Overview
UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) being an access network in the mobile communication area provides a
common interface to both GSM and GPRS core network. UMTS is capable of handling both Circuit-Switched (CS) as well as
Packet-Switched (PS) data simultaneously through its UTRAN network.
UMTS separates the user plane from control plane, radio network plane from the transport network plane, access network
from the core network, and access stratum from the non-access stratum. Separation of transport network subsystem and radio
network subsystem enables the UMTS to use multiple transport layer mechanism.
IP and ATM are the most preferred transport network layer protocol used in the UMTS. ATM based UMTS network is more
popular since it ensures various QoS and Classes of Services to the end user.
UMTS recommends two types of transport layer option
- Atm based (provides different QOS and Classes of service)
- IP based
GL's UMTS analyzer is capable of capturing, decoding and performing various test measurements across various interfaces
i.e. Iub, Iur, IuCs and IuPs interfaces of the UMTS network. In addition, it supports ATM as the transport layer. It helps in fault
diagnosis and troubleshooting of UMTS network. Multiple instances of UMTS Analyzer can run simultaneously capturing data
(real time and off-line) on several T1/E1 lines. GL Communications supports the following types of UMTS analyzers:
- Real-time UMTS 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 UMTS Analyzers(Pre-requisites: Hardware Dongles and Windows 2000/XP Operating System)
Screen Shot of UMTS Analyzer Main Window
Main Features
- Performs numerous measurements across Iub, Iur, IuCs and IuPs interfaces.
- Search and filtering capabilities for both real-time as well as offline analysis.
- Decodes different control plane protocols i.e. NBAP, RNSAP, RANAP, ALCAP, SSCOP etc and user plane protocols i.e. Iu-UP,
Iu-FP, AMR etc.
- Decode NAS protocols (i.e. CC/MM/SM/SMS/GMM) along with the UTRAN specific protocols.
- User can configure VPI/VCI values for PVCs carrying NBAP, RNSAP, RANAP and ALCAP messages to enable decoding of the
said protocols.
- Ability to configure .ini file for VPI & VCI (for ALCAP, NBAP, RANAP, and so on) .
- CRC verification for AAL5 carrying packet data.
- Displays Summary, detail, hex-dump, statistics, and call trace views.
- Call Trace capability over IuCs and IuPs interfaces.
- Summary view provides the information about few important fields (Dev #, Time Slot, VPI/VCI, PT, HEC, OSF, AAL type, CID,
AAL type 2 signaling message (ALCAP message) etc.
- Detail view displays easy to understand detail decodes of user-selected frame.
- Statistics view displays statistics based on frame count, byte count, frames/sec, bytes/sec etc for the entire capture data.
- Hex dump view displays raw frame data as hexadecimal and ASCII octet dump.
- Capability to export summary as well as detail view information to an ASCII file for subsequent import into a database or
spreadsheet.
- Remote monitoring capability using GL's Network Surveillance System.
Additional features supported by real-time UMTS Analyzer
- Supports real-time as well as offline analysis
- Recorded raw data can be played back using raw data playback application.
- Captures, decodes, filters, and reassembles (with or without Inverse Multiplexing option) AAL-2 and AAL-5 frames from within the ATM cells according to user defined VPI/VCI.
- Streams may be captured on the selected time slots (contiguous or non-contiguous) and on full bandwidth.
- The following variations are accommodated in the software: inverted or non-inverted data, byte reversal or non-reversal.
- Unscrambling of ATM cells based on SDH X^43 + 1 algorithm
- Multiple streams of UMTS traffic on various T1/E1 channels can be simultaneously decoded with different GUI instances
Additional features supported by Offline UMTS 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
Protocols Supported
The list of protocols that are supported by GL's UMTS analyzer are as given below:
- ATM Layer- B-ISDN ATM LAYER SPECIFICATION, ITU-T Recommendation I.361
ATM layer is responsible for transporting the information in the form of a fixed length cells (53 bytes) across the network using
several virtual connections identified by VPI/VCI values. The connection isn't assigned a dedicated bandwidth. Depending on the QoS of
involved parties, the connection is assigned a bandwidth and traffic is actually sent.
- ATM Adaptation Layer (AAL)
ATM adaptation layer performs the necessary mapping between higher layer protocols
and ATM layer. It multiplexes the higher layer info in the fixed length ATM cells. Because of different quality of service parameters, different
types of AAL starting from AAL0 to AAL5 are defined. Different classes of service are mapped to individual AAL type. Among these, GL's
UMTS analyzer supports AAL2 and AAL5 as specified below:
AAL 2- Class B (ITU-T Recommendation I.363.2)
AAL 5- Class C & D
(ITU-T Recommendation I.363.5)
- ALCAP (Access Link Control Application Part)
In UMTS the main ALCAP protocol is the AAL2 signaling protocol. AAL type2
signaling is used for dynamic establishment and release of AAL2 point to point connections. These messages in conjunction with radio network
protocols (i.e. NBAP or RANAP) can be used to uniquely identify RAB used to carry user traffic.
- SSSAR (Service Specific Segmentation and Reassembly Sublayer)
It multiplexes frame mode data in an AAL2 connection.
It fragments very large amount of data of a frame and packed in an AAL2 connection thus can assure assigned QOS for the service.
- SCCP(Signaling Connection Control Part)
Provides both connection oriented and connectionless services to upper application
Layer. Among other important features of SCCP are reliable transfer of NAS messages, SCCP management etc.
- NBAP (Node B Application Part)
NBAP is the protocol that manages the radio link resources, different transport and logical
channels, system informations etc. at Node B. It is transmitted over AAL5 protocol having known VPI/VCI values. NBAP provides information about
Transport channel carrying user plane protocols and Binding ID which is used to associate NBAP messages along with ALCAP messages.
- RANAP (Radio Access network Application part)
RANAP is the signaling protocol used between RNC and Circuit -Switched core
network (RNC <-> MSC) or between RNC and Packet - Switched core network (RNC <-> SGSN). It is mainly used to establish, maintain and release
RAB (Radio access bearers) used to carry user plane protocols. It also transfers NAS messages (CC/MM/GMM/SM/SMS) across Iu interfaces
(Both Iu-Cs and Iu-Ps).
- Iu-UP
Provides a common interface protocol to circuit switched and packet switched user data across Iu interface. It also
ensures that User plane protocol stack should remain independent of the Transport Layer.
- Iu-FP
Provides the interface protocol to User plane information (both voice and data) across Iub interface.
- RNSAP
Control plane protocol between RNC <->RNC ensures free mobility of the user in the UTRAN network. It handles both
macro and micro diversity handover of the user.
Summary, Detail and Hexdump Views
The UMTS analyzer application is invoked from the main menu of GL's T1/E1 Analyzer for real-time analyzer. The offline UMTS analyzer is
invoked from the installation directory of the offline UMTS Analyzer. The analyzer displays summary, detail and hex dump views in different
panes. The summary pane displays Frame Number, Time, Length, Error, VPI, VCI, PT, HEC, OSF, AAL Type, CID, LI, UUI, CPI and Frame Type
message. 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 format.
Screen Shot of Summary, Detail and Hexdump Views
Real time and Offline Analysis
Users can capture and analyze UMTS frames in real-time 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. UMTS raw data capturing requires user to specify timeslots, bit
inversion, octet bit reversion, user/network side, ATM mapping, scrambling, and inverse multiplexing options. The captured raw data
can then be transmitted using playback file application.
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
UMTS Analyzer. This feature can isolate required frames from all frames in real-time, as well as offline. Users can specify
custom VPI, VCI, and PT type values to filter frames during real-time capture. The frames can also be filtered after completion
of capture based on Frame Number, Time, Length, Error, VPI, VCI, PT, HEC, OSF, AAL Type, CID, LI, UUI, and more. 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 Real-time Capture Filter
Reassembly
Using reassembly option user can specify VPI /VCI value to reassemble as per the Segmentation and Reassembly rules defined by the
specified AAL type.
Screen Shot of Capture Filter and Reassembly
Call Trace & Statistics View
Call trace defining important call specific parameters like Call ID, Call disposition, Call duration, Mobile ID, Called/Calling Number,
Call type (SMS/PDP/Setup/Location update etc) are displayed for IuCs and IuPs interfaces.
Statistics is an important feature available in UMTS analyzer and can be obtained for all frames both in real-time as well as offline mode.
Various statistics can be obtained in statistics view to study the performance and trend in the ATM network based on different parameters
e.g. Use Type, Statistic type (Frame count, Byte count, Frames/Sec) and patterns (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 in any of these options can be saved to a file, loaded from a configuration file, or user may just revert to the default values
using the default option.
Screen Shot of Save/Load All Configuration Window
Screenshots
Screen Shot of NBAP (Node B Application Part)
Screen Shot of ALCAP
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.
Back to Protocol Analysis Index Page
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