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Home > Analysis (T1/E1/T3/OC-3/STM-1) > Software Applications > Protocol Analysis

Overview
CDMA technology has undergone many stages of revolution to offer improved voice and data service to the end users.
In order to deliver both voice as well as data service with very high transmission rate, CDMA network has incorporated many new nodes
and protocols with respect to old 2G or 2.5G networks (GSM and GPRS network).
The latest 3G technology, called CDMA 2000 1xEV-DV is capable of delivering integrated voice and simultaneous multimedia services at
peak data rates of 3.09 Mbps to the end subscriber.
IS-2000 is the signaling standard, which defines protocols for several critical 3G CDMA interfaces pertaining to packet transmission
namely A1, A7, A9 and A11 (shown below). An IS-2000 compliant Mobile Station (MS) can select either packet-switched data (PSD) or
circuit-switched data (CSD) transport. CSD has maximum rate of 19.2 kbps and is delivered over traditional TDM circuits. PSD offers higher
data rate for multimedia services. For each data session, a PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol) session is created between the Mobile Station
and the Packet Data Serving Node (PDSN).
The CDMA2000 network comprises of the Radio Access Network (RAN) and the Core Network. A Mobile Station accesses the CDMA2000
network through the RAN. The RAN consists of the Air Link, Base Station Transceiver Subsystem (BTS), Base Station Controller (BSC), and
a part of Packet Control Function (PCF). The RAN maps the Mobile Station ID to a unique link layer identifier that is used to communicate
with the PDSN, validate the MS for access service, and maintain the established transmission links. The BTS connects to the BSC through
un-channelized T1s and A-bis protocols (proprietary to a particular vendor) based on HDLC.
The BSC routes PSD and CSD messages between the cell sites and the MSC. In addition, the BSC is also responsible for mobility
management. It connects to each Mobile Telephone Exchange (MTX) using channelized T1 lines for voice and circuit switched data;
and to un-channelized T1 lines for signaling and control messages to the PDSN using Ethernet protocols.
The PCF routes IP data packets between the MS and the PDSN. The PDSN is the Gateway from the RAN into the public and private
networks. The PDSN can act as either a standalone Network Access Server (NAS), Home Agent (HA) or a Foreign Agent (FA).
GL's CDMA Protocol Analyzer can be used to analyze and view protocols across A1 (between Base Station Controller and Mobile
Switching Centre), A3 and A7 (between two Base Station Controllers), A9 (between Base Station Controller and Packet Control Function),
and A11 (between Packet Control Function and PDSN) signaling interfaces as depicted in the above figure
Between BSC and BTS: Abis
Between BSC and BSC: A3 and A7 (also known as 'Ater')
Between BSC and PCF: A9 (also known as 'Aquinter')
Between BSC and MSC: A1 (also known as 'A')
Between PCF and PDSN: A11 (also known as 'Aquater')
GL's CDMA analyzer is used to analyze and view protocols across A (A1), Ater (A3, A7), Aquinter (A9),
& Aquater (A11) signaling interfaces. GL Communications supports the following types of CDMA analyzers:
- Real-time CDMA Analyzer (Pre-requisites: GL's field proven E1 or T1 internal cards or USB Laptop E1 or T1 external units, required licenses and Windows
2000/XP Operating System)
- Offline CDMA Analyzers (Pre-requisites: Hardware dongle and Windows 2000/XP Operating System)
Main Features
- Supports decoding of Ethernet-based protocols (across Aquinter and Aquater interfaces), ATM based protocols (across Ater interface),
& HDLC based protocols (across A interface).
- Allows customized filtering/searching of the captured data (real-time/offline) by setting various parameters such as VPI/VCI, Payload
Type, MAC layer address, Frame length, IP address, Port number and so on based on the interfaces chosen.
- Provides three default views i.e. Summary View, Detail View and Hex dump
- Summary View displays Device Number, Time Slots:, SubChannels, Frame Number, Time, Frame Length and so on.
- Detailed view displays easy to understand decodes of user selected frame
- Hex dump view displays the frame information in HEX and ASCII format
- Statistics view displays statistics based on frame count, byte count, frames/sec, bytes/sec and so on for the entire capture data.
- Call Trace display for called/ calling number, released calls, call status, & more.
- Capability to export summary as well as detail information to an ASCII file for subsequent import into a database or spreadsheet.
- Ability to configure the .ini file to get the proper decoding of protocols across A3 A7 interface.
- Remote monitoring capability using GL's Network Surveillance System
Additional feature supported by Real-time CDMA Analyzer
- Supports capturing and decoding of Ethernet-based protocols (across Aquinter and Aquater or A9 A11 interfaces), ATM based protocols (across Ater or A3 A7 interfaces), & HDLC based protocols (across A or A1 interface).
- Multiple streams of CDMA traffic on various T1/E1 channels can be simultaneously decoded with different GUI instances
- For A3 A7 interfaces,
- Captures, decodes, filters, and reassembles (with or without Inverse Multiplexing option) AAL-2 and AAL-5 frames in real-time, from within the ATM cells according to user defined VPI/VCI
- ATM raw data capturing requires user to specify timeslots, bit inversion, octet bit reversion, user/network side, ATM mapping, scrambling, and inverse multiplexing options
- Streams may be captured on the selected time slots (contiguous or non-contiguous) and on full bandwidth
- Unscrambling of ATM cells based on SDH X^43 + 1 algorithm
- For A1,
- Frames captured can be filtered real-time based on length of frames (FISSU – Length as 5 and LSSU – Length as 7) can be set
- Data transmission rate starting from 8kbps to N*64kbps is supported
- Timeslots selection can be contiguous or non -– contiguous
- For A9 and A11,
- Frames captured can be filtered real-time based on Source IP address, Destination IP address, Mac Layer Address, Source/Destination port no etc can be applied.
Additional features supported by Offline CDMA Analyzer:
- Trace files for analysis can be loaded through simple command-line arguments
- Multiple trace files can be loaded simultaneously with different GUI instances for offline analysis
Supported Protocols
- IOS* Application for A1 (3GPP2 A.S0014-A, Version 2.0.1, Date: July 2003)
A1 interface carries signaling
information between the Call Control (CC) and Mobility Management (MM) functions of the MSC and the call control component of the
BS* (BSC) and the specified IOS application describes about the functional capabilities, including services and features, across the A1
interface. GL's CDMA A1 interface supports:
- A1 Interface (ITU-T Standard Interfaces)
- A1 Interface (ANSI)
- IOS* Application for A3 and A7(3GPP2 A.S0015-C, Version 1,0 Date: February2005)
The A7 interface carries signaling information between a source Base Station(BS)*
and a target Base Station. The specified IOS application describes about inter-BS* soft handoff procedures. The A3 interface carries coded
user information (voice/data) and signaling information between the source BS* Selection/Distribution Unit(SDU) function and the channel
element component (BTS) of the target BS*. These interfaces are provided using ATM cells over T1/E1 and SONET transmission links.
- IOS* Application for A9 and A11 (3GPP2 A.S0016-C, Version 1,0 Date: February 2005 & 3GPP2 A.S0017-A, Version 2.0.1,
Date: July 2003):
The A9 interface carries signaling information between the BSC and the PCF and where as A11 interface
carries signaling information between PCF and PDSN. They are used for establishing link for transfer of user traffic.
*Inter-Operability Specification
*Base Station (BS) is an entity in the public radio telecommunications system used for radio telecommunications with mobile
stations; Base Transceiver Station (BTS) is a channel element component of a base station that includes radio equipment, while, Base
Station Controller (BSC) is the control portion of the base station that includes call control logic and interconnections to the MSC.
Summary, Detail and Hexdump Views
The CDMA analyzer application is invoked from the main menu of GL's T1/E1 Analyzer for real-time analyzer. The offline CDMA analyzer
is invoked from the installation directory of the offline CDMA Analyzer. The analyzer displays summary, detail, call trace, statistics and hex
dump view in different panes. The summary pane displays various information such as Frame Number, Time, Length, Message Types, IP
source and destination addresses and so on. User can select a frame in summary view to analyze and decode each frame in the detail
view. The Hex dump view displays the frame information in HEX and ASCII octet dump format.
Screen Shot of Summary, Detail and Hexdump Views
Real-time and Offline Analysis
Users can capture and analyze CDMA frames using real-time analyzer and record all or filtered traffic into a trace file The recorded
trace file can then be analyzed offline and exported to ASCII file, or printed. CDMA raw data capturing requires user to specify timeslots,
bit inversion, octet bit reversion, user/network side, , and data transmission rate options. In case of A3, A7, additional options such as
ATM Mapping, scrambling, and inverse multiplexing can be applied.
Screen Shot of Timeslot selection
Filtering and Search
Users can record all or filtered traffic into a trace file. Filtering and search capability adds a powerful dimension to the CDMA
analyzer. This feature can isolate required frames from all the captured frames in real-time/offline. This allows filtering according to
Data Link, MTP2, BSAP, SCCP, ATM, A3 & A7 IOS Application Layer, AAL2, A9 & A11 IOS Application Layer, IP, TCP/UDP and more.
For A1, real-time capture filtering capabilities based on length of frames can be set. For A9 and A11, Ethernet based real-time
capture filtering capabilities based on Source/Destination IP address, Mac Layer Address, and more can be applied. Users can specify
custom VPI, VCI, and PT type values to filter frames during real-time capture for A3 A7 interfaces. Similarly, Search capability helps
user to search for a particular frame based on specific search criteria.
Screen Shot of Setting the Filtering Criteria
Screen Shot of Setting Real-time Filtering Criteria for A1 interface
Screen Shot of Setting Real-time Filtering Criteria for A3 A7 interfaces
Screen Shot of Setting Real-time Filtering Criteria for A9 A11 interfaces
Reassembly in CDMA - A3 & A7 Interface
Using reassembly option user can specify VPI /VCI value to reassemble as per the Segmentation and Reassembly rules defined by the
specified AAL type. It multiplexes ATM cells as per the user specified VPI/VCI/AAL type into CPS or SAR frames. ATM cells not satisfying the
user specification will be reassembled as per the default specification.
Screen Shot of Capture Filter and Reassembly Options Window
Call Trace & Statistics View
Call trace defining important call specific parameters like call status, release cause, parties involved and more are displayed in Call
Trace view. Call traces can also be logically grouped, with each group comprised of unidirectional (either 'Forward' or 'Backward') data
links (applicable for A1 interface only).
Statistics is an important feature available in CDMA analyzer and can be obtained for all frames
both in real-time as well as offline mode. Various statistics can be obtained to study the performance and trend in the CDMA network,
based on protocol fields and different parameters such as Use Type (Key/Total/Field) , Statistic type (Frame count, Byte count, Frames/Sec)
and patterns like Range List, Wild card.
Screen Shot of Statistics Window
Enhanced Trace Saving Options
Users can control the captured trace files by saving the trace using different conventions such as trace files with user-defined prefixes,
trace file with date-time prefixes, and slider control to indicate the total number of files, file size, frame count, or time limit. This feature also allows the captured frames to be saved into a trace file based on the filtering criteria set using display filter feature.
Screen Shot of Enhanced Trace Saving Options Window
Save/Load All Configuration Settings
Protocol Configuration window provides a consolidated interface for all the important settings required in the analyzer. This includes
various options such as protocol selection, startup options, stream/interface selection, filter/search criteria and so on. All the configuration
settings done can be saved to a file and then loaded from a configuration file. Users may also just revert to the default settings
using the default option.
Screen Shot of Save/Load All Configuration Settings Window
Bridge and Monitor Connections
Buyer's Guide:
Please Note: The XX in the Item No. refers to the hardware platform, listed at the bottom of the Buyer's Guide, which the
software will be running on. Therefore, XX can either be DPT, DPE, PCT, PCE, HDT, HDE, DLT, DLE or UTE depending upon the hardware.
* Specifications and features subject to change without notice.
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