TURNING SYSTEM EXPERTISE INTO VALUE
Layered Approach to Network
Planning
The ATM module of ESG-NetCOP
introduces the ATM layer as the
transport layer of the UMTS network.
With this module, ESG-NetCOP sup-
ports an orthogonal layered approach
which allows integrated planning of
both the logical layer (client layer) and
the data link layer (server layer).
Between the client layer and the serv-
er layer, the fundamental information
to be exchanged consists of traffic
requirements (demands) between
pairs of nodes.
Each UMTS node (e.g. NodeB, RNC,
3G-MSC, 3G-SGSN, Media Gate-
way) has an integrated ATM switch.
Furthermore, the ATM topology may
be based on or extended with stand-
alone ATM switches. ESG-NetCOP
also supports the modelling of an
ATM backbone through the use of so-
called ATM gates. The ATM backbone
is then treated like a “black box” part
of the ATM network.
The traffic requirements are passed
to the ATM layer as traffic demands
per application type, with an associ-
ated required bandwidth. It is possible
to manually add demands to this de-
mand table and thus to model addi-
tional traffic that needs to be carried
within the ATM layer.
Planning Objectives
Configuration of the ATM layer is a
significant and time-consuming task,
in particular within the UTRAN. On
average, each Node-B requires 5 to
10 different PVCs to be set up (varies
with different vendors). This can eas-
ily reach up to several thousands of
PVCs for an UTRAN network, whose
configuration needs to be adjusted
frequently as demand grows. The
ATM module relieves the operator of
the burden of configuring these PVCs
manually.
Another important issue is the cost
of the transport network, in particu-
lar in the case that resources are
shared between 2G (BSS/TDM) and
3G (UTRAN/ATM) equipment, either
in the form of fractional ATM or CES.
This issue is addressed by algorithms
to optimise the network topology with
regard to cost and to dimension links
with regard to the requested QoS.
ESG-NetCOP
Network Config