of user specified chart types. Standard Excel like features are provided for sorting, filtering, grouping and summarising data. In addition you can link modules to provide powerful drill down functions. In this way for example you can click on a problem cell and immediately display the key KPIS for that cell for the time period in question.

Fig 7: Example of Grid functions in Inspector




4.3.2 Reporter

OPTIMA Reporter provides a flexible and user friendly environment for creating, organising and managing the distribution of reports. User friendly wizards and templates are provided to simplify ad-hoc report creation. Advanced features such as sub-reports and cross-tabs provide the functions to accommodate even the most complex reporting requirements.

All report templates can be stored within the datastore for ease of distribution and access. Users can view or modify (if granted rights to do so) a report by selecting from an explorer based folder structure.

Fig 8 – OPTIMA Reporter

OPTIMA Report Designer allows users full flexibility to specify the network data to be included in a report. With OPTIMA Reporter, users in an organisation have the ability to decide what information will be viewed and in the desired format, a powerful tool for any organisation.

Users can always rely on having the latest relevant information, knowing that they are saving time and money by automating the complex process of generating quality reports.

A key area of OPTIMA Reporter is the scheduling functionality, which allows for flexible automatic report distribution to any type of output device, e.g. PC, printer, e-mail, web site. An advanced feature allows the user to provide a condition to the report generation. For example a condition could be set to generate a report which is triggered when, for example Congestion by Cell on a particular BSC indicates dropped calls over 4%. The scheduler allows users to set up reports for their areas of interest, then to schedule these reports to run at a convenient time.




4.3.3 OPTIMA Work Area

OPTIMA Work Area gives users the flexibility to organise their user environment to match the particular activity being undertaken. Inspector combinations, reports and even external web pages can be docked into a common working area and are available as tabbed pages. This means that all relevant information for a particular task can be quickly accessed and correlated greatly increasing working efficiency. Key modules and reports can also be added to a favourites toolbar for instant access.

OPTIMA Work Area can also be used to identify and display information about key aspects of your network that are under performing. It can monitor the values of specified performance counters, such as dropped call rates, call set-up failures, high congestion, etc. Options are provided to automatically update the information so that the latest recorded state of the network is always displayed.

Fig 9 - OPTIMA Work area displays selected performance counters on multiple sheets and

can be constantly refreshed.

4.3.4 Database Explorer and Query Builder

The database explorer provides a user friendly overview of all data within the OPTIMA data warehouse and allows both advanced and occasional users to quickly retrieve any set of information. The module supports the following features:




• The ability to browse all data in the database using a simple tree structure. Data is organised into Raw Counters, KPIs, Configuration Information, System information or User Defined categories all configurable by the system administrator. A search facility is provided to allow the user to quickly find a counter or KPI. Counter values can be displayed in a grid or exported to Excel etc.

• The ability to define a database query via a user friendly drag and drop interface without the need for SQL entry. This provides the following features:

o Drag and drop tables from the Data Explorer

o Define table joins by graphically linking fields

o Define data fields to be extracted, filter criteria, functions and grouping via user friendly input screens

o Preview and edit SQL created

o Preview data returned

o Define filter fields for OPTIMA date-time selector and network selection filters

The data explorer can be run standalone for ad-hoc data queries. It is also used to define modules within Inspector.

Fig 10- Expression Builder




A drag and drop expression builder is provided to simplify the addition of complex expressions in queries and to simplify the definition of custom counters or KPIs. The expression builder provides the following features:

• Add counters from a context sensitive lists by dragging onto the design area.

• Select available functions from categorised lists

• Prompts for function arguments

• Simple entry of mathematical and date functions

• Ability for administrators to add custom functions

Fig 11: Expression Builder




4.3.5 Administration

In allowing performance data to be recorded and fully analysed, OPTIMA also allows administrators of OPTIMA to custom counters and specify thresholds via the OPTIMA Administrator.

Fig 12 - Editing a custom counter

The OPTIMA Administrator allows administrators to:

• Configure raw counters that display collected performance data in OPTIMA and on the map view

• Add and edit custom counters or KPIs that apply your specific formula(e) to collected performance data

• Define common KPIs that map across different vendors. For example a common user KPI such as Call Drop can be defined that utilises different vendor counters for each vendor within OPTIMA.

• Define and edit thresholds for counters to enable performance data exceeding such thresholds to be highlighted in OPTIMA

• Specify country specific holidays

• Configure routing information

• Add and administer users and groups of users

• Configure which groups of users have access to which reports and modules through a user friendly security system.

• Configure links to external database

4.3.6 Summary and Busy Hour Calculations

The data generated by the Network and parsed and loaded into the OPTIMA database is likely to be of a high granularity (ie. short intervals between samples). OPTIMA is designed to store this information for any period of time but this can




lead to significant storage requirements for the database. For this reason many operators elect to archive old data and store a summary only. For example the operator may be interested in a granularity of 15 minutes for data up to a month old but any data older, they would like to see summarised to an hour and any data older than a year they would like to see summarised to a day, week, month and so on.

AIRCOM provides a fully configurable summary program that achieves this and can be scheduled to run at user specified times. When the data has been summarised to a table with a lower time resolution it can then be archived from the higher resolution table.

Network planning and performance engineers are usually mostly interested in the behaviour of the network when it is experiencing its greatest load. This is termed the busy hour and operators will be interested in keeping a copy of the performance data during this hour longer than the other hours of the day. Tables can also be generated that hold data for the busiest hours of the week, month and kept for longer periods than daily busy hour data. Multiple busy hours can also be defined.

4.3.7 KPI/KPI Mapping

OPTIMA stores all raw performance counters generated by the network. However for reporting purposes it may be more useful to aggregate the raw counters into higher level KPIs eg call drop, connection rate etc. OPTIMA provides flexible solutions that allow an administrator to define KPIs that are then available for all users.

The performance counters and what they measure are different across different vendors therefore the formula for a KPI for one network may look very different to that on another. In addition, a KPI formula may be composed of a very large number of counters and sub counters. It is for this reason that AIRCOM provide a KPI mapping facility between vendors. With this option users can use a single KPI (eg call drop) for all cells within a multi-vendor network. This can greatly simplify the creation of reports and modules.

4.3.8 Archiving

An operator may want to keep a copy of the data longer than they want to store it in the OPTIMA database. This could be for the purpose of re-investigating previous anomalous behaviour on the network that has re-occurred. This may be achieved by writing the relevant datafiles to a tape or separate disk.

4.3.9 Profiling

It is important for an operator to efficiently dimension a network for current and forecast use. This enables cost effective deployment of expensive vendor equipment and helps to minimise lost revenue due to traffic rejected due to unavailable channels.

In order to predict the future traffic on network a forecasting algorithm is required that uses as inputs the current and historical trend values of offered traffic and the ErlangB formula. In order to achieve this AIRCOM have developed the ‘Cell Profiler’ program. Using this program the operator can forecast future traffic growth based on historical data and therefore identify which cells will possibly require upgrade in the near future.

The following shows a screen print of the Cell Profiler program. The interface enables the user to choose the process parameters such as the number of past




weeks used, minimum available data threshold, number of future weeks to be forecast and in this example a scaling factor for the TCH and SDCCH channels of an operators GSM network.

Fig.13 - Illustrates a Cell Profiler screen

4.3.10 Performance Alarm Management

The OPTIMA Alarm module provides the ability to define thresholds and conditions on performance data that can generate alarm events into a fault management system. This provides significant user benefits:

• It allows an operator to be pro-active rather than re-active to network

alarms. For example an alarm can be generated based on a trend in average traffic before hard capacity thresholds are triggered on a network element.

• By immediately alerting engineers to problems it provides the

opportunity for faster response to potential service affecting performance issues, increasing network quality and customer satisfaction.

• It provides the ability to automatically monitor many performance

KPIs for the whole network and only respond the critical issues. This can provide significant cost savings in optimisation and OSS engineers.

• It allows an operator to have common procedures for performance

related and network related alerts, for example in out-of-hours




support and trouble-ticketing, resulting in improved efficiency and cost reduction.

• It gives the operator the ability to monitor abnormal behaviour in the

network. For example alarms can be generated when the performance of a KPI on a cell changes significantly from the normal behaviour even though the performance may remain within operational thresholds.

• It provides the ability to correlate performance related alarms with

network generated alarms to aid in root cause analysis. For example if traffic increases on one cell this may be due to a failure in a neighbouring cell.

• Provides the operator with the potential to supplement the standard

network alarms that a vendor supports and potentially overcomes any limitations in these.

Technical Implementation

The implementation of the OPTIMA Alarm module is illustrated in the following figure.

Fig 14: Optima Alarm Module

A user friendly Alarm GUI allows an administrator to define and administer alarms. All alarm definitions are stored within the OPTIMA datastore. A separate alarm service poles the database at user defined intervals and tests all active alarm definitions against data that has been loaded from the network. All alarm set and clear events are stored in the OPTIMA dB and made available to FM systems via a defined interface.




Figure 15: Alarm Explorer

Key Features • User friendly GUI for an administrator to specify and manage alarm

definitions • Complete flexibility for an administrator to define trigger thresholds

including: o Multiple thresholds per counter o The ability to define thresholds on any raw counters, KPIs or

combinations of counters including formulas o Complex thresholds e.g. deviation from average o Threshold on summary data including busy hour o The ability to define different thresholds for different time

periods e.g. weekends, out-of-hours etc. • The ability to define different thresholds for set and clear, allowing the

ability to provide hysteresis on alarm thresholds. • The ability to define a ripple count for each alarm definition. This

means that the alarm is not triggered until the threshold has been crossed for the specified number of samples, or time period. The network element may remain alarmed until the performance falls back inside user defined clear thresholds for a user defined period of time.

• Ability to set thresholds for any granularity of source data with a user

defined poling interval per alarm definition.




• A fully scalable architecture with separation of the alarm definition from the alarm processing. For the most demanding requirements there is also the ability to distribute the alarm processing across multiple workstations.

• A full audit log for alarm definition – records all changes to alarm

definitions, when and by whom • Full flexibility to define which network elements are monitored for

each alarm definition – the administrator can select all, groups, or individual network elements (e.g. cells) to be included.

• Full flexibility to define the alarm description including user defined

options for:

o Alarm severity o Vendor description o Element type o Technology Type o Alarm Description

• An advanced feature is that the alarm description can also include

any counter value or formula. This allows dynamic messages to be created based on real counter values derived when the alarm is triggered. This allows for very informative alarm messages.

• All alarm events are stored in the OPTIMA database for reporting

and analysis. Optima provides a configurable and flexible alarm handler that allows users or groups of users to be alerted to specified alarms via e-mail or SMS. Alternatively an interface can be provided to third party fault management systems.




5 Technical Specifications

5.1 Operating Environment

5.1.1 Server and Data Loading Platforms

• Oracle 9i or higher with Partitioning Option

• Windows:NT Server 4/2000 or higher

• Unix:Sun Solaris 9, HP-UX 11

• Full hardware and software redundancy options supported

• Support for SAN and RAID disk configurations

5.1.2 Client

• Pentium III or higher

• Windows 2000, XP

• Integrates with Microsoft Office 97 or higher

5.1.3 Supported Data

Any counter type:

• Peg

• Gauge

• Accumulator

• Scanner

• Discrete distributed measurements

• PDF measurements

• Custom

Generic Data interfaces:

• ASCII

• CSV

• XML

• ASN.1

• ODBC

• Direct Oracle Link

Vendors Supported:

• Ericsson • Nokia • Siemens • Motorola • Nortel




• Alcatel • Lucent • Huawei • Interwave

Technologies Support • GSM • GPRS • UMTS • TDMA • CDMA

Network Elements • BSS • RAN • NSS • SGSN/GGSN • HLR • IN • VMS • CDRs

5.1.4 Data Storage

• Unlimited raw counter storage (dependent only on disk allocation)

• Any data granularity supported

• Administrator defined data storage and archiving periods

• Administrator defined summary options including daily, weekly, monthly, busy hour.

• Complete flexibility to define summary and rollup functions per counter including sum, average, max, min, user defined

• User defined busy hours including multiple busy hours per element

5.1.5 Report Output Formats

• Report Archiving Format (*.RAF)

• Comma Separated Values (*.CSV)

• Acrobat Reader File (*.PDF)

• XHML

• Rich Text Format (*.RTF)

• Hyper Text Markup Format (*.HTML)

• Excel File (*.XLS)

• Bitmap File (*.BMP)

• JPEG File Interchange Format (*.JPEG)

• Tagged Image File Format (*.TIFF)

5.1.6 Report Output Types

• Printer




• File

• zipped-file

• e-mail

5.1.7 Report Scheduling

• Ability to schedule any report by date and time

• All output options supported

• Conditional scheduling

5.1.8 Graph Types

Over 100 standard chart types including:

• Line

• Area

• Bar

• Point

• Pie

• Bubble

• Arrow

• Gantt

• Shape

5.1.9 Graph Output Formats

• Metafile

• Enhanced Metafile

• Bitmap

• JPEG

• PNG

• GIF

• PCX

optima technical overview v5.0

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