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Actix 2003 - Confidential Tips for Maximizing Performance in the A- Platform 1

Tips for Maximizing Performance in the A-Platform

System requirementsThe following section defines the recommended and minimum system requirements forsuccessfully running Actix A-Solutions.

If you install your A-Solution on a system that does not meet the recommended

configuration requirements, you might experience the following limitations:

You may be unable to process large amounts of data You may experience delays when trying to perform certain tasks You may not be able to take advantage of some mapping capabilities Your A-Solutions advanced correlation and analysis capabilities might not

perform as desired

Recommended system configuration

Processor (CPU) P4 2.6 GHz or higher

Operating System Microsoft Windows XP

Memory (RAM) 1 GB

Available Hard Disk Space 60+ GB

Note A paging file size of at least 1 GB is recommended on Windows

2000 and NT systems. You can set the paging file size bymodifying the System properties from the Windows Control Panel.

Minimum system configuration

Processor (CPU) Pentium II 400 MHz or higher

Operating System Microsoft Windows 98 (or later) operating system, Microsoft

Windows NT Workstation operating system version 4.0 Service Pack 3 or later,Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional or later operating system.

Memory (RAM) 256 Megabytes

Available Hard Disk Space 1 GB (for the application, drive test data files, map

information, and virtual memory needs)

Note A paging file size of at least 1 GB is recommended on Windows2000 and NT systems. You can set the paging file size by

modifying the System properties from the Windows Control Panel.

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Maximizing Performance in the A-Platform

Assuming you have the recommended PC configuration, here are a set of targetedquestions that focus on performance.

It takes a long time to display my data on a map in the software. Is there a way to

improve this?

It will always take longer to display the first map, due to the initialization of several key

components. Factors contributing to display times are:

the size of the cell databases used (see Cell Site Databases), the size of the MapInfo files used the overall size of the datafiles used (see Drive Data Collection Best Practices).

It takes a long time to load my log files. What can cause this, and can it be improved?

Many factors contribute to the load time of specific log files. In general, files saved in abinary structure are faster to load then those that are available in ASCII. With emergingtechnologies such as UMTS, cdma2000, EV-DO, etc. the amount of data sent over the air

interface has increased exponentially. Actix is continuing to study ways to manage this

increase in data volume. The collection equipment also presents alternatives to minimizethe data collected (See Drive Data Collection - Best Practices).

It seems like it takes a long time to load my protocol data (A, Abis, Gb, etc.)?

The majority of the time it takes to load protocol data is spent on the running of pre-defined analysis that are selected using the Choose Scenario option under the Tools

menu. To improve file load-times, Actix recommends loading only the scenarios needed

for the analysis in question.

Batch loading files into Network Images takes a long time.

Actix has recently improved the load-time performance of network images. However, we

strongly recommend that Network Image templates contain only the files and queries forgenerating the desired statistical or geographical results necessary. Extraneous parameters

or queries have a direct result on the speed of loading data.

Cell Site Databases

Actix solutions intelligently translate radio interface parameters to the site and sectorswithin a clients mobile network. This is done by linking a cell site database to the logdata processed by Actix. Interpretation and translation of radio link data to customer

data is done during the initial loading of log data into the application. For this reason, if

you maintain extensive cell site databases (country-wide, or spanning multiple states/

counties), you may experience an increase in file load times. Also, large cell databases(greater then 300Kb), will take longer to display in the Map window, and increase the

memory footprint of the A-Solution application. The chart below shows the need to

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balance necessary cell data information and extraneous information. Note the linear

relationship between the size of the file and the memory used by the application.

ariation of memory used by cellrefs

0

2,000,000

4,000,000

6,000,000

8,000,000

10,000,000

12,000,000

14,000,000

16,000,000

18,000,000

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700

File Size (KB)

M

emoryAllocated(Bytes)

Non-essential cell database columns only add to the size of the file, thus degrading

performance. Wherever possible, create cell databases in logical, defined clusters that overlap

each other. Only use the full, comprehensive cell database for system-wide

network benchmarking and in conjunction with the Network Image feature.

Choosing a Binning Method

One of the inherent strengths offered by Actix A-Solutions is the ability to selectively

choose a method of binning to best suit the current optimization task. A-Solutionscurrently bin data when you select a display object to examine (map, chart, table, MS

Excel)1. The default method is 1-second time binning. In a GSM system, this effectively

averages the results of two measurement reports.In certain optimization cases (for example, the optimization of dense urban networks, in-building applications, etc.), you may wish to view every measurement that has been

collected by the logging tool. This can be done using messagebinning with a single

message bin size. However, there is a trade-off with analyzing data at this degree of

1 The Network Image function pre-bins data based on the configuration of the image.

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detail. Larger files with many messages or several files combined together in a

superstream may be inappropriate to analyze with message based binning.

Here are some best-practice recommendations for binning modes:

I would like to compare my network to a competitor's, or compare a location of my

network today to that of 3 months ago.

Use location binning, 100m or 200m square bin sizes.I would like to create bins only when there is a change in GPS coordinates.

In this case, distance binning at 50m or 100m intervals, is the best alternative.I am examining a small section of a drive test to solve a very specific problem.

In this case, use eithermessage-based binning ortime-based binning at 500ms.I am using the software in an ad-hoc mode and would like a reliable way of viewing

data without compromising performance or measurement results.

The default method oftime-based binning at 1 second, 3 seconds, or 5 seconds(depending on the geographic area analyzed) should be sufficient.

Network Images

Network Imaging is the mechanism for users to load a series of files into the software forthe purposes of system-wide benchmarking.

Use in all cases where the desired output is either a large geographic plot (system-wide drive testing) or statistical analysis based on a set of files greater than100MB.

Network Imaging batch loads files into an image. The *.DAT file, which saves thecontents of the network image, is created after all batch loaded files are complete, rather

then during the process of each file load.

To ensure that all relevant data gets written to the DAT file reliably, avoid loadingmore then 20 files at once.

Drive Data Collection - Best Practices

As the amount of data passing over the air interface continues to increase with theemergence of wideband voice/data technologies, it is important to bear in mind some

basic data-collection strategies that can ensure the most efficient use of company

resources.

Limit testing logs to 1 hour - Resist the temptation to collect data for severalhours at one time. In general, it is good practice to stop a collection session at a

logical place and check to be sure that data logged is not erroneous. This ensures

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reliable data and makes the data more manageable for post analysis in Actix

solutions.

Collect data for the task at hand- Collecting scanner data simultaneously withhandset data has become an invaluable tool for optimizing CDMA and UMTS

networks. However, there are times when tasks such as competitive

benchmarking, before and after network audits, etc., rely primarily on datacollected from a handset. In addition, collection-tool log masks provide an

effective way to tailor the data collected more towards voice or data service

optimization. Reducing the number of devices or messages collected generallyreduces the overall size of the files collected. This can be an effective data

management technique.

Creating Reports

Actix makes the creation of user-definable report templates effortless, by allowing users

to have a direct access to MS Excel. The easiest way to get data into reports is to use the

right-mouse selection Display on Workbook, which automatically displays three typesof datasets in Excel: series data, statistical data, histogram data. Note that series data

always takes the longest to re-generate as a template.

For report templates that are designed purely for statistical analysis, createtemplates from statistical queries, crossttab queries, or histogram queries.

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