OSIX – Real-time network performance monitoring.
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Polystar’s OSIX system offers the telecommunications market
innovative monitoring solutions for maximising network performance
and managing advanced real-time troubleshooting.
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 OSIX
From surveillance to advanced troubleshooting
The OSIX system
Features

Applications
Protocol Analyser
Call Trace
Performance Analyser
Mass Call
Real Time Statistics
Network Status
Statistics Alarm

The OSIX system

System design
OSIX in Polystar’s Network and Service Assurance offering

“With OSIX, we provide telecom operators with a true real-time tool

they can use to ensure high network quality and proactively prevent
disturbances in their telecom networks. Currently, we have installations
all over of the world, from Taiwan to Canada, and in networks serving
20,000 subscribers up to networks with over 20 million.”

Mark Moltzer / Product Manager Polystar

OSIX
From surveillance to advanced troubleshooting
With the state-of-the-art monitoring system OSIX, Polystar offers the telecom market a wide range of
real-time network monitoring solutions. Using OSIX, you will be able to observe the network activity in
real time, which is crucial to maintain a first-rate customer experience and prevent quality degradation.
OSIX is a passive probe system that non-intrusively extracts information from the control and user planes
in telecom networks. Control plane signalling is available in real time, and the data is also stored for later
retrieval for historical analysis. The user plane data is correlated in real time against the corresponding
control signalling.
The OSIX system is used for monitoring, troubleshooting, alarming, and xDR generation.
OSIX supports fixed-line, mobile, and IMS/VoIP—all in one system.
The software component of OSIX includes a set of applications for viewing and analysing network data.
These offer a sophisticated correlation functionality that provides an end-to-end, network-wide view of
calls and data transactions. The Network Status and Statistics Alarms applications provide powerful
alarm-handling functionality and allow integration to third-party systems through SNMP traps. The
Mass Call, Performance Analyser, and Real Time Statistics applications provide fast and accurate error
detection, allowing the operator to quickly detect and resolve network problems or poor performance
before customers are affected.
The OSIX system is the foundation of all Polystar network and service assurance solutions. The advanced
features of this all-seeing system, in symbiosis with the power of Polystar’s real-time visualisation and
reporting tool Jupiter, give you full control over your network business.
The OSIX system
• is an extremely robust solution with a small footprint
• is a true real-time system
• offers intuitive, easy-to-use applications with context-sensitive help functions
• offers unique scaling possibilities due to its modular design
• is built using Java, MySQL, and Linux, employing state-of-the-art hardware and open
architectures, standards, and interfaces
• is highly flexible, with extremely fast installation and acceptance cycles, as well as
regular implementation of new features
• has low investment requirements, while offering high cost-efficiency, rapid ROI (return
on investment) and a very competitive TCO (total cost of ownership)
Features
• All protocols and network technologies are accommodated in a single system
• Handles both control plane and user plane on a number of interfaces (including E1/T1,
STM-1, ATM, Gigabit and 10-Gigabit Ethernet)
• Generates real-time alarms for quick detection and resolution of network problems or
poor performance before customers are affected
• Generates real-time raw xDRs for third-party integration
• Includes intuitive drill-down functionality for root-cause analysis
From SS7 to LTE in the same system, all your analysis needs
fulfilled from the OSIX Main Panel.
APPLICATIONS Protocol Analyser Protocol Analyser
In Protocol Analyser, you can monitor all messages on a link down to the lowest

Call Trace level, either in real time or with historical data. All protocols can be mixed in one
view.

You can filter the protocol data in several ways, using link, protocol or parameter
filters—separately or in combination.
Performance Analyser
Feature highlights

• Advanced filtering functionality with an extensive set of filter options for specific
Mass Call nodes, messages, release codes or user identities (IMSI, MSISDN, etc.)
• Detailed information for each message is easily accessed
• Up to four Main Window sessions can be active at the same time
• Windows in the Protocol Analyser application are highly configurable, allowing
Real Time Statistics easy adaption to personal preferences

Network Status

Statistics Alarm
 Call Trace
The Call Trace application monitors calling processes, in real time or using historical data.
It then correlates network messages into complete calls, for analysis of the entire chain
of events from start to end.
The application features advanced filtering functionality, and offers comprehensive tools
for adapting the user interface. You also have quick access to detailed information about
the processes and all messages sent during the session.
The comprehensive correlation functionality allows you to view messages for all the
different protocols of the end-to-end signalling flow, for example all messages involved in
a mobile call, SMS transaction, or a VoIP call.
Call Trace helps your support staff give first-rate service to the subscribers, thanks to the
complete overview of all calling processes and root cause analysis capabilities of calling
events.
Feature highlights
Performance Analyser
With Performance Analyser, you can monitor calling statistics for different groups of
nodes and numbers in your network in real time. It provides real-time overview of network
quality and monitors network-related KPIs, for example ASR, NER, PDP activations, per
user-configured group.
With flexible configuration options, you can create various call groups for real-time KPI
measurements. Advanced filter tools allow you to pinpoint and monitor the exact type of
information or site.
Performance Analyser is commonly used on NOC walls, to provide an instant overview
of the performance of configured destinations, and also among roaming departments to
analyse outbound roaming.
Feature highlights
• Instant drill-down access to Call Trace and Protocol Analyser for root-cause analysis
• SNMP support for alarm generation to other systems

• A call-flow view, displaying how messages are sent between different nodes, is
available for both single and correlated calls
• Signalling technicians get access to all the bits and bytes of every calling process and
protocol message for deep analysis
• Call Trace supports a number of protocols for fixed, mobile, IMS/VoIP, and intelligent
networks
• Advanced filtering capabilities with extensive set of filter options for specific nodes,
messages, release codes, and user identities (IMSI, MSISDN, etc.)
 Mass Call
The Mass Call application provides real-time monitoring of call attempts made to specific
numbers, or made from specific numbers.
The application allows you to quickly identify if congestion scenarios are caused by mass
calling events such as viewer voting in popular TV shows. Mass Call can also be used to
identify fraudulent usage and to detect loop scenarios in the network.
When running Mass Call, you can have one window displaying high amounts of call
attempts to certain numbers and one window displaying high amounts of call attempts
from certain numbers.
Feature highlights
• Detailed information about calling/called numbers, and the concerned point codes,
is easily accessed
• Drill-down to Call Trace and Protocol Analyser, where filters will be set auto­matically
based on the numbers you have chosen
Real Time Statistics
With the Real Time Statistics application you can set up and view statistical information in
graphs or in table format, over configured parameters, messages or calls in your network
in real time.
When configuring the graphs, you can decide how often you want the graph to be updated
(in seconds), and for how long you wish the data to remain in the graph (in hours and
minutes).
The graphs can be of two different types: message-based or call-based. That is, each
graph you create can be based either on the number of protocol messages or the number
of calls that pass through the graph’s filter settings. It is also possible to display different
traffic types in the same graph.
Using Real Time Statistics, you can monitor network traffic continuously, focussing on
traffic to selected destinations or towards specific applications.
Feature highlights
• Extensive set of filtering options for statistical counters (same as in Protocol
Analyser and Call Trace), which can be used either separately or in combination
• Colour schemes for quick overview and problem detection
• Instant drill-down access to Call Trace and Protocol Analyser
 Network Status
The Network Status application is used to monitor alarms in the network on level 1
(hardware), and on levels 2 and 3 (nodes and links), including link load. The application also
receives and stores all alarms from the Performance Analyser and Mass Call applications,
and alarms based on configured thresholds in the Statistics Alarm application.
Statistics Alarm
With the Statistics Alarm application you can set up alarms that are to be generated when
certain filter criteria for protocol messages or calls/transactions are met. The alarms can
be generated either at first occurrence, or after a certain number of occurrences over
a certain period of time. You can also configure the alarms to be automatically cleared.

Detailed information about an alarm is easily accessible, regardless of in which area or at
which level the alarm occurs. This will help you detect problems quickly, and decrease the
time needed for problem solving.
When monitoring the network using network maps, you have quick and easy access to
detailed information about the links. There is also a Global Link Status view, that displays
the current global link status, with link loads, counters for messages, etc.
The application runs unobtrusively in the background. Triggered alarms are available as
SNMP traps, and are also displayed in the alarm application in Network Status.
Feature highlights
• Advanced filtering functionality (same as for Call Trace/Protocol Analyser)
• SNMP support for alarm generation to other systems

Feature highlights

• The “Active alarms” and “Alarm log” dialog boxes allow you to see all alarms that are
currently active, and perform network-wide searches for historical alarms
• Instant drill-down to Call Trace and Protocol Analyser for troubleshooting alarms
• Map view with automatic detection of SS7 links/point codes and SCTP associations/
endpoints
• SNMP support for alarm generation to other systems
One system that shows you everything you need to know.
The OSIX system
As the network topology becomes more and more complex, requiring legacy fixed
networks to coexist with modern IP-based LTE networks, disturbances in a modern
telecom network can come from a number of places. Faults can occur in anything from
handovers, DNS lookups, and access points to cooperation with roaming partners.
Network anomalies and root-cause errors can appear at any time, and having a monitoring
system like OSIX in place is essential to maintaining full control over network activity and
keeping a high level of customer satisfaction.
One of the main advantages of the OSIX system is that it supports all commercially used
technologies in the telecom industry—in one system. You do not need to run different
systems to monitor your entire network.
OSIX is also a future-proof system, demonstrated by the support of both legacy SS7 and
state-of-the-art LTE technology in the same system.
System design
The OSIX system is a scalable solution that consists of probes, servers, and clients. The
probes are non-intrusively connected to the network, and are independent from data
collected by the switches.
The system receives network data from three different types of probes, depending on the
interface to be monitored:
• E1/T1 probe with support for E1/T1 (64/56 kbps, HSL, FR (for Gb))
• Gemini probe with support for ATM/SDH (STM-1)
• MediaProbe with support for Ethernet (10/100 Mbps and 10 Gbps), for monitoring of
signalling traffic as well as user plane data
From the probe, data is sent through a router (RTR) that distributes the traffic evenly
between an arbitrary number of probe servers, which enables data capture on even the
largest Tier 1 installations. An OSIX deployment typically consists of multiple, regionally
distributed sites, where each site has probes and servers installed to capture, process
and store all data locally. This minimises the need to send data using expensive WAN
bandwidth. Storage of Signals (SoS) includes all captured signalling messages, and is
normally dimensioned to hold data for 4-10 days.
The mapping server (MAS) performs mapping between IMSI and TMSI. The global server
(GLS) acts as the OSIX management and authentication system, and the performance
server (PES) is the engine behind the Mass Call and Performance Analyser applications.
For hardware efficiency, and to accommodate smaller sites, several components can
share the same physical hardware.
OSIX in Polystar’s Network and Service
Assurance offering
Polystar offers a broad range of products in telecom network monitoring solutions. OSIX
is the product closest to the network, where it gathers network data directly from the
probes in real time.
OSIX can then supply data to Jupiter, Polystar’s reporting and OSS system. It is also the
engine for the generation of xDRs to third-party systems, such as revenue assurance,
fraud management, and active roaming management systems.
POLYSTAR
Polystar is the premier supplier of Service Assurance, Network Monitoring and Test
Solutions to leading telecom operators, service providers and network equipment
manufacturers around the globe. The innovative product portfolio supports the complete
lifecycle of new services and technologies—from design, pre-deployment verification and
stress-testing, through roll-out, down to network assurance and service management of
in-service mobile, fixed, IP or converged networks.

Polystar is recognised as one of the fastest-growing companies in Sweden. Since its

establishment in Stockholm in 1983, it has experienced a continuous and sustainable
growth, and evolved to a global presence, serving its customers in over 50 countries.

Facts

Server hardware Scalability

Polystar uses HP ProLiant servers as probe
servers. The physical measurements are 1U
19''. The probe servers are configured with
RAID 1+0, which prevents data loss in case of
hardware failure.
Operating system
The probe servers are running Red Hat Enter­
prise Linux as operating system.
OSIX is built to be efficiently scalable from a
small system into large systems. The amount
of hardware needed is directly related to the
amount of traffic on a single site. If one site has
small traffic volume only 2 servers are needed
(one probe and one PRS).
The GLS (Global Server) is only needed in one
central location.

This makes it possible for OSIX to be a system

Database for any operator, from a global operator to a
The probe servers are using MySQL as data­ locally based virtual operator.
base system.
Polystar / +46 8 50 600 600 / www.polystar.com