ALCATEL-LUCENT 9959 NPO

NETWORK PERFORMANCE OPTIMIZER

RELEASE 6.1

The Alcatel-Lucent 9959 Network Performance Optimizer (NPO) allows mobile service providers to
monitor and optimize the performance of their radio access networks. Available for multiple radio
access technologies and network sizes, it offers state-of-the-art self-optimization (SON), perfor-
mance monitoring and call analysis capabilities for heterogeneous networks. It accelerates the
deployment of wireless broadband services and simplifies operations, securing operator revenues.

OVERVIEW such as the investigation of complex Its modular product structure is based on a
performance issues. As the system set of optional modules sharing a common
Radio Access Networks (RANs) are
autonomously detects QoS threshold viola- architecture and network data repository,
complex systems based on sophisticated
tions and identifies longer term trends, fostering common practices within wire-
hardware and algorithms. A huge number
the 9959 NPO helps anticipate problems less service providers’ engineering roles
of measurements must be carefully and
before they become critical and enables via a set of complementary optimization
frequently analyzed to maintain sub-
network capacity extensions where and domains:
scriber satisfaction and guarantee efficient
when they are most appropriate.
use of the radio spectrum and hardware
9959 NPO-SON (LTE)
assets. From the collection of performance
The 9959 NPO addresses the end-to-end • Manages SON policies based on location,
measurements to the identification of
optimization of mobile networks, from algorithm and operator decisions
problems and solutions, the 9959 NPO
the radio access to the LTE packet core, • Controls SON based on operator decisions
helps wireless service providers to
without requiring separate teams to
efficiently store, post-process and analyze • Monitors impacts of the self optimization
investigate problems using multiple and
the vast amount of data collected by the on QoS and ensures convergence of key
disparate tools. Thanks to its end to end
network elements. As a result, the 9959 performance indicators (KPIs)
approach and highly integrated processes,
NPO is able to characterize the behavior • Implements centralized algorithms
it can save significant amounts of training,
of the RAN elements and end-user devices where overall, holistic approach is more
help streamline operations and provide
in order to improve the efficiency of the appropriate, for example, coverage
unparalleled efficiency to solve perfor-
network while reducing manual operations optimization
mance issues.
thanks to the high degree of automation
• Coordinates distributed SON processing
brought by the Self Optimizing Network
(SON) features brought by the release 6.1.
9959 NPO
The 9959 NPO is an integrated product Self-optimizing network Service assurance Per call analytics
suite that responds efficiently to the large
variety of performance problems opera-
tors are facing with their RANs. Based • SON centralized capabilities • RAN performance monitoring • Detailed call analysis
on a unique combination of an intuitive • SON control and policies and tuning • QoE measurements
• SON visualization • RAN availability statistics • Traffic statistics
but sophisticated user interface, multiple
data sources, analytics and advanced
algorithms, the 9959 NPO increases the
efficiency of the QoS monitoring, trouble-
shooting and optimization activities. The
automation of repetitive daily tasks frees
up valuable expert resources, allowing
SON

them to focus on more essential activities,

Devices and
Radio access network Packet core
subscribers
 9959 NPO-per call analytics (LTE)
• End-to-end detailed analysis of subscriber
calls, bearer setup, duration, and throughput
• Fine-grained and per minute
measurements offering statistics per
call/connection, per International Mobile
Subscriber Identity (IMSI)
• Network-wide statistics including
attachment and paging statistics with
breakdown per user equipment (UE) vendor
• UE localization and detailed RF
measurements to help troubleshoot
complex propagation situations
• Geographical displays of traffic density
or call problems to identify hot spots and
trouble spots
9959 NPO-service assurance (LTE, W-CDMA/
HSPA, GSM/GPRS/edge)
• Optimize handover parameters and
identify missing neighbor cells
• Adjust power parameters
• Measure and produce reports of network
availability
• Evaluate the impact of a new service
launch
• Refine market modeling with advanced
traffic statistics across the different
geographies
FEATURES
SON
• Self-configuration reduces amount of
time spent when installing base stations
and prevents errors that may require
revisiting sites
• Automatic Neighbor Relations and Physical
Cell Identifier allocation replace manual
planning and configuration of handover
relations
• Mobility Robustness Optimization
automatically adjusts the base stations to
improve handover performance, based on
observed handover failure KPIs
• Capacity and Coverage Optimization
based on permanent analysis of traffic
measurements and automated antenna
steering
Alcatel-Lucent 9959 NPO | Release 6.1
ALCATEL-LUCENT DATA SHEET
2
Data processing
• Performance measurements storage and
aggregation increase historical analysis
efficiency
• Geographical Information System and
Matrix display capability increase
troubleshooting efficiency
• Flexible external interfaces accelerate
integration with external systems
• On-line help provides detailed description
of counters, parameters and rules
Configuration parameter handling
• Field versus target values comparisons
with evolution reports
• Tuning function allows operators to
perform selective bulk configuration
parameter changes
• Correlation of parameter changes with
QoS events help derive root causes
• Customizable rules checker ensures
engineering dependencies are enforced
among parameters
Measurements and reports
• Advanced metrics definition (KPIs)
computation using system- or user-defined
arithmetic and statistical formulas
• Graphical reports with built-in library can
be scheduled
• Built-in metrics library for each supported
RAN technology
• Real-time monitoring dashboard for
critical KPIs
• Building of complete, customizable reports,
for example, call drops or traffic throughput
• Per-call measurement for subscriber- or
device-level analysis
Diagnosis and alerts
• Detection of QoS threshold violations
and trend evaluation
• Technology-specific functions increase
analysis value (carrier occupancy,
Handover Matrix, Radio Distribution
Matrix)
• Call failure analysis
• Network outages reporting (downtime,
unavailability statistics)
• Alarm statistics
BENEFITS
One of the key strengths of the 9959 NPO
resides in a good integration of the various
performance optimization functions within
a single product suite, built on top of a
powerful data management infrastructure.
The access by any function to the
performance measurements and configura-
tion parameter history for all nodes in
the network enables the SON algorithms
to operate with a much higher knowledge
both temporally and spatially, resulting in
better relevance and higher reliability. The
coherent combination of multiple optimiza-
tion activities (SON, QoS monitoring, call
analysis and network stability reporting)
based on a single set of measurements
adds consistency, efficiency and relevance
to the operator’s processes.
Increased QoS
• Improved coverage and capacity
through SON
• Traffic and capacity monitoring help
identify hot spots requiring upgrades
• Network areas with poor performance are
automatically detected and highlighted to
the operator
• Self-optimizing algorithms are controlled
and their efficiency constantly assessed
• Measurements collected from mobile
devices can virtually transform any user
device into drive test equipment
• Network performance can be improved
faster by automating and accelerating
parameter tuning
 Reduced OPEX The 9959 NPO is based on a multi-user The NPO-SON module is a complete SON
• Reduces need for drive tests client-server architecture and offers environment that implements centralized
carrier-grade administration and reliabil- SON features and controls the distributed
• Optimizes the most important RAN
ity. It supports the Citrix terminal server ones. It offers full visibility by means of
KPI with autonomous and reliable SON
architecture, and provides interfaces to a SON dashboard summarizing the most
algorithms
the external management system, allowing relevant network KPIs, and a secured
• Efficiently collects, aggregates and
the operator to retrieve measurements process via manual override and roll-back
analyzes all performance management
via a Web (HTTP/XML) or CLI (EQL) mechanisms to safe baseline network
data
interface, or to send QoS alarms (based parameters. The ability to show network
• Automates recurring tasks on threshold violations) to an external QoS evolution over time is also key for
• Comes pre-integrated with Alcatel-Lucent system. Measurements and reports the acceptance of automated processes
RAN releases can be exported in various formats, by operators. NPO-SON addresses this
including Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. requirement and allows the operator to
Faster time to market A rich administration interface allows define differentiated SON policies depend-
• Reduces network planning needs an operator to customize the 9959 NPO ing on the network area.
environment in order to match a wide
• Shortens time to deploy and meet the
range of specific requirements, such as
target KPIs TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
exchanging data dictionaries or managing
• Delivered pre-integrated, pre-tested user accesses. • Server operating system: Linux
for immediate use and together with • Supported technologies and domains:
the RAN release The 9959 NPO uses a distributed database ¬ RAN (macro and small cells)
architecture, allowing service providers ¬ Evolved packet core
PRODUCT ARCHITECTURE to scale the system to the size of the
¬ eMBMS
NPO connects to the RAN Management managed network. The benefits of the
performance collection, storage and ¬ LTE
System or to the optional Trace Collection
post-processing of the 9959 NPO can be ¬ GSM/GPRS
Element that is responsible for the collec-
tion of the measurements acquired by the extended to external Operations Support ¬ W-CDMA/HSPA+
different network elements composing the Systems via easy-to-integrate, industry-
RAN, including: standard northbound interfaces. QoS alarm • Report formats: Microsoft® Excel®, PDF,
• Base Stations (BTS) and Base Station notifications are available via SNMP traps, CSV, HTML or XML
Controller/Packet Control Unit (BSC/PCU) while measurements and KPIs can be
• Client workstations (minimum
for GSM networks extracted by external applications using
requirements):
the EQL interface.
• NodeB and Radio Network Controller ¬ PC workstation with 4 GB RAM or more
(RNC) for W-CDMA networks
¬ Microsoft Windows® XP, or Windows 7
• eNodeB, Mobility Management Entity
¬ CPU core 2 duo or higher
(MME), Serving Gateway (S-GW) and
• Capacity and server dimensioning*
Packet Data Network Gateway (P-GW)
for LTE networks

Table 1. Capacity and server dimensioning

CELLS OPERATOR POSITIONS PROCESSORS RAM (GB) STORAGE SPACE (TB)
Small 1500 15 1 32 3.6
Medium 12,000 45 2+2 128 10.8
XLarge 48,000 120 4+2 448 28.8

*Informational – Hardware requirements may vary depending on features activated. Please contact your Alcatel-Lucent representative for platform sizing recommendations.

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