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Catapult test solutions for Protocol Analysis – Protocol Monitoring –

Portable 3G Troubleshooting and Optimization of UMTS Networks
12th October , 2005

Europe : Tektronix announced the PC-based NSA18, a new generation UMTS UTRAN protocol analysis platform. The NSA18 consists of portable network probes and leverages the Network and Service Analyzer (NSA) for UTRAN software announced earlier this year for the award-winning K15 protocol test and monitoring platform. The new 3G protocol analysis platform facilitates deployment of triple play services over UMTS Radio Access Networks by providing automated topology discovery, detailed analysis of interactions between UMTS network components, portability of test equipment between test sites, easy field use and offers a number of configuration options. The NSA18 delivers the most advanced UMTS data capture and real time analysis hardware available today.

Triple Play voice, data and video services are the new market imperative for service providers and require a sophisticated infrastructure. With an increasingly more complex radio system than in any previous wireless system, UMTS raises challenges in the design, deployment and operation of 3G mobile networks. Engineers and technicians operating in the field require portability, extensive flexibility and performance to solve problems that have been identified. They need fast and flexible tools in order to capture relevant data for offline analysis. Beginning with configurations containing only a single probe, NSA18 provides scalability to meet every budget requirement and performance for the most demanding technical needs. With highly automated analysis algorithms, integrated auto-configuration and exceptional ease of use, the NSA18 reduces the time required to perform troubleshooting and root cause analysis on complex, multi-port and multi-protocol problems, speeding deployment and improving quality of service. With a low entry price and a modular, scalable architecture, the PC-based NSA18 monitoring platform provides equipment manufacturers and operators the flexibility to effectively plan investments without compromising performance.

“In today’s market, where new technologies add complexity and at the same time margins continue to tighten, customers need fast, flexible and cost effective solutions in order to meet demand and maintain profitability,” said Alois Hauk, Vice President and General Manager, Monitoring and Protocol Test, Tektronix. “The new Tektronix NSA18 monitoring platform is designed to enable customers to meet the challenges of 3G operations with reduced acquisition and upgrade costs. NSA18 provides a complete, portable and powerful solution for the optimization and troubleshooting of UMTS Radio Access Networks.”

A Range of Solutions: High Performance and Increased Flexibility

The NSA18 is designed to complement the current Tektronix K15 UMTS monitoring platform, providing both the highest degree of portability and the highest level of scalable performance available on the market. With the NSA18, customers obtain a completely scalable platform, starting with a single link (stand-alone probe) to a high number of links (multi-probe) to address the varied needs of network operators and equipment manufacturers. The PC platform enables customers to minimize acquisition costs and obtain the high speed performance they need.

First introduced in February, the NSA for UTRAN software can now run on an external PC and can be seamlessly used to analyze data collected with both the K15 and the new NSA18 UTRAN monitoring hardware platforms. This versatility of use and flexibility of configuration allows mobile network operators and equipment manufacturers to obtain greater value and protect their investment in test equipment.

NSA for UTRAN Provides Test and Troubleshooting Efficiency

The NSA for UTRAN software provides fully automated instrument configuration for Iub, Iur, Iu-CS and Iu-PS interfaces as well as the ability to perform Multi Interface Call Trace with user plane tracking capability. The NSA for UTRAN also provides fully automated Network Topology Discovery, enabling effective troubleshooting of live 3G networks that otherwise would not be possible.

Key performance indicators (KPI) provide the ability to relate breakdowns per service (e.g. voice, video, packet), per network element (e.g., cell, NodeB, RNC, SGSN, MSC), per call and per subscriber (e.g. IMSI, MSISDN) to communication protocol events in the network infrastructure. This built-in intelligence is essential to navigate through data results and to narrow the scope of the problem to isolate the ultimate root cause. Without these applications, it would take technicians hours to identify the proper network parameters (VPI, VCI, CID) for configuration before starting to perform troubleshooting.

Cell Overlapping Matrix Application Supports Network Optimization

UMTS cell coverage areas overlap one another and network operators have the challenge to prepare reliable cell planning to guarantee high quality of service. When a UMTS handset reaches the boundary of the coverage area of one cell, it has to be guaranteed that interference from adjacent cells will not interfere with the radio link quality and the user perceived quality of service. If the interference is too strong, service deteriorates, reliable handover operations to the adjacent cell can be impeded and the user connection possibly terminated.

With NSA for UTRAN, operators are able to display the interference levels between any two cells. Using the Cell Overlapping Matrix application, network operators can see the influence of adjacent cells on the cell under analysis. The Cell Overlapping Matrix reduces time for network reconfiguration tasks such as populating the RNC cell neighboring list and creating a cell scrambling code plan.
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