Probe infrastructure platform

MoniTel's advanced Signaling probe is an enabling technology tool for various value added signaling based applications such as location, revenue assurance, billing verification, fraud profiling and roaming.
Some of these applications are provided by MoniTel and some are provided by 3rd parties. The probe is compatible with wireline, wirless and data networks. It provides an overall view of Signaling status from CDR/SMDR/TDR/IPDR generation perspectives. Using the probing system, operation managers and technical personnel may monitor, analyze, control and troubleshoot their Signaling network from a centralized environment. Using the real-time data collection capabilities of the probing system, it provides a unique solution for Signaling based on proven data collection and acquisition equipment.

The platform's main features are:

• Data storage in standard database.
• CDR/SMDR/TDR/IPDR collection and correlation.
• Real-time monitoring and reactive triggering functions.
• Interfacing with OSS/BSS applications such as Revenue Assurance, fraud profiling, etc.

 

MoniTel probe infrastructure platform consists of the following elements:

• Probe unit which resides by the network element and extracts the signaling information. The probe unit communicates with the main processing unit. Typical deployment involves installation of large number (tens up to hundreds) of probe units.
• Main processing unit to process the data collected by the probe units and host the database of the probing platform.
• Application Interface which provide a flexible interface layer to variety of OSS/BSS applications and systems.

 

The probe unit

The probe unit is based on a powerful access controller. A fully programmable communication interfaces offers a comprehensive design supporting voice, data, signaling and monitoring applications all via one architecture.

The probe interface options include:

• Up to 24 fully channelized T1/E1/J1 spans (768 software programmable channels).
• Two 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports.
• Four OC3/STM1 optical transpotation.

 

The Probing platform is fully compatible with the following networks:

• UMTS/CDMA 2000, 3rd Generation networks
• GSM phase 2/2.5
• PSTN
• ATM Network, HSSL, IMA
• Fast Ethernet Network

Considering space constraints, the modern design enables monitoring 196 E1/T1 streams in a 6U chassis, providing the most powerful and flexible communication probe in the market.

 

 

The processing unit

The processing unit resides in an external server. The probe captures messages from the signaling system and sends them to the mediator located in the external server. The mediator receives messages, combines it and generates a Detail Records (DR) that documents the call or the transaction. This process is called DR correlation.
The DRs are created while the call is still active. Once the call is completed, the mediator passes to the application a full DR that documented the call.

The real-time capability of the Probing platform is unique. It provides an operation manager with a powerful tool that enables creation of value added services that were not available until now. In existing networks, the information about a customer call is spread among different elements in the network. It is forwarded to the billing and service applications in batches, thus the information is reassembled and processed to meaningful (and billable) data in delay. In multi-vendors network, it is even more complicated. Using MoniTel Probing platform, the records are created while the call is still active and immediately it becomes available to the application level.
This advanced and unique feature is essential for real-time DR based applications, such as fraud management, long duration call surveillance and call trace.
Thus, the nature of network information actually changes - network management is tightened, revenue leakage is reduced and new advanced services became available.

The processing unit features an open database, which uses Oracle Relational Data Base Management Systems (RDBMS). The use of distributed databases and processing enables to add processing capabilities and storage enhancements without software modification. Thus, as surveillance management requirements change and the Signaling network grows, our system may grow as well.

 

The application interface

The application interface is based on an open, client/server architecture. Use of this open architecture with industry standard operating environments and protocols such as Linux, UNIX, Windows, TCP/IP, SNMP and others, enables the system to be easily integrated into existing corporate computing environments.
In addition, compliance to ITU-T, ANSI, ETSI, IETF, 3GPP and other recommendations permits expansion of this platform to include operations with other network element management functions and systems.