spots v10 drop 4, user manual - real time

E200301-01-514-V10.0I-02

SIEMENS S.A.

SPOTS V10 Drop 4

User Manual - Real Time

July/2003

SIEMENS S.A.OG IC R&D WON NM CP2

Estrada Nacional 107, 35704456-901 PerafitaPortugal

All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted inany form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying andrecording, for any purpose other than the purchaser’s personal use without thewritten permission of Siemens S.A.This document consists of a total of 92 pages.The information contained in this document is subject to change.

User Manual - Real Time (SPOTS V10 Drop 4) Siemens, S. A.

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Table of Contents

1 INTRODUCING SPOTS....................................................................................................................... 51.1 Overview ...................................................................................................................................... 51.2 Environment ................................................................................................................................. 7

1.2.1 Single Server Installation...................................................................................................... 71.2.2 Distributed Environment ....................................................................................................... 81.2.3 RT Distributed Server ......................................................................................................... 101.2.4 RT Distributed Agencies..................................................................................................... 10

1.3 User Documentation................................................................................................................... 102 INITIAL CONFIGURATION TASKS ................................................................................................... 11

2.1 Licensing .................................................................................................................................... 112.2 Data Collection and Processing ................................................................................................. 11

2.2.1 Processing of traffic data by Real-Time.............................................................................. 112.2.1.1 Agents Overview ............................................................................................................ 12

2.3 QoS Alarms ................................................................................................................................ 132.3.1 User-defined QoS Alarms overview.................................................................................... 13

2.4 Alarms Configuration.................................................................................................................. 143 SPOTS REAL-TIME ........................................................................................................................... 15

3.1 Overview .................................................................................................................................... 153.2 Description ................................................................................................................................. 153.3 SPOTS RT Threshold Administration......................................................................................... 16

3.3.1 Centralised Administration of Thresholds ........................................................................... 163.4 SPOTS RT Architecture ............................................................................................................. 17

3.4.1 SPOTS RT Monitoring Agents............................................................................................ 173.4.2 SPOTS RT Server module ................................................................................................. 173.4.3 Client Terminals ................................................................................................................. 17

3.5 SPOTS RT Agents Alarm Processing ........................................................................................ 183.6 SPOTS Real-Time User Interface .............................................................................................. 19

3.6.1 Starting in Windows environment ....................................................................................... 193.6.2 Starting in Solaris environment........................................................................................... 193.6.3 Login................................................................................................................................... 193.6.4 Main Window...................................................................................................................... 213.6.5 Threshold Lifecycle Tab ..................................................................................................... 22

3.6.5.1 Monitor Information......................................................................................................... 223.6.5.2 Threshold Values............................................................................................................ 263.6.5.3 Threshold Values for Virtual Counters............................................................................ 303.6.5.4 Threshold Actions........................................................................................................... 31

3.6.5.4.1 Print Threshold Values ............................................................................................. 313.6.5.4.2 Export Threshold Values .......................................................................................... 323.6.5.4.3 Import Threshold Values .......................................................................................... 373.6.5.4.4 Delete All Threshold Values ..................................................................................... 40

3.6.6 Agency Management Tab .................................................................................................. 403.6.7 Agent Type Management Tab ............................................................................................ 473.6.8 History Log Panel ............................................................................................................... 493.6.9 RT Log Viewer in Windows environment............................................................................ 503.6.10 RT Log Viewer in Solaris environment ............................................................................... 51

3.7 SPOTS LT User Interface – Utils............................................................................................... 523.7.1 Alarm Notification ............................................................................................................... 523.7.2 Alarm Browser.................................................................................................................... 53

3.7.2.1 Alarm Browser options ................................................................................................... 543.7.2.2 Alarms Filter ................................................................................................................... 543.7.2.3 PM Reports driven by Alarm........................................................................................... 56

3.7.2.3.1 TEVL Chart Report ................................................................................................... 573.7.2.3.2 RT Bar Chart Report................................................................................................. 58

3.7.3 RT Monitoring Panels ......................................................................................................... 603.7.4 Refresh Functionality.......................................................................................................... 62

Date interval 62Data Source 62

3.8 SPOTS SNMP Alarm Agent (SAA)............................................................................................. 653.8.1 Overview ............................................................................................................................ 65

Siemens S.A. User Manual - Real Time (SPOTS V10 Drop 4)

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3.8.2 Forwarding of SPOTS QoS alarms..................................................................................... 663.8.3 Filtering of alarms............................................................................................................... 67

3.8.3.1 Global filtering................................................................................................................. 673.8.3.2 Additional filtering ........................................................................................................... 68

3.8.4 Resynchronisation of pending performance alarms ........................................................... 683.8.5 Manual alarm deletion ........................................................................................................ 693.8.6 SAA Administration Interface.............................................................................................. 69

3.8.6.1 Configure alarm trap destinations and SNMP protocol version ...................................... 703.8.6.2 Count all pending alarms................................................................................................ 713.8.6.3 Visualise all pending alarms ........................................................................................... 713.8.6.4 Visualise pending alarms with class …........................................................................... 713.8.6.5 Visualise pending alarms with instance … ..................................................................... 713.8.6.6 Visualise pending alarms with triggered threshold …..................................................... 713.8.6.7 Visualise pending alarms with event time … .................................................................. 723.8.6.8 Clear all pending alarms................................................................................................. 723.8.6.9 Clear pending alarms with class … ................................................................................ 723.8.6.10 Clear pending alarms with instance … ....................................................................... 723.8.6.11 Clear pending alarms with triggered threshold …....................................................... 723.8.6.12 Clear pending alarms with event time ….................................................................... 723.8.6.13 SAA Processes Administration................................................................................... 733.8.6.14 SAA Filtering Administration....................................................................................... 74

4 REFERENCE FOR SPOTS REAL-TIME COMMANDS ..................................................................... 804.1 SPOTS Real-Time Server Commands....................................................................................... 80

4.1.1 Stopping SPOTS RT .......................................................................................................... 804.1.2 Starting SPOTS RT ............................................................................................................ 80

5 ANNEXES .......................................................................................................................................... 815.1 Log Files..................................................................................................................................... 81

5.1.1 RT Agent Log Files............................................................................................................. 815.1.2 RT Server Log Files............................................................................................................ 81

5.2 SNMP Alarm Agent MIB Definition ............................................................................................. 836 REFERENCES................................................................................................................................... 897 GLOSSARY AND ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................. 90


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1 Introducing SPOTS

1.1 Overview

Motivation

Due to the immense growth and harsh competition that characterizes today'stelecommunication business, the operators need to take full advantage of their installedequipment.

Only effective management of the network performance can achieve the balance betweenoptimised usage of the network resources and a good quality of service.

The Network Nodes have the ability to generate extensive data for performance analysis.As these data can easily add up to several gigabytes, a powerful analysis tool is required tocollect, process and analyse the huge volume of information.

The SPOTS tool allows the operator to easily implement the required performance analysistasks and generate all the necessary information for taking the right decisions.

Scope

The SPOTS V10 Drop 4 application software includes a mandatory Long-Term part and anoptional, additional Real-Time part.

The SPOTS V10 Drop 4 Long Term provides performance management analysiscapabilities, allowing to produce pre-defined and user-defined reports with PerformanceManagement indicators based on data periodically collected from the network.

The SPOTS V10 Drop 4 Real Time part provides near real-time updates of the networkPerformance Management information, allowing to define threshold values for PerformanceManagement indicators that result in alarms when they are violated. The optional module"SNMP Alarm Agent" allows these alarms to be forwarded via SNMP to an externalapplication.

This document describes the SPOTS V10 Drop 4 Real-Time application part. Thedescription of the SPOTS V10 Drop 4 mandatory application part, that is, the Long-Termpart, is provided in [1].

Architecture

The SPOTS system was design based on a three-tier scalable architecture, comprising thefollowing functional components:

SPOTS PMCClient component, implementing the application graphical user interface.

SPOTS PMSApplication server, implementing all the application business logic.Database server, implementing the data repository.

SPOTS RTSReal-Time Application server, implementing the RT application business logic.Real-Time Database server module, implementing the RT data repository.

SPOTS RTAReal-Time Application agents, implementing the first level of traffic data processing.


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SPOTS RTCReal-Time Client component, implementing the Real-Time application graphical user

interface.

SPOTS SAASNMP Alarm Agent, implementing the forwarding of alarms to external FM OS

applications.

All SPOTS installable components are distributed via the SPOTS CD-ROM distributionmedia.

Real-Time Performance Monitoring

SPOTS-RT supports in-depth investigations of the network status through graphical reportsof current and historical traffic attributes.

SPOTS-RT features:

� Traffic data analysis using multiple thresholds, for all NE types and versions supportedby the SPOTS Long-Term traffic data collection and processing (consult [1], Table 1"Supported Network Nodes and Network Management Systems").

� Comprehensive and flexible reporting features to facilitate quick and easy investigationsof network traffic problems

� Correlation with historical traffic values such as daily, weekly, monthly statistics

� Distributed platform

� Threshold definition for user-defined metrics (Virtual Counters)

� ‘Mass’ threshold administration

� Forwarding of alarms to external FM OS applications, as SNMP traps, including:

� Flexible user-defined filtering criteria for selecting the alarms to be forwarded

� Resynchronisation of the pending performance alarms status

� Manual deletion of pending performance alarms

Software FunctionsThe current version supports the following functions:

• State of the art Java2 graphical user interface

• High-performance Oracle 8i database for storage of PM data.

• Easy visualisation of performance data on table and chart formats

• Useful SIEMENS Real-Time pre-defined reports

• User access control

• Complex entities (Virtual Counters, Set of Counters, Set of Objects)

• Management Domains

• Real-Time Monitoring Panels for UTRAN (Cell and the RNC Processor Load), CS(MSC), PS (BIAS Load), and GERAN (Cell, BSC Processor Load, BSC PCU Load,BTSM Processor Load and TRx Availability).

• Auto-refreshed on-line reports


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1.2 EnvironmentSPOTS has been designed for high scalability:

• all services are multi-threaded thus providing an optimum scalability regarding thenumber of system processors;

• the data storage can be distributed across several systems for better performanceregarding the data access;

• the application services can be distributed across several systems for betterperformance regarding the data processing.

This provides a great breakthrough in ability for SPOTS to handle all network sizes.

Both the SPOTS Long-Term and Real-Time parts comprise several functional components,grouped into installable SW packages according to a Client/Server approach.

The SPOTS Long-Term part comprises the SPOTS Performance Management Server(PMS) and SPOTS Performance Management Client (PMC) functional components - referto [1], Section "Overview".

The SPOTS Real Time (RT) application for Performance Alarm Monitoring comprises thefollowing functional components:

• SPOTS Real Time Server (RTS): responsible for all Real-Time-specific applicationprocessing and related storage (with exception of alarms, which are stored on thePMS). Available on Solaris�. Comprises the following packages:

- SPOTS Real Time Server (RTS)

- SPOTS Real Time Agency (RTA) (also available on Windows� 2000)

- SPOTS SNMP Alarm Agent (SAA) (optional package)

• SPOTS Real Time Client (RTC): graphical user interface for Real-Time applicationadministration. Available on Solaris� and on Windows� NT/2000. Comprises a single"RTC" package.

Currently two SPOTS installation types are available, the Single Server and MultipleServer installations.

In a single server installation, all SPOTS PMS and RTS components are installed on asingle Solaris� host machine, whereas in a multiple server installation, they are deployedacross multiple hosts.

Regardless of the chosen installation type, the SPOTS PMC, RTC and RTA can beinstalled on any Solaris� or Windows� workstation across the network, from where theyaccess the server host(s).

1.2.1 Single Server Installation In a single server installation, all SPOTS PMS and RTS components are installed in thesame target system.

Refer to [4] and [5] for information on the installation procedure for Long-Term and Real-Time respectively.

The picture below shows a SPOTS single server installation on a Switch Commanderenvironment (this picture is provided only as an example - other NMSs are not considered):


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Ethernet

PMS + RTS + RTA

PMC + RTC PMC + RTC

PDCCS

GMC – Global Management Center

NE

PMS – SPOTS Performance Management Server PMC – SPOTS Performance Management Client

CS – SC Communications Server PDC – SC Performance Data Collector RTS – S POTS Real-Time Server RTC – SPOTS Real-Time Client RTA – SPOTS Real-Time Agents

After installing the SPOTS software and before executing the available performancereports, the user must perform several configuration tasks (see Chapter 2 InitialConfiguration Tasks).

1.2.2 Distributed Environment For big networks, which have a significant number of nodes to manage, the amount ofgenerated traffic data to store and process is enormous; thus, the use of a single serverinstallation may pose performance and capacity limitations.

These problems can be overcome through the use of a multiple server installation, wherePMS and RTS packages are deployed across multiple Solaris� host machines.


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The picture below shows a SPOTS distributed installation with 3 sites, on a SwitchCommander environment (this picture is provided only as an example - other NMSs are notconsidered):

Ethernet

PMC + RTC PMC + RTC

CS

RMC2 – Regional Management Center 2

(NE)

Ethernet

PMC + RTC PMC + RTC

CS

RMC1 – Regional Management Center 1

(NE)

Ethernet

PMS + RTS + RTA

PMC + RTC PMC + RTC

PDC CS

NMC – National Management Center

NE

PMS – SPOTS Performance Management ServerPMC – SPOTS Performance Management Client

CS – SC Communications Server PDC – SC Performance Data Collector RTS – SPOTS Real-Time Server RTC – SPOTS Real-Time Client RTA – SPOTS Real-Time Agents

PDC

PDC

PMS + RTS + RTA

PMS + RTS + RTA

The existing possibilities for distributing RTS packages depend on the multiple serverdistribution chosen for the Long-Term (PMS) packages, namely, the distribution of theSAS, SNS and SDS packages.

Refer to [1], Section "Distributed Environment" for aspects regarding the PMS multipleserver installation. The current document deals only with distribution of RTS packages.

The rules for distribution of RTS packages are put forward in the next section.


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1.2.3 RT Distributed Server The SPOTS RT system installation in a distributed environment must follow some simplerules:

• For each SAS installation, there must be a RTS installed on the same machine. TheSAS/RTS machine carries all Real-Time processing load (threshold analysis, alarmtriggering etc.) associated with the traffic data loaded by its SAS (i.e. by loadercommand executions performed on the machine).

• For each RTS/SAS pair, the RTS will use a single SDS to store the RT-specificconfiguration data. If more than one SDS is being accessed by the SAS, the RTS willuse only one of them. The SDS can be located on another machine.

• There must exist a global SNS reachable by all RTC. The RTC will use this SNS toestablish connection to the selected SAS/RTS pair.

• On each RTS/SAS machine, the RTA package must also be installed. The user mustthen use the RTC to register the RT Agencies and their RT Agents responsible forhandling the data for this SAS. RT Agents must be configured to send alarms to thecorrect primary domain.

After the RTS has been correctly installed the RTA will send the alarms to thecorrespondent SAS.

Users will be able to login with a RTC to any RTS where they have permissions. Thesepermissions will be set in the pair SAS/RTS, so if a user has rights to login to a SAS he willalso be capable of logging in its counterpart RTS.

Thresholds will be configured for each RTS/SAS. This means that each RT Agent will onlygenerate alarms for thresholds defined in the RTS where it was registered.

1.2.4 RT Distributed AgenciesThe SPOTS RT Agencies may be installed on the same machine as the SPOTS RT Serveror/and on a dedicated Windows 2000 machine to allow the SPOTS load distribution.

The SPOTS RT Agency is the platform where several RT Agents can run.

The SPOTS user/administrator can register RT Agencies and RT Agents via the SPOTSRT Client on any machine where the SPOTS RTA service/daemon was installed.

It is advisable to have all RT Agents running on the same machine, although it is possibleto have some data being processed in RT Agents running in the server machine (inSolaris) and other data types being processed in other RT Agents in a Windows dedicatedmachine.

The details on these configurations (RTA in Solaris and Windows) are described in [5].

1.3 User DocumentationThe product documents are supplied with the application on the CD-ROM distributionmedia.

The file readme.spots is provided, with notes about the distribution media contents,including the list and location of the supplied documents.

Additionally, the Customer Release Notes (containing important information aboutconfiguration, installation and known problems) are provided on paper.


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2 Initial Configuration Tasks

2.1 LicensingAccess to the following SPOTS Real-Time functionality is controlled by licensing:

• Global real-time functionality;

• SPOTS SNMP Alarm Agent.

Therefore, specific license strings must be provided for each of these items.

Throughout this Manual, licensing support enabling the SPOTS Real-Time full functionality willbe assumed.

Before using SPOTS Real-Time, make sure that the necessary license strings have beenordered and are installed - refer to [4], Section "Configuring SPOTS licenses", for informationon the required procedure.

2.2 Data Collection and ProcessingThe SPOTS Real-Time reuses the Data Collection and Processing mechanisms provided by theSPOTS Long-Term part. Upon execution of the SAS loader command (see [1], Section "PMSCommands for SAS"), the data are automatically forwarded to the Real-Time applications (inaddition to being loaded into SPOTS Long-Term Database).

This section will not cover in detail the configuration of Data Collection and Loading, since thisbelongs to the Long-Term part - for details see [1], Section "Data Collection and Loading".Only Real-Time specific issues which affect the configuration of Data Collection and Loading willbe covered here - see following section.

2.2.1 Processing of traffic data by Real-TimeThe following restrictions must be taken into account when configuring the Data Collection andProcessing mechanisms provided by the SPOTS Long-Term part (refer to [1], Section "DataCollection and Loading").These restrictions must be observed in order to allow processing of traffic data by the SPOTSReal-Time part.

Data Granularity restrictions:The traffic data "Granularity Period" (GP) must match the GP of the Real-Time agenttype in charge of processing that data. Only traffic data with the correct GP durationshall be processed by Real-Time.This must be taken into account, in particular, for UTRAN and GERAN NetworkElements, which produce traffic data with a configurable GP. If Real-Time dataprocessing is desired, the Network Elements configuration must take into accountthe appropriate Real-Time agent type's GP.For information on the supported agent types and their GP's see Section 2.2.1.1 below.

Data Upload periodicity restrictions:For data handled by a single agent type (e.g. Core "Q3 scanner" data), the configuredupload periodicity from the NMS (Network Management System) to SPOTS must beuniform across all Network Nodes and measurements handled by the agent type.For example, if part of the Core-Q3 data are uploaded from PDC to SPOTS at 15-minute intervals and the remainder at 30-minute intervals, errors may occur in the Real-Time processing (even if all the data were generated with a common 15-minute GP).This implies that Transmission File generation frequency on the PDC (see [6], [7])must be uniform - preferably with a single GP per transmission file for all kinds of data.


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For specific Real-Time configuration issues please refer to [5], Sections "ConfigurationIssues".

2.2.1.1 Agents Overview

There are multiple RT Agents to cover the supported traffic data file types, according to thefollowing table.For more information on the supported file types see [1], Table 5 "File types retrieved byCollector".

Data type Files GP (min) Files dir. NEs Agent typesCS REC (*.trf) 15 /cyclic SR80, SR90,

CS10, CS20,CS21

CS

REC 15 /sctc SR80, SR90,CS10, CS20,CS21

ST

REC (*.trf) 15 /hlri HI11 HISSNC Q3 (*.spf) 15 CS10, CS20,

CS21, GR11,GR20, GR31,PO10, PO20,PO21, V13,V15

PS Q3 (*.spf) 15

/q3dc

GR11, GR20,GR31, PO10,PO20, PO21

Q3

PS SNMP / FTP(*.spr)

15 /spr GR20, GR31,PO10, PO20,PO21

SNMP

UTRAN ASN.1 (*.upf) 60 /upf UMR2X,UMR3.0NB1PNB2P

UTRAN

*.exp 60 /exp BR5.0BR5.5

BR_OMCBGERAN

*.ASCII 60 /ascii BR6.0, BR7.0 BR_RCCiscoGGSN *.spf 15 /ggsn PO21C GGSNMSP *.spf 15 /msp MSP30 MSP

Table 1 - RT Agent types, file types and supported NE versions

As can be seen above, the core NE versions (except HI11) are "shared" between severalagents (Q3, CS, SNMP and ST). For each measurement, depending on the source of data, oneand only one agent applies.

All the performance data is collected from its several sources by the SPOTS Long-Termmechanisms described in [1], Section "Data Collection and Loading". The data may comefrom any of the Network Management Systems (Element Managers) supported by SPOTSLong-Term in the current SPOTS version.

The default installation procedure installs agents prepared for 15 minutes granularity (core) and60 minutes granularity (radio). There is a procedure described in the RT Installation Guide [5],Section 4.4.4 (Modifying the RT Agents default granularity) in order to allow the user, if desired,to operate an agent type at a different granularity (e.g. change the UTRAN agent type to 15minutes granularity).However, one agent type shall always operate at one single fixed granularity (the usercannot analyse thresholds at one granularity for some measurements and another granularityfor other measurements, within the same agent type).


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2.3 QoS Alarms

2.3.1 User-defined QoS Alarms overviewThe SPOTS Real-Time add-on application provides support to user-defined QoS Alarms basedon the traffic data produced by the managed network nodes.

These alarms correspond to threshold violation alarms generated by the SPOTS Real-TimeAlarm Monitor Agents.

The SPOTS RT Agents receive as input for the QoS alarm monitoring the same traffic data fileswhich are processed by the SAS loader command (see [1], Section "PMS Commands for SAS")in order to load data into the SPOTS Long-Term Database.

This alarm generation is based on the comparison of the received traffic data against theSPOTS RT user-defined threshold levels.

Alarms generation is performed in near-real-time, meaning that it can only occur when theloader processes the relevant traffic files i.e. after the traffic data have already been collectedonto the SPOTS file system from the respective NMS.

The timestamp of the issued alarms is always the time of the end of the granularity period of thedata, just like the timestamp of the corresponding traffic data records.

Once the comparison results no longer in a threshold violation, then an alarm clear notificationis generated.

SPOTS PMS is able to receive these QoS alarms and send them through a specific SPOTSEvent Gateway to the SPOTS PMC Alarm Browser, where they can be visualized. Alarms arealso stored on a dedicated log in the PMS Database.


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2.4 Alarms Configuration

After installing the SPOTS RT add-on a few tasks need to be completed before starting to usethe RT system.The first two tasks are to be performed in the SPOTS LT system and might already have beenperformed when this RT system was installed:

Create SPOTS DB DomainsUsing the PMC, the user must create the SPOTS Domains to which the traffic data and alarmscoming from the RT Agents should be sent.See SPOTS Long-Term User Manual for more information about SPOTS Domains.

Create SPOTS UsersUsing the PMC, the user must create the SPOTS Users that will use the RTC, with respectiveprivileges.After performing these two tasks on the SPOTS LT Client the user still needs to configure theSPOTS RT system:

Create SPOTS RT AgenciesUsing the RTC, the user must create and register the SPOTS RT Agencies at the hosts wherethe RT Agents will collect the performance data, and start them up.

Create SPOTS RT AgentsUsing the RTC, the user must create the SPOTS RT Agents that will collect the data and assignthem the correct SPOTS Domain.

Create ThresholdsTo receive user-defined Q0S Alarm events the user also needs to create Thresholds, using theRTC.

Configure SPOTS Event GatewayPlease refer to the RT Installation Manual[5].Note that after altering the egw.cfg file it is necessary to stop and start the SAS and the RTS.This can be done following the steps described in the relevant sections of the LT and RTInstallation Guides [4] and [5].


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3 SPOTS Real-Time

3.1 Overview

The SPOTS Real-Time component is an optional add-on to the SPOTS Long-Term functionality,providing near real-time updates of the network performance management information. Thismodule also provides the possibility of defining threshold values for PM indicators that result inalarms when they are violated.

3.2 DescriptionAll performance data produced by the managed network nodes is collected via the supportedNMS interfaces by the Collector program.

Once this data becomes available on the SPOTS platform it is loaded into Database using theloader command. This command also forwards the traffic data onto the SPOTS RTcomponents.

SPOTS RT monitors the violation of SPOTS’ user-configured Threshold Values for selectedcounters and forwards these violations in the form of alarms to the SPOTS PMS EventGateway. These alarms can be seen using the Alarm Browser window from the SPOTS LTClient.

The SPOTS RT add-on offers the user the possibility to:

• Administer the PM monitoring threshold values and filters and associate them with networkobject classes and PM indicators.

• Administer the SPOTS RT platform.

SPOTS LTServer

SPOTS RTClient

SPOTS RTAgents

SPOTS RTServer

SPOTS LTClient

The SPOTS RT Client (SPOTS RTC) allows the operator to interact with the SPOTS RT Server(SPOTS RTS) add-on component in order to administrate the threshold and filter values, as wellas to manage the several SPOTS RT Agents and Agencies (SPOTS RTA).

This component also interacts with the SPOTS PMS Database Server in order to obtain theSPOTS measurements’ metadata and object model.

SPOTS RTC interacts with the SPOTS RT Agents Platform Manager to continuously getupdated log messages about the behaviour of the SPOTS RT Agents Platform and about thebehaviour of the SPOTS RT overall application logic.

SPOTS RT server runs independently of SPOTS RTC. It may not be running or even installedfor SPOTS RT server to run.


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3.3 SPOTS RT Threshold Administration

The SPOTS RT components for Performance Alarm Monitoring provide the mechanisms toautomatically detect quality of service problems and alert the operator about performancedegradations of the network. It reduces significantly the reaction times to fix performanceproblems. Spots Alarming complies with Rec. ITU-T X.733 and X.739.

Performance Management Alarms are based on the Monitored Metric concept: thePerformance Management indicator (Raw or Calculated Counter) and the correspondingnetwork Object(s).

Threshold Values with different severity are assigned to Monitored Metrics; whenever theobserved value of the Monitored Metric crosses one of its Threshold Values, an Alarm isgenerated.

Daily time intervals (Monitored Periods) are associated with each Threshold Value, definingthe period of the day when the alarm mechanism is active.

SPOTS RT provides support for the administration of Threshold and Filter values. Eachthreshold is associated to a measurement counter and contains at least the following attributes:

• Threshold level;

• Severity of the Threshold;

• Threshold cross direction;

• Threshold clear level;

• Associated Object Class;

• Associated measurement Counter;

There may be more than one Threshold associated to one counter at a time, each with adifferent severity.

It is possible to associate filters to object instances in order to limit the range of monitoredobject. For this the concept of a “Black List” of monitored objects is implemented.

All the Thresholds defined in SPOTS RT component are associated to counters known inSPOTS LT Metadata. These can be raw counters or calculated counters. These last countersare complex counters built from arithmetic formulas based on the raw counters of one specificSPOTS Measurement. These formulas are stored in SPOTS Metadata and their values arecalculated when the performance management data is loaded in SPOTS database. The valuesof these complex counters are also stored in the SPOTS database.

In SPOTS RT there is also support for the definition of one reference counter per each countermonitored. This reference counter can be associated a minimum value that must be crossed toenable the alarm analysis of the monitored counter. For example, an alarm for one Trunk Groupis only triggered for “ASR < 80 %” if “Calls Carried > 1000”, or an alarm for one Destination isonly triggered for “MHT < 10 seconds” if “Calls Carried > 50”.

3.3.1 Centralised Administration of ThresholdsThe administration maintenance tasks will be very simple to handle. The user has facilities tomanage the threshold from the entire range of RT Agents from one single point.


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3.4 SPOTS RT ArchitectureThe architecture of SPOTS RT is very scalable. It is distributed, allowing a very effective use ofthe communication infrastructure, and at the same time providing the critical information in ashort period for further analysis. This architecture can grow with the network allowing theoperator to start with a very small configuration.The following components are available:• SPOTS RT Agents• SPOTS RT Server, responsible for the core processing• Client terminal working positions

3.4.1 SPOTS RT Monitoring AgentsAll configuration of filtering is done at the central server. This RT Server will automaticallydownload to the RT Agents any necessary update to the monitoring parameters.The administration of these machines can be done at the local console or via remote access.These RT Agents are responsible for the collection of real-time data.

3.4.2 SPOTS RT Server moduleThe SPOTS RT Server module is a software upgrade installed at the SPOTS Long-Term server.This package will enable the real-time functionality and remote monitoring in the same systemas the one used for long term.This makes it possible to make a real traffic analysis short or long term based using the sametooling.

3.4.3 Client TerminalsThese are the working positions used by the operators, corresponding to workstations wherePMC and RTC are installed.From these clients it is possible to run daily routine tasks as well as administrating the servers.These will depend on the privileges assigned to the client. As a security measure, theadministration of thresholds is restricted to one client only.


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3.5 SPOTS RT Agents Alarm Processing

The SPOTS RT Agents are software agents that are loaded into the SPOTS Real-TimeAgencies (RTA) on the RT Server, to perform the necessary alarm monitoring tasks.

One SPOTS PMS with the SPOTS RT add-on can collect data from several NMSs if the size ofthe networks requires.

For each PDC server supported, there must be one SPOTS RT Agency in place. These RTAsare the support platforms for the SPOTS RT Agents to perform its tasks.

These SPOTS RT Agencies and RT Agents are components that can be monitored andmanaged through the RT Client.

The SPOTS RT Agents are responsible for issuing an alarm when a threshold is crossed andfor sending an alarm clear notification when the threshold is crossed on the opposite direction.

Additionally they create a file containing all the issued user-defined QoS alarms. This alarm log.SPF file can be loaded into SPOTS PMS database to prevent loss in alarm on-linetransmission.

The following table resumes the actions taken by the SPOTS RT Alarm Monitor Agent based onthe alarm state on the last and current monitoring periods for each association of threshold andcounter.

Alarm state on the lastperiod

Alarm state on the currentperiod

Action

ON no actionON

OFF sendClear

ON sendAlarm

normalprocedure

OFFOFF no action

ON no action

OFFNO DATA (2)

no action

ON sendClear

OFFNO THRESHOLD (3)

no action

ON sendAlarm

exceptionalprocedure

NO DATA (1)OFF no action

Table 2: Alarm Processing

(1) When a counter starts being monitored for the first time (a new threshold is created) there isno alarm state for that association of threshold and counter on the last period.

(2) When performance data is no longer received for a monitored counter (imagine that aninterface card has been unplugged) the Alarm Monitor Agent’s alarm state for that association ofthreshold and counter shall remain until data is received again. The alarm condition may bemanually cleared outside the RT Agents system, in the SPOTS PMS Alarm Browser.

(3) If a counter is no longer on the set of the monitored counters (a threshold was deleted), then,if its alarm state was ON before then an alarm Clear shall be issued.


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3.6 SPOTS Real-Time User Interface

3.6.1 Starting in Windows environmentTo start the RT Client or the RT Log Viewer, select the correct icon from the start menu. The RTClient will provide the user with an interface to all RT administration tasks. Only one of theseclients can be opened at the same time, so a Log Viewer is also available for users who justwant to check Agencies and Agents events.

3.6.2 Starting in Solaris environmentTo start the RT Client perform the following commands:- go to the RTA installation directory. In case in the RTA installation the default path was

accepted this installation directory is /opt/spots/rt. Otherwise it is the installation pathselected by the user.

cd /opt/spots/rt

- execute the command

monitor

3.6.3 LoginImmediately after starting the RT Client, the user is presented with a Login Dialog asking theuser to enter his username and password. In the username field, the user should enter hiscomplete username, including the machine or NT domain (e.g. north\john). In the password fieldthe user should enter the password for the username entered before.

By pressing the “Cancel” button the user cancels the login and the RTC exits. After pressing the“Ok” button, the following scenarios might happen:

� The RTC could retrieve the list of SAS available for the corresponding user, thus presentinga window asking the user to select the desired SAS.


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� The RTC couldn’t get the list of SAS, either because it couldn’t contact the SNS (‘LogonFailed’) or the user didn’t have permission on any of the available SAS (‘No SAS found’).

There’s also the possibility that another user is already using the RTC and only one canadministrate the RT system at a time. If that’s the case the user cannot login and will bepresented with the following Dialog.

In the select SAS dialog the user can still cancel the login by pressing the “Cancel” button,returning to the initial Login dialog. He can also pick the desired SAS and press “Ok”. This canlead to two situations:

� The username/password pair was accepted, leading to the main RTC window� The username/password pair was not recognized originating a “Logon Failed” window.

If SPOTS or the RT system are not licensed the following window will appear:

Please follow those instructions to find out how to get a license for your RT system.


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3.6.4 Main Window

If the login procedure is successful, the user will be presented with the SPOTS RT Client mainwindow. This window will be composed of six distinct areas:

� Title bar - Consists of the application icon plus the name of the application or applicationtask on the left side and the standard minimize, maximize and close buttons on the rightside.

� Toolbar - The application pull down menus, containing all the available functions.

� Action Pane Selector - Provides a way to the user of selecting the desired Action Panel.

� Selection Tree – Provides a way to the user of selecting the object to modify (a CounterMonitor Information, an Agency or an Agent).

� Action Panel – In this panel the user will be able to modify the attributes of the objectselected in the Selection Tree.

� Log History Panel – Here, the user can see the last actions performed by the agents. Afterstartup the last logs are automatically loaded.


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At any time the user can choose to leave the application by Selecting the Exit action from theClient menu.

3.6.5 Threshold Lifecycle TabThe Threshold Lifecycle Tab allows the user to administrate the Threshold Values associatedto the monitored SPOTS Measurements’ Counters.

3.6.5.1 Monitor InformationFor the user to be able to create Threshold Values associated to one specific SPOTS Counterhe must start monitoring the Counter.To do this the user selects the SPOTS Object Class. This can be done using the SPOTS Real-Time Object Browser on the left side window. The icon represents the SPOTS ObjectClasses.

The user must then select the SPOTS Measurement and the Counter to be monitored. The icon represents the SPOTS Measurements of the Object Class parent, and the iconrepresents the Counters of its parent Measurement.


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The creation of the Monitor Information can be done using the right-side mouse button toselect the Monitor This Counter option over the chosen Counter.

This Monitor Information will be common to all the Threshold Values created for that monitoredSPOTS Counter.The icon represents the Monitored Counters in the SPOTS Object Browser.


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After a Counter is being monitored it is possible to Update Reference Counter or to DeleteMonitor Information. These options can be selected using the right-side mouse button.


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The Update Reference Counter window allows the user to define a Reference Counter.If the Use Reference Counter option is selected then the alarm analysis of the monitoredCounter for all the defined Threshold Values will be dependent on the violation of the ReferenceCounter’s Reference Value.If this option is selected the Reference Counter Information must be provided:

Reference Counter Name: Any Counter that belongs to the selected SPOTS Measurement. Except theown Counter being monitored.

Reference Value: Only when the observed Reference Counter crosses this value, theThreshold Values can be evaluated.

Cross Direction: The comparison of the crossing of the Reference Value can either be donewhen the observed value is increasing or decreasing.

The Update button saves the new Reference Counter Information in SPOTS Real-Timedatabase.The Cancel button discards all the modifications.

When the user selects the Delete Monitor Information option and confirms that he really wantsto delete the selected Monitored Information then this information will be deleted from theSPOTS real-time database.

Important note:By deleting a Monitor Information, all the Threshold Values created under it will also be deletedfrom the database.


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3.6.5.2 Threshold ValuesAn Alarm is generated when the observed value of the Counter’s Monitor Information crossesone Threshold Value.

For each Counter being monitored, up to four Thresholds can be defined – one for each AlarmSeverity (from “Warning” to “Critical). Each Threshold Value will be categorised according to thecrossing direction: “Up” (Alarm triggered when the Monitor Information value is increasing) or“Down” (Alarm triggered when the Monitor Information value is decreasing).

In order to avoid a meaningless sequence of Set/Clear Alarm when the Monitor Informationvalues are close to the Threshold Values, a value is defined (based on a percentage of theThreshold’s Value) for Alarm clearance.

After selecting a Counter being monitored, the right side window of the Threshold Lifecycle tabwill present the Reference Counter information as well as the Thresholds Information table.

The three buttons on the bottom of the Threshold Information window are used to administratethe Threshold Values.The Create button allows the user to create a new Threshold Value for that Counter beingmonitored by opening a Create Threshold Value window.The Update button allows the user to update a selected Threshold Value from that Counter’sThreshold list by opening an Update Threshold Value window.The Delete button allows the user to delete one Threshold Value from the SPOTS RT database.When a user selects the Create or Update button a window containing the properties of theThreshold Value appears.


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In this window it is possible to change the attributes of the Threshold being updated orcreated. When updating a Threshold it is not possible to change the Threshold’s name andseverity. The attributes are depicted in the following table:

Thresholds Value Attributes

Name: Identification of the Threshold Value.

Severity: Alarm severity: “Warning” (the default value), “Minor”, “Major’” or “Critical” (ordered by increasingseverity).

ActivationState:

The threshold alarm monitoring status. If “OFF” (the default value), the Threshold Value is notevaluated; therefore, no PM Alarm (for this Threshold Value) is generated.

Value: When the observed Counter crosses this value, an Alarm is generated (set).

ClearPercentage:

According to the “Crossing Direction”, a pending Alarm is cleared if the observed value is:• Less than <Threshold Value> - <Threshold Value> x <Clear Percentage> (“Up”)• Greater than <Threshold Value> + <Threshold Value> x <Clear Percentage> (“Down”)

Clear Value Clear Value is the value the threshold must pass to clear a Pending Alarm:• <Clear Value> = <Threshold Value> - <Threshold Value> x <Clear Percentage> (“Up”)• <Clear Value> = <Threshold Value> + <Threshold Value> x <Clear Percentage> (“Down”)

CrossDirection:

Depending on the evolution of the Threshold Value (increasing or decreasing), two different Alarmscan be produced when a certain value is crossed. Therefore, the crossing direction must bespecified when defining a Threshold:• Up: an Alarm is set if the Threshold is crossed when the observed value was increasing.• Down (default value): an Alarm is set if the Threshold is crossed when the observed value wasdecreasing.


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As one can see, the Clear Value, Clear Percentage, Cross Direction and Valueattributes are dependent on each other. Because of this, the user has the choice tochange the Threshold Values based on Clear Percentage or Clear Value. To performthis choice the user has to select the Radio Button next to the Attribute he wishes towork with. After performing this choice the attribute not selected becomes disabled andany changes in the other attributes cause this attribute to update accordingly.

The Threshold Information table presents some extra information about eachThreshold Value:

MonitoredPeriod:

Link to the Monitored Period window.Monitored Periods are used to specify, for each Threshold Value, the daily time intervalfor which the alarm mechanism is active (i.e., Threshold Values are observed and thecorresponding Alarms are set / cleared).

Object BlackList:

Link to the Object Black List window.It is possible to filter object instances in order to limit the range of monitored objects. Forthis the concept of a “Black List” of monitored objects is implemented by allowing the userto select the Object Instances to which he/she does not want to associate this ThresholdValue.

Default: Since one monitored Counter may have more than one Threshold Value defined, thisDefault option allows the user to select one of the Threshold Values to be the default one.From that moment on, when the user creates a new Threshold Value all its attributes willbe similar to the ones of the default Threshold.

In the Threshold Information Window the user can see some information regarding MonitoredPeriods and Object Black List.For each threshold value, the percentage of time of the day the threshold is to be active ispresented near the Monitored Period icon. The size of the Object Black List is also presentednear its icon.

The user can see more detailed information about each one of these parameters by clicking inthe desired icon. By choosing the Monitored Period icon a window showing which periods ofthe day are being monitored by the selected Threshold is presented:


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By choosing the Object Black List’s icon the user can browse the chosen list for the selectedthreshold value:

To change a given Threshold Value’s Monitored Period or Black List the user should use theUpdate button below the Threshold Value Information Table. After being presented with theUpdate window the user should select what information he/she desires to change by pressingone of the two buttons presented in the bottom of the window.By selecting the Change Monitored Period Window a new window, identical to the MonitoredPeriod Viewer, is presented. The main differences will be that this window has an Add Periodbutton, the Sliders in each Monitored Period are enabled. And each Monitored Period has aDelete button next to it:


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Using this window users can add new Monitored Periods, using the Add Period button, modifyexisting ones, using the sliders provided, and delete Monitored Periods by pressing theassociated Delete button.

If the user selects the Change Object Black List button, a window with two lists is presented.The left-sided list contains all the Monitorable Objects not in the Black List, while the right-sidedlist contains the Objects in the Black List. Users can change objects to and from the Black Listusing the arrow buttons provided. If for any reason the user is not satisfied with the changesperformed he/she can use the Cancel Button to undo any changes.

3.6.5.3 Threshold Values for Virtual CountersAs for Counters, alarms are generated when the observed value of a Virtual Counter (VC)Monitor Information crosses one Threshold Value.The Monitor Information concept and the management of thresholds for VCs is done like for theCounters as explained in sections 3.6.5.1 and 3.6.5.2.

In the left side tree in the Threshold Lifecycle tab the VCs for a specific OC appear under aMeasurement node called OCName_VC.


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3.6.5.4 Threshold Actions

3.6.5.4.1 Print Threshold ValuesTo print or view a complete list of all the defined Threshold Values the user can select the PrintThresholds option under the Thresholds menu.


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This action will bring up a new window containing a list of all the Thresholds. The user can thenuse the printer icon ( ) to print the list.

3.6.5.4.2 Export Threshold ValuesTo export all the defined Threshold Values the user can select the Export Thresholds optionunder the Thresholds menu.

The main purpose of this functionality is to give to the user an alternative way to create, modifyor delete thresholds. Instead of using the RTC user interface, a text editor or the Excelapplication in case of the Windows environment can be used. This could be very useful if forexample the operator wants to make considerable modifications.Additionally this functionality can be used to perform backups of the Threshold Configuration


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data present in SPOTS RT.

The typical use case of this feature consists in:1. Export the existing thresholds. In this operation a CSV file is created.

Please take note that in the CSV file there is a line for all the possible thresholds that canexist. The thresholds that are present in the SPOTS RT database, at the time of the export,are written in the CSV file with the Flag Exist set to “YES”. All the other possible thresholdsthat can be created in the SPOTS database are written in the CSV file with the Flag Existset to “NO”.

2. Modify the CSV file (adding new thresholds, etc) and save it.3. Import the CSV file in the RTC causing the new changes to occur in the SPOTS RT DB.

After selecting the Export Thresholds option the following window is displayed.

Select a path (the default one is the RTC installation directory) and the filename for the CSV filethat will contain the thresholds configuration information. Press Ok to Export. Press Cancel ifyou want to cancel the Export action.When the Export finishes the following message is displayed.

Opening the exported CSV file, for example, with the Excel application, the thresholdconfiguration data is displayed and can then be modified.


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The format of the CSV file used in the Import/Export of the threshold configuration data isdescribed in the following table.

ColumnNumber Column Name Description Default Value

1 Exist Status of the Threshold in the SPOTS RT Database.

Allowable Values:YES – This threshold is present in the SPOTS DatabaseNO – This threshold is not present in the SPOTS Database.

NO

2 Object Name of the Object Class.Must be a valid SPOTS Object Class.

Allowable Values:Alphanumeric Characters (0…1, a….z ,A…Z,-,_)Maximum character count = 255 characters.

Automaticallydefined by SPOTSwhen exportingCSV.

3 Measurement Name of the measurement. If Virtual Counter, place an ‘-‘character.Must be a valid Measurement for the Object Class specifiedin column 2.Only the Measurement name used in the GUI is relevant,the versions are not important for the RT database.

Allowable Values:Alphanumeric Characters (0…1, a….z, A…Z,-,_)Maximum character count = 255 characters.


4 Counter Name of the Counter. If Virtual Counter, place an ‘-‘character.Must be a valid counter for the Measurement specified in

Automaticallydefined by SPOTSwhen exporting


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column 3.


CSV.

5 VirtualCounter Name of the Virtual Counter. If it’s not a virtual counter,place the ‘-‘ character.Must be an existing virtual counter for the Object Classspecified in column 2.



6 ThresholdName

Threshold Name.

Allowable Values:Alphanumeric Characters (0…1,a….z, A…Z,-,_)Maximum character count = 255 characters.


7 Severity Severity Value.

Allowable Values: “WARNING”, “MINOR”, “MAJOR”,“CRITICAL”

“MINOR”

8 ActivationState

Activation State of the Threshold.

Allowable Values: “ON”, “OFF”

“OFF”

9 Value Threshold activation value.Allowable Values:Double (from –9999999,99 to 9999999,99).

–9999999,99

10 ClearPercentage

Threshold clear percentage value.

Allowable Values: 0 to 100.

0

11 CrossDirection

Threshold trigger cross direction.

Allowable Values: “UP”, “DOWN”

“DOWN”

12 MonitoringPeriod List

Threshold Monitoring Period List.

Format of the list:start=<start time>.end=<end time>| start=<starttime>.end=<end time>|…| start=<start time>.end=<endtime>

A Monitoring period entry is defined by two values, the startand end times. The times are filled in the <start time> and<end time> string sections. The format of the time is<hh>:<mm>.Each Monitoring period must have a start and an end time.The start time must be less than the end time. Both the startand end times are relevant only for the same day, i.e., notime overlaps between consecutive days are allowed.Consecutive monitoring periods can be added to the list byusing the character ‘|’ as list separator.If no Monitoring periods are defined, then the character “-“should be placed.

Allowable Values:The <hh> field is a two-digit integer with range from 00 to23.The <mm> field is a two-digit integer with range from 00 to59.

“-“


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13 Object BlackList

Threshold Object Black List.

Format of the list:/<Domain>@<MOI>|/<Domain>@<MOI>|…|/<Domain>@<MOI>

An Object that is part of the Black List is defined by the<Domain> of the object and by its <MOI> designation(Managed Object Instance>.Each Object that is part of the Black List must have aDomain and a MOI.Consecutive Black List Objects can be added to the list byusing the character ‘|’ as list separator.If no Objects are to be declared, place the “-“ character.

Allowable Values:Each <Domain> and <MOI> field can be composed ofAlphanumeric Characters (0…1, a….z, A…Z,-)Maximum character count = 255 characters.

“-“

14 ReferenceCounter

Reference Counter for the current threshold.If no Reference Counter is to be defined for this Threshold,then the character ‘-‘ should be present in this column.If the Threshold is related to a Counter, then only the nameof a Counter of the same Measurement can be specified.If the Threshold is related to a Virtual Counter, then theReference Counter String must be in the format<Measurement>:<Counter Name> where <Measurement> isthe designation of any Measurement from the currentThreshold Object Class, and <Counter Name> is adesignation of a Counter belonging to that Measurement.


“-“

15 RC CompareValue

Reference Counter Compare Value for the currentthreshold.If no Reference Counter is to be defined for this Threshold,then the value –9999999,99 should be present in thiscolumn.

Allowable Values: from –9999999,99 to 9999999,99.

–9999999,99

16 RC CrossDirection

Reference Counter Cross Direction.If no Reference Counter is to be defined for this Threshold,then the value “DOWN” should be present in this column.

Allowable Values: “UP”, “DOWN”

“DOWN”

Note: Default values are set by SPOTS when exporting thresholds to CSV in case theThreshold does not exist on the SPOTS RT Database.

Tips to modify the CSV file contents:- The export action uses the ';' as default separator (',' is already used in numbers). If when

opening the CSV file with Excel the different columns appear all in the same column go tothe Control Panel and change in the Regional Settings/Number the List Separator to ‘;’.

- Do not modify the first line in the file.- Exist flag values need to be inserted in capital letters.


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3.6.5.4.3 Import Threshold ValuesTo import Threshold Values from an external CSV file the user can select the Import Thresholdsoption under the Thresholds menu.

After selecting this option the following window is displayed.

Pressing the Browse button select the CSV filename file to import. Select options Overwriteand/or Simulate and/or Verbose using the check boxes and according to the following:

Option DescriptionwithOverwrite

- new Thresholds in CSV (Flag Exist set to “YES”) are created in the DB- deleted Thresholds in CSV (Flag Exist set to “NO”) are deleted in the DB- modified Thresholds in CSV are modified in the DB

withoutOverwrite

- new Thresholds in CSV (Flag Exist set to “YES”) are created in the DB- deleted Thresholds in CSV (Flag Exist set to “NO”) are NOT deleted in the DB- modified Thresholds in CSV are NOT modified in the DB


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Simulate Quicker way to see the impact of the CSV file import in the DB without changing it.This action proceeds with the CSV loading process without effectively updating theSPOTS DB

Verbose Prints all the CSV lines modified

Press the Import button to go on with the Import action. Press Cancel to abort the action.During the Import action an ‘Operation in Progress’ window is displayed showing the phase inwhich the action is.

In the end of the Import action the following window is showed. In this case the import wassuccessful, no errors occurred during the operation.

If there are errors in the CSV file the import action will discard the lines (thresholds) where thesyntax is not correct.Please also note that the lines in the CSV file are treated one by one and in the sequence inwhich they are in the file. This means that a subsequent line (threshold) in the file can replace aprevious threshold in case the ‘Overwrite’ option is selected.


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The following window illustrates a situation where there were errors during the Import:- A line was not parsed due to syntax errors (invalid Exist flag).- Two thresholds for the same measurement and counter pair were defined with the same

severity (CRITICAL) in the CSV file. The consequence is that only the last threshold wasadded to the SPOTS database.

The SUMMARY area:Lines read from CSV file: all the lines in the CSV fileParsed Thresholds: all the lines in the CSV file except the Header and all the discarded linesdue to syntax errorsCreated Thresholds: number of thresholds created in the databaseOverwritten Thresholds: number of thresholds overwritten in the databaseThresholds not updated: number of thresholds that exist in the database but were notoverwrittenThresholds Deleted: number of thresholds deleted in the database


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Regarding the descriptions that appear in the LOG area of the previous figures, some types oferrors can be considered:- Modification of not allowed fields (e.g. ‘Counter’)- Addition of objects to the ‘Object Black List’ using a wrong separator- Missing column values- Modification of the field ‘Reference Counter’ to use as Reference Counter Name the own

‘Meas:Counter’ name- Modification of the ‘Severity’ in a Counter to a new severity already existing- Addition of two thresholds in the same Counter but in these thresholds there are two

different ‘Reference Counter’ names- Usage of an invalid ‘Exist’ flag (e.g. ‘yes’ – without capital letters)

3.6.5.4.4 Delete All Threshold ValuesTo delete all the Threshold Values in the SPOTS database the user can select the Delete AllThresholds option under the Thresholds menu.

3.6.6 Agency Management Tab

The SPOTS RT Agents are software agents that are loaded into the SPOTS RT Agencies(RTA) to perform the necessary alarm monitoring tasks in an efficient, distributed and scalableway.

The SPOTS Real-Time system can collect data from several NEs. For each data typesupported, there is one Agent Type. We suggest running different agent types in differentSPOTS RT Agencies (but this is not a limitation, different types of agents can run in the sameagency). These RTAs are the support platforms for the SPOTS RT Agents to perform its tasks.

The relation between the number of agencies running and the number of agents running onthese agencies should be based in the required performance for the data processing. Aparticular restriction is that only one agent of the same type can run in the same agency. Pleasenote that for each agency running the memory size is limited. And all the agents running thereshare this memory size.

In the following we are assuming that one agency per data type is registered, meaning that onlyone agent is running in one agency, according to:

Agent types Agency nameCS CS_AgencyST ST_AgencyHI HI_AgencyQ3 Q3_AgencySNMP SNMP_AgencyUTRAN UTRAN_AgencyBR_OMCB BR5_AgencyBR_RC BR6_Agency


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GGSN C_GGSN_AgencyMSP MSP_Agency

The Agency Management Tab provides the means to administer the SPOTS RT Agencies andAgents.

In order to have the SPOTS RT functionality working properly, the user must first configure theseveral RT Agencies and RT Agents on the system.

Before going any further, the user must assure that the Agency to register was properly installedfollowing the SPOTS RTA Installation Guide.

To register an Agency in the SPOTS RT system the user must select the Register Agencyfunction from the Agency pull-down Menu.


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The user must then provide the required information to the Register Agency window.

Name: Identification of the Agency in the SPOTS RT database.

Host: SPOTS RT Agency host name or IP address.

The Register button saves the new Agency object in SPOTS RT database. If the host isunknown this action is discarded. When a new Agency is registered the system tries to start itautomatically.

The Cancel button discards all the modifications.

The left-side window of the Agency Management Tab presents the list of all the registeredAgencies under the Agencies Root icon.The icon represents each Agency registered on the database. The right-side window of theAgency Management Tab presents the detailed information about the Agency selected on theleft-side Agencies list.


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Beside the Agency’s Name and Host information, this window presents the Agency State andAgency Automatic Start.An Agency may be in one of three states, as seen from the server:

Agency State Description

ON An Agency is ON when the Agency process is running on the SPOTSRTA host and the server can monitor its behaviour.

OFF An Agency is OFF when the Agency process is not running on theSPOTS RTA host and the server can monitor its behaviour.

DOUBT An Agency is in DOUBT when the server cannot monitor its behaviour,because the Agency host is not accessible in the network.

The Agency Automatic Start field shows if the RT Server should automatically start theselected Agency. The RT Server will try to start agencies that the user has asked to start but, bysome reason, are currently stopped.

To manage a selected Agency registered in the system, the user may use several functionsprovided in the Agency pull-down Menu. All these functions, except the Register Agency one,are also available by using the right-side mouse button while selecting an Agency from the list.

Agency Management functions:

Register Agency Register a new Agency on the database.

UnregisterAgency

Unregister a selected Agency from the database. This means deleting allreferences of this Agency from the database.

Start Agency Start the selected Agency process on the Agency host. Besides starting theAgency, this function also stores in the database the information that thisAgency must be automatically started the next time the SPOTS RT Server isrestarted.This function is only available if the Agency is in the OFF state.

Stop Agency Stop the selected Agency process on the Agency host. Besides stopping theAgency, this function also stores in the database the information that thisAgency must not be automatically started the next time the SPOTS RT Serveris restarted.This function is only available if the Agency is in the ON state.

Start Agents ofthis Agency

Start all Agents registered on the selected Agency.This function is only available if the Agency is in the ON state.

Stop Agents ofthis Agency

Stop all Agents registered on the selected Agency.This function is only available if the Agency is in the ON state.


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Important NoteAll the previous functions need the particular SPOTS RT Agency host to be accessible in thenetwork and also need a specific SPOTS RTA daemon to be running on the Agency hostmachine. For more information about the Agency host configuration please refer to the SPOTSRTA section in [5].Also note that the agencies registered in the RTC to be properly used must be configured in aconfiguration file described in the ‘Configuring real_time.cfg files’ section in [5].

Agent ManagementThe last step in the SPOTS RT Agency configuration procedure is the registration and start ofthe actual SPOTS RT Agents.To register an Agent in the SPOTS RT system the user must select the Register Agentfunction from the Agent pull-down Menu.

The user must then provide the required information to the Register Agent window.

Name: Identification of the Agent in the SPOTS RT database.

Agent Type: Type of the Agent. For this SPOTS RT version the CS, ST, HI, Q3, SNMP, UTRAN,BR_OMCB, BR_RC GGSN and, MSP types are supported.

Agency: Identification of the Agency platform on which the Agent shall be registered.

PrimaryDomain:

The Primary Domain this Agent will monitor.

The Register button saves the new Agent object in SPOTS RT database.

The Cancel button discards all the modifications.

The left-side window of the Agency Management Tab presents the list of all the registeredAgents under their Agencies.


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The icon represents each Agent registered on the database.

The right-side window of the Agency Management Tab presents the detailed information aboutan Agent when it is selected on the left-side Agents list.

Beside the Agent’s Name, Type, Agency and Domain information, this window presents theAgent State and Agent Automatic Start.

An Agent may be in one of three states, as seen from the server:

Agent State Agent Icon Description

Running An Agent is Running when the Agent process is running onthe SPOTS RT Agency host and the server can monitor itsbehaviour.

Off An Agent is OFF when the Agent process is not running onthe SPOTS RT Agency host and the server can monitor itsbehaviour.

Doubt An Agent is in DOUBT when the server cannot monitor itsbehaviour, because the Agency host is not accessible in thenetwork.


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Users can quickly find out the state of all defined agents by looking to the agent icons. A greencircle over the agent icon means the agent is running, a yellow circle means the agent is indoubt and a red circle means the agent is stopped.

The Agent Automatic Start field shows if the RT Server should automatically start the selectedAgent. The RT Server will try to start agents that the user has asked to start but, by somereason, are currently stopped.

To manage a selected Agent registered in the system, the user may use several functionsprovided in the Agent pull-down Menu. All these functions, except the Register Agent one, arealso available by using the right-side mouse button while selecting an Agent from the list.

Agent Management functions

Register Agent: Register a new Agent on the database.

Unregister Agent: Unregister a selected Agent from the database. This means deleting all references ofthis Agent from the database.

Start Agent: Start the selected Agent process on its Agency. Besides starting the Agent, thisfunction also stores in the database the information that this Agent must beautomatically started the next time the SPOTS RT Server is restarted.This function is only available if the Agent is in the OFF state and its Agency is ON.


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Stop Agent: Stop the selected Agent process on its Agency. Besides stopping the Agent, thisfunction also stores in the database the information that this Agent must not beautomatically started the next time the SPOTS RT Server is restarted.This function is only available if the Agent is in the ON state.

Change PrimaryDomain:

Change the domain assigned to this Agent.This function is only available if the Agent is in the OFF state.

3.6.7 Agent Type Management Tab

The SPOTS Real-Time platform is prepared to support different types of Agents, performingdifferent tasks on different types of PM collected data.

The left-side window of the Agent Type Management Tab presents the list of all the supportedAgent Types.

The icon represents each Agent Type supported.

For this SPOTS RT version, CS, ST, HI, Q3, SNMP, UTRAN, BR_OMCB, BR_RC, GGSN andMSP are the Agent Types supported.

To manage a selected Agent Type, the user may use several functions provided in the AgentType pull-down Menu. All these functions are also available by using the right-side mousebutton while selecting an Agent Type from the list.


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Agent Type Management functions

Start Agents ofthis Type:

Start all Agents registered in the system of the selected Agent Type.Besides starting each Agent, this function also stores in the database the information thatthe Agent must be automatically started the next time the SPOTS RT Server is restarted.This function only affects the Agents that are in the OFF state and its Agency is ON.

Stop Agents ofthis Type:

Stop all Agents registered in the system of the selected Agent Type.Besides stopping each Agent, this function also stores in the database the information thatthe Agent must not be automatically started the next time the SPOTS RT Server isrestarted.This function only affects the Agents that are in the ON state.

Upgrade Agentsof this Type:

If there is the need for upgrading the functionality of the Agents of one type (CS, ST, HI,Q3, SNMP, UTRAN, BR_OMCB BR_RC, GGSN or MSP) this function allows theadministration user to perform this task in an easy way.When this function is used, the system will stop all Agents of the selected type and performthe upgrade.To start the upgraded Agents again, the user may use the “Start Agents of this Type”function.If the SPOTS RT server is restarted right after the upgrade, all the Agents that wererunning before the upgrade will be restarted automatically.For details about the Agents Upgrade procedure please see the SPOTS RT Server sectionin the RT Installation Guide.

The left-side window of the Agent Type Management Tab presents the list of all the registeredAgents of each Agent Type.

The right-side window of this Tab presents the detailed information about an Agent when it isselected on the left-side Agents list.


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3.6.8 History Log Panel

The lower part of the application window is reserved to the History Log Panel. In this panel theuser can see messages sent by agencies and agents.

Messages in the History Log Panel are always sorted by date, with the most recent messagesbeing on top. This provides the user a way of always having the most recent messages present.

The following data fields compose the Log:

• Log Type – Informs the user if an agency or an agent has generated this log message.

• An agency icon will represent a log message generated by an agency ( ).

• Log messages generated by Agent will be represented by the agent icon ( ).


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• Type – 4 types of messages can be generated:

• Positive Reactive ( ) – Messages indicating that an action triggered by the userwas successfully executed.

• Negative Reactive ( ) – Messages indicating that an action triggered by the userfailed.

• Positive Warning ( ) – Messages triggered by a warning event which weresuccessful.

• Negative Warning ( )– Messages triggered by a warning event which failed.

• Date – The date and time the message was generated.

• Agency – The agency that issued the message.

• Agent Type – The type of the agent that generated the message. Empty if the messagewas generated by an Agency.

• Description – A short description of the event being reported.

The user can choose to clear the log, to recall some older messages or to filter the logs of aspecific agency, using a popup menu that appears when clicking with the right button on theLog Panel.

3.6.9 RT Log Viewer in Windows environment

As only one can user can use the RT Client at the same time, the Log Viewer Panel can beused as a separate application, without any restrictions on the number of simultaneous users.This will enable a larger set of users to monitor the behaviour of the RT system.

The Log Viewer can be started just like the RT Client but the user must press the Spots RealTime Log Viewer option instead of the Real Time Client one.


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3.6.10 RT Log Viewer in Solaris environment

To start the RT Log Viewer perform the following commands:- go to the RTA installation directory. In case in the RTA installation the default path was

accepted this installation directory is /opt/spots/rt. Otherwise it is the installation pathselected by the user.

cd /opt/spots/rt

- execute the command

logmonitor


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3.7 SPOTS LT User Interface – Utils

3.7.1 Alarm Notification

SPOTS RT Performance Alarming automatically detects quality of service problems andalerts the operator about performance degradations of the network. It reduces significantlythe reaction times to fix performance problems.

If an alarm is received during a user's normal work, a flashing icon (and sound) on thestatus bar (bottom of the SPOTS PMC window) will alert the user to the incoming alarm.By moving the mousse above the alarm-flashing icon, the number of new incoming alarmsis showed.

If the user clicks on this icon, the Alarm Browser pops up with detailed information on thealarm so that the user can immediately start to search for the problem.

Each user can configure the SPOTS Alarm Notification according to his/her preferences,via the menu option "Spots -> Preferences...".

The user enables/disables several SPOTS features by checking/clearing the correspondingcheck boxes.

The following SPOTS reports features can be enabled/disabled:

Automatic start of the report wizard upon creation of a new report;

Automatic execution of a report upon exiting the report wizard.

The following SPOTS Alarm features can be enabled/disabled:

Automatic notification of user upon reception of an alarm. This notification is done byblinking the alarm icon;

Automatic notification of alarm reception by the emission of a sound.


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The SPOTS Alarm Notification can be also configured via the pop-up menu that appearswhen right clicking on the alarm icon. These features (flashing icon, sound notification) canbe enabled/disabled by checking/clearing the corresponding check boxes.

3.7.2 Alarm BrowserIt is possible to read all existing Alarms either by:

Using the Alarm button on the lower right corner of SPOTS client main window;Selecting "SPOTS -> Utils -> Alarm Browser" from the task tree.

The Alarm Browser window is displayed, containing all existing alarms:

The details of the selected alarm are displayed in the lower part of the Alarm Browserwindow.

The status of each alarm is cleared when the corresponding details are read.


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When an alarm is received for a non-existing object, it is automatically displayed but it isnot stored in the SPOTS database. These alarms are discarded every time a refreshoccurs, thus cleared from the browser.

Window Operations

Refresh the window, removing all alarms associated with non-existing objects.

Invokes the Alarms Filter window.

Resets the filter on the list of alarms.

Print a report of all existing alarms.

Print-preview of the report of all existing alarms.

Create a TEVL Chart Report with the selected alarm.

Create a RT Bar Chart Report with the selected alarm.

3.7.2.1 Alarm Browser options

At any time, the user can refresh the Alarm Browser contents, thus the Alarms table isupdated with all alarms stored in the database.

The alarms information and quantity presented is configurable via the "Task -> Options"menu option, available when the Alarm Browser window is presented.

By default all alarms information is presented, thus all table columns are checked.

The number of alarms visible is set to All by default. The maximum number of alarmsstored in the SPOTS Database is 1000.

3.7.2.2 Alarms Filter

In order to avoid overloading the Alarm Browser with all existing alarms, the user maydefine filters to reduce its scope.

The toolbar set filter button invokes the Alarms Filter window:


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You may filter the alarms by:

� Time – allows the selection of the beginning and end date and time;

� Type or Object Class - allows the selection of either the measurement type or the objectclass;

� Severity – allows the selection of several severity levels;

� Object – allows editing the object name, using wild cards or the selection from a list ofInstances.

Window OperationsApplies the defined filter on the Alarm Browser and closes window.

Closes window without applying the filter settings since last use of the Apply button.

Applies the specified report properties without closing the window. This button is enablesome changes occurred.

Window Attributes

Time Specification of the date & time interval.

Type Measurement type of the alarm that shall be presented

ObjectClass

Object class of the alarm that shall be presented

Severity Degree of severity to consider

Object Network resource to inspect


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When you choose to filter the alarms by object and click on the Browse... button a ‘SelectObjects’ window like the following will appear:

You may choose the domain and the associated instances.

You can select one or more filtering conditions and set them with the Apply button. Nowonly the alarms that accomplish the selected conditions are visible on the Alarm Browser.

You may reset the filter through the Reset Filter button on the toolbar.

3.7.2.3 PM Reports driven by Alarm

The main idea of the PM Reports driven by alarm is to provide very specialised reports forrapid detection of network problems. These new reports are seen as part of a decisionoriented workflow, providing a global view of the behaviour of a specific class of networkresource.

The reports called from the Alarm Browser present correlated metrics information in anintuitive graphical form and based on the values of performance data for the last timeperiod for some specific counters.


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3.7.2.3.1 TEVL Chart Report

Within the Alarm Browser it is possible, for the selected alarm, to generate a time evolutionreport for the respective variable and object.

The correlation between an alarm and the item on the time evolution is the following:

where T1= T0 + 2 hours.

The Alarm driven TEVL Chart Report is available by:

clicking on the toolbar Launch Time Evolution Chart Report button;

selecting "Task -> TEVL Chart Report" from the client main menu;

selecting "TEVL Chart Report" from the Alarm Browser pop-up menu.

A TEVL Chart report appears presenting the evolution of the counter’s value for the timeinterval starting 2 hours prior to the alarm date and ending at the time the alarm wasissued.

The report is continuously updated with new incoming values each time interval, these newvalues are added to the report but the report start time is maintained.


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3.7.2.3.2 RT Bar Chart Report

Within the Alarm Browser it is also possible to call a RT Bar-Chart report.

This report provides an intuitive way of presenting the evolution of an indicator during sometime periods (by default 4), as well as allowing the user to check for the behaviour ofcorrelated metrics.

The Alarm driven RT Bar Chart Report is available by:

Clicking on the toolbar Launch RT Bar Chart Report button;

Selecting "Task -> RT Bar Chart Report" from the client main menu;

Selecting " RT Bar Chart Report" from the Alarm Browser pop-up menu.

A RT Bar Chart report appears presenting the value of the affected counter as well assome pre-defined correlated counters during the last 4 time intervals; the last intervalpresented corresponds to the time the alarm was issued:

Note:The Bar Chart reports are available for a subset of all the counters provided by SPOTS.Consult [2] for a listing of all the Bar Chart reports available in the current SPOTS versionand the respective sets of correlated counters.

Attempting to invoke a Bar Chart report on a non-supported counter will yield an errormessage.


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The RT Bar Chart report displays information like the Maximum and Minimum values foreach indicator displayed as well as the Threshold value for the affected counter.

The report is continuously updated with new incoming values each time interval. Thesenew values are added to the report but the only 4 time periods are presented, the olderperiod of the report disappears.

Note:

The report’s refresh functionality can not be disabled for the reports called from the AlarmBrowser.

For specific details regarding each of the available RT Bar Chart Reports, please consult[2].


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3.7.3 RT Monitoring PanelsThe “Monitoring Panel” is a very special report, dedicated to graphically monitor specific networkobjects (e.g., Nodes) that have critical conditions.

These reports have 3 rows:

“Nr. Affected Nodes”: the first row displays the number of Nodes that match the definedcritical condition;

“Aggr. Value (Affected)”: the second row displays the aggregated value (total or average)of the observed variable for all Node’s that match the defined critical condition and for theobservation period.

“Aggr. Value (Total)”: the third row displays the aggregated value of the observedvariable, but for all Nodes on the network.

Note: The scope of the Nodes seen in each Monitoring Panel is related to the user’s profile interms of Domains.

This report displays the values of a predefined set of indicators for two time intervals:• The Current value column (“C”): the time interval when PM data was last collected from the

network;

• The Maximum value column (“M”): the time interval when the performance indicatorreaches its maximum/minimum value.

The observation period is equal to 60 minutes and the Panel Reports are auto-refreshed.

These Panels can be externalized.

Figure 1 – Monitoring Panel

The user can click on the mouse right-button to access the Report launching facility that calls apre-defined report with the same performance indicators and assuming the parameters:• Requested objects: <all exchanges that match the defined critical condition>;• Time period: <time where reference variable value is maximum/minimum>.


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The pre-defined reports associated with the Monitoring Panel are not accessible from theSPOTS LT - Reports Task tree.

For specific details regarding each of the available Monitoring panels, please consult [2].


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3.7.4 Refresh FunctionalityThe current SPOTS version allows the refresh of Ad-hoc and pre-defined reports.Either via the “Report Wizard – Report Properties” or directly via the “Report Properties”windows the Refresh functionality can be configured.The refresh area is only enabled for reports if the following conditions are verified:

Date interval

Keyword “TODAY” is selectedor- The end date is equal to the current dayor- “Now” is selected

Data Source

- “Detailed” is selected.

Example:

It is possible to customize the start time delay and the refresh frequency.The start time delay is a relative value referenced to the full hour (e.g. 00:00). This parameter isimportant because it allows the minimization of the delay between the collection of new trafficdata and its visualization. If new traffic data is loaded in a scheduled way every 5 minutes twominutes after the full hour, then the report start delay parameter should have the value 3.

Behavior of the report’s Refresh functionality:1- when the refresh option is selected then the report is executed normally with the refreshproperties activated;2- after the execution of the report, the STOP button stays active so that the report can bestopped;2.1- If the STOP button is pressed, if the user wants to have the refresh feature active again onthe stopped report then he must change the report’s properties and execute it again.2.2- Otherwise, the STOP button stays active;3- If any report’s refresh-related property is changed after the report has been executed once,then the report must be executed again, and the EXECUTE button is therefore enabled.


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Important Notes:

1- For a better system performance it is advisable to select a refresh granularity equal ormultiple of the data input granularity. For example, in reports with Q3 data, which has 15minutes granularity, the refresh granularity should be set to 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes,etc. Not less than that.2- Using the same argument, in case of multiple reports in refresh, the “start time after full hour”value in each one, should be set to distinct values.

3- Whatever the refresh options are, if the report is refreshed more than 150 times and theresult is always NO_DATA_AVAILABLE, then the refresh stops and an exception message ispresented to the user.

Report Wizard – Report Properties

Report Properties


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3.8 SPOTS SNMP Alarm Agent (SAA)

3.8.1 OverviewThe SPOTS SNMP Alarm Agent (SAA) component is an optional add-on to the SPOTS Real-Time functionality, allowing the forwarding of QoS alarms, generated by the SPOTS Real-Timeapplication (see Section 2.3) to an external Fault Management application via SNMP.

In generic terms, the SAA interface covers the following functionality:

Forwarding of SPOTS alarms (based on ITU-T X.733) via SNMP traps (see Section3.8.2);

Filtering of alarms (see Section 3.8.3);

Resynchronisation of pending performance alarms (see Section 3.8.4);

Manual deletion of pending performance alarms (see Section 3.8.5).

Additionally, an administration interface to control the various aspects of SAA functionality isprovided (see Section 3.8.6).

For the SPOTS SAA MIB definitions consult Annex 5.2.

It is possible to establish a direct relationship between the basic interface functionality andSNMP operations, as represented at Figure 2 below:

Alarm Notification � SNMP TRAPAlarm Filtering � SNMP SETResynchronisation � SNMP GET Table (list of all pending active alarms)Alarm Deletion � SNMP SET

(Note: the "Alarm Filtering" mentioned above refers to Global filtering policies, see Section3.8.3.1; Additional filtering capabilities can be configured via SAA administration interface, seeSection 3.8.3.2).

SPOTS

FM

Alarm notification (SNMP TRAP)

Alarm synchronisation (SNMP GET)

Alarm Trap filter (SNMP SET)

Delete perf. alarm (SNMP SET)

Figure 2 - SAA interfaces to external FM Application

The SPOTS SNMP Agent assumes:

The SNMP manager knows the semantics of the traps parameters which are defined in the MIB(consult Annex Error! Reference source not found.).


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The behaviour towards the foreign OS FM application reflects the SPOTS handling ofperformance alarms as visible at the alarm browser.

In order to understand how performance alarms become available at SPOTS, resulting from thecomparison of performance data against the defined threshold levels, the following diagramrepresents the involved functions:

PMS

LT Client

SPOTS RT ServerAlarm log data

Alarm data

Traffic data

foreignOS FM

OracleRDBMS

SPOTS LT-Server

SNMPAgent

AlarmBrowser

ElementManager

Network Elements

Alarm data

Traffic data

3.8.2 Forwarding of SPOTS QoS alarmsThis feature allows the forwarding of alarms generated by the SPOTS Real Time modules,which are based on the comparison of the received performance data against user-definedthreshold levels. Once the comparison results no longer in a threshold violation, then an alarmclear notification is generated.

To accomplish alarm forwarding, the SAA supports a Management Information Base (SNMPMIB) with the definitions of the QoS alarms that can be forwarded via SNMP Traps.

The SAA MIB comprises the defeintion of the spotsPerformanceAlarmTrap trap, sent when:

a threshold associated to a monitored performance indicator is violated. In this case, theperceived severity takes one of the following levels: indeterminate, critical, major, minor,warning;

there is no longer a violation of the threshold. In this case, the perceived severity isfixed to cleared; this means there is no explicit “spotsAlarmClearTrap”.

The contents of the alarm traps closely follow the ITU-T recommendation X.733. For the MIBdefinition, consult Annex Error! Reference source not found.. The MIB can also be found on theSPOTS PMS installation, in file $SR_AGT_CONF_DIR/spotsalarms.my (refer to [5], Annex2, for information on the setting of SR_AGT_CONF_DIR and other environment variables).


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Trap parameter DescriptionspotsManagedObjectClass Identification of the measurement where the violation was detected (normally

on one of its performance counters). When the alarm refers to a Virtual Counter,there is no measurement associated, and this parameter will be filled with aminus sign.

spotsManagedObjectInstance Identification of the object instance where the threshold violation was detected.This identifier reflects the object hierarchy starting with the network elementname and each level sub-string is separated with character ‘:’. Whenevermultiple domains are defined at SPOTS, the domain name is included at thebeginning of the string, followed by the separator character ‘#’ and the rest ofthe instance identifier.

spotsEventType Fixed to QualityofService for all supported traps.spotsEventTime Alarm timestamp in string format (“<YYYY>/<MM>/<DD>

<hh>:<mm>:<ss>”).spotsProbableCause Fixed to ThresholdCrossed for all supported types of traps.spotsPerceivedSeverity Alarm severity: Indeterminate, Critical, Major, Minor, Warning and Cleared.

The last severity level (Cleared) represents the end of the alarm condition for aprevious alarm notification with any of the remaining severity levels, for thesame combination of spotsManagedObjectClass, spotsManagedObjectInstance,spotsTriggeredThreshold and spotsSpecificProblems.

spotsNotificationIdentifier Sequence number for synchronisation, starting with value ‘1’.spotsAdditionalText Free text field containing additional information on the alarm (a string with a set

of parameters separated by character “:” from their corresponding values). Thisfield encapsulates the following parameters:

ThresholdLevel: The value of the threshold that was crossedAlarmType: Set to “PerfAlarm-Q3”ClearValue: The value at which the alarm is clearedCrossDirection: The direction in which the threshold was crossed inorder to trigger the alarm ("UP"/"DN" for up/down)ThresholdExpression: The expression applied to evaluate the alarmvalue (e.g. SLCNG:SLCGDUR+SLCNG:SLCGSTA)ThresholdGranularity: the granularity in seconds of the monitoredcounter

spotsTriggeredThreshold Identification of the SPOTS counter where the violation was detected. Thiscounter can be a raw counter, a pre-defined virtual counter or a user-definedvirtual counter. Virtual counters are preceded with the prefix ‘VC!’.

spotsThresholdLevel Value of the threshold that was crossed.spotsObservedValue Performance indicator value that crossed the threshold, triggering the alarm.spotsSpecificProblems User-defined threshold name assigned via the SPOTS Real-Time application

GUI for the threshold that was crossed.

Table 3– SPOTS Alarm Trap Structure

3.8.3 Filtering of alarms

This feature allows the filtering, based on user-defined criteria, of the alarms to be forwarded tothe external FM application.

Two different levels of filtering are supported: Global filtering and Additional Filtering.

3.8.3.1 Global filtering

The agent supports a filter (see spotsAlarmTrapFilter MIB definition in Annex Error!Reference source not found.) to allow the external FM application (via SNMP SET operation) toturn on or off the sending of all alarm traps. The global filtering policy may also be configured byediting the spotsAlarmTrapFilter parameter value stored in the ASCII configuration file


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$SPOTS_SAA_DIR/config/snmpconfig.cnf. The Alarm Agent reads this configuration fileat startup. The following values are possible:

1 - all traps are unconditionally discarded2 (default) - sending of traps is active

Additionally, it is possible to control the policy used for filtering duplicate alarms. The PendingAlarm Table (MIB definition spotsPendingAlarmTable) keeps the currently pending alarmtraps. Pending alarms are performance alarms that were raised and stay active (i.e. for whichno alarm clear was emitted). When sending a new trap, the SAA checks if an alarm with thesame values of the parameters spotsManagedObjectClass, spotsManagedObjectInstance,spotsTriggeredThreshold and spotsSpecificProblems already exists and drops it in that case,without forwarding to the FM application. This default behaviour can be changed with theparameter spotsPerformanceAlarmDuplicateFilter at the ASCII configuration file$SPOTS_SAA_DIR/config/snmpconfig.cnf (refer to [5], Annex 2, for information on thesetting of SPOTS_SAA_DIR and other environment variables). Value 0 disables the filteringmechanism, allowing to forward alarm duplicates. Value 1 (default) enables the filtering ofduplicate alarms.

3.8.3.2 Additional filtering

Additional filtering applies as a second filtering step after Global filtering and applies only toalarms having a threshold name (spotsSpecificProblems alarm field) with a prefix that matchesa given text string. This string is configurable via the SAA Administration interface and has aunique value for all emitted alarms.

The additional filtering capability allows the user to define rules based on the alarm fieldcontents, in order to select which alarms are forwarded. Rules are inclusive, i.e. an alarm isforwarded if it matches at least one of the rules. Rules are defined via the SAA Administrationinterface (see Section 3.8.6).

Using the SAA Administration interface it is also possible to disable completely the additionalfiltering. In this case only the Global filtering applies.

In summary, for an alarm to be forwarded to an external FM application, it is necessary toensure the following:

- Global Filtering must be turned on;- Additional Filtering is turned off, or, if it is turned on, then the alarm must match thedefined threshold name prefix and at least one of the defined filtering rules.

3.8.4 Resynchronisation of pending performance alarms

The status of pending performance alarms can be retrieved via SNMP GET-BULK (orGET/GET-NEXT if the application uses SNMPv1) for synchronization purposes. In order todetermine the need for synchronization, each performance alarm trap sent to the foreign FMapplication has an increasing sequence number that allows detection of lost traps. This numbercan also explicitly be retrieved via SNMP GET operation, e.g. by periodically retrieving thesequence number during a long period of inactivity.

As part of the initialization procedure, the SAA retrieves the status of pending performancealarms from the SPOTS alarm log. So, if that component is installed at an already operatingSPOTS installation, the foreign OS FM application shall perform the synchronization procedureafter complete initialization of the SAA.


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3.8.5 Manual alarm deletion

The user may manually clear alarms in the Pending Alarm Table directly via SNMP SEToperations. An alarm entry may be removed form the Pending Alarm Table via by setting thecorrespondent spotsRowStatus attribute to “destroy”.

NOTE: For SNMP SET operations the community must be defined as sysadmin.

As an alternative, the user may manually clear alarms according to more specific criteria byusing alarm clearance facilities available in the SAA Administration Interface, see below.

3.8.6 SAA Administration Interface

The command spotssnmpadmin allows the administration of functional aspects of the SAA. Toexecute it, issue the following commands, as root user, at the server where the SAA is installed:

# . /etc/saawd.env# spotssnmpadmin

The following display is shown:

SPOTS SNMP Alarm Agent Administration

Available options:

1. Configure alarm trap destinations and SNMP protocol version2. Count all pending alarms3. Visualize all pending alarms4. Visualize pending alarms with class ...5. Visualize pending alarms with instance ...6. Visualize pending alarms with triggered threshold ...7. Visualize pending alarms with event time ...8. Clear all pending alarms9. Clear pending alarms with class ...

10. Clear pending alarms with instance ...11. Clear pending alarms with triggered threshold ...12. Clear pending alarms with event time ...13. SAA Processes Administration14. SAA Filtering Administration15. Help16. Exit

Please select your choice >>


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3.8.6.1 Configure alarm trap destinations and SNMP protocol version

When this option is selected, the following display is shown:

SPOTS SNMP Alarm Agent - Trap Destination

Entry Nr.| SNMP Protocol | IP Address-----------------------------------------------1 SNMPv1 188.102.4.43

SPOTS SNMP Management

1. Delete entry2. Add entry3. Save and exit4. Exit without saving

Select your option >>

The table shown contains the registered IP address of machines that are willing to receiveperformance alarm traps from the SAA, as well as the SNMP version (V1, V2c or V3) to use.These data can be updated by using the available options at the above menu.

To delete an entry, choose the option 1, which asks the user to enter the number of the entry tobe deleted:

Enter the entry no.:

And after input of a valid entry number, that entry is deleted.

Note: This table cannot be left empty; therefore the user is not allowed to delete the last entry.

To add an entry choose the option 2, which asks the user to enter the SNMP protocol version touse and the IP address of the target machine that hosts the foreign OS FM application willing toreceive the SNMP traps:

Enter the protocol (SNMPv1, SNMPv2c or SNMPv3): SNMPv3

Enter the IP address: 180.143.42.210


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After entering the requested data, the updated table is shown:

SPOTS SNMP Alarm Agent - Trap Destination

Entry Nr. | SNMP Protocol | IP Address------------------------------------------------------------1 SNMPv1 127.0.0.12 SNMPv2c localhost3 SNMPv3 180.143.42.210

SPOTS SNMP Management

1. Delete entry2. Add entry3. Save and exit4. Exit without saving


The option 3 allows the user save the changes before leaving the administration application. Bychoosing option 4, the user quits without saving any change done.

3.8.6.2 Count all pending alarms

This option of the main menu displays the amount of performance alarms currently pending.

Note: for the following visualization options, the syntax to be used for the alarm field is the sameas described in Table 3.

3.8.6.3 Visualise all pending alarms

This option of the main menu allows the user to visualize all pending alarms, i.e., allperformance alarms that were raised and stay active.

3.8.6.4 Visualise pending alarms with class …

By choosing this option, the user has to enter the class name of the alarm, as search criterion,in order to visualize only the pending performance alarms that have the specified class name.

3.8.6.5 Visualise pending alarms with instance …

In this option, the search criterion is the specified instance name. This way, the user canvisualize only all pending alarms for the object with the specified instance name.

3.8.6.6 Visualise pending alarms with triggered threshold …

Here, the search criterion is based on the specified triggered threshold name. Only the pendingperformance alarms resulting from violations at the specified triggered threshold are shown.


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3.8.6.7 Visualise pending alarms with event time …

In this option the pending performance alarms that are shown have the same event time that theuser specifies, here the search criteria are the specified date and time of the event.

3.8.6.8 Clear all pending alarms

This option allows the user to unconditionally delete all pending performance alarms at the SAAPending Alarm Table.

Note: If alarms are manually cleared directly in SAA, no consistency is assured with the SPOTSdatabase (until next restart of SAA) or the registered external applications (until next re-synchronization).

All manually cleared alarms are registered at the following log file (which is overwritten uponeach manual clear request):

$SR_LOG_DIR/snmpclr.log.

(refer to the [5], Annex 2, for information on the setting of SR_LOG_DIR and other environmentvariables)

This is valid also for the following clear options.

3.8.6.9 Clear pending alarms with class …

By choosing this option, the user is asked for the measurement class name. After entering that,all pending performance alarms with the specified measurement class name are deleted.

3.8.6.10 Clear pending alarms with instance …

This option requires the user to specify the object instance name of the pending performancealarms to delete.

3.8.6.11 Clear pending alarms with triggered threshold …

This option requires the user to specify the triggered threshold where the violation occurred inorder to delete all corresponding pending performance alarms.

3.8.6.12 Clear pending alarms with event time …

This option allows the user to specify the event time, i.e., date (and time) of the pendingperformance alarms to delete.


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3.8.6.13 SAA Processes Administration

This option allows the administrator user to visualise the status of the SAA processes: saawd(SAA watchdog) and snmpdm (SAA SNMP daemon). It allows also to stop and to restart theseprocesses (this action is required after some of the configuration changes described in thecurrent chapter - this fact is mentioned in the text, where applicable).

SPOTS SNMP Alarm Agent Administration - Processes Administration

Available options:

1. Visualize Process Status2. Stop all processes (SAAWATCHDOG and SNMPDM)3. Restart SAAWATCHDOG4. Return to Main Menu

Please select your choice >>

1. Visualize Process Status

This option displays the current execution status of the SAA processes.

2. Stop all processes (SAAWATCHDOG and SNMPDM)

This option stops the saawd and snmpdm processes (if executing).

Note: The log files of the saawd and snmpdm processes (if any) are moved to the directoryspecified by the environment variable $SR_LOG_DIR (refer to [5], Annex 2, for information onthe setting of SR_LOG_DIR and other environment variables).

3. Restart SAAWATCHDOG

This option stops the saawd and snmpdm daemons (if executing) and re-launches the saawddaemon, which in its turn launches the snmpdm daemon (provided that SAS services areactive).

Note: The log files of the saawd and snmpdm daemons (if any) are copied to the directory that isspecified by the environment variable $SR_LOG_DIR (refer to [5], Annex 2, for information onthe setting of SR_LOG_DIR and other environment variables).

4. Return to Main Menu

This option returns to the administration application main menu.


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3.8.6.14 SAA Filtering Administration

This option allows the administrator user to configure the SAA Additional Filtering capabilitiesbased on alarm attributes and filtering rules.

When this option is selected the following screen is shown:

SPOTS SNMP Alarm Agent - Filtering Configuration

Status: EnabledThressholdName Pattern: AF_Filtering File Name: saafiltering.cnf

SPOTS Alarm Filtering Management

1. Enable/Disable Alarm Filtering.2. Edit ThresholdName Filtering Pattern.3. Change Filtering Rules File.4. Edit/View/Modify Filtering Rules List.5. Save configuration settings and exit.6. Exit without saving.


The top lines of this screen show the actual state of this feature as described bellow:

Status:Disabled – Additional Filtering capabilities are not active. However, global filteringpolicies are still applied, as defined by MIB variables:

spotsAlarmTrapFilterspotsPerformanceAlarmDuplicateFilter

Enabled – Additional Filtering criteria shall be applied to all alarms received by theSAA. Only alarms having a threshold name (spotsSpecifiProblems attribute) with aprefix matching the text defined in ThressholdName Pattern shall be considered andforwarded to foreign FM Applications according with the defined filtering rules.

ThressholdName Pattern:All alarms having a Threshold Name (defined in the spotsSpecificProblems attribute)with a prefix matching the defined pattern shall be submitted to additional filtering rules.Alarms with a different prefix will be discarded.

Filtering File Name:This parameter indicates the file where the filtering rules are stored. This file is locatedin the $SPOTS_SAA_DIR/config/ directory (refer to [5], Annex 2, for information onthe setting of SPOTS_SAA_DIR and other environment variables). User may havedifferent sets of filtering rules that can be stored in other files that can be used later.

1. Enable/Disable Alarm Filtering

This option enables or disables the Additional Filtering facilities based on threshold name prefixand filtering rules. If Additional Filtering facilities are enabled then only alarms having athreshold name with a prefix matching the ThresholdName Pattern and matching at least oneof the defined filtering rules will be forwarded to the FM Applications.When Additional Alarm Filtering is disabled, only global filtering policies (defined by parametersspotsAlarmTrapFilter and spotsPerformanceAlarmDuplicateFilter) apply.


E200301-01-514-V10.0I-02 75

2. Edit ThresholdName Filtering Pattern

This option allows the user to configure the filtering pattern that shall be used as comparisonwith the prefix of the alarm’s Threshold Name parameter, contained in the MIB attributespotsSpecificProblems.When Alarm Filtering is enabled, only alarms having a threshold name with a prefix matchingthe filtering pattern shall be forwarded, as long as they also match at least one of the definedfiltering rules.When Alarm Filtering is disabled, this parameter is ignored.

3. Change Filtering Rules File

This option allows the user to specify an alternative Filtering Rules file. The filtering rules mustbe located in the $SPOTS_SAA_DIR/config/ directory (refer to [5], Annex 2, for information onthe setting of SPOTS_SAA_DIR and other environment variables).The default filtering rules file is named saafiltering.cnf. However, the user can change this inorder to use other filtering rules sets stored in other files.

4. Edit/View/Modify Filtering Rules

This option allows the user to add, remove and edit filtering rules that shall be applied to alarmswith a threshold name prefix matching the defined ThresholdName Pattern.

The rules are inclusive, i.e. an alarm is forwarded only when it matches (at least) one of therules. An empty filtering rules set means (if Additional filtering is enabled) that all alarms will berejected, since they do not match any single filtering rule.All filtering rules are ignored when Additional Filtering is disabled.

SPOTS SNMP Alarm Agent - Filtering Rules List

Entry|Monitored Metric |Severity |Start Per|End Per |DayPeriod (more)|

page 1 - ENDAlarm Filtering Rules List Options:

1. Next Page 2. Previous Page3. Add an Alarm Filtering Rule4. Remove an Alarm Filtering Rule5. Modify an Alarm Filtering Rule6. Save Filtering Rules and return to 'Filtering Configuration'

Menu.7. Return to 'Filtering Configuration' Menu without saving.



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4.1 Next Page/2. Previous Page

These two options allows the user to navigate through the alarm filtering rules list

4.3. Add Alarm Filtering Rule

This section describes how to use the available filtering criteria to build a rule.

Four types of criteria exist for building rules: Monitored Metric, Severity, Start/End Period andDay Period.

A rule may contain 0 or 1 criterion of each of the above four types.

A rule works as a logical "and" of all the criteria it contains. Thus, an alarm is considered tomatch a given rule if it satisfies simultaneously all the criteria included in the rule.

The user must select the "Add alarm filtering rule" option in order to configure and set newfiltering rules. A new screen will be shown, describing the available criteria and a set of optionsto edit the criteria.

The ‘Add/Modify Filtering Rule’ menu shall look like this when no criteria are defined yet:

SPOTS SNMP Alarm Agent - Add/Modify Filtering Rule

MONITORED_METRIC:SEVERITY :START_PERIOD :END_PERIOD :DAY_PERIOD :

Alarm Filtering Rule Options:1. Define the MONITORED_METRIC Filtering Criteria.2. Define the SEVERITY Filtering Criteria.3. Define the START/END PERIOD Filtering Criteria.4. Define the DAY_PERIOD Filtering Criteria.5. Add a new Time Interval to the DAY_PERIOD Filtering Criteria.6. Remove a Time Interval from the DAY_PERIOD Filtering

Criteria.7. Accept changes and return to 'Filtering Rules List'.8. Ignore changes and return to 'Filtering Rules List'.



E200301-01-514-V10.0I-02 77

Using option 1 allows to configure the MONITORED_METRIC criteriaThe following input shall be solicited:

Select your option >> 1Enter the Monitored Metric to filter >>

For example, the user may type EXCH_NTM:CC_I. By doing this, the user declares that onlywants to consider alarms generated for this monitored metric.

Using option 2 allows to configure the SEVERITY criteria.The following input shall be solicited:

Enter the Severity Filtering Criteria. Valid Values are:0 - INDETERMINATE 1 - CRITICAL 2 - MAJOR 3 - MINOR 4 - WARNING >>

For example, selecting CRITICAL means that the filtering rule being edited will only forwardalarms with a CRITICAL degree of severity.

Using option 3 allows to configure a Start Period and an End Period on a weekly-based timeinterval. Only alarms generated within the specified time interval will match the rule:

Select your option >> 3Enter the Start Period. (Format [SUN..SAT HH:MM]) >>

The user shall type, for example: MON 00:00.

Now the user must select the end of the time interval:

Select your option >> 3Enter the Start Period. (Format [SUN..SAT HH:MM]) >> SUN 00:00Enter the End Period. (Format [SUN..SAT HH:MM]) >>

The user shall type, for example: WED 23:59.

Using options 4 and 5 combined, it is possible to specify a day period criteria for alarmforwarding. The purpose of option 4 is to specify the scope of the intra-day periods, which arespecified via option 5. Option 4 allows the following choices:

Select your option >> 4Enter the Day Period Type. Valid Values are:0 - NONE 1 - DAILY 2 - WORK_DAILY 3 - WEEKEND >>

Note: The WEEKEND keyword, by default, refers to Saturday and Sunday. This arrangementmay be modified by editing these parameters in the [WEEKDAYS] section of thesnmpconfig.cnf file located in $SPOTS_SAA_DIR/config/ directory (refer to [5], Annex 2,for information on the setting of SPOTS_SAA_DIR and other environment variables).

Using option 5 it is possible to define up to five intra-day time intervals. The user input shalllook like this:

Select your option >> 5Enter the new Time Interval (Format [HH:MM-HH:MM]):

For example, the user may enter the following time interval: 08:30-19:00


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Using option 6, previously defined time intervals may be deleted.

Specification of time intervals for the DAY PERIOD criteria is not mandatory. If no time intervalis specified then the 00:00-23:59 time interval shall apply.

To delete an entire DAY PERIOD the user should select again option 4 and then NONE. Alltime intervals defined previously will be lost.

When a filtering rule is set with all criteria, the Add/Modify Filtering Rule menu should look likethis:

SPOTS SNMP Alarm Agent - Add/Modify Filtering Rule

MONITORED_METRIC: EXCH_NTM:CC_ISEVERITY : CRITICALSTART_PERIOD : SUN 00:00END_PERIOD : WED 23:59DAY_PERIOD : DAILY

Interval 1 : 08:30-19:00

Alarm Filtering Rule Options:1. Define the MONITORED_METRIC Filtering Criteria.2. Define the SEVERITY Filtering Criteria.3. Define the START/END PERIOD Filtering Criteria.4. Define the DAY_PERIOD Filtering Criteria.5. Add a new Time Interval to the DAY_PERIOD Filtering Criteria.6. Remove a Time Interval from the DAY_PERIOD Filtering Criteria.7. Accept changes and return to 'Filtering Rules List'.8. Ignore changes and return to 'Filtering Rules List'.


After setting up a rule with the desired set of criteria, the user may select option 7 to save thechanges or option 8 and discard the recently configured rule.


E200301-01-514-V10.0I-02 79

The Filtering Rules List menu now shows the newly created filtering rule and should look likethis:

SPOTS SNMP Alarm Agent - Filtering Rules List

Entry|Monitored Metric |Severity |Start Per|End Per|Day Period (more)|1 EXCH_NTM:CC_I CRITICAL MON 00:00 WED 23:59 DAILY

page 1 - ENDAlarm Filtering Rules List Options:

1. Next Page 2. Previous Page3. Add an Alarm Filtering Rule4. Remove an Alarm Filtering Rule5. Modify an Alarm Filtering Rule6. Save Filtering Rules and return to 'Filtering Configuration'

Menu.7. Return to 'Filtering Configuration' Menu without saving.


In the above example, the user can see that there is one filtering rule stating the following:

Alarms for the monitored metric EXCH_NTM:CC_I with CRITICAL severity, generatedduring Mondays until Wednesdays within the 08:30 and the 19:00 each day, shall beforwarded.

The user may now configure other filtering rules. All filtering rules must at least have onefiltering criterion defined.

Option 6 allows the user to save changes made to the Filtering Rules List. Changes made toexisting and newly created filtering rules are saved to the filtering rules file in use. Removedfiltering rules will be lost. By choosing option 7, the user returns to the “FilteringConfiguration” menu ignoring all changes made since last save.

5. Save configuration settings and exit.This operation stores the state of the following parameters:StatusThressholdName PatternFiltering File NameAnd returns to the “Alarm Agent Administration” main menu.

Note: For changes to take effect the snmpdm daemon must be restarted, see Section 3.8.6.13.

6. Exit without saving.By choosing this option the user returns to the “Alarm Agent Administration” main menuwithout saving any change done over the filtering configuration settings.


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4 Reference for SPOTS Real-Time Commands

4.1 SPOTS Real-Time Server CommandsWhen there is the need to restart the system because, e.g., some configuration file wasmodified, use the commands to restart the SPOTS Real-Time applications, defined in [5].

4.1.1 Stopping SPOTS RTRefer to Section 8.1 (Stopping SPOTS RT applications) in [5].

4.1.2 Starting SPOTS RTRefer to Section 4.6 (Starting SPOTS RT applications) in [5].


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5 Annexes

5.1 Log Files

5.1.1 RT Agent Log FilesThe SPOTS RT Client provides a “Log View” functionality that allows the on-going and historicalanalysis of the SPOTS RT system behaviour.

Besides that, there is a log file to which error messages, relative to each type of SPOTS RTAgent data processing, are written.This log file contains a description of all RTA errors that occurred since it was created.

$SPOTS-RTA_DIR/james/profiles/Agencies/<Agency_Name>/<AgentType>/log/agent_err.txt

(The default value for $SPOTS-RTA_DIR is opt/spots/rt/)

Another log file contains a description of the main on-going processing steps during RTA dataprocessing, since it was created.If the RTA is configured in debug mode, extra information is logged in this file, like the list of allprocessing files, processing duration, updated thresholds, etc.

$SPOTS-RTA_DIR/james/profiles/Agencies/<Agency_Name>/<AgentType>/log/agent_out.txt

Another log file contains information about errors in the FileTransfer process to each RT Agent.

$SPOTS-RTA_DIR/james/profiles/Agencies/<Agency_Name>/<AgentType>/Data/input/FILE_TRANS.err

5.1.2 RT Server Log FilesThere is a log file to which error messages, relative to SPOTS RT Server system processing,are written.

This log file contains a description of all RTS errors that occurred since it was installed.

$SPOTS-RTS_DIR/Server_rt/logs/stderr.log

(The default value for $SPOTS-RTS_DIR is opt/spots/rt/)

Note that each time the RTS is started there is a new set of lines:

[OracleMapper] Overcommable exception:

java.rmi.NotBoundException: OIDGENERATOR

This is not a problem and is supposed to be there.

Another log file contains a description of the main on-going processing steps during RTSprocessing.

The information about RTS start and stop times, RT license checking, RT Agencies and RTAgents creation, RT Client interactions, automatic RTA restarts, etc.


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$SPOTS-RTS_DIR/Server_rt/logs/stdout.log

There are also other two pairs of log files where other internal SPOTS RT system messages arewritten.

$SPOTS-RTS_DIR/Server_rt/Apm/logs/stderr

$SPOTS-RTS_DIR/Server_rt/Apm/logs/stdout

$SPOTS-RTS_DIR/Server_rt/James/profiles/Managers/Manager/logs/stderr

$SPOTS-RTS_DIR/Server_rt/James/profiles/Managers/Manager/logs/stdout


E200301-01-514-V10.0I-02 83

5.2 SNMP Alarm Agent MIB Definition

------ Copyright (C) 2000 SIEMENS SA------ PROPRIETARY NOTICE---- This software is an unpublished work subject to a confidentiality agreement-- and is protected by copyright and trade secret law. Unauthorized copying,-- redistribution or other use of this work is prohibited.---- The above notice of copyright on this source code product does not indicate-- any actual or intended publication of such source code.-------- This document is based on ITU-T X.733 and ITU-T X.721 recommendations.--

SPOTSALARMS-MIB DEFINITIONS ::= BEGIN

IMPORTSMODULE-IDENTITY, OBJECT-TYPE, NOTIFICATION-TYPE, Counter32, Unsigned32FROM SNMPv2-SMIenterprisesFROM RFC1155-SMI

TEXTUAL-CONVENTION, TimeStamp, RowStatusFROM SNMPv2-TC;

siemensSA OBJECT IDENTIFIER ::= { enterprises 5308 }

tmn OBJECT IDENTIFIER ::= { siemensSA 1 }

spotsPerformanceAlarms MODULE-IDENTITYLAST-UPDATED "0102080000Z" -- February 08, 2001ORGANIZATION "Siemens SA"CONTACT-INFO

" Technical Support

Postal: Siemens SARua Irmaos Siemens, nr 1 - AlfragidePortugal

Tel: +351 214178951Fax: +351 214242054

E-mail : [email protected]"

DESCRIPTION"This MIB is used to send SPOTS performance alarms to external applications.

SPOTS alarms are based on X.733 ITU recommendation."::= { tmn 1 }

-- root for spots objects and traps

spotsObjects OBJECT IDENTIFIER ::= { spotsPerformanceAlarms 1 }

spotsTraps OBJECT IDENTIFIER ::= { spotsPerformanceAlarms 2 }

spotsGroups OBJECT IDENTIFIER ::= { spotsPerformanceAlarms 3 }

-- ***********************************************************************-- TEXTUAL-CONVENTION's-- ***********************************************************************

Boolean ::= TEXTUAL-CONVENTIONSTATUS current


84 E200301-01-514-V10.0I-02

DESCRIPTION " true / false "SYNTAX INTEGER{

false(0),true(1)

}

TrapFilter ::= TEXTUAL-CONVENTIONSTATUS currentDESCRIPTION " FilterType used for control of traps forwarding by master.

By default 'sendAllTrapsOn' is active. "SYNTAX INTEGER{

sendAllTrapsOn(1),sendAllTrapsOff(2)

}

ThresholdFilter ::= TEXTUAL-CONVENTIONSTATUS currentDESCRIPTION " FilterType used for control of traps forwarding by master, based

on the thresholdName.By default 'tresholdFilteringOff' is active. "

SYNTAX INTEGER{

thresholdFilteringOn(1),thresholdFilteringOff(2)

}

-- Alarms fields definition. X.733 fields

spotsPendingAlarmTable OBJECT-TYPESYNTAX SEQUENCE OF AlarmEntryMAX-ACCESS not-accessibleSTATUS currentDESCRIPTION "This table is used by the SNMP manager during

the resynchronisation process to retrieve thepending alarms"

::= { spotsObjects 1 }

alarmEntry OBJECT-TYPESYNTAX AlarmEntryMAX-ACCESS not-accessibleSTATUS currentDESCRIPTION "A row in the Alarm table"INDEX { alarmIndex }::= { spotsPendingAlarmTable 1 }

AlarmEntry ::= SEQUENCE {alarmIndex Counter32,spotsManagedObjectClass OCTET STRING,spotsManagedObjectInstance OCTET STRING,spotsEventType INTEGER,spotsEventTime OCTET STRING,spotsProbableCause INTEGER,spotsPerceivedSeverity INTEGER,spotsNotificationIdentifier Unsigned32,spotsAdditionalText OCTET STRING,spotsTriggeredThreshold OCTET STRING,spotsThresholdLevel OCTET STRING,spotsObservedValue OCTET STRING,spotsSpecificProblems OCTET STRING,spotsRowStatus RowStatus

}

alarmIndex OBJECT-TYPESYNTAX Counter32MAX-ACCESS read-onlySTATUS currentDESCRIPTION "It allows the identification of each row by an index"

::= { alarmEntry 1 }

spotsManagedObjectClass OBJECT-TYPESYNTAX OCTET STRING(SIZE(0..50))MAX-ACCESS read-only


E200301-01-514-V10.0I-02 85

STATUS currentDESCRIPTION

"The identification of the measurement whose threshold was violated."::= { alarmEntry 2 }

spotsManagedObjectInstance OBJECT-TYPESYNTAX OCTET STRING(SIZE(0..256))MAX-ACCESS read-onlySTATUS currentDESCRIPTION

"The identification of the object instance to which the measurementwhere the violaton was detected is associated. The syntax of this field is:<MOI> = [<domainId>’#’]<nodeId>’:’<objId1>[’:’<objId2>[’: ’<objId3>]]."


spotsEventType OBJECT-TYPESYNTAX INTEGER {

attributeValueChange(1),communicationsAlarm(2),environmentAlarm(3),equipmentAlarm(4),integrityViolation(5),objectCreation(6),objectDeletion(7),operationalViolation(8),physicalViolation(9),processingErrorAlarm(10),qualityOfService(11),relationshipChange(12),securityServiceOrMechanismViolation(13),stateChange(14),timeDomainViolation(15)}

MAX-ACCESS read-onlySTATUS currentDESCRIPTION

"This variable categories the alarm and iscurrently fixed to Quality Of Service. "

::= { alarmEntry 4}

spotsEventTime OBJECT-TYPESYNTAX OCTET STRING(SIZE(0..20))MAX-ACCESS read-onlySTATUS currentDESCRIPTION

"The timestamp of SPOTS alarm, using SPOTS date and time formatwhich is YYYY/MM/DD hh:mm:ss"


spotsProbableCause OBJECT-TYPESYNTAX INTEGER {

adapterError(1),applicationSubsystemFailure(2),bandwidthReduced(3),callEstablishmentError(4),communicationsProtocolError(5),communicationsSubsystemFailure(6),configurationOrCustomizationError(7),congestion(8),corruptData(9),cpuCyclesLimitExceeded(10),dataSetOrModemError(11),degradedSignal(12),dTE-DCEInterfaceError(13),enclosureDoorOpen(14),equipmentMalfunction(15),excessiveVibration(16),fileError(17),fireDetected(18),floodDetected(19),framingError(20),heatingOrVentilationOrCoolingSystemProblem(21),humidityUnacceptable(22),inputOutputDeviceError(23),


86 E200301-01-514-V10.0I-02

inputDeviceError(24),lANError(25),leakDetected(26),localNodeTransmissionError(27),lossOfFrame(28),lossOfSignal(29),materialSupplyExhausted(30),multiplexerProblem(31),outOfMemory(32),ouputDeviceError(33),performanceDegraded(34),powerProblem(35),pressureUnacceptable(36),processorProblem(37),pumpFailure(38),queueSizeExceeded(39),receiveFailure(40),receiverFailure(41),remoteNodeTransmissionError(42),resourceAtOrNearingCapacity(43),responseTimeExcessive(44),retransmissionRateExcessive(45),softwareError(46),softwareProgramAbnormallyTerminated(47),softwareProgramError(48),storageCapacityProblem(49),temperatureUnacceptable(50),thresholdCrossed(51),timingProblem(52),toxicLeakDetected(53),transmitFailure(54),transmitterFailure(55),underlyingResourceUnavailable(56),versionMismatch(57)}


"This field defines further qualification of the alarmand is currently fixed to ThresholdCrossed(ITU-T X.721-arfProbableCause)."


spotsPerceivedSeverity OBJECT-TYPESYNTAX INTEGER {

indeterminate(0),critical(1),major(2),minor(3),warning(4),cleared(5)}


"This parameter defines six severity levels, which provide anindication of how it is perceived that the capability of themanaged object has been affected.The alarm clear is identified with value 'cleared'."


spotsNotificationIdentifier OBJECT-TYPESYNTAX Unsigned32(0..4294967295)MAX-ACCESS read-onlySTATUS currentDESCRIPTION "It allows the identification of each trap sent to foreign OS.

The initial value is '1'."::= { alarmEntry 8 }

spotsAdditionalText OBJECT-TYPESYNTAX OCTET STRING (SIZE (0..1024))MAX-ACCESS read-onlySTATUS currentDESCRIPTION

" This field allows a free form text description used to supplyadditional information to external applications. "



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spotsTriggeredThreshold OBJECT-TYPESYNTAX OCTET STRING(SIZE(0..50))MAX-ACCESS read-onlySTATUS currentDESCRIPTION " The identification of the threshold type that was violated. "::= { alarmEntry 10 }

spotsThresholdLevel OBJECT-TYPESYNTAX OCTET STRING(SIZE(0..20))MAX-ACCESS read-onlySTATUS currentDESCRIPTION " Value of crossed threshold (float number converted to string)."::= { alarmEntry 11 }

spotsObservedValue OBJECT-TYPESYNTAX OCTET STRING(SIZE(0..20))MAX-ACCESS read-onlySTATUS currentDESCRIPTION " The performance indicator value that crossed the threshold,

triggering the alarm (float number converted to string)."::= { alarmEntry 12 }

spotsSpecificProblems OBJECT-TYPESYNTAX OCTET STRING(SIZE(0..256))MAX-ACCESS read-onlySTATUS currentDESCRIPTION " Further refinements to the probable Cause. "::= { alarmEntry 13 }

spotsRowStatus OBJECT-TYPESYNTAX RowStatusMAX-ACCESS read-createSTATUS currentDESCRIPTION "This object controls creation of an entry in the spotsPendingAlarm

table."::= { alarmEntry 14 }

spotsPerformanceAlarmSequenceNr OBJECT-TYPESYNTAX Unsigned32(1..4294967295)MAX-ACCESS read-onlySTATUS currentDESCRIPTION

" Sequence number included at last performance alarm trap sent to theforeign OS (stored for synchronisation purposes). "


spotsPerformanceAlarm NOTIFICATION-TYPEOBJECTS {

spotsManagedObjectClass,spotsManagedObjectInstance,spotsEventType,spotsEventTime,spotsProbableCause,spotsPerceivedSeverity,spotsNotificationIdentifier,spotsAdditionalText,spotsTriggeredThreshold,spotsThresholdLevel,spotsObservedValue,spotsSpecificProblems

}STATUS currentDESCRIPTION

"Notification sent when a threshold violation occurs (alarm raise) orends (alarm clear).It represents a performance alarm with associated fields (ITU-T X.733mandatory fields and some optional fields).This trap is intended to be generic, so that it can be used byseveral external applications."

::= { spotsTraps 1 }

-- Object and event Groups


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alarmGroup OBJECT-GROUPOBJECTS {

spotsManagedObjectClass,spotsManagedObjectInstance,spotsEventType,spotsEventTime,spotsProbableCause,spotsPerceivedSeverity,spotsNotificationIdentifier,spotsAdditionalText,spotsTriggeredThreshold,spotsThresholdLevel,spotsObservedValue,spotsSpecificProblems

}STATUS currentDESCRIPTION "The objects that characterise an alarm"::= { spotsGroups 1 }

alarmEventGroup NOTIFICATION-GROUPNOTIFICATIONS {

spotsPerformanceAlarm}

STATUS currentDESCRIPTION "The events sent by SPOTS Agent"::= { spotsGroups 2 }

-- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SPOTS Configuration of traps-- so far, for each entity table, the sending of traps can be switched on and off-- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

spotsAlarmTrapFilter OBJECT-TYPESYNTAX TrapFilterMAX-ACCESS read-writeSTATUS currentDESCRIPTION

" Control of alarm Traps forwarding (filtering mechanism)"::= { spotsObjects 2 }

spotsThresholdNameFiltering OBJECT-TYPESYNTAX ThresholdFilterMAX-ACCESS read-onlySTATUS currentDESCRIPTION

" Control of aditional filtering criteria aplied to alarms havingspotsTriggeredThreshold matched with the pattern defined in spotsFilteringPattern"


spotsFilteringPattern OBJECT-TYPESYNTAX OCTET STRING(SIZE(0..50))MAX-ACCESS read-onlySTATUS currentDESCRIPTION

" Filtering Pattern for aditional filtering criteria based on thespotsTriggeredThreshold"


END


E200301-01-514-V10.0I-02 89

6 References[1] User Manual

SPOTS V10 Drop 4(SSA Doc E200301-01-114-V10.0I-*)

[2] Siemens Performance ReportsSPOTS V10 Drop 4(SSA Doc E200301-01-214-V10.0I-*)

[3] Data ModelSPOTS V10 Drop 4(SSA Doc E200301-03-414-V10.0I-*)

[4] Installation GuideSPOTS V10 Drop 4(SSA Doc E200301-01-115-V10.0I-**)

[5] Installation Guide - Real TimeSPOTS V10 Drop 4(SSA Doc E200301-01-215-V10.0I-**)

[6] User ManualPerformance Data Collector V2.2UMN:PDC V2.2(Siemens Doc A50016-D522-B100-*-7620)

[7] User ManualPerformance Data Collector for SCR10.2(Siemens Doc A50016-D9102-B100-*-7620)


90 E200301-01-514-V10.0I-02

7 Glossary and Abbreviations

ASN1 Abstract Syntax Notation One.

BER Basic Encoding Rules.

BSC Base Station Controller.

BR BSS Release.

BSS Base Station System (now known as GERAN).

BTS Base Transceiver Station.

BTSM BTS Site Manager.

CCNC Common Channel Network Control.

CP Co-ordination Processor; designation of NE platform using this processor type.

CS Circuit Switching.

EDGE Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution.

FM Fault Management.

FTP File Transfer Protocol.

GERAN GSM and EDGE Radio Access Network (formerly known as BSS).

GGSN Gateway GPRS Support Node.

GOS Grade Of Service.

GP Granularity Period.

GPRS General Packet Radio Service.

GSM Global System For Mobile Communications.

GSN GPRS Support node.

GSS GPRS Sub-System.

GR GSS Release.

GUI Graphical User Interface

HLR Home Location Register.

HO Handover.

HTML Hypertext Markup Language.

IP Internet Protocol.

ISP Internet Service Provider.

ITU International Telecommunications Union.

ITU-T ITU Telecommunication Standardisation Sector.

LAN Local Area Network.

LT Long Term.

MIB Management Information Base.

MP Main Processor; designation of NE platform ("36190") that uses this processor.

MSC Mobile Switching Centre.

MSP Mobile Smart Proxy


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NE Network Element (also referred to as "node" or "network node").

NB1P/NB2P NodeB 1st / 2nd Platform.

NMS Network Management System (e.g. SC, RC). Also known as "Element Manager".

OMC-B Operations and Maintenance Centre for BSS.

OS Operations System.

PBH Peak Busy Hour.

PDC Performance Data Collector (SC application).

PDF Portable Document Format.

PM Performance Management.

PMC Performance Management Client. Alternative designation: SCL.

PMS Performance Management Server.

SPOTS PMS comprises the SAS (SPOTS Application Server), the SDS (SPOTS DatabaseServer) and the SNS (SPOTS Naming Server).

PO Packet-Oriented.

PS Packet Switching.

QoS Quality of Service.

QoR Quality of Resource.

RC Radio Commander.

RAN Radio Access Network.

RNC Radio Network Controller.

RT Real-Time

RTA Real-Time Performance Management Agent

RTC Real-Time Performance Management Client

RTF Rich Text Format.

RTS Real-Time Performance Management Server

SAA SPOTS SNMP ALARM AGENT

SAS SPOTS Application Server (PMS component).

SBS Siemens BSS.

SC Switch Commander.

SCL SPOTS Client application.

SDS SPOTS Database Server (PMS component).

SGSN Serving GPRS Support Node.

SNS SPOTS Naming Server (PMS component).

SOC Set of Counters.

SOO Set of Objects.

SNMP Simple Network Management Protocol.

SPBH Sample at PBH.

SPF Siemens Performance File format.

SP Service Processor; designation of NE platform ("36140") that uses this processor.

SPR SPF with "Rolling" counters (counters not reset to 0 at the end of each GP).


92 E200301-01-514-V10.0I-02

SPOTS Support for Planning, Operation & Maintenance and Traffic Analysis.

SR Siemens Switching System Release.

SRL SPOTS Reporting Language.

SSNC Signalling System Network Control.

SW Software.

TCP Transmission Control Protocol

TM Traffic Management

TRX Transceiver

UMR UTRAN equipment Release.

UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunication System.

UNC Universal Naming Convention.

UTRAN UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network.

VC Virtual Counter.

Wildcards Symbols that represent one or more characters in a filename.

These characters are:

? - replaces just one character;

* - replaces several characters.

The number of characters can vary from none to the whole filename.

spots v10 drop 4, user manual - real time

Education

spots rt architecture

spots rt monitoring

spots rt server module

rt distributed server

rt distributed agencies

agents overview

distributed environment

user interface