03 OS82123EN80GLA00 Performance Management

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Version 1 © Nokia Solutions and Networks 1 (202)

NetAct 8

Performance Management

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Content

1 Performance Management Principles

5

1.1 Overview

6

1.2 Purpose

8

1.3 Performance Management Process

9

1.4 Performance Management Applications

14

1.5 Using Performance Information

16

1.6 Reporting Needs

18

1.7 Main Concepts for Performance Management

27

1.8 Post - Processing of Measurement Data

35

2 NetAct PM Functionalities

41

2.1 Performance Management with NetAct

42

2.2 Administration of Measurements

44

2.3 Data Collection and Processing

46

2.4 Performance Manager

48

3 Measurements and Counters Information

49

3.1 Object Information Browser (OIB)

50

4 User Reporting Tasks: Getting Started with NMP

52

4.1 Performance Manager Overview

53

4.2 Web Page Components

54

4.3 Configuring Preferences

58

5 User Reporting Tasks: Browsing and Executing Reports

60

5.1 Overview

61

5.2 Reporting Suite View

62

5.3 Saved Reports View

65

5.4 Changing Selections for the Reports

71

5.5 Report Navigator

73

6 User Reporting Tasks: Working with the Report Output

75

6.1 Report Output Limits

76

6.2 Report Output Options

77

6.3 Report Details, Export Data and Visualization Options

81

6.4 Layout Options

94

6.5 Report Drillings

95

6.6 Data Reliability

98

7 User Reporting Tasks: Scheduling Reports

100

7.1 Scheduling Reports

101

8 User Reporting Tasks Rehoming Support

104

8.1 Rehoming

105

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Content

9.1 Report Creator Introduction

108

9.2 Report Creator Wizard

110

9.3 Editing Reports

129

10 Advanced User Reporting Tasks: Managing KPIs

131

10.1 KPI Creator Introduction

132

10.2 Creating a KPI

134

10.3 Editing a KPI using Custom KPIs

140

10.4 KPI Creator selection details

142

11 Administrator User Tasks: Managing Network Elements' Measurements

144

11.1 Administration of Measurements

145

11.2 Uploading Network Elements' Measurements Configuration

147

11.3 Checking the active measurement configuration

150

11.4 Creating a Measurement Plan

152

11.5 Creating a Template

158

11.6 Viewing detailed information of a plan

160

11.7 Activating Plans

160

12 Administrator User Taks: Publishing Reports

162

12.1 Reporting Suite Publisher

163

13 Administrator User Tasks: Publishing KPIs

167

13.1 Sharing KPIs with KPI Publisher

168

14 Administrator User Tasks: Managing Scheduled Reports

171

14.1 Scheduler Functions

172

15 Administrator User Tasks: Administering the PM Platform

175

15.1 Getting Started with Admin ToolKit

176

15.2 Data Reliability

178

15.3 Adaptation Configuration

178

15.4 Storing Period Configuration

180

15.5 Administration of Aggregates

181

16 Administrator User Tasks: PM Data Export Interfaces

182

16.1 PM North Mediation Interface

183

17 Administrator User Tasks: SW Asset Monitoring

186

17.1 Overview

187

18 Exercises

190 Exercise 1

192 Exercise 2

193 Exercise 3

195 Exercise 4

197 Exercise 5

199 Exercise 6

201

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Performance Management Principles

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1.1 Overview

As the communication world transforms to a service-oriented system, the next generation

operators have to deal with multi-technology, multi-vendor networks. The operators not only

have to provide a varied set of services to their customers but also need to contend with the

pressure on the networking resources as the services multiply. In such a scenario, it is

essential that the operator has a consistent view of the performance and utilization of the

entire network. Only then can the operator efficiently utilize and plan the network resources

available.

The performance and maximum utilization of the network is not the only challenge for

operators. Next-generation architectures and service delivery platforms will enable them to

deliver highly personalized services to their customers. To successfully deliver this kind of

services it is required to correlate network information up to the customer level. Combining

customer-specific information with relevant operations data such as information from the

billing, customer care, and performance data from the network will enable the operator to

achieve a complete view of each customer and his or her value.

This information on network performance and resource utilization is continuously produced at

different points and different abstractions of management (Element level, Network level,

Service level, etc.). In the real world’s complex systems, the amount of Performance data

that can be produced is huge, but not everything is required at the time. Performance

Management tools have to provide then the means to collect the required data timely and on

demand and be able to provide the users and the organization processes with specific

information to fulfill the described management needs of the operators.

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Performance Management

Overview

"

Any evaluation of PLMN system behavior will

require

performance

data

collected

and

recorded by its Network Elements according to

a schedule established by the OSS. This aspect

of the management environment is termed

Performance Management."

Performance data measurements in ETSI, GSM

specification 12.04 version 4.3.1

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Performance Management Principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1.2 Purpose

Performance Management

Purpose

The aim of any performance management activity is to collect data

to support the following activities:



Plan, troubleshoot and optimize the network



Verify the physical and logical configuration of the PLMN



Monitor continuously how the network functions.



Localize potential problems as early as possible.



Monitor subscriber behavior.



Provide optimum services to mobile subscribers



Providing data to other management processes, for example service

and business management.

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1.3 Performance Management Process

The performance management process comprises the description of a view on the PM tasks

the operators follow in order to monitor, assess the quality of the network and obtain the

requested output information for the different users and processes inside the operator’s

organization.

1.3.1 Defining or revising Quality of Service goals

When managing a particular network, the Quality of Service (QoS) represents the effective

maintenance state of the quality for the network services according to some agreed criteria.

Maintaining and improving the QoS of the network includes regular monitoring of the service

performance and the evaluation of the service performance problems with respect to the

targeted level of service delivery.

To improve the service, it is necessary to define QoS goals that guide the evaluation of

network and service performance. These goals can represent, for example, the point of view

of the operator (efficient hardware usage, for example efficient use of network elements

considering the type and capacity of the NEs, their location and number to support the

services) or the point of view of the subscriber (availability, speed, and accuracy of the

service).

As the network evolves and expands, these QoS goals might have to be updated and

revised. Mature operators competing for more market share benefit from introducing new

services to differentiate themselves from other service providers. At this point, all kinds of

service and profile measurements are useful. The quality of service becomes extremely

important and, for example, optimization measurements must be taken. The following tasks

belong to this stage:

• Setting objectives for the desired level of quality

• Measuring the quality of service by monitoring real-time data and long-term trends

• Planning corrective actions

1.3.2 Translating Quality of Service goals to network

performance requirements

To achieve the defined QoS goals, it is necessary to prepare or update the detailed

requirements for the network, including the requirements on network performance. For

example, the quality of a voice service can be correlated with the number and ratio of

dropped calls, while the accuracy of an IP service can be correlated with the number of

received packets.

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1.3.3 Defining reporting requirements

The network performance requirements serve as the basis for reporting requirements and

provide information on which measurements you have to monitor with the PM applications.

1.3.4 Identifying other reporting needs

Monitoring the day-to-day performance of the network is not the only reason for using

performance reports. Information from reports can be used, for example, to examine

short-term changes due to system upgrades or to revise long-short-term trends to gather information for

optimizing or expanding the existing network.

If these reporting needs are translated into measurements, the reporting requirements are

then clear and can be translated into measurement activation criteria. However, some

reporting requirements can give rise to a need for a new or an additional PM application. You

might also need a new or additional PM report when you are investigating uncommon

situations or when you have upgraded or expanded your network.

Before establishing new reports, it is recommended that you check whether the active

measurements already provide the counter information that you need, or whether the

required measurements are available but have not been activated yet, or whether it is

sufficient to change the measurement settings to obtain the needed information.

1.3.5 Defining reports

You can define and schedule your reports based on the reporting requirements. The details

of defining reports mostly depend on the OSS solution.

1.3.6 Adapting the measurement load and the OSS

If you need a new measurement, you have to ensure that the capacity of the OSS, for

example, disk space and insertion time, is not exceeded when the new measurement is

implemented and activated. If the OSS capacity could be exceeded, you can adapt the entire

measurement set by reducing the number of the measurements or increase the

measurement intervals, or you can increase the OSS capacity, for example, with additional

processors. If the capacity has not been exceeded, you can proceed with initializing the

additional measurements.

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1.3.7 Initializing measurements

Activating all the necessary measurements across the network could impose a significant but

unnecessary load on the database and the PM processes. So, it is recommended to consider

the following factors:

Period when measurements are active in the network element or the measurement

information is uploaded from the network element to the network management system

Measurement intervals

Number and distribution of the network elements for which the measurement is activated

1.3.8 Defining thresholds

Network management systems allow you to define thresholds for the measurements. When a

measurement value exceeds a threshold, an alarm is raised. So, you can follow the status of

network performance with the fault management applications in which the alarm is visible

and also with the performance management applications in which the measurement

information is processed. The details of defining thresholds mostly depend on the Operations

Support System (OSS) solution.

1.3.9 Collecting data

The measurement information can be preprocessed in the network element, depending on

the NE type and the configuration of the NE. If preprocessing is applied, the data is filtered,

that is, not all of the measurement information is forwarded to the network management

system) or some calculation is done on the measurement data before it is uploaded to the

OSS through the NE-specific interface.

The data can also undergo further processing in a post-processing phase, for example, when

busy hour information is needed for a report. The results of the post-processing are also

stored in the OSS database. The data is used by the reporting applications or is exported

through the open interfaces to external systems.

1.3.10 Monitoring network performance

You can typically find performance-related problems by checking the alarms, the

measurements, and the customer complaint reports. You also can use information from drive

tests and call detail reports (CDRs).

Regular reporting such as running a report once a day or once a week is too slow for

continuous network monitoring. Furthermore, the default measurement interval for most

counters, one hour, may create a huge delay. However, you can also analyze the traffic

statistics and collect detailed information from the network for further analysis with reports

when you discover a problem. Prompt reaction is sometimes required. So, it is recommended

that you set thresholds for the performance indicators so that the OSS raises alarms based

on the indicator values in unusual situations or when errors occur.

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1.3.11 Generating and distributing reports

When you defined the reporting requirements, you also gathered information on the user

groups and on the types and frequency of the reports that they need. You have to ensure

that the users of the OSS have access to or receive the reports that best support their work.

Reporter applications allow you to turn the often overwhelming amount of measurement data

into information on the performance of the resources in your network, which you can use for

determining whether the network performance goals are met and whether

problem-determination procedures should be initiated based on performance.

1.3.12 Analyzing the results

PM reports are mostly used for two purposes: to gather information for troubleshooting

(short-term reports and ad-hoc reports), for prevention, and for developing the network and

the services (longer-term reports).

For example, the top management of an operator can use PM reports for obtaining high level

information on the network operation at a glance. It is possible to use a report about the

length of the calls to determine whether the service is becoming more or less popular among

the subscribers and in what times of the day subscribers use particular services the most.

The call durations plotted against the day gives information on the preferences of the

subscribers and helps you decide about marketing campaigns, special rates for busy hours

or off-peak hours.

You can also monitor whether a network expansion has the expected results on the quality of

services by regularly checking your own customized reports. With regular checks you can

avoid significant negative impact by taking corrective actions as soon as deviations are

observed in the quality of the service. When you have to optimize your network or when you

consider an expansion, you can use various PM reports to gather information on the past.

You can also use the reports for monitoring the network performance over a certain period of

time and check how the QoS and other quality objectives are met and identify possible

problem areas in the network. For optimization, for example, you might need detailed quality

information on particular measurements in a particular BSS. For expansion and planning, you

might need a less detailed report but over a longer period of time to observe trends in the

subscriber behavior or network resource usage.

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Performance Management Process

Define or revise QoS Goals

Translate QoS goals to network performance requirements

Define reporting requirements

Define thresholds Define

reports

Identify other reporting needs (for example trends)

Adapt the measurement Load and the OSS

Initialize (additional) measurements

Collect data (storing and processing)

Generating and distributing reports

Analyse the results Plan measurements Set thresholds No Yes Monitor thresholds Is OSS Capacity OK? Fig. 3

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1.4 Performance Management Applications

Depending on how the performance management applications use the collected data, they

can be divided into two main types: performance monitoring and performance reporting

applications.

Performance monitoring is online-oriented and provides you with relatively real-time

information on the network. Therefore, performance monitoring applications generally use

shorter measurement output intervals because faster reaction is needed in severe problem

cases, in which a 24-hour interval would be too long. The outputs of performance monitoring

applications are mainly used as additional information for problem cases in which no alarm

information is available. Performance monitoring rules are intelligent threshold rules and can

be calculated before or after the measurements are stored in the database.

Performance reporting is offline-oriented and provides information on what happened in the

network over a certain period of time. Performance reporting applications mainly rely on

performance indicators and produce reports, which you can use, for example, when you are

troubleshooting, planning, or optimizing the network

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Performance Management Applications

Performance Monitoring Apps:



Online oriented



Near real-time information

about the network



Use shorter measurement

output intervals

Depending on how the performance management applications use the

collected data, they can be divided into two main types:

Performance Reporting Apps:



Offline oriented



Rely on Performance

Indicators and produce

reports



Use longer measurement

output intervals

NetAct Reporter

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1.5 Using Performance Information

The operator organization can use the various types of performance information for

monitoring and managing the network.

When monitoring a network performance, different types of data are collected in order to

locate potential problems as early as possible and to verify the physical and logical

configuration of the network. The performance data can also be used to monitor subscriber

behavior by charting out the usage of different services that are available to the end-users.

Such information provides the operator with input for business and service management

decisions when you are optimizing and expanding the network.

Performance-related information in the network is of vital importance for taking management

decisions and identifying possible current or future problems and opportunities.

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Using Performance Information



Traffic levels within the PLMN, including the level of both

the user traffic and the signalling traffic.



Verification of the network configuration.



Resource access measurements.



Quality of Service (QoS)



Resource availability.

Network elements produce data to support performance

evaluation, for example on the following areas:

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1.6 Reporting Needs

Networks continuously produce an enormous amount of performance data. PM applications

need to filter the information to suit the needs of various users:

Management and operational levels at the operator.

Technical considerations in the network, for example monitoring the radio access and the

core network separately.

End-user perception of the services about traffic, quality, or availability of the services.

The following figure shows reporting needs in a combined model. Each chunk of the pyramid

corresponds to a report set or report group that PM applications can provide to the various

user groups.

The applications allow you to turn the often overwhelming amount of measurement data into

information on the performance of the resources in your network, which you can use for

determining whether the network performance goals are met and whether

problem-determination procedures should be initiated based on performance.

Various user groups can use performance measurement data for managing the network and

what kind of PM applications they can use depend on the objectives.

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Reporting Needs

Networks continuously produce an enormous amount of performance data.

PM applications need to filter the information to suit the needs of various

groups of users:

Top Management

Technical Management and Marketing

NW Monitoring

NW Optimization

PLMN Level:

Fewer number of Reports Mainly trend Reports Graphical Output type

NE Level:

Higher number of Reports Detailed or Top-N Reports Matrix or Graphical Output type

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1.6.1 Performance Management User Groups

Top management

Monitoring the current network status with ad-hoc reports

Forecasting future trends with longer-term reports

Following the trends of the network development, for example, monitoring QoS and usage

statistics of various services

PLMN-level information condensed in few reports

Mainly about trends

In graphical format

Mainly offline report generation

Monthly or longer periods

Historical information tendencies

With graphs

For example, network outages of the last month (number, length, and number of affected

sites)

Marketing

Observing subscriber behavior and capacity issues from longer-term reports based on QoS

and usage statistics

Planning new services by analyzing the recent and current trends

Monthly, with more details on the last day or week

Graphs or tables

For example service usage statistics

Technical management

Higher-level information with drilling possibility to problem areas.

Checking daily the most important performance indicators at the PLMN level or for each

maintenance region, and if necessary, for each NEs.

Tracking measurements and observations accurately to monitor, for example, the MSC,

BSC, and BTS levels separately.

Weekly or monthly, with more details on the last day or week.

Graphs or tables.

For example SLA reports including the main KPIs for network elements.

Operations and Maintenance

Detecting faults by enabling measurement based alarms.

Localizing potential problem areas by evaluating longer-term reports on network coverage.

Solving faults by using PM reports for root-cause analysis.

Low-level information and easy access to all the counter information.

Fast navigation, switching between performance indicators, when checking for particular

counters in a certain network element or a group of network elements for troubleshooting.

Daily KPI reports, especially on failing NEs.

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Optimization, Planning

Monitoring network capacity by evaluating longer-term reports on the use of network

resources.

Monitoring network quality by evaluating reports that include performance indicators about

the quality of the services.

Verifying radio network coverage by evaluating reports that include performance indicators

such as the number and percentage of hand over failures in a geographic distribution.

BSC and MSC level that can be processed into traffic profiles to provide information on

subscriber behavior and the overall performance of the network and the network usage

through time and locations.

Quality of service (QoS) monitoring, which can include monitoring the quality of service as

seen by the subscribers, and the quality of the network from the technical point of view.

Longer-term traffic profiles to determine pricing strategies.

Tendency reports at higher or lower level, depending on the planning work.

Both raw and summarized information if performed at the lowest level.

Mainly matrix type and some graphical reports.

Customer Care

Informing subscribers about current problems by obtaining and analyzing up-to-date

information on the network status from ad-hoc reports.

Responding more quickly to service complaints by identifying the cause of network problems.

Frequent, preferably daily, status reports on the status of the network and on the status of

failing NEs.

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Using Performance Information

User Groups

User Group

PM Objectives

Report Needs

Report Type

Top

Management

• Monitoring the current network status with ad-hoc reports

• Forecasting future trends with longer-term reports • Following the trends of

the network development, for example, monitoring QoS and usage statistics of various services

• PLMN-level information condensed in few reports

• Mainly about trends • In graphical format • Mainly offline report

generation • Monthly or longer periods • Historical information, trends. • With graphs

• For example, network outages of the last month (number, length, and number of affected sites)

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Using Performance Information

User Groups

User Group

PM Objectives

Report Needs

Report Type

Technical

Management

and

Marketing

• Observing subscriber behavior and capacity issues from longer-term reports based on QoS and usage statistics

• -Planning new services by

analyzing the recent and current trends

• Higher-level information with drilling possibility to problem areas

• Checking daily the most important counters at the PLMN level or for each maintenance region, and if necessary, for each NEs

• Tracking measurem and observations accurately to monitor, for example, the MSC, BSC, and BTS levels separately

• Weekly or monthly, with more details on the last day or week • Graphs or tables • BSC level is

important

• For example service usage statistics

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Using Performance Information

User Groups

User Group

PM Objectives

Report Needs

Report Type

Operations

and

Maintenance

• Detecting faults by enabling measurement-based alarms • Localizing potential problem areas by evaluating longer-term reports on network coverage

• Solving faults by using PM reports for root-cause analysis

• Low-level information and easy access to all the counter information • Fast navigation,

switching between counters, when checking for particular counters in a certain network element or a group of network elements for troubleshooting

• Daily KPI reports, especially on failing NEs

• Mainly textual and some graphical reports

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Using Performance Information

User Groups

User Group

PM Objectives

Report Needs

Report Type

PM Analysis, Optimization,

Planning

• Monitoring network capacity by evaluating longer-term reports on the use of network resources • Monitoring network quality

by evaluating reports that include counters or kpis about the quality of the services

• Verifying radio network coverage by evaluating reports that include counters or kpis such as the number and percentage of hand over failures in a geographic distribution

• BSC and MSC level that can be processed into traffic profiles to provide information on

subscriber behavior and the overall performance of the network and the network usage through time and locations • Quality of service (QoS)

monitoring, which can include monitoring the quality of service as seen by the subscribers, and the quality of the network from the technical point of view • Longer-term traffic profiles to

determine pricing strategies

• Tendency reports at higher or lower level, depending on the planning work • Both raw and

summarized information if performed at the lowest level • Mainly textual and

some graphical reports

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Performance Management Principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Using Performance Information

User Groups

User Group

PM Objectives

Report Needs

Report Type

Customer

Care

• Informing subscribers about current problems by obtaining and analyzing up-to-date information on the network status from ad-hoc reports

• Responding more quickly to service complaints by

identifying the cause of network problems

• Frequent, preferably daily, status reports on the status of the network and on the status of failing NEs

• Frequent and regular

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1.7 Main Concepts for Performance Management

1.7.1 Counters, Measurements and Observations

A counter is a register which is updated in the NE each time an event occurs. There are

different types of counters based on how they can be updated. Cumulative counters

represent a running count of, for example, how many times an event occurred while gauge

counters take the value of what they measure, for example how many data packets are in a

buffer.

When a measurement interval ends, the values of the measurement counters are transferred

to the OSS and the counters are reset for the next period.

A counter provides the result in specified units, for example, in integers or Erlangs. The term

counter is used as a synonym of Performance Indicator.

A measurement is an action where the system collects information about e.g. traffic and

network events and then processes this information.

A measurement is a fixed set of counters.

An observation is a function where the system either collects information about certain

events or directly produces information about single events in the system.

It is possible to set certain objects under observation and to set conditions which must be

fulfilled before the system produces reports or alarms

Observations are typically used to locate the part of the network system causing problems.

A measurement is in fact a collection of statistics, or to be more precise, a collection of

counters. All of these counters are counting a particular event that relates to the

measurement name. The measurements are grouped in this manner to allow better

functionality and handling. This provides the user with easier selection of certain

measurements necessary at a particular time. All measurements are independent of each

other but the same user interface is used for handling all measurements.

Each network element can have only one instance of each measurement running. In other

words, the measurement is either active or not. Each measurement has a reporting period,

therefore at set intervals, each counter will return with a value for each object.

The output interval determines for how long counters are collected into a measurement.

Measurements can be collected at regular intervals: 15 - 30 - 60 minutes, 2 - 3 - 4 - 6 - 12 -

24 hours.

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Main Concepts for Performance Management

Traffic Measurements and Counters

The measurements (collection of counters) are collected by the NE and sent

to the OSS at regular intervals.

NetAct

13:00 14:00 16:00 15:00 Example: WBTS RNC Counter Counter Counter Counter Counter Counter Counter WBTS Cell resource measurement Counter Counter Counter Counter Counter Counter Counter RNC Load Measurement Fig. 12

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1.7.2 Logical Counters and KPIs

A Logical Counter is a formula which combines, with arithmetical operations, data collected

from measurement counters. Logical Counters that describe the most important aspects of

the network operations are referred to as Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

A KPI can also include counters from different measurements. The measurements/counters

must, however, all be of the same object level for you to be able to include them in one KPI.

The operators decide individually what the KPIs are when they define the contents of the

reports

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Performance Management Principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Main Concepts for Performance Management

Logical Counters and KPIs

KPI1 = C5+C2 × (C1-C4)

Measurement

(stored in a measurement file)

Counter C1

Counter C2

Counter C3

Counter C4

Counter C5

KPI1 time KPI1 _{Top 15}

Logical counter

• Formula made of counters

KPI

• Indicator that provides

information about the

network's performance

• Calculated from

counters (might even

be equal to a single

counter)

• Used for reports

Top 15

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1.7.3 Key Performance Indicators and Reports

Network performance can be evaluated based on key performance indicators (KPI). The

users finally decide what key performance indicators are used when they define the contents

of the reports.

Key performance indicators use the counters received from one or various measurements.

To create formulas, all the measurements used in the formula must be activated, and in

addition, the measurements have to have the same output intervals. In case the

measurements have different intervals, the measurements can be examined only according

to the longer intervals.

For example: Data is received from two NEs. The interval for one NE is set to be 15 minutes

and the interval for the other NE is one hour. The KPI values can then be examined only with

the minimum time period of one hour.

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Performance Management Principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Main Concepts for Performance Management

KPIs and Reports

Report sets; pre-defined or self-made

Network Events Network Elements DB Operator Organization Performance Measurements Measurement files

Measurement Files Collection (Data Collection) Top Management Raw Counters (Data Extraction) RNC Node-B HLR MSC SGSN GGSN

Flexi ISN _{measurements started per NE}One or more performance

KPIs calculation

Data Insertion

Create, visualise and distribute reports Reporting tools

NetAct

Network Optimization Network Monitoring Technical Management - Marketing

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1.7.4 Types of Reports

NSN recommends the following analysis process while producing three different kind of

reports:

Profile (trend) reports show the pattern of studied KPIs for a longer period of time. In profile

reports, the focus should not be in exact numbers but in the shape of the trend line. For the

operators it is very essential that the performance of the network can be followed during a

longer time period and whether or not network performance has enhanced during this period.

Reporting Suite show detailed information of the KPI.

Top-N reports illustrate those N objects among all the studied ones that have the highest or

smallest value with respect to the sorting measurement counter. Running Top-N reports

illustrate the most troublesome managed objects that should be studied in more details or the

ones having the biggest amount of traffic in Erlangs.

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Performance Management Main Concepts

Report Types

Profile (trend)

reports

Details / Fault

finding reports

Top N

Reports

Fig. 15

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1.8 Post - Processing of Measurement Data

The post processing on Measurement data is executed in the OSS level. The Reporter

processes in NetAct post-processing to enhance the performance of the Reporter processes.

NetAct supports aggregation:

to speed up data processing

to allow flexible report generation from the measurement data

to avoid database overload by storing raw data for only a short time (configurable)

Measurement data can be aggregated along a dimension that this specific measurement

supports. Reporter stores the data that is aggregated per counter in summary tables.

Four types of aggregation are available in NetAct: the aggregation can take the lowest value

(MIN), the highest value (MAX), the sum (SUM), or the average (AVE) of the counter values

at the aggregation level. For information on the aggregation for the counters, use Adaptation

Information Browser (AIB) application (more details in chapter two of this course)

The following examples show typical aggregation dimensions with their aggregation levels:

time: hour, day, week, busy hour, and weekly busy hour

object: cell, BSC, and network

drop reason: LAPD failure, network failure, and all

One special case for aggregation is the calculation of busy hour. This aggregation method is

applied to certain measurements during which the busiest hour of a day or week is taken into

account. The weekly busy hour is calculated as the busiest hour of the week.

Daily aggregation starts at midnight and weekly aggregation starts on Monday morning. The

measurement types are aggregated separately.

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Performance Management Principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Post – Processing of Measurement Data

Aggregations

NetAct supports aggregation

• to speed up data processing

• to allow flexible report generation from the

measurement data

• to avoid database overload by storing raw

data for only a short time (configurable)

Some typical aggregation dimensions with their

aggregation levels are:

• time

: hour, day, week, busy hour, and weekly

busy hour

• object:

cell, BSC, and network

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1.8.1 Aggregation Examples

NetAct receives raw data from NE

Let's assume that the NE sends two measurement types:

"Blue" with 5 counters (hourly)

"Yellow" with 10 counters (daily)

After each measurement period, the measurement values are sent to NetAct: "Blue" with a

measurement period of one hour, "Yellow" with a measurement period of one day. These

counters are the raw data.

Post – Processing of Measurement Data

Aggregation Example: (1) Raw Data from NE

Send Data

 “Blue” measurement has a measurement period of 1 hour

 “Yellow” measurement has a measurement period of 1 day

These counter values are the raw data

25 13 5 33 1 44 45 3 0 0 12 87 4 23 2 22 11 3 35 0 21 12 7 22 0 22 12 2 34 2 22 12 2 34 2 22 12 2 34 2 Midnight! Daily measuremen ts are sent

NE

Fig. 17

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Daily Aggregations (time)

NetAct aggregates each measurement type separately: the hourly measurement (Blue) is

aggregated into daily measurment accordingly with the aggregation rules for each of its

counters. The daily measurement (Yellow) is not processed for daily aggregation as its

measurement period is already daily.

Post – Processing of Measurement Data

Aggregation Example: (2) Daily Aggregations

Raw data

25 13 5 33 1 44 45 3 0 0 12 87 4 23 2 22 11 3 35 0 21 12 7 22 0 22 12 2 34 2

...

25 13 5 33 1 44 45 3 0 0 12 87 4 23 2 Aggregate

 Aggregate each measurement type separately.  Daily aggregation started after midnight.

 Each counter has an own aggregation rule: avg, sum, etc.

25 13 5 33 1

Fig. 18

Weekly and Busy Hour Aggregations (time)

NetAct aggregates each measurement type separately. In the weekly aggregation case, the

daily already aggregated measurement (Blue) is aggregated into a weekly measurement

accordingly with the aggregation rules for each of its counters. The daily measurement

(Yellow) is now aggregated into a weekly measurement accordingly with the aggregation

rules of its counters.

The busy hour is an aggregation method for certain measurements during which the busiest

hour of a day or week is taken into account. The weekly busy hour is calculated as the

busiest hour of the week.

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Post – Processing of Measurement Data

Aggregation Example: Weekly and Busy Hour Aggregations

22 12 2 34 2 25 13 5 33 1

44 45 3 0 0 12 87 4 23 2

 Aggregate each measurement type separately  Weekly aggregation started Monday morning  Each counter has again an own aggregation rule:

average, sum, etc.

Daily aggr.

25 13 5 33 1 44 45 3 0 0 12 87 4 23 2 21 12 7 22 0 Aggregate 44 45 3 0 0 12 87 4 23 2

Day BH

25 13 5 33 1 21 12 7 22 0

..

.

Aggregate Fig. 19

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NetAct PM Functionalities

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2.1 Performance Management with NetAct

Networks continuously produce an enormous amount of data on areas like traffic level,

network configuration, resource availability, resource access, or quality of service. These

data need to be consolidated and translated into meaningful reports in order to monitor

network resources, verify physical and logical configurations or identify problems as early as

possible.

With NetAct Reporter operators can consolidate their performance management work flows,

simplify user processes and automate tasks. NetAct Reporter is a comprehensive end-to-end

tool for network-wide reporting. It enables the collection of raw and aggregated data as well

as the compilation and visualization of reports on, for example, network and service

performance, usage, quality, and history. The collected data can be stored in separate

databases for either short-term reporting or long-term analyses. In addition, it is possible to

export the raw data to higher level systems via a file-based (XML formatted) interface

The Reporting functionality is responsible of collecting, post-processing, storing, viewing, and

analyzing information about the performance and quality of the network. It gives a

network-wide view of network and service performance. With Reporting you can analyze network

data, create reports based on that data, and distribute the information within the organization.

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NetAct PM Functionalities

Applications

Northbound Interfaces

Measurement Data Export

PM Data / Metadata Access

Visualization

Data post-processing, Aggregation

Raw data collection

Interfaces to Network Elements

Reporting Tools

DB

Traffic Measurements are Collected by NetAct

Centralized Administration of Measurements

• Activate and deactivate and have reports of traffic measurements in the NEs remotely from NetAct via GUI

PM data collection, storage and post-processing

(background functionalities)

• Aggregation & busy hour generation and storage

• Configurable storage periods per traffic measurement

Performance Manager:

• Reporting applications enable to define KPIs & reports, launch & schedule reports

Thresholder & Profiler :

• PM Data monitoring via the configuration of thresholds on counters or network KPIs.

Open northbound interfaces

allow the

integration to other systems

Network Elements

CORE

Radio: 2G/3G/ LTE APPS

3rd party Southbound

Interfaces