Carrier-Class Network Management System for Broadband Wireless Access

Embedded with the entire knowledge base of BWA network operations, AlvariSTAR is a unique state-of-the-art power multiplier in the hands of the service provider that enables the provisioning of satisfied customers. AlvariSTAR dramatically extends the abilities of the service provider to provide a rich portfolio of services and support rapid customer base expansion.

AlvariSTAR supports common network management applications in compliance with TMN standards, providing comprehensive Fault, Configuration, Performance and Security management functionality:

Fault Management: 

AlvariSTAR Fault management capabilities allows for effective fault detection, isolation, and resolution. Utilizing heartbeat monitoring and SNMP trap notifications for fault real-time reporting, AlvariSTAR supports event logging, fault presentation on the map, color-coding according to fault severity, fault filtering by various attributes, event correlation and suppression, event forwarding, alarms acknowledgement, automatic email initialization upon fault detection and historical event queries. 

Configuration Management: 

Equipped with comprehensive easy-to-use configuration and provisioning tools, AlvariSTAR provides for simplified network deployment & maintenance and enables operators to scale BWA networks to hundreds of base stations and thousands of terminals.  Dividing the network into logical, hierarchical groups network operators are able perform common activities on multiple nodes simultaneously, or quickly drill down to a single device to customize it as desired. Configuration Management functions include object creation, auto-discovery of new or changed equipment, multiple network-element configuration, and inventory management.  AlvariSTAR supports efficient software upgrade management for multiple network elements, including scheduled execution (to manage busy hours), automatic invocation of the device oriented operations (such as boot from shadow) and automatic handling of upgrade failures. 

Network View: 

AlvariSTAR offer comprehensive network view, with Geographical Topology (providing visual representation of the placement of managed network elements, with multi zoom levels from regional network views down to NE), Logical Topology (for visual representation of the links, interdependencies, and relationships among network devices) and Physical Topology (for visual representation of the actual device and any components residing inside). Various locations can be managed by regions, cells, and sectors. Devices are either automatically or manually associated to locations during the discovery phase.

Service Management: 

AlvariSTAR support service policy management by managing Service Profiles (containing all configuration parameters for a particular service) according to operator’s service policy. AlvariSTAR supports instant provisioning of subscriber’s services based on these Service Profiles. The option for complete service provisioning prior to CPE installation allows significant reduction of installation overhead, with service automatically activated once the CPE is installed & authenticated. 

Performance Monitoring: 

AlvariSTAR supports real-time monitoring, as well as scheduled collection of over-the-air traffic load statistics, wireless link performance data and quality of service statistics. AlvariSTAR’s performance collection engine helps to identify problems and bottlenecks and optimize resource usage.  

Security Management: 

AlvariSTAR secures itself from unauthorized user through implementation of multi-level access authorization. AlvariSTAR allows network administrator to manage users and user groups, to associate system functions with individual users or groups (functional permissions) and to restrict user permissions according to location (location based security).

System architecture

AlvariSTAR is a multi-layer architecture application comprising the following:

• Infrastructure Layer, providing common functionality including inventory, faults, topology, log and reports, software download, performance data collection and monitoring, and security.    
• Device Driver(s) Layer, enabling the addition management, configuration and service provisioning capabilities that may differ among the various product lines. One or more Device Drivers can be integrated into the Infrastructure Layer.

The AlvariSTAR system is comprised of the following components:

• Application Server, coordinating the interactions among all system components and communicating with managed sub-systems and network devices. The Application Server uses highly scalable RMI (Remote Method Invocation) protocols to ensure simple and reliable communication among system elements.     
•  Mediation Agent(s) that runs continuously in the background providing services for communication with external systems and devices using various protocols. The Mediation server includes a mediation mapper for devices’ MIBs.    
• Database that enables the storage of network and business objects such as devices, device configuration, links, locations, alarms, events, performance data and system logs. The Database Server enables the storage and retrieval of data required by the users. Supports a built in Versant DB for small deployments and Oracle DB for large deployments.    
• GUI Client, a graphical end-user application that allows users to access the AlvariSTAR management information and processes, according to specific user’s access and functional permissions.  

The system’s components are designed to support a variety of system architectures, starting from the minimal “All-in-One” system where all components reside on the same computer, through entry-level systems with several remote Clients, to a fully distributed system. This allows for maximum flexibility enabling easy changes throughout the life cycle of the system, supporting pay-as-you-grow strategy and on-the-fly system expansion and architecture changes.

Download the AlvariSTAR data sheet - PDF Version