Automated troubleshooting for RTWP in 3G/4G RAN nodes

Nowadays, Mobile Network Operators are confronted with many challenges to operate and maintain their network. Subscribers expect stable and perpetual services. Repeated interruptions of services will result in the dissatisfaction of users and may lead to losing the end user. One of the major issues facing a Radio Access Network (RAN) mobile operator is coping with the uplink interference in their RAN, such as the Receive Total Wideband Power (RTWP) in the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) band. A frequently occurring issue in such networks is the RTWP alarm. This alarm is reported in the Network Operation Centre (NOC) and contribute to poor quality in the network . Such an alarm may occur daily, thus impacting the network’s Key Point Indicator (KPI). The mobile network operator always tries to resolve the issue of RTWP quickly by means of several processes and strategies to diagnose and troubleshoot this issue, all within a target ‘Service Level Agreement’ (SLA). There are many different causes that can lead to an RTWP alarm in a mobile 3G RAN. In addition, each of these cases has different diagnoses and troubleshooting methods. The main idea of this project is to design a Graphical User Interface (GUI) tool to help the Front Office (FO) or Back Office (BO) engineer in mobile network operator to check and troubleshoot the RTWP issue in the network in a timely manner. The tool is designed to check the configuration of the radio, based on the Huawei NodeB 3900 and statistical performance counters, and to provide the correct decision for the engineer to improve the efficiency and minimize the time taken to troubleshoot the RTWP alarm in the network. It is very useful to design such a tool for interacting with the Huawei NodeB 3900. The GUI tool is thus basically designed to support the engineers in Oman Telecommunication Company’s NOC while dealing with the RTWP alarm in the Huawei NodeB 3900. The major finding of this study is the design of the GUI tool to minimize the time taken to resolve the RTWP issue in the Huawei NodeB 3900 both in a single site and in multiple sites, to conduct consistency checks for the software parameters, and finally to identify the root cause of the RTWP alarm. The GUI tool shows an operation log, which can be used by the administrator for maintenance records, and it also contains a help guide that gives the user more information about the functionality of each button

Implementation of counter testing in Nokia Automation System

In this study the performance measurement, a part of the research and development of the RNC, was improved by implementing counter testing to the Nokia Automation System. The automation of counter testing is a feature the customer ordered, because performing counter testing manually is rather complex. The objective was to implement an automated counter testing system, which once configured correctly, would manage to run the testing and perform the analysis. The requirements for the counter testing were first studied. It was investigated if the auto-mation of the feature was feasible in the meetings with the customer. The basic functionality required for the automation was also drawn. The technologies used in the architecture of the Nokia Automation System were studied. Based on the results of the study, a new technology, wxWidgets, was introduced. The new technology was necessary to facilitate the implementing of the required feature. Finally the implementation of the counter testing was defined and implemented. The result of this study was the automation of the counter testing method developed as a new feature for the Nokia Automation System. The feature meets the specifications and requirements set by the customer. The performing of the counter testing feature is totally automated. Only configuration of the test cases is done by the user. The customer has presented new requests to further develop the feature and there are plans by the Nokia Automation System developers to implement those in the near future. The study describes the implementation of the counter testing feature introduced. The results of the study give guidelines for further developing the feature

Tool for network level configuration and auditing in mobile backbone network

Tämän työn tarkoituksena on toteuttaa prototyyppi, jolla voi hallita ja valvoa runkoverkon verkkoelementtejä IP-tasolla. Prototyyppiä tarvitaan uudentyyppisen ohjelmiston soveltuvuuden arviointiin, josta saatua tietoa voidaan myöhemmin hyödyntää kokoversion toteutuksen yhteydessä. Prototyyppi kehitettiin vesiputousmallin avulla, joka todettiin sopivaksi pienimuotoisen ohjelmiston kehitykseen. Prototyyppi perustuu taulukkolaskentaohjelmista tuttuun käyttöliittymään, jonka arvioitiin sopivan hyvin verkon struktuurin kuvaamiseen. Ohjelmointikieleksi valittiin Java, koska sen avulla voitiin taata alustariippumattomuus. Prototyypin kehitys onnistui hyvin, sillä prototyypillä on mahdollista auditoida verkkoja sekä tehdä suhteellisen yksinkertaisia konfigurointeja. Prototyyppi todettiin yhdeksi vaihtoehdoksi toteuttaa työkalu verkkotason hallinnointiin ja valvontaan. Lisäksi työkalun kokoversiolla arvioitiin olevan mahdollista yksinkertaistaa ja nopeuttaa verkkojen hallintaa. Työkalun kehityksen aikana ei löydetty teknisiä esteitä sen jatkokehitykselle. Kokoversion toteutuksen yhteydessä kannattaa hyödyntää tässä työssä esitettyjä suosituksia. On esimerkiksi suositeltavaa tutkia, pitääkö työkalun käyttöliittymään tehdä muutoksia.The purpose of this thesis is to implement a prototype for the configuration and auditing of network elements in the mobile core network. The focus of the prototype is on the IP level. The prototype is needed in order to evaluate the feasibility of this new type of tool. The feedback from the prototype evaluation provides input for the full-scale implementation of the network level configuration and auditing tool. The Waterfall model was used to steer the prototype development, because the model was considered suitable for small-scale software development projects. The user interface of the prototype is based on the spreadsheet design, which was considered suitable for displaying network structures. Finally, Java was chosen as the programming language because of its platform independence. The prototype development was a success, because the prototype is capable of performing network level auditing and relatively simple configurations. The prototype was considered as a possible choice for a network level configuration and auditing tool. In addition, it was thought that the full-scale version of the tool could simplify and speed up network management tasks. From a technical perspective, no problems were found during the prototype development that would prevent the full-scale implementation of the tool. This thesis provides some suggestions for the full-scale development. For example, it is recommended to analyze whether the user interface of the tool should be renewed

A novel approach to emergency management of wireless telecommunication system

The survivability concerns the service continuity when the components of a system are damaged. This concept is especially useful in the emergency management of the system, as often emergencies involve accidents or incident disasters which more or less damage the system. The overall objective of this thesis study is to develop a quantitative management approach to the emergency management of a wireless cellular telecommunication system in light of its service continuity in emergency situations – namely the survivability of the system. A particular wireless cellular telecommunication system, WCDMA, is taken as an example to ground this research.The thesis proposes an ontology-based paradigm for service management such that the management system contains three models: (1) the work domain model, (2) the dynamic model, and (3) the reconfiguration model. A powerful work domain modeling tool called Function-Behavior-Structure (FBS) is employed for developing the work domain model of the WCDMA system. Petri-Net theory, as well as its formalization, is applied to develop the dynamic model of the WCDMA system. A concept in engineering design called the general and specific function concept is applied to develop a new approach to system reconfiguration for the high survivability of the system. These models are implemented along with a user-interface which can be used by emergency management personnel. A demonstration of the effectiveness of this study approach is included.There are a couple of contributions with this thesis study. First, the proposed approach can be added to contemporary telecommunication management systems. Second, the Petri Net model of the WCDMA system is more comprehensive than any dynamic model of the telecommunication systems in literature. Furthermore, this model can be extended to any other telecommunication system. Third, the proposed system reconfiguration approach, based on the general and specific function concept, offers a unique way for the survivability of any service provider system.In conclusion, the ontology-based paradigm for a service system management provides a total solution to service continuity as well as its emergency management. This paradigm makes the complex mathematical modeling of the system transparent to the manager or managerial personnel and provides a feasible scenario of the human-in-the-loop management

Implementing Soak Testing for an Access Network Solution

Tietoliikennelaitteiden ohjelmistojen toiminnalle asetetaan erittäin kovat laatuvaatimukset. Operaattoreilla on yleensä asiakkaiden kanssa SLA sopimukset, joiden rikkomisesta operaattorit saattavat joutua maksamaan suuriakin korvauksia. Lisäksi jokainen hetki, jolloin laite ei ole toimintavalmis, tuottaa operaattorille kustannuksia menetettyjen tulojen muodossa. Tämän vuoksi on erittäin tärkeää, että laitteet ovat jatkuvasti toimintakunnossa eikä palvelukatkoksia tule. Tämän diplomityön tavoitteena oli kehittää automatisoitu pitkän ajan testausjärjestelmä IP/MPLS pohjaiselle Tellabs 8600 reititinperheelle. Testattava järjestelmä koostuu useista verkkoelementeistä sekä graafisesta Tellabs 8000 verkonhallintajärjestelmästä. Tämän testausympäristön tavoitteena on paljastaa ongelmia, jotka eivät tule esiin normaalissa toiminnallisessa tai regressiotestauksessa vaan vaativat ilmaantuakseen pidempää ajoaikaa tai useita toistoja. Työssä kehitettiin kehys sille, kuinka testausympäristössä voidaan suorittaa automaattisesti erilaisia operaatioita sekä voidaan ohjelmallisesti havaita mahdollisia ongelmatilanteita. Testausjärjestelmä toteutettiin onnistuneesti ja täyttää sille asetetut tavoitteet. Testausjärjestelmä on otettu käyttöön Tellabsin systeemitestauksessa ja on käyttöönoton jälkeen osoittautunut hyödylliseksi ja tehokkaaksi järjestelmäksi. Systeemitestauksen käyttöön toteutettiin myös toinen täysin identtinen ympäristö.The quality requirements are extremely demanding for telecommunications software. Operators usually have SLA agreements with their customers, and violations to that contract may lead to serious compensations. Furthermore, every moment that equipment or some service is not operating correctly means lost income for the operator. For these reasons, it is extremely important for a telecommunications equipment to continue functioning properly without service affecting breaks. The purpose of this thesis was to design and implement automated soak testing for the IP/MPLS-based Tellabs 8600 router series. The system under test is composed of several network elements and a graphical Tellabs 8000 Network Management System. The purpose of this testing environment is to reveal defects that do not show up immediately in functional or regression testing but may manifest when the system is used for longer periods or operations are executed many times. A framework for automatically operating the test network and detecting problems programmatically was implemented in this thesis. The testing environment was successfully implemented and satisfies the objectives initially set for it. Testing environment has been taken into use in system testing at Tellabs and after deployment has turned out to be useful and effective. Another identical environment was also implemented for the system testing group

Previsão de capacidade para redes de acesso rádio

Mestrado em Engenharia Eletrónica e TelecomunicaçõesThe mobile networks market (focus of this work) strategy is based on the consolidation of the installed structure and the optimization of the already existent resources. The increasingly competition and aggression of this market requires, to the mobile operators, a continuous maintenance and update of the networks in order to obtain the minimum number of fails and provide the best experience for its subscribers. In this context, this dissertation presents a study aiming to assist the mobile operators improving future network modifications. In overview, this dissertation compares several forecasting methods (mostly based on time series analysis) capable of support mobile operators with their network planning. Moreover, it presents several network indicators about the more common bottlenecks.A estratégia comum dos operadores no mercado das redes móveis (área onde este trabalho se debruça) passa por uma consolidação da sua rede base já instalada e pela otimização dos recursos já existentes. A crescente competitividade e agressividade deste mercado obrigam a que os operadores mantenham a sua rede atualizada e com o menor número de falhas possível, com a finalidade de oferecer a melhor experiência aos seus utilizadores. Neste contexto, esta dissertação apresenta um estudo que auxilia os operadores a aperfeiçoar futuras alterações na sua rede. De um modo geral, esta dissertação compara alguns métodos de previsão (baseados maioritariamente na análise de séries temporais) capazes de assistir os operadores no planeamento da sua rede e ainda apresenta alguns indicadores de rede onde as limitações de desempenho são mais frequentes

Métricas de gestão de desempenho em tempo real e longo termo em redes móveis

Mestrado em Engenharia Eletrónica e TelecomunicaçõesThe Telecommunications industry is a “world” where services like data, voice and value-added services must be available at anytime, anywhere. Because of this requirement, it became a really aggressive market, where the least detail can make the difference. One of the details that can be really differentiating is related to network management. With all the changes and rapid evolution of telecommunications, this can be considered a critically important point. An efficient and optimized network management can save time and money and that is why it is a mandatory aspect in this market. There are two different paths to be considered: long term management, which consists in saving less detailed data for long periods of time, and real time management that allows much more detailed information for narrower time frame. Because of database and costs related issues, only one of them must be chosen and there is some important information that may become “invisible”, leading to unsolved problems that can be highly expensive. Regarding this situation, it would be extremely beneficial for the telecom operators if they could visualize both types of data, having the long term information along with the most important details of real time information in one view.A indústria das Telecomunicações é um mundo onde os serviços de dados, voz e outros serviços importantes têm que estar disponíveis sempre e em todo o lado. Por causa dessas exigências, tornou-se um mercado extremamente agressivo, onde o menor detalhe pode fazer a diferença. Um desses detalhes diferenciadores está relacionado com a gestão da rede. Com todas as mudanças e rápida evolução das telecomunicações, este pode ser considerado um ponto crítico. Uma gestão eficiente e otimizada pode poupar tempo e dinheiro e por isso é um aspeto crucial deste mercado. Em termos de gestão e monitorização das redes, há dois caminhos a considerar: gestão a longo prazo, que consiste em salvar dados menos detalhados por longos períodos de tempo; e gestão em tempo real, que permite dados muito mais detalhados mas durante uma janela temporal consideravelmente menor. Devido a limitações ao nível da base de dados e elevados custos, apenas um deve ser escolhido, o que leva a que se perca alguma informação em qualquer dos casos. Assim, podem surgir problemas cuja resolução será complicada e dispendiosa. Posto isto, seria extremamente benéfico para as Operadoras de Telecomunicações, se pudessem analisar os dois tipos de dados, tendo a informação a longo prazo juntamente com os detalhes mais importantes em tempo real numa só aplicação

Topology Management for Wireless Mesh Self-Organizing Mobile Backhauls

The mobile data consumption is increasing exponentially, creating demand for more capacity from the network. Cell densification with small cells, also known as Heterogeneous networks, is seen as a solution for the capacity problem. On the downside, this creates a problem for providing a cost-effective backhaul connection to these small cells. The Self-optimizing Wireless Mesh Network (SWMN) backhaul has been proposed as a backhaul solution for small cells. In SWMN, the nodes form a partial mesh topology, where routing and data transmission is based on pre-computed prioritized set of routes and link-schedules. Hence, an entity that handles topology management functionalities is required, which enables automatic network configuration, network monitoring, optimization and management. The main aim of this thesis is to verify the topology management functionalities. The work involved development of a simulator for creating test topology scenarios. Additionally, the task involved verifying the feasibility of functionalities in the proof-of-concept system

A methodology for obtaining More Realistic Cross-Layer QoS Measurements in mobile networks: A VoIP over LTE Use Case

Los servicios de voz han sido durante mucho tiempo la primera fuente de ingresos para los operadores móviles. Incluso con el protagonismo creciente del tráfico de datos, los servicios de voz seguirán jugando un papel importante y no desaparecerán con la transición a redes basadas en el protocolo IP. Por otra parte, hace años que los principales actores en la industria móvil detectaron claramente que los usuarios no aceptarían una degradación en la calidad de los servicios de voz. Es por esto que resulta crítico garantizar la experiencia de usuario (QoE) en la transición a redes de nueva generación basadas en conmutación de paquetes. El trabajo realizado durante esta tesis ha buscado analizar el comportamiento y las dependencias de los diferentes servicios de Voz sobre IP (VoIP), así como identificar configuraciones óptimas, mejoras potenciales y metodologías que permitan asegurar niveles de calidad aceptables al mismo tiempo que se trate de minimizar los costes. La caracterización del rendimiento del tráfico de datos en redes móviles desde el punto de vista de los usuarios finales es un proceso costoso que implica la monitorización y análisis de un amplio rango de protocolos y parámetros con complejas dependencias. Para abordar desde la raíz este problema, se requiere realizar medidas que relacionen y correlen el comportamiento de las diferentes capas. La metodología de caracterización propuesta en esta tesis proporciona la posibilidad de recoger información clave para la resolución de problemas en las comunicaciones IP, relaciolándola con efectos asociados a la propagación radio, como cambios de celda o pérdida de enlaces, o con carga de la red y limitaciones de recursos en zonas geográficas específicas. Dicha metodología se sustenta en la utilización de herramientas nativas de monitorización y registro de información en smartphones, y la aplicación de cadenas de herramientas para la experimentación extensiva tanto en redes reales y como en entornos de prueba controlados. Con los resultados proporcionados por esta serie de herramientas, tanto operadores móviles y proveedores de servicio como desarrolladores móviles podrían ganar acceso a información sobre la experiencia real del usuario y sobre cómo mejorar la cobertura, optimizar los servicios y adaptar el funcionamiento de las aplicaciones y el uso de protocolos móviles basados en IP en este contexto. Las principales contribuciones de las herramientas y métodos introducidos en esta tesis son los siguientes: - Una herramienta de monitorización multicapa para smartphones Android, llamada TestelDroid, que permite la captura de indicadores clave de rendimiento desde el propio equipo de usuario. Asimismo proporciona la capacidad de generar tráfico de forma activa y de verificar el estado de alcanzabilidad del terminal, realizando pruebas de conectividad. - Una metodología de post-procesado para correlar la información presente en las diferentes capas de las medidas realizadas. De igual forma, se proporciona la opción a los usuarios de acceder directamente a la información sobre el tráfico IP y las medidas radio y de aplicar metodologías propias para la obtención de métricas. - Se ha realizado la aplicación de la metodología y de las herramientas usando como caso de uso el estudio y evaluación del rendimiento de las comunicaciones basadas en IP a bordo de trenes de alta velocidad. - Se ha contribuido a la creación de un entorno de prueba realista y altamente configurable para la realización de experimentos avanzados sobre LTE. - Se han detectado posibles sinergias en la utilización de instrumentación avanzada de I+D en el campo de las comunicaciones móviles, tanto para la enseñanza como para la investigación en un entorno universitario