solution description · pdf filesolution description ... alarming, automation, extraction...

Version 3.1. By Dan Silfvast, Janne Tanninen and Sari Saranka

S O L U T I O N D E S C R I P T I O N

Ваштехнологический эксперт с 1993 года

+ 7 495 215-57-17 | [email protected] | www.2test.ru | г. Москва, Научный проезд, 12

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1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 3

2 Solution Overview ........................................................................................................... 4

2.1 Solution Components .................................................................................................................................... 4

2.2 Solution Packages .......................................................................................................................................... 5

2.3 Why EXFO Xtract? ......................................................................................................................................... 5

3 EXFO Xtract Open Analytics Platform ...................................................................... 6

3.1 Platform Overview ........................................................................................................................................... 6

3.2 Data Integration ................................................................................................................................................ 73.2.1 Data sources...................................................................................................................................... 7

3.3 Service Modelling ............................................................................................................................................ 8

3.4 Analytics Capabilities ..................................................................................................................................... 93.4.1 Data correlation, enrichment, aggregation and storage .................................................... 93.4.2 KPI, KQI and index engine ........................................................................................................... 93.4.3 Impact and propagation engine .............................................................................................. 103.4.4 Profiling engine .............................................................................................................................. 103.4.5 Baseline and deviation detection ...........................................................................................11

3.5 Visualization .....................................................................................................................................................11

3.6 Automation ......................................................................................................................................................113.6.1 Alarming ............................................................................................................................................ 123.6.2 Data extraction ............................................................................................................................... 123.6.3 Open API.......................................................................................................................................... 12

4 Solution examples ....................................................................................................................12

4.1 Voice over LTE solution .............................................................................................................................. 124.1.1 VoLTE challenges .......................................................................................................................... 124.1.2 EXFO Xtract for VoLTE service assurance ......................................................................... 13

4.2 Packet Transport Service Solution......................................................................................................... 144.2.1 Packet transport challenges ..................................................................................................... 144.2.2 EXFO Xtract for packet transport........................................................................................... 14

5 System Requirements and Specifications ...........................................................16

5.1 System Requirements ................................................................................................................................. 165.1.1 Minimum system requirements ................................................................................................ 165.1.2 High volume system ..................................................................................................................... 165.1.3 Virtualization support ................................................................................................................... 165.1.4 End-user client requirements ................................................................................................... 16

5.2 EXFO Xtract Platform Specifications ................................................................................................... 17

TABLE OF CONTENTS


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1 INTRODUCTIONThe competitive landscape within the telecom industry is putting tremendous pressure on communications service providers (CSPs). To remain competitive in today’s dynamic environment, CSPs are adopting an increasingly diverse array of technologies from an expanding marketplace in order to enable complex services that are uniquely tailored to end-user preferences. This creates challenges in effectively deploying, managing and visualizing end-to-end service performance, limiting the ability to distinguish between service-affecting and non-affecting events and to assess the end-users’ quality of experience (QoE).

EXFO’s vision in service assurance is to provide solutions that help CSPs efficiently ensure superb service experience in their IP-based networks by giving them visibility of end-to-end service experience from the subscriber, service and infrastructure points of view.

This vision has been realized with the introduction of EXFO Xtract.

EXFO Xtract is designed to serve CSPs and especially the personnel within the organization responsible for network performance and service quality. It provides a comprehensive view by combining data from network infrastructure, B/OSS systems and probe-based sources to define an End-to-End Service Experience that covers the entire service chain from the subscriber to the service and back. This covers all layers of the network, including the physical network, control plane and user plane layers as described in Figure 1 below.

Figure 1. End-to-end service experience

By sharing a common view of the service experience across the organization, different teams will be speaking the same language and spending less time resolving various service quality and network performance issues and, as a result, achieve higher operational efficiency and bring customer satisfaction to a new level.

EXFO Xtract brings precision and speed to the prioritization and resolution of issues impacting service experience; this translates into unprecedented responsiveness, flexibility, adaptability and efficiency for our customers–enabling them to make quantum leaps forward in their business transformation from a network-focused to a customer-and-service focused CSP.


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2 SOLUTION OVERVIEWEXFO Xtract analytics solution empower CSPs to automate, accelerate, visualize, and optimize different aspects of their monitoring, troubleshooting and assurance tasks.

EXFO Xtract provides a real-time, end-to-end view of service experience. It collects, enriches, correlates, analyzes and visualizes massive volumes of data in real-time to give insight into end-to-end service experience from any perspective. This helps CSPs guarantee an excellent experience throughout their network and services offering.

EXFO Xtract provides a rich set of capabilities for building specific solutions to fulfill the constantly evolving test and monitoring needs of CSPs. Figure 2 illustrates EXFO Xtract’s solution structure and building blocks approach, including the use-case driven solutions at the top and corresponding solution components on four underlying layers.

SOLUTIONSVoLTE Mobile Data

BusinessEthernet

CarrierWi-FiE2E IP

Dynamic Dashboards and Widgets

Correlation, Aggregation, Enrichment, Storage,Alarming, Automation, Extraction

Service AnalyticsSubscriber Analytics

Active ServiceTesting

PassiveMonitoring BSS/OSS Network

Monitoring

Metadata/Third Party

Sources

Network Analytics

Source Data Fetching and Polling

VISUALIZATION Drill-Down

BSS/OSS

APPLICATION LOGIC

CORE LOGIC

CONNECTOR LAYER

DATA SOURCES

Figure 2. EXFO Xtract solution structure

2.1 Solution ComponentsOn a high level, EXFO Xtract consists of four layers with functionalities contributing to the overall solutions:

• The adapter layer contains the functionality to fetch or receive data from any data source, including active and passive probes, devices, network inventory, element management systems or from any other database, network element or peripheral.

• The core logic layer contains the core functionality of EXFO Xtract, including an embedded high-performance columnar database, data correlation, aggregation and enrichment routines, alarming and data export functionalities. The core logic layer also contains the advanced service and KPI/KQI modelling and propagation engines.

• The application logic layer implements domain specifi c analytics functionality, such as service models and subscriber profi ling capabilities. EXFO Xtract provides analytics for subscribers, services and the network infrastructure.

› Network analytics look at KPIs from a network infrastructure perspective. These are often based on SNMP polling and active probe data and include metrics such as packet loss, latency and interface utilization.

› Service analytics provides KQIs and KPIs on a service level. These measurements are based on SNMP polling as well as active and passive probe data sources and include metrics such as MOS and SEER that are measured for a service like VoLTE as well as the LTE service network itself.

› Subscriber analytics looks at the behavior and quality of experience of subscribers. It is primarily based on passive data sources and measured by metrics such as service experience indexes and call drop rates that are reported either for subscriber groups or individual subscribers.

The above areas can work independently or may be deployed together to provide advanced capabilities like subscriber impact and root cause analysis.

• The visualization layer provides dynamic data visualization capabilities through high-performance user customizable dashboards with support for direct drill-down to other EXFO tools like EXFO Worx.


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2.2 Solution PackagesEXFO Xtract features Solution Packages that bundle required adapter, application logic and visualization functionality which are needed to implement domain specific solutions and use cases.

A Solution Package includes integrations to defined data sources, KPI, KQI and index definitions, service models, data processing rules and associated dashboards designed to solve the domain-specific use cases in the most efficient way. Various packages are offered for subscriber, service and network analytics solutions.

EXFO Xtract can contain several active packages at the same time and packages may interact with each other.

Solution Packages are available for the following domains:

• Business Ethernet and IP VPN

• Wireless Backhaul

• IP/MPLS Networks

• Carrier Wi-Fi monitoring

• IMS Services–VoLTE, VoWi-Fi, etc.

• Mobile data

The different solution areas are described in more detail in chapter 4.

2.3 Why EXFO Xtract?Dynamic – The power of EXFO Xtract lies in its ability to dynamically model networks and services using any and all required data inputs literally on the fly. This is a paradigm shift in Service Assurance and enables operators to quickly adapt to support new requirements in analytics and visualization for both existing and new services.

Real-Time – EXFO Xtract’s ability to aggregate and correlate test and measurement data from any network or service type and to visualize this in real time for different interest groups in the CSP’s organization is extremely powerful. EXFO Xtract supports monitoring, testing and troubleshooting from network, service performance and subscribers’ viewpoints.

Universal – With EXFO Xtract, CSPs can leverage data from a multitude of sources–including field instruments, test probes, network equipment and B/OSS systems–in turn enabling them to rapidly deploy new services, analyze performance baselines and accurately pinpoint service-affecting events. EXFO Xtract can be employed in conjunction with any other technology, network architecture or equipment vendor.

End-to-End – EXFO Xtract integrates seamlessly with EXFO’s active and passive probe systems, enabling CSPs to combine active testing and passive monitoring with information gathered on-line from the underlying network infrastructure. In order to facilitate pinpointing service-affecting events in their network, historical and real-time reports can be viewed for any period of time through charts, grids and maps.

Carrier Grade – EXFO Xtract is being developed in collaboration with global tier-1 CSPs. EXFO solutions leverage the learnings gathered from hundreds of use cases in the largest networks around the world. This expertise is also available through the professional services that EXFO offers as a part of the solution.

TCO – Finally, EXFO Xtract comes with a predictable total cost of ownership (TCO). After the initial investment, CSP teams or 3rd party developers can add their own data sources, analytics logic and dashboards and reports on top of the open Xtract analytics platform. CSPs can avoid expensive lock-ins and can forecast and control the TCO of the solution.


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3 EXFO XTRACT OPEN ANALYTICS PLATFORMEXFO Xtract solutions are built on top of EXFO Xtract open analytics platform, which provides the data integration, correlation and advance analytics and automation capabilities required to implement the use cases in the solution.

3.1 Platform OverviewThe philosophy behind EXFO Xtract is to provide a platform that can adapt to the increasingly complex network and service structures to analyze and act on the real end-to-end service experience provided by mobile and fixed networks. This philosophy is reflected in the EXFO Xtract architecture through a unique Design, Analyze and Automate workflow:

1. Design – Model the end-to-end service by defining the relationship between data sources, KPIs/KQIs, subscribers, services and their supporting resources (physical or logical). Define dynamic dashboards and data visualization. Designs may be implemented by Solution Architectures or imported from Service Inventory systems where applicable.

2. Analyze – Collect, analyze and visualize data as a real-time process using the defined data integrations, service models and dashboards.

3. Automate – Create alarms on threshold violations and deviations. Export refined data to external systems.

DESIGN• Service modelling• Index, KQI, KPI

definitions

DISPLAY• Dynamic dashboards• Widgets

COLLECTData fetching, collection, adaptation

AUTOMATE• Alarming• Data export

Open

API

BSS/

OSS

Big

Data

/BI

Sys

tem

s

NOC/SOC, Engineering, CsOsSolutionArchitects


PassiveMonitoring

NetworkMonitoring

Metadata/Third Party

SourcesBSS/OSS

ANALYZE• Data correlation, aggregation, storage• Data enrichment• Index, KQI, KPI engine• Impact and propagation engine• Subscriber, device, service, location profiling• Baseline and deviation detection

Testing Monitoring MonitoringSources

DESIGN• Service modelling• Index, KQI, KPI

definitions

DISPLAY• Dynamic dashboards• Widgets

COLLECTData fetching, collection, adaptation

AUTOMATE• Alarming• Data export

Open

API

BSS/

OSS

Big

Data

/BI

Sys

tem

s

NOC/SOC, Engineering, CsOsSolutionArchitects


PassiveMonitoring

NetworkMonitoring

Metadata/Third PartyBSS/OSS

ANALYZE• Data correlation, aggregation, storage• Data enrichment• Index, KQI, KPI engine• Impact and propagation engine• Subscriber, device, service, location profiling• Baseline and deviation detection

Figure 3. EXFO Xtract platform architecture

Platform capabilities are described in more detail in the following chapters.


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3.2 Data IntegrationThe data collection layer enables EXFO Xtract to be integrated with various data sources. The data collection layer includes purpose-built adapters that gather data from different predefined data sources as well as universal data adapters for CSV and XML formats and direct database/API integrations.

The data collection layer performs the following functions:

• Real-time and batch data collection from various active and passive data sources

• Automated and on-demand collection of metadata sources

• Automatic discovery and polling of SNMP data

• Data quality and integrity control (e.g. verifying fi eld content and number of rows)

• Data fi ltering and mapping to the service data model

• Mediation of probe level traffi c data

3.2.1 Data sourcesEXFO Xtract supports a variety of predefined data sources that contribute different information to the analytics solutions.

Active Probe DataActive testing serves as the key on-line information source to network and service performance. Active testing provides a comprehensive selection of automated tests that can be applied to Ethernet and IP layers in the network. Through EXFO Works, EXFO Xtract accesses the SLA and test results captured from EXFO active verifiers.

Passive Probe DataPassive monitoring solutions are designed for gathering data from network interfaces and to provide insight into 3GPP signaling and user plane performance. EXFO Xtract is integrated with the EXFO Worx passive monitoring solution to collect service performance and subscriber experience information.

Integration of 3rd party passive monitoring/probing solutions is also supported by the EXFO Xtract platform. The collection layer includes a built-in data mediation function for effective correlation and aggregation of raw probe data feeds.

Performance CountersIn addition to active and passive probe data, EXFO Xtract is capable of retrieving performance and fault information from network elements via SNMP, EMS integration or through a 3rd party repository. Network devices can be automatically discovered and the collected data analyzed and reported in EXFO Xtract. Thanks to its discovery capabilities, EXFO Xtract is able to autonomously acquire information on network elements and build a comprehensive view of the corresponding network topology.

MetadataMetadata is data that is used to enrich the analysis through mapping (e.g. internal IDs to text format descriptions).

Some examples of metadata mapping include:

• Identifying the subscriber segment, subscription and other information based on the IMSI number in monitored data

• Identifying the cell site name and coordinates based on the cell ID

Metadata can provide essential information to prioritize the resolution of network issues. Examples from mobile networks include focusing on VIP subscribers and key network locations by correlating the subscription and location information with the passive monitoring information.

EXFO Xtract includes a number of predefined metadata sources and mappings that are used in conjunction with different operational data sources. Additional mappings can be configured as needed and metadata sources can be integrated through any of the supported data formats.


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3.3 Service ModellingEXFO Xtract service modelling provides the ability to implement dynamically configurable data models that adapt the analytics system to the users’ perspective of their network and services. Hierarchical, spatial and logical aggregations are defined within the data model which directly implement an adaptive User Interface and Workflow. Additionally, the calculation and correlation of KPIs/KQIs, trending and alarm propagation are all defined and controlled by the Service Model provide for advance analytics such as Impact Analysis and Root Cause Analysis.

Overlay network and service topology allowing operators to express the relationship between any given service and its physical and logical resources. Model templates make it easy to define shared components, such as network topology, and reuse them in the common services. Metadata such as subscription information, mobile terminal types and network locations can be pulled into EXFO Xtract to enrich the information gathered with active testing and passive monitoring.

Xtract provides a service modelling toolbox for building customized views of the network hierarchy. Figure 4 describes the modelling process.

CUSTOMIZETAGS

CREATE MODELTEMPLATE

CREATE MODEL INSTANCE

MONITOR MODEL RUNTIME

Zone KPIs

KPIs

KPIs

KPIs

Contractor

Platform

Test

North

T111 T112 T221 T222

South

T121

West

C1 C2 C1 C2

T112 T221 T222

P22 P11 P12 P22

T121T111

West

P11 P12

Figure 4. Modelling process with EXFO Xtract

The modelling process starts with creating a model template that describes the hierarchy of the monitored network elements and their interconnections. A model instance is then created based on the model template. The model instance represents real network region and sub-region hierarchies. The users monitor the runtime instances of the models with use configurable color coding to indicate the state of the network hierarchy levels. The runtime view indicates how the effects of potential issues in the lower levels of the network propagate to the higher levels of the network hierarchy. This means that users can easily recognize network elements, services and subscriber groups who are impacted by service degradations in the CSP’s network.

Figure 5. Example on mapping physical network hierarchy to customer hierarchy in Xtract


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In the example depicted in Figure 5, the physical network topology consists of access, aggregation and core layers. The customer hierarchy modelled in Xtract reflects how services are provided to a customer. The service chain starts from the lowest level of hierarchy, i.e. the interfaces in network devices. The elements on each of the layers propagate their state to the layer above in the model runtime as shown in the right hand side Figure 5. Propagation rules can be defined to reflect the severity of potential issues at the lower network layers as seen on the higher layers.

This example model examines the path that the traffic traverses from the leaves (interfaces in devices) to the root (customer). The devices are interconnected via segments, adjacent segments build up paths and adjacent paths build up circuits. In case that conditions on a lower layer cause issues that are reflected to the higher layers, the model enables performing drill-downs to the lower layers to find the root cause of the issue.

3.4 Analytics CapabilitiesThe analytics engine is responsible for carrying out all data enrichment, processing and analysis functions in EXFO Xtract. The analytics engine includes functions for:

• Data correlation, enrichment, aggregation and storage

• KPI, KQI and index calculation

• Service impact and impact propagation analysis

• Baselining and deviation detection

• Application specifi c logic, like profi ling of subscribers, devices, services and locations

The analytics engine interacts with the other components in the EXFO Xtract architecture. Data from the collection layer is processed in the analytics engine based on the KPI definitions, service models and hierarchies defined in the service modeler, and provided to the UI layers for visualization and to the automation layer for alarms and data exporting.

The functions of the analytics engine are described in more detail in the following chapters.

3.4.1 Data correlation, enrichment, aggregation and storageUpon collection all data is temporally aggregated in real time with an increasing granularity to provide both efficient long-term history data analysis as well as high granularity for troubleshooting needs.

EXFO Xtract stores the collected information in an embedded high-performance columnar analytics database. This provides an administrator-less architecture and up to 40x compression ratios for an impressive TCO advantage as well as incredible performance at massive scale.

The data records collected are enriched with metadata information to translate and add properties that can be used for filtering and aggregation. Data records are automatically associated with tags defining the semantics of their content. Specific key values in the data records are associated with properties that automatically correlate the information of the data record to other records based on the service model hierarchy or application logic. For example, all call records with a particular IMSI are associated with the same subscriber profile.


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3.4.2 KPI, KQI and index engineThe raw data is analyzed to form key performance indicators (KPIs) that describe how the network performs. A network KPI typically reflects the aggregated results of an individual type of metric. EXFO Xtract supports a wide selection of predefined KPIs for network and service health monitoring.

EXFO Xtract constructs key quality indicators (KQIs) by weighting and aggregating KPIs. Predefined KQIs are available for pre-integrated solutions. Xtract also enables users to define new KQIs for specific use cases.

The highest level of the performance indicator hierarchy includes indexes such as Service Experience Index. Indexes are constructed from underlying KPIs and KQIs. As the KPI and KQI values are typically provided for independent adjacent time intervals, the indexes reflect both current and past performance. For example, a high number of dropped VoLTE calls on a certain day will still affect the service experience index on the following day even though the network issue has already been fixed.

INDEXES DERIVED FROM KEY QUALITY INDICATORS (KQIs)

KQIS DERIVED FROM KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (KPIs)

KQIS DERIVED FROM RAW DATE

RAW DATE

FOR EXAMPLE: SERVICE EXPERIENCE INDEX, CONGESTION INDEX, ETC.

ACCESSIBILITY, RETAINABILITY AND INTEGRITY

CALL-SETIP SUCCESS RATE, CALL DROP RATE AND MEAN OPTION SCORE (MOS)

E.G., ERRORS, DROPS, LATENCY, COUNTERS, 3GPP SIGNALING, ETC.

INDEX

KQI

KPI KPI

DATA DATA DATA DATA DATA DATA DATA DATA DATA

KPI KPI

KQI

Figure 6. Relationship between raw data, KPIs, KQIs and indexes

3.4.3 Impact and propagation engineEXFO Xtract hierarchy models introduced in section 3.3 (Service modelling) are deployed to model both service provisioning hierarchies and subscriber hierarchies. In the hierarchy model, the elements at the different levels of the hierarchy represent the state of the element. The state depends on the state of the connected lower level elements and on the data that is fed in directly to a particular hierarchy level.

The models can take active tests results, pre-processed passive monitoring results and NE counters as input data. By linking subscriber and service models it is possible to navigate between subscriber and service views for service quality management and troubleshooting purposes.


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3.4.4 Profiling engineThe profiling engine provides functionality for enriching data by identifying and creating profiles for various elements, such as subscribers, devices (handsets) or network locations.

The profiling engine collects information on the profiled elements and assigns the elements to categories based on defined rules. Profiles are utilized in the output modules for grouping, ranking and prioritizing information.

Examples of profiling functions include:

• Identifying and categorizing mobile subscribers based on passive monitoring data. The profi le includes information such as the fi rst and last time of activity, the latest handset type used, the home operator of the subscriber (in case of a roaming subscriber) and the usage and experience category (high, medium, low) based on service usage and experience.

• Ranking phone brands and models based on the quality of experience they provide.

• Identifying new phone models as they appear on the network.

• Ranking cell sites based on the quality of service they provide.

3.4.5 Baseline and deviation detectionThe baseline and deviation detection function is an extension to the profiling engine in which EXFO Xtract monitors selects KPIs/KQIs/indexes associated with an element to form a baseline of how the KPI behaves on an hourly and daily level. Using the baseline information, EXFO Xtract can detect and alert on unusual deviations from the baseline.

For example, the baseline for a cell site predicts that a typical call count at 10:00 a.m. on Mondays is 600. If this count suddenly drops to only 400 calls, an alarm is triggered.

The baselining function can also be used to analyze growth patterns to identify network bottlenecks and plan capacity expansions.

3.5 VisualizationThe EXFO Xtract flexible dashboard and reporting module ensures an optimized experience based on user profiles, job function or use cases. The dashboards are web-based with drag and drop capabilities and a context-sensitive drilldown. A large number of different types of visualization elements are available, from geographical maps to trending, worst and top N, alarm reports and much more.

The EXFO Xtract solution packages come with predefined canned dashboards that are designed for specific use cases. EXFO Xtract users can also create their own dashboards by customizing the predefined dashboards or creating completely new views suiting their personal workflows.

All elements of the dashboards enable seamless navigation between real-time and historical views. In order to facilitate troubleshooting of potential network issues, Xtract supports guided drilldowns both internally and to an external system (like EXFO Worx) to track the root cause of the issues.

Figure 7. Examples of EXFO Xtract dynamic dashboards


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3.6 AutomationThe automation layer enables the seamless integration of EXFO Xtract with OSS/BSS, big data and other CSP systems. The layer includes functionality for alarming and data extraction from the EXFO Xtract database. It also provides an open API for a better integration of EXFO Xtract with other systems.

3.6.1 AlarmingEXFO Xtract supports alarm capabilities that keep CSPs up to date concerning the performance metrics of the network being monitored and tested. Thresholds can be defined for KPIs, KQIs and indexes. When a threshold value is crossed, i.e. the monitored performance indicator either exceeds or undercuts the allowed value range, an alarm is immediately raised to inform the operation personnel on the condition.

Figure 8. Thresholds for KPIs, KQIs and indexes

3.6.2 Data extractionEXFO Xtract supports automated report generation. Reports on selected performance metrics can be created periodically and they are delivered via e-mail or as CSV files to the interested groups inside the CSP organization.

3.6.3 Open APIEXFO Xtract contains a REST API that can be used by external systems to access data and analytics functions in Xtract. The API allows 3rd party systems to obtain JSON objects based on filter criteria passed over the API.

For example, the REST API is ideal for integrating EXFO Xtract with customer care systems or embedding information from EXFO Xtract in a customer portal.


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4 SOLUTION EXAMPLESThis chapter provides examples of solutions utilizing EXFO Xtract.

4.1 Voice over LTE SolutionFrom a CSP’s service offering perspective, the voice over LTE (VoLTE) introduction is driven by the opportunity to introduce new premium services like high-definition voice combined with video calling and rich communications. The common IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) service machinery can be deployed to provide mobile, fixed and business services. Further cost savings can be achieved via a single packet switched data network as the legacy circuit-switched technology will be superseded. LTE also provides considerably higher spectral efficiency than 2G and 3G technologies and is thus capable of carrying more calls within the same frequency range.

4.1.1 VoLTE challengesAs an advanced yet complex technology, VoLTE presents deployment challenges for CSPs. Dedicated bearers with appropriate priority, delay constraints and packet error/loss rates are required for both media and signaling flows. Call procedure management introduces challenges especially in the introduction phase as circuit switched fallback (CSBF) and single radio voice call continuity (SRVCC) have to be supported.

From a service assurance perspective it is essential to provide a comprehensive set of tests, measurements and analysis to cover the whole end-to-end chain of VoLTE service offerings. Potential technology challenges include the following:

• Service availability requires registration and authentication is required to use IMS services

• Dropped calls especially during SRVCC, inter radio technology handovers, roaming and interconnect cases

• Latency that may increase due to signaling complexity and added load in IP security and home subscriber server

• Transport impairments including packet loss, jitter, IP route and class of service (CoS) management and traffi c prioritizing problems (e.g. wrong QCI)

• Voice impairments including Internet and streaming video interference, noise, transcoding and echo issues and incorrect codec selection

In addition to the purely technical aspects related to service reachability, availability and reliability, the CSPs need also to be able to follow the adoption and usage of VoLTE on the network and through the subscriber base. Understanding the adoption speed helps network capacity planning as well as marketing efforts.


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4.1.2 EXFO Xtract for VoLTE service assuranceEXFO Xtract provides a comprehensive solution for VoLTE service assurance. The solution comprises multilayer, multiservice active monitoring capabilities implemented with EXFO Active Verifiers. The verifiers are applied to run periodically and as requested to ensure the health of IMS infrastructure, support servers including home subscriber server (HSS), domain name server (DNS), policy control and policy and charging rules function (PCRF), as well as the correct operation of the underlying transport service infrastructure. EXFO Passive Monitors are applied to gather on-line data from both SIP signaling flows and RTP media flows. The solution is complemented with EXFO Mobile Agent that extends the text coverage down to the mobile terminals and the radio interface.

The analytics capabilities implemented in EXFO Xtract expand the solution beyond traditional network centric troubleshooting. Providing subscriber, service, mobile terminal and location oriented views, Xtract VoLTE Analytics enables the CSPs to take a subscriber centric approach to network and service quality monitoring. Combining information from active tests and passive monitoring with metadata on devices, subscriber groups and network elements EXFO Xtract analytics provide valuable insight for prioritizing resolution of trouble tickets and bringing up early indications on potential issues affecting subscribers’ service experience.

Figure 9. Subscriber-centric and network-level views of the data collected


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4.2 Packet Transport Service SolutionEXFO Xtract’s Packet Transport Suite of Analytics Packages provide a revolutionary solution set for providers who need to have a fully segmented end-to-end view of their packet transport network for engineering, planning and troubleshooting purposes. Having a complete view helps the provider understand which network segments contribute to network degradations as well as how well the end-to-end path is suited to support mission critical services such as VoLTE, Video and Financial Trading.

4.2.1 Packet transport challengesToday CSPs don’t have a complete, real-time view of their packet network. This lack of visibility creates many challenges with supporting delay sensitive applications. For instance, in the case of VoLTE, the analysis can be conducted separately for RF (Uu), eNB to SGW, SGW to PGW, PGW to IMS and over the backhaul and core networks. When these network segments are viewed as islands they may appear to be operating within acceptable limits but when viewed as a whole the picture may be very different. Only by seeing the network completely with an understanding of both the end-to-end and segment performance can the full picture be understood.

4.2.2 EXFO Xtract for packet transportEXFO Xtract for packet transport consists of three main elements:

• Network element performance data from SNMP polling. This data may also be gathered from Element Management Systems.

• Active testing measuring all transport segments of the network. This is accomplished using EXFO Verifi ers, NE embedded testing and EXFO software agents.

• Analytics to consolidate data to provide an end-to-end view, and calculate required KQIs and indexes

Figure 10. Examples of EXFO Xtract dynamic dashboards


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Figure 11. Examples of EXFO Xtract end-to-end IP transport dashboard


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5 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS AND SPECIFICATIONS5.1 System Requirements

5.1.1 Minimum system requirementsThe following minimum requirements must be met before installing EXFO Xtract. This system is compatible with a bare metal or virtualized installation.

• 64-bit Linux CentOS 6.3 or above system

• 4 Core CPU at 2.5 GHz

• 4 GB RAM with 500 MB disk space for installation

5.1.2 High volume systemThe following setup is recommended for a high volume system. This system is compatible for a bare metal or virtualize installation.

Server 1: Database Server

• 20 core CPU at 2.5 GHz or higher

• 64 GB RAM

• 2 TB or more of free disk space

Server 2: Application server

• 20 core CPU at 2.5 GHz or higher

• 128 GB RAM

• 500 GB free disk space

5.1.3 Virtualization supportThe following requirements are applicable to virtual deployment:

• VMware vSphere 5.1

• VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi) 5.5

• Xen hypervisor 4.4

5.1.4 End-user client requirementsEXFO Xtract can be run from any of the following browser versions (or later):

• Firefox version 32

• Chrome version 30

• Internet Explorer 11

• Safari 6

• Opera 12


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5.2 EXFO Xtract Platform Specifications

EXFO Xtract Specifications

Category Description

Performance EXFO Xtract utilizes an embedded high-performance columnar database which can handle billions of transactions while processing temporal and hierarchical data analysis including aggregations, trending, baselines and thresholds.

Scalability The solution can be distributed onto multiple servers to achieve scalability. The three major components that can be distributed are data collection, data processing and data warehousing.

Redundancy

EXFO Xtract has three major components that can be made redundant separately: Xtract Database, Xtract Application server and Xtract Web UI.

For each of these three components, a watchdog procedure is put in place to track the availability of the component at both sides. If a failure is detected the failover procedure will be started until the system detects that it is no longer needed.

Data replication The embedded database contains built-in replication technology to eliminate data losses.

Data loss

EXFO Xtract leverages different techniques to minimize data loss such as memory caching, syslog and data replay.

The following two scenarios can result a data loss:

› Hardware failure of the database server while the data is being written to disk. EXFO Xtract writes data with checkpoints and redo logs so only the data that was being written between 2 checkpoints may be lost.

› Prolonged failure between the database and application server or application server and data source resulting in hard drive reaching capacity.

Data security An audit log written to the database tracks user activities. EXFO Xtract also leverages user and profile settings for data access control and segregation.

Remote maintenance EXFO Xtract fully supports remote maintenance using standard Linux tools.

Backup procedure All EXFO Xtract data is stored into the database which can be fully backed up and restored.


2TEST — российский производитель и поставщик комплексных телекоммуникационных, контрольно-измерительных и инфраструктурных решений, более 23 лет обеспечивает клиентов передовыми инструментами для мониторинга, тестирования и оптимизации сетей мобильной и фиксированной связи, контроля качества предоставляемых услуг и анализа пользовательского опыта (CEM).

Компания 2TEST является официальным дистрибьютором EXFO в России и осуществляет прямые поставки всего спектра продуктов производителя в заданные сроки. Штат квалифицированных инженеров позволяют 2test выполнять работы любой сложности по внедрению, интеграции и сопровождению поставляемых решений, обеспечивая заказчика высококлассной технической экспертизой и поддержкой на всех стадиях проекта.

Узнайте больше о возможностях обеспечить высококлассное качество обслуживания вашим клиентам. Свяжитесь с официальным дистрибьютором EXFO в России — компанией 2test.

Напишите на [email protected] и звоните по телефону: +7 495 215-57-17

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