Module 1
Course Intent
To provide users with no prior knowledge of Actix theoretical understanding of Actix capabilities To focus mainly on basic features rather than on implementation of macros and usage of advanced features To Show how the Actix RVS suite is used in practical tasks related to Nokia UMTS projects To provide the users with confidence in the usage of Actix by mean of practical exercises
Content
Module 1 Getting started Configuring Actix Learning Actix Module 3 Practical exercises /
(Working with scanner and call trace data)
Getting Started
What is Actix? Actix Solutions RVS Installation Licencing
Getting Started
Actix is a Post-Processing tool
Input: Tracer data: NEMO, TEMS, Qvoice Scanner Data Traffic records (switch traces), e.g. Ericsson, Motorola Protocol analyser data A, Abis, Gb interfaces e.g. Nethawk, Tektronix Output: Maps Charts Tables Reports Diagrams
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ACTIX SOLUTIONS
RVS Suite
Suitable to analyze measurements of the UMTS radio interface Support a large number of vendor/standard file formats for DT, trace, protocol analysers Provides results in a wide variety of formats Good user interface (easy to adapt) High level of customisation ability Structurised data presentation capabilities Fast overview analysis with pre-defined reports
Installation
Support Windows 2000 and Windows XP operation systems System spec. has a great impact on peformance e.g. 3GHz processor with 1 Gb Ram is good !! 1.5GHz processor with 512Mb Ram is enough if not big amount of data is processed During installation installation of MapX OCX modules takes time, be patient Post installation No need to re-boot
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Licencing
Single Machine Licencing: Dongle + Licence file Not transferrable
Licencing (2)
Sever Licencing: dinamic allocation of licences
Licencing (3)
Diagnostics Tool Start from actix program group Management -> AtxDiagnostics Generate report => This will show the licensing set-up If dongle ID not present in report => server licensing or dongle not detected License definitions File ActixLicensing.ini Located in <PATH>\Analyzer\Bin\LicenseDefinition Contains license server(s) and configuration options for server license management
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Configuring Actix
Menu overview Importing / Setting up Maps Configuring cellrefs file Open scanner files Information Attributes Working with data / Charts Tables Woorkbooks Open call trace file Adding attributes to favourites Log file browsing Protocol browser Message browser Log file combining Super streaming
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Configuration of Actix
Import Backdrop Map Import Network Data (sites and cells)
Ready to start!
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Main Window
Toolbar
Main menu
Status bar
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Main Menu/File
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Main Menu/View
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Main Menu/Analysis
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Main Menu/Tools
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Importing Map
View -> Display New Map Mapinfo Interface, add map in the same way as Mapinfo
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Map tools
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?!?
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Learning Actix
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Learning Actix
Scanner files Open scanner files Information Attributes Charts Tables Woorkbooks Display element synchronisation Export data Call trace files Open call trace file Adding attributes to favourites Log file browsing
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Scanner files
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Notice that the BEST SERVER (Nth Nth Best) is defined and sorted always by the best Ec/Io
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Thresholds for RSCP Map representation is very convenient for displaying measurements from a topological point of view
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Right-click on the desired map element (in this case: RSCP) - > Modify Ranges Both levels and colors can be defined When the dialog window is closed settigs must be saved.
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>=-75 excellent
>= - 4 excellent
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CLicking on any point on the trace, the lines to best server (continuos) and second best server (dashed) are displayed
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We can thus set the same paramenters which are in the Network
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Topological Attributes
Serving cell is in this case the Best Server
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Syncronization can be activated from Tools -> Preferences (Auto Sync to stream) It is not enabled by default: computing power consuming Charts, Tables and Maps may display same attributes or different ones
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CHARTS: Also here there are two choices: Right-click on the chart and select Image Export.... Click on Copy on the chart window and record the image on the clipboard
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Message Browser
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Superstreaming
It is reccomended not to have very long logfiles when collecting data Smaller logfiles can be recombined with the superstream tool
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Superstreaming (2)
Tools -> Create Superstream Logfiles can be selected individually Superstream is available in the workspace browser Superstreming does not create a bigger logfile but rather combine the existing data using pointers.
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Content
Module 1 Getting started Configuring Actix Learning Actix Module 3 Practical exercises /
(Working with scanner and call trace data)
Pre-Launch Optimization
Pre-Launch Optimization is done when Network is built and integrated, but there is no commercial traffic in it In GSM coverage is an issue. In UMTS interferance is critical Realiability of equipement migh not be as good as in GSM
Standard process
SITE VERIFICATION
CLUSTER VERIFICATION
NETWORK VERIFICATION
Efficiency and accuracy of analysis Standard documentation big amount of data to be analyzed
Global settings
Actix MainUser is in charge of defining: Thresholds for map plots Templates for measurement report forms Many people in different regions using the same tool. Process is needed
Tracer
Display events on the measurement route (SHO, Drop call etc) RSCP best server Ec/Io plot UE TX power
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Tracer
Display events on the measurement route (SHO, Drop call etc) RSCP best server Ec/Io plot UE TX power
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Network Verification
Final stage Problem should be fixed in the two previous stages Many measurement routes which can be combined by superstreaming
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Practical Exercises
Module 3
Content
Module 1 Getting started Configuring Actix Learning Actix Module 3 Practical exercises /
(Working with scanner and call trace data)
Practical Exercises
Site Verification Cluster Verification SHO Analysis
Site Verification
Site to be verified is Erstein Following issues need to be verified: All sectors are performing normally and radiating Check cross-feeder Voice call establishes normally SHO occours successfully Receiving end of Node be is performing normally (MHA, cabling receiver)
Cluster verification
Check for Pilot pollution Check for sites with no dominance Find non working sites Check performance (throughtput) Check what is the minumun value of RSCP during successfull SHO
Sectors not operating can be detected looking at the list of measured SC in scanner measurements
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SHO analysis
Check what is the minumun value of RSCP during successfull SHO This kind of analysis can be performed exporting attribute data to Excel Workbook First thing to do is to load all NEMO files (*.dt1) and superstream them From the superstrem we can export some attributes to Excel WOrkbook
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3G UMTS -> Event Data -> Handoff Events -> Uu_HandoffOK 3G UMTS -> Downlink Measurements -> Uu_ActiveSet_RSCP -> Uu_ActiveSet_RSCP_0 3G UMTS -> Downlink Measurements -> Uu_ActiveSet_EcNo -> Uu_ActiveSet_EcNo_0 Data Testing -> Application Measurements -> App_Throughput_DL
In Column Uu_HandoffOK select Handover Ok In Column App_Thgroughtput_DL select Custom -> is greater than 120 Sort by.. RSCP
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Advanced features
Module 4
Content
Module 1 Getting started Configuring Actix Learning Actix Module 3 Practical exercises /
(Working with scanner and call trace data)
Advanced features
Network Images Binning Queries and macros Stateforms Reports Actix directory hierarchy
Network Images
A collection of a large number/large size log files for the purpose of looking at specific attribute/parameters. single data file (.dat file) that contains the results of a series of queries run on a collection of logfiles. logfiles can be added to the Network Image, increasing the size of the data file. E,g, log files collected in monthly images to evaluate monthly performace.
Binning
Criteria
Criteria
Data
Bin
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Queries are saved within the workspace In the tag Existing Analisies we can find some predefined Queries which can be used as template. This is very useful since this part is not very well documented
Stateforms
Stateforms are are a collection of pre-defined windows/pop-ups designed to visualize particular information from log file data UMTS Data Event Navigator UMTS Data Session UMTS Throughput UMTS Top 10 Scan Measurements UMTS UE Active + Monitored Set UMTS UE Call Information UMTS UE Measurements Charts UMTS UE Radio Parameters UMTS UE Transport Channel Info UMTS Voice Event Navigator
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Stateforms (2)
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Stateforms (3)
With this set of tools we can displays events in a for which is similiar to what we have in the NEMO Replay Feature. Some of the element can be activated by right-clicking on the file lement in the workspace Explorer and then Display form Othr elements can be taken from Menu: Tools Display Replay allows to replay the session at the desired speed
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Reports
Actix is capable of generating Excel-based reports Reports need to be customized according to the technology and the signalling in use Reports provide advanced KPI analysys for System Performance Test Realiability of such reports is still a major issue......
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Directories to notice
StateForms Workspaces Reports Events Bin Cellref Custom Attributes
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Additional Information
Tool Preferences Issues before starting Attributes Workspace Cellrefs structure modifications
Tool Preferences
Preferences Settings
Menu bar Tool>Preferences
Settings Summary
Cellrefs
settings for cellrefs location and autoimport handling Neighbour list handling Stream synchronisation GPS interpolation Distance Units Time offsets Data binning general decode settings and scanner load mode settings PCM link settings from Interface masurement handling Agilent file specific handling settings WCDMA (3GPP) emulated active set settings Used in CPICH pilot pollution analysis, SHO analysis, neighbour list analysis
Settings in detail
Cellrefs
File Location Specifies file location for cellrefs file for loading. The information from this cellrefs file takes effect from the next time a new workspace is created. Automatic Import Options to automatically import cellrefs file with a specified template. This overrides above location/settings
Settings in detail
General settings
Auto Synch To Stream Checked for automatically synchronizing all data views in the Workspace from selected stream. GPS interpolation
Provides automatic GPS interpolation of geographical drive test data points if location point difference exceeded. Set distance units used Provide offset adjustement for call trace files
Decode Settings
how data from scanner are taken into account by the tool at load time PCM link settings from INterface masurement handling Agilent file specific handling settings WCDMA (3GPP) emulated active set settings Used in CPICH pilot pollution analysis, SHO analysis,
Settings in detail
Decode Settings
Minimum valid Signal Level (dBm)
Defines minimum level of valid RSSI sample Used to calculate the threshold at which multipath components are counted in the delay histograms for the Active, Candidate, Neighbor, and Remaining sets from the searcher finger data. Defines how often measurements are reported, measured in chips. Defines the number of multipaths that will be extracted and displayed in the Workspace Explorer. Defines how often scanner measurements are reported, measured in chips. Used to calculate the PN Offset (units of 64 chips) associated with the PN Phase (units of chips) data reported in the CDMA air-interface messaging. PN Offset is calculated by dividing the PILOT_PN_PHASE by 64 and then rounding to the closest integer multiple of the PN increment entered. This feature forces all PN Offsets calculated to be part of a valid PN reuse plan.
Pilot Increment
Settings in detail
Decode Settings
Too Many Neighbors Threshold Defines the maximum number of entries in the eighbour lists. When eighbour list entries in the air interface messaging exceed this threshold, an event (TooManyNeighbors) is displayed in the Workspace Explorer and a warning message is indicated in the *.warning output file. Weak Ec/Io Pilot Threshold Defines when the best server pilot has dropped beneath a tolerable threshold and is considered weak. This displays an event (WeakPilotAlert) in the Workspace Explorer and in the warning file. Display Cell Identity as Hex Check the box to display the Cell Identity (CI) in hexadecimal (rather than decimal) in the Message Browser.
Settings in detail
No of Frame Errors in a Burst Defines the size of a burst for Burst Error Rate calculations (time series parameter: For_FBER). Searcher Threshold not in use Scanner Ec/Io Threshold (dB) Determines whether a multipath component may be evaluated and displayed in the Workspace Explorer. The Explorer will only display the top n multipaths, where n is the Number of multipaths. Scanner Load Mode These options control the loading of scanner data (collected concurrently with network drive data) for certain vendors i.e. for CW scanners from Agilent, Comarco, or Tems RSAT. Load Mode No Scanner Data Disables loading of scanner data. Load TopN scanner data only Loads just the 'top n' or 'best server' scanner data. Load all scanner data Loads all the scanner data.
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Settings in detail
GSM Bands Used
GSM specific - Which GSM bands to load (time saving
PCM link
Load Mode This is used for PCM Link data such as A, Abis and Gb files. Minimal (default) Only loads data produced by the currently attached Load Time Queries. Full Loads the entire file. PCU Abis Vendor -- e.g. Nokia, Ericsson etc,etc Ainterface File Stsndard -- ITU or ANSI
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Settings in detail
Agilent MDB
Show Agilent data selection dialog No to load all data from an Agilent file. Yes to display the dialog when opening an Agilent file. The dialog allows selection of specific data sets rather than loading the entire file. Further user can control intermediate file handling
Agilent SD5
Show Agilent-specific attributes
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Settings in detail
WCDMA Parameters to emulate (3GPP) AS Results used in actix in CPICH pilot pollution analysis, SHO analysis, neighbour list analysi Reporting Range Event1A/1B/1C (dB) Add/Remove/Replace cell Hysteresis Event1A/1B/1C (dB) Add/Remove/Replace cell Time to Trigger Event1A/1B/1C (ms) Add/Remove/Replace cell Max. Active Set Size (up to 8)
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Pre-processing of DT files
Proprioity formats TEMS proprority file format needs pre-exporting to text file Controlled with associated template file Functionality of TEMS WCDMA Performance aspects Files v. ram memory i.e. trade off that can limit number of log files simultaneously open alt. size of log file
Hence, different vendors, different log file size. Scan file typically 10-400 Mb Trace file 10 50 Mb Size dependent on measurement equipment number, equipment settings and route length.
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Attributes
Attribute is actix concept of data items, An example is CPICH Ec/Io for best server An attribute can be generic or customised Attributes are stored as xml in either of these locations depending on origin <PATH>\Actix\Analyzer\Bin\Attributes <PATH>\Actix\Analyzer\Bin\CustomAttributes
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Attributes
Large amount of attributes, not all necessary at same time Utilisation of Favourites helps filtering attribute amount in workspace explorer
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Workspace
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Workspace
The workspace constitutes all data display windows within the Actix application window, together with the panel on the left called the Workspace Explorer. Default is empty, except workspace explorer Saving workspace === Window layout and representation Loaded data files Queries reports
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Workspace
Workspace provide a way to utilise different window / panels setups for streamlining work, e.g. not to open samel log files /windows all the time
NOTE! Hence saving workspace saves also defined/used queries/reports. If an entity is opened with a different definition than in the used workspace there is a risk of corruption of the workspace. Example, a workspace with queries/reports of vendor A is open. Running a report from vendor B will give strange results and overwrite/corrupt quereis
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Workspace
Actix soltion may have sets of generic workspaces and these are found in location
<PATH>\Analyzer\Workspaces
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Cell ref structure modifications (how to add attributes to cell ref file, if working) Should be done with care / file backup necessary !!
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DefNetworkData.ini Structure
Comments (preceeded by ;) Network Elements section ([Network Elements]) Network elements and their corresponding field names Fields section ([Fields]) Field definitions
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