Switching Network: Processor Capacity

Chapter 5

This chapter briefly describes the definitions that are used when referring to
capacity, what factors influence the processor capacity. It also mentions some
tools that Ericsson uses for capacity calculations.

OBJECTIVES:
Upon completion of this chapter the student will be able to:

• List three types of processor load

• List three different ways to state processor capacity
• State three examples of subscriber impact on capacity
• State three examples of network impact on capacity
• Calculate the processor capacity based on information about
average load per call/event and traffic load
WCDMA/GSM Network Planning – Core Network

Intentionally Blank

LZM 112 303 R4A

 5 Switching Network: Processor Capacity

5 Switching Network: Processor

Capacity
Table of Contents

Topic Page

CAPACITY .........................................................................................237
INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................ 237
PROCESSOR LOAD DEFINITIONS ......................................................................... 237
HOW TO EXPRESS CAPACITY? ............................................................................. 239
TRAFFIC LOAD DISTRIBUTION............................................................................... 241
SUBSCRIBER CALL TYPES..................................................................................... 242
ARE ERLANG AND BHCA THE SAME IN THE WHOLE NETWORK? .................... 242
IMPACTS ON CAPACITY.......................................................................................... 244
CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................... 249

THE ERICSSON PROCESSORS ......................................................250

SIMULTANEOUS CALL CAPACITY (SCC) ......................................251

SCC DIMENSIONING................................................................................................ 251
JAMBALA™ ............................................................................................................... 253
TELORB™ ARCHITECTURE.................................................................................... 256
IN SERVICE PERFORMANCE.................................................................................. 259
JAMBALA™ APPLICATIONS AND SERVICES EXAMPLES ................................... 260

LZM 112 303 R4A –i–

WCDMA/GSM Network Planning – Core Network

Intentionally Blank

– ii – LZM 112 303 R4A

5 Switching Ne 5 Switching Network: Processor Capacity

CAPACITY

INTRODUCTION
What is capacity? Capacity is the amount of time that is
available for program execution. Another way of putting it is,
that the capacity determines how many instructions the
processor can execute per second. This means that, the faster the
processor executes the instructions, the larger is its capacity.

It is difficult to express CP capacity in a value that makes sense

to the operator. To say that an application on a certain processor
can handle a number of subscribers is not adequate, nor is it
adequate to say that it can handle a certain number of Erlang,
(subscriber usage). To express capacity in BHCA (Busy Hour
Call Attempts) is better, but is far from the truth, especially in a
mobile application, where a lot of non-call related activities are
going on. The concept BHCA includes all calls, successful and
unsuccessful, such as uncompleted B-number, busy B-
subscriber, no answer, etc.).

In mobile applications, there are a lot of activities going on in

addition to the actual calls made, such as handover,
registrations, and updating. These activities depend on how the
network is planned, certain system parameters such as, for
example, how often periodic registration is performed, how
much and how fast the subscribers roam in the network.

Subscriber behavior affects capacity. Each call type uses a

different amount of capacity. Subscriber services, of course, also
have an impact on capacity.

Generally, the capacity depends heavily on subscriber behavior

and the allocated features, and on how the network is planned. It
is, therefore, strongly recommended that capacity calculations
be performed for each specific market.

PROCESSOR LOAD DEFINITIONS

The processor load is the proportion of time that the processor
executes instructions that have real time requirements. It is
normally expressed in percentage of its full capacity.

The processor load consists of the following components. For

more information, refer to Figure 5-1:

LZM 112 303 R4A – 237 –

WCDMA/GSM Network Planning – Core Network

Idle load: This is the part of the processor load that is made up
by periodical activities, like scanning for time-outs and state
changes. The idle load depends on the node functionality, the
size of the exchange and also on the processor type used.

The values in Table 1 below are used in the ACCIS tool for
AXE Local7.2. All values are guiding values.

Table 5-1: Idle load table

APZ Idle load (%)
212 11 15-20
212 20 10-15
212 25 10-20
212 30 5-8
212 33 4-6

Usage load: This component is part of the processor load

reserved during busy hour for certain IO, and operation and
maintenance activities. These functions are not included in the
idle load or the traffic load. Among the activities that belong
to the usage load are:
- commands (operation and some maintenance)
- traffic measurement printouts
- statistics printouts

The values in Table 5-2 below are used in the ACCIS tool for
AXE Local7.2. All values are guiding values.

Table 2: Usage load table

APZ Usage load (%)
212 11 3
212 25 3
212 20 3
212 30 2
212 33 2

Traffic Load: This component is used for traffic handling.

Some other concepts are:

Loadability: The loadability is the upper limit for the allowed

processor load. It depends on the processor, but also on the job
lengths and delay requirements.

– 238 – LZM 112 303 R4A

5 Switching Ne 5 Switching Network: Processor Capacity

Load Per Call (LPC): This is the amount of execution time that
the processor is allowed for setting up and disconnecting a call.
Load per call is normally expressed in milliseconds (ms), but is
sometimes expressed as the number of ASA (assembler)
instructions, necessary to fulfil the task. A call could, instead, be
another type of event, such as location update.

Traffic peak margin: Sometimes referred to as safety margin.

The traffic peak margin is normally 20-35% of the available
traffic load. This is needed to allow for unpredictable traffic
peaks.

CP LOAD

100%
90%
80%
70% Loadability margin
%of load

60% Traffic peak margin

50% Traffic load
40% Usage load
30% Idle load
20%
10%
0%
1

Figure 5-1: Processor Load, (an example from an MSC)

HOW TO EXPRESS CAPACITY?

Traffic Capacity

The traffic capacity, (for example, 2,500 Erlang), indicates how

many simultaneous calls a unit can handle. One Erlang
corresponds to one busy line. If a subscriber calls 25 mErlang
during a busy hour, he/she, on average, calls 25/1000 of an hour
(= 90 seconds).

Erlang can be limited by, for example, the group switch,

available speech trunks, transcoders, etc. Traffic itself (Erlang
from stable calls) does not load the CP at all. Nor does it give a
hint on non-call activities, such as registrations and SMS. Thus,
this measure is not well suited for expressing capacity.

LZM 112 303 R4A – 239 –

WCDMA/GSM Network Planning – Core Network

Call Capacity

Call capacity, (for example, 100,000 BHCA), indicates how

many call attempts a unit can handle during a busy hour. This
figure is a better measure of CP capacity. Still, this measure
does not take into account non-call related activities (such as
registrations, SMS).

Subscriber Capacity

Subscriber capacity, (for example, 60,000 subscribers), indicates

how many subscribers that can be served by a unit. This figure
greatly depends on subscriber behavior.

Addressing Capacity

Addressing capacity, (for example, 1020 TRXs), indicates how

many HW or SW devices can be connected / defined. This is
also known as system limits. Here, real-time processing needs,
or amount of traffic, are not taken into consideration. For typical
traffic models, the processing limits hit the ceiling before the
addressing limits are reached. Still, high addressing capacity can
be useful, for example, if covering low traffic areas.

– 240 – LZM 112 303 R4A

5 Switching Ne 5 Switching Network: Processor Capacity

TRAFFIC LOAD DISTRIBUTION

The part that is used for traffic handling is, as previously
mentioned, called traffic load. This part describes how much
traffic capacity is actually available.

Example of Traffic Load Distribution

GMSC/MSC/HLR

100%
90%
80%
70%
other
60%
SMS
50%
Loc. Up.
40%
Calls
30%
20%
10%
0%
1

Figure 5-2: Distribution of the Traffic Load in a

GMSC/MSC/HLR

The default traffic load distribution for a GMSC/MSC/HLR

indicates that the call part uses about 70% of the traffic load
capacity, the location updating part about 25%, the SMS part
3%, and supplementary services approximately 2% (refer to
Figure 5-2).

In relation to the call part (70% of traffic load), the actual basic
call part is 53% of the traffic load, the gateway load part is
7.5%, the charging part 5%, the handover part 3%, and the part
used for authentication about 1% (refer to Figure 5-3).

LZM 112 303 R4A – 241 –

WCDMA/GSM Network Planning – Core Network

Example of How the "70%" Call Part Can be Distributed

80

70

60

50 Authentication
Handover
40 Charging
GW load
30
Calls
20

10

0
1

Figure 5-3: Distribution of the Call Part of the Traffic Load

If we look back on the total processor capacity example, we had

720ms per second for traffic load. Here, we see that, out of this,
actually only 53% is used for traffic. This corresponds to 382
ms per second.

Note that these values are based on hypothetical values from a

reference model

SUBSCRIBER CALL TYPES

From a capacity point of view, it is important to have
knowledge of the call distribution. The call types require
different amounts of time from the processor.

The basic types are MS - MS, MS – PSTN, and PSTN - MS. In

addition, we need to know which services are used,
(supplementary, SMS, IN, etc). How many data calls, how much
circuit mode and packet mode (GPRS)? If there are ISDN calls
(PRA), these affect the capacity considerably.

ARE ERLANG AND BHCA THE SAME IN THE WHOLE NETWORK?

Erlang and BHCA are not the same. Cellular history tells us that
this is a real source of confusion. Concerning Erlang, it is
essential to specify where the value is defined. Concerning
BHCA, it is essential to distinguish between calls and call
attempts.

– 242 – LZM 112 303 R4A

5 Switching Ne 5 Switching Network: Processor Capacity

Let us assume that someone from the PSTN wants to call a

mobile. The road to a successful call may be as follows:

100% Mobile terminated call ATTEMPTS (= BHCA)

40% (of total BHCA) = Page attempt (the rest is registered

as non-active)
75% of the page attempts are successful (the rest is faulty
registered as active)
98% of the successful page attempts are assigned a traffic
channel (congestion for the rest)
86% of the calls reaching a traffic channel are successful (=
Busy Hour Calls, BHC) (ring-tone only for the rest)
With the above calculations only 25% of the total BHCA is
successful = BHC .

In the example above, only one out of four mobile terminated

call attempts (BHCA) results in a successful call (BHC). (the
others generally go to the answering machine, causing some
Erlangs in the SS (switching system) parts.) Thus, the
indications, regarding what the 'true' traffic and call load per
subscriber in cellular traffic really are, are not unambiguous.
The measured figures of the BHCA and mErlang per subscriber
can differ significantly between, for example, the mobile phone
and a gateway MSC.

Simple capacity calculations

To calculate the BHCA for a Signal Transfer Point (STP) the
following formula may be used. As BHCA is expressed in hours
the constant value 3600 (the number of seconds in an hour) is
used.

BHCA = Incoming load + Outgoing load * 3600

To calculate the maximum traffic (Erlang) capacity in a transit

exchange the following formula may be used. MHT = Mean
Holding Time i.e. call duration. Max Traffic is expressed
seconds this why we divide by 3600.

Max Traffic = BHCA * MHT/3600

LZM 112 303 R4A – 243 –

WCDMA/GSM Network Planning – Core Network

IMPACTS ON CAPACITY
SUBSCRIBER BEHAVIOR

The call type affects the capacity required for a call, that is, the
load per call is different. Load per call is defined as the
execution time for a call. This is the time required to execute the
program code for a call in the CP (Central Processor). The
definition of a call is: call set-up, call release, and the
information sent in connection with the call as, for example,
charging pulses.

Subscriber and IN services are very costly. As mentioned

earlier, ISDN applications imply a much lower capacity than
regular calls.

Call attempts have the highest impact on capacity. One call set-
up plus clear consumes about 25 ms execution time on APZ 212
11 in the BSC. This corresponds to (roughly) 25,000 ASA
instructions, or 10,000 PLEX. Approximately one third comes
from CCS signaling.

SMS point-to-point takes about 2/3 of call execution in the BSC

(2/3 of 25 ms), at least for the current implementation, where
each message needs a separate connection set-up. Most SMS are
mobile terminated, and need paging, as well. Since the SMS is
not very frequent nowadays, the resulting CP load is normally
quite small. The situation can, however, change fast. Consider,
for example, the potential from local taxi companies, third-party
stock exchange information, etc.

Registrations take roughly 1/3 of call execution in the BSC. Due

to their large numbers, the total CP load from registrations is
often higher than that of calls. This is especially true after
recovery (for example, a small restart in the BSC), when the
backlog of mobiles, trying to register, can be significant.
Handovers do not consume very much capacity in the BSC, at
least not compared to some old analog systems. One reason is
that the actual locating calculations are performed in the
RPD/TRH.

NETWORK CONFIGURATION

The type of signaling system is an important parameter. MFC/

signaling (for example, R2) is cheaper than CCS7. TUP is much
cheaper than ISUP. C7 enables all information in one message

– 244 – LZM 112 303 R4A

5 Switching Ne 5 Switching Network: Processor Capacity

to be sent en-bloc. When one message is sent for each digit, it is

called digit-by-digit. En-bloc is far cheaper than digit-by-digit.

The number of BSCs per MSC can have a major impact on

system capacity, due to the shift of intra-BSC handovers to the
inter-BSC handovers, which will increase with larger numbers
of BSCs. An increase in inter-BSC handovers by a factor of 10,
requires 7% more of the capacity.

An MSC configuration with a stand-alone HLR increases the

capacity of the MSC by 15%, compared to an MSC with an
integrated HLR (note that this 15% figure has been derived by
comparing the overall MSC/HLR capacity to the maximum
capacity of an MSC without an HLR).

The areas to be covered by the BSC should be chosen so that the

boundaries, as far as possible, are located in areas with a low
handover intensity. The reason is that a high handover frequency
decreases MSC and BSC capacity. Consequently, boundaries
through city centers and areas close to highways should, if
possible, be avoided.

The periodic location update value set, affects the capacity. The
period can be set between 6 and 1,530 minutes in steps of 6
minutes. The minimum period allowed by the system depends
on the number of subscribers and their traffic behavior.

The number of periodic location updates significantly affects the

MSC capacity; therefore, it is advisable to set the periodic
location update timer very carefully. Most operators choose a
short period for the forced registration, due to the fear of losing
track of subscribers. In the case of a system recovery after a
large restart, the periodic location update rate considerably
affects the recovery time. It is, therefore, recommended to use
120 minutes as the timer value. Note that the positive effect on
the MSC may affect BSC performance negatively, due to a
larger amount of paging.

Number of Location Areas (LAs) affects the BSC load. If there

are many cells per area, the local page attempts will be quite
heavy. If the number of LAs is increased, the paging load goes
down. On the other hand: with high movability for mobiles, the
load from location updates increases. When attempting to find
the optimal point, the load in the MSC must also be considered.

The number of cells affects the paging load. The number of

TRXs does not really affect the CP capacity. The number of
sites increases the idle load, at least if RBS200 is used.

LZM 112 303 R4A – 245 –

WCDMA/GSM Network Planning – Core Network

Impact on CP Capacity When Introducing New Releases

New releases, typically, mean a drop of 10-15% of the system

capacity.

The BSC decrease is often less than that of the MSC. The reason
is that new BSC releases often contain more O&M
improvements than traffical ones.

Impacts on CP Capacity When Adding Applications

The following table presents the CP capacity impacts on an

average node (GMSC/MSC/HLR, based on the GSM reference
model) when adding different AM nodes.

AUC (Authentication Center) -0.4%

FNR (Flexible Numbering) -2.5%
SCF (Service Control Function) -2.0%
(Based on 10% IN calls)
SSF (Service Switching Function) -10%
(Based on 10% IN calls)
PRA (Primary Rate Access 30B + D) -19%
(Based on 10k BHCA PRA traffic)
Capacity Gain Scenarios

In the SS, there are a number of parameters to consider

regarding capacity.

The following scenarios can be used to increase the available

capacity in the CP for the MSC. The examples are calculated
with the PAX tool, which is based on a hypothetical reference
model.

• Usage of ISUP4+ instead of ISUP3+ or ISUP5 instead of

ISUP1.
The introduction of ISUP4+ signaling increases the total
capacity by 2.4% in R6; ISUP5 adds 4% more capacity in
R7.
• ASN.1 charging format.
The choice of the charging format has a significant impact
on the capacity. Using ASN.1, instead of PACKED/ISO,
results in a capacity increase of 2%.
• Exclusion of IMEI checks for LU.

– 246 – LZM 112 303 R4A

5 Switching Ne 5 Switching Network: Processor Capacity

It is possible to switch off the IMEI check function for

location update, which increases the capacity by 2% (based
on the default traffic model). The mobile telephony
exchange properties provide the possibility of choosing
between an IMEI check for IMSI attach and normal LU, or
of checking the IMSI attach, normal and periodic LU.
• Efficient usage of TT-records.
Output only those call data records that are needed; where
possible accounting should be used instead. For instance,
switching off the LL (Land to Land) call data record
increases the capacity by 3.2%.
• No TMSI reallocation.
Switching off the TMSI reallocation at location update, and
changing the LAI intra-MSC function results in a capacity
increase of 2%.
• No authentication at LU.
Switching off authentication at location update, and the
change of LAI intra-MSC will result in an increase of the
capacity by 1%.
• Usage of a selective IMEI check.
It is advisable to use the selective IMEI check for all access
types, which results in a capacity gain of 4% (if the selective
IMEI check rate is equal to five). The capacity gain
mentioned should always be checked by a market/exchange
dependant calculation. To be able to decrease the system
recovery time, it is recommended to switch off IMEI
checking for the access type location update.
• Usage of selective authentication.
The use of selective authentication for all access types is
strongly recommended from a capacity point of view. In the
case of the activation of selective authentication, instead of
authentication for each access, the capacity increase is equal
to 6.2%. The actual impact mainly depends on the selective
authentication settings and the number of successive
transactions without authentication; both are adjustable
using mobile telephony exchange properties.
• Usage of passing of IMSI and triplets between co-operating
VLRs.
This feature is available from R5/R1 onwards, in R4 the
triplets are lost when the subscriber roams from one MSC to
another. R5/R1 VLRs can be defined as co-operating, and
the triplets of roaming subscribers are not lost, but are sent
between the neighboring VLRs. The purpose of this

LZM 112 303 R4A – 247 –

WCDMA/GSM Network Planning – Core Network

enhanced functionality is to lower the number of requested

triplets from the HLR/AUC, thereby decreasing the load on
the AUC and the signaling links towards the HLRs.
Moreover, sending the IMSI over the air interface can be
avoided, which increases subscriber security.

CONCLUSION
System capacity rapidly decreases, due to added functionality,
changed subscriber behavior, and the dynamic growth of the
amount of mobile subscribers. The impacts on capacity
Especially, due to additional functionality, will become
significant in future releases.

In addition to the capacity gain scenarios accounted for, better

network and cell planning will, in some cases, result in more
capacity, requiring less location updates and handovers.
Moreover, the number of small nodes in a network may
decrease the overall network capacity, since these may introduce
more inter-MSC handovers, more new registrations and a higher
amount of transit traffic, compared to a network with several big
nodes. Furthermore, the division of GMSC and MSC allows for
a more easily maintained network and provides more capacity
for the separate entities; also the usage of different processors
for each entity will be possible. Stand-alone HLRs will also
increase the total capacity of the network.

Generally, the capacity depends greatly on subscriber behavior

and the allocated features, and on network planning. It is,
therefore, strongly recommended to perform capacity
calculations for each specific market.

– 248 – LZM 112 303 R4A

5 Switching Ne 5 Switching Network: Processor Capacity

THE ERICSSON PROCESSORS

The capacity evolution of the processors proceeds rapidly.
Using APZ 212 11 as the norm, the APZ 212 20 has
approximately 3.7 higher capacity. APZ 212 25 was released in
R7. This APZ has 1.7 times the capacity of APZ 212 11. The
main reason for introducing APZ 212 25 was the size reduction.
APZ 212 30 was released late in R8 and it has a scalable
capacity of a maximum of approximately 13-15 times the
capacity of APZ 212 11, or about 4 times the capacity of APZ
212 20. APZ 212 33 was released in R9 with a focus on
capacity enhancement. The improvements are directed towards
Central Processor (CP) internal hardware optimizations. The
processing capacity is 1.7 - 2.1 times APZ 212 30.

The diagram below illustrates the approximate capacity increase

in the different processors.

APZ Evolution
24
22 APZ 212 11
20
Relative Capacity

APZ 212 25
18
16 APZ 212 20
14 APZ 212 30
12
APZ 212 33
10
8
6
4
2
0
1
Processors

Figure 5-4: Relative Processor Capacities.

LZM 112 303 R4A – 249 –

WCDMA/GSM Network Planning – Core Network

SIMULTANEOUS CALL CAPACITY (SCC)

The fundamental principle of Traffic Based Pricing is that the
customer purchases a Software License, which contractually
restricts the software capacity that may be used. That is, the
customer purchases a Right to Use (RTU) the software up to a
specified peak usage per switch. It is expected that Traffic
Based Pricing will be implemented as “Simultaneous Call
Capacity Licensing (SCCL)”. With R9.0 a new pricing structure
based on Simultaneous Call Capacity will be employed.

The separation between control and user plane in the layered

architecture introduced in CSS R9 for UMTS means that traffic
devices (ETCs) are no longer used in the MSC server function.
The splitting of the MSC/VLR, GMSC and TSC into a Server
Part and a Media Gateway Part means that the hardware is no
longer a good indicator for the switching capacity of a server
node. The introduction of the SCC enables scalability of
capacity simply based on parameter settings for the server
nodes.

SCC is a value that reflects the number of simultaneous

established calls in the switch. In GSM R9 a mechanism is
implemented in the MSC SW that allows us to set the threshold
on the number of SCC allowed per SCC licence. A SCC licence
is valid on a per-node level.

SCC DIMENSIONING
Input

Nsubs = Total number of subscribers

Rh = Ratio of high to normal load

Aorg = Originating Traffic, incoming Traffic on A-interfaces per

subscriber in ERLANG

Aiex = Incoming External Traffic, incoming Traffic on ISUP per

subscriber in ERLANG

Bscc = Probability of congestion for SCCs

Output

SCC = n from Erlang Table (if fraction raised to next integer)

Remark: The SCC calculated here is based on Rh. The traffic

used for the calculation is the traffic used for dimensioning

– 250 – LZM 112 303 R4A

5 Switching Ne 5 Switching Network: Processor Capacity

at normal load. The SCC is applicable to high load

situations.

Procedure

Calculate the MSC internal traffic with

ASCC = Maximum Total Traffic in the node for all subscribers

The formula to be used is:

ASCC = NSubs * (Aorg+Aiex)*Rh

Input: ASCC

BSCC

Select the correct column in the Erlang table for Loss

Probability BSCC. Go down the column and find the value for
total traffic ASCC. If the value does not match exactly, take the
next higher value. Go to the left of this row and find the value
given for n.

Output: SCC = n

Example

Use the following input as an example

Aorg = 9,6mE

Aiex = 6,7mE

Rh = 1,2

NSubs = 143 600 (Number of subs in VLR)

BSCC = 0,005

The output from the procedure above should be SCC = 2859

LZM 112 303 R4A – 251 –

WCDMA/GSM Network Planning – Core Network

JAMBALA™

JAMBALA™ Solution
A modular architecture

Mobility Intelligent
Management Network
Products Products
Service
Enablers

Signalling HW
OA&M

TelORB

Figure 5-5: JAMBALA™ a modular architecture

The JAMBALA™ Application Platform consists of hardware (HW) based on

commercial components, signaling stacks, an Operation, Administration and
Maintenance (OA&M) area and TelORB™, a real time object-oriented
Operation System (OS), designed to keep applications running whatever
happens.

Above these components, lies the application layer that can be segmented into
three different areas: The Mobility Management Products such as Home
Location Registers (HLR), authentication Centers (AC), Mobility Gateways
(MG) and WAP Gateways (WAP GW); The Intelligent Network Products such
as Service Control Points (SCP), WIN features and services; The Service
Enablers such as Service Capability Servers (SCS), Application Servers and
Authentication, Authorization and Accounting servers (AAA).

JAMBALA™ is an open architecture system of upgradeable, industry-

standard hardware and software elements. Consequently, JAMBALA™
has a system architecture that offers expediency and a reduction in
installation and operation. Since processors can be smoothly added to

– 252 – LZM 112 303 R4A

5 Switching Ne 5 Switching Network: Processor Capacity

the modular platform when an operator's needs are expanding,

JAMBALA™ additionally offers unique scalability.

The JAMBALA™ Application Platform has been developed to be the

platform of choice not only for today's mobile and wireline networks but
also for future IP-based applications. Based on Ericsson's common open
platform architecture, it provides carrier-class, real-time node
performance through the use of industry-standard hardware and software
elements.

The assembled and tested hardware that makes up the JAMBALA™

Application Platform is called the Network Server Platform (NSP). The
Network Server Platform is completely made up of commercial off-the-
shelf hardware products. The JAMBALA™ Application Platform is a
combination of NSP and software. The JAMBALA™ Application
Platform is essentially a “networked computer” that, by using CORBA
over IP networks, links different types of processing modules into a
carrier-class working entity. These modules are off-the-shelf single
board computers sourced from commercial suppliers.

The Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) is a

“software backbone” for communication between internal system
components, as well as between services distributed to external servers.

Application Application Application

TM TM TM
UNIX TelORB Windows
CORBA CORBA
Processor
COR Processor
COR Processor
IP
IP network IP
IP network
JAMBALA Application

Figure 5-6: Jambala Application Platform

The JAMBALA™ Application Platform allows tasks to run on the most

appropriate processor thereby unloading the traffic processors from non-real
time tasks. This is a capability that makes JAMBALA™ unique.

For JAMBALA™ Application Platform software, a new version of software

coexists during the upgrading of an older version. This method allows for the
concurrent execution of both old and new software in the same processor. All
existing dynamic processes are allowed to continue in the old software while the
new dynamic processes are directed to the new software. In order to secure a
smooth upgrade with static processes, state transfer is implemented in the
applications between the old and new versions of the software.

LZM 112 303 R4A – 253 –

WCDMA/GSM Network Planning – Core Network

The JAMBALA™ architecture is designed to support different commercial

hardware and multiple operating systems allowing processes to execute in the
most appropriate environment. The current versions of JAMBALA™ use
TelORB™ for real-time tasks and SolarisTM operating systems for support
processes. TelORB™ is designed to keep applications running whatever
happens.

– 254 – LZM 112 303 R4A

5 Switching Ne 5 Switching Network: Processor Capacity

TELORB™ ARCHITECTURE

A pplications and S ervices

Figure 5-7: TELORB Architecture

The JAMBALA™ architecture has a flexible configuration owing to TelORB™

which allows for communication with other processors through CORBA. This
makes it possible to choose whether an application should be executed in a
dedicated environment (Application B, C & D) or distributed over different
processors (Application A).

The data stored in the database, in RAM, is in a redundant mode and can be
distributed over a configurable number of processors, as exemplified in the
picture below.

As a new processor is added to the system, the system recognizes that it is

available and re-distributes the applications and the data to take advantage of
this new processor and its memory capabilities.

Application A
Application B Application C Application D

DATA 1 DATA 2
DB
DATA 3

NEW !
Figure 5-8: Distributed data store

LZM 112 303 R4A – 255 –

WCDMA/GSM Network Planning – Core Network

On-line Process Replication

The figure below illustrates how a JAMBALA™ node recovers from a
processor failure. In normal mode, (step 1) the tasks and the data are replicated
and distributed over the traffic processors. As a processor card goes down, (step
2) the replicated data on the other cards is used.

When the faulty card has been identified and replaced, (step 3) TelORB™
recognizes the new processor capacity and automatically starts replicating
processes as well as data to the new (example: expanding capacity by adding
new cards) or replaced (example: changing a faulty card) card. In step 4, the
node has resumed its normal mode of operation. The whole sequence is carried
out without system downtime.

1. Normal Mode 2. HW Failure 3. The Recovery 4. Normal Mode

Figure 5-9: Jambala recovery

Memory capacity (maximum number of subscribers)

The number of subscribers that can be supported on a JAMBALA™ node

depends on several factors, which include:
• The number of TelORB™ processor cards installed and the amount of RAM
on each card.
• The amount of memory consumed by JAMBALA™ system processes.
• The number of applications sharing the memory available and the amount of
memory consumed by each application.
• The memory consumed by the backup copy of the databases.
• The memory utilized for temporary storage in the processing of transactions.

If the amount of memory required increases, supplementary TelORB™

processor cards can be added in order to augment the capacity of the
JAMBALA™ node. If a single JAMBALA™ cabinet is not sufficient, more
processor cards can be added via an expansion cabinet.

– 256 – LZM 112 303 R4A

5 Switching Ne 5 Switching Network: Processor Capacity

With regards to the execution of applications, the key module in the

JAMBALA™ architecture is the TelORB™ processor. The number of these
modules contained in a JAMBALA™ node varies according to the processing
capacity, measured in Transaction Per Second (TPS), required by the customer.
This provides scalability to the JAMBALA™ Application Platform.

For example, the memory, capacity, and I/O dimensions for the HLR/AC
application are shown in the table below. The table shows these dimensions for
typically small and large configurations that can be delivered in one or two
BYB 501 cabinets.

Small Configuration* Large Configuration***

Subscribers 450 000 2 000 000
Links 12 ** 64 **
Hard Disk (Gbyte) 18,4 36,8
OA&M Processor 2 2
Memory (GB) 2 10
Application Processor 4 21
BYB 501 Cabinets 1 2
Application HLR/AC HLR/AC
Operating System/Middleware TELORB TELORB
* A basic five processor configuration will accommodate approximately 450,000 subs
** Links at 0.4 erlang
*** There is no maximum limit set by the architecture

Figure 5-10: Subscriber Capacity and Hardware Configuration

The throughput capacities for the typical small and large configurations shown
above can be seen in the figure below.

Small Large
Number of Application Processors 5 21
Number of Subscribers (millions) 0.45 2
TPS 150 600

Figure 5-11: Throughput Capacities for Typical Configurations

Signaling capacity is also measured in transactions per second (TPS). A

signaling transaction is defined as a complete MAP signal-reply sequence. This
normally will include two TCAP messages.

LZM 112 303 R4A – 257 –

WCDMA/GSM Network Planning – Core Network

IN SERVICE PERFORMANCE

Redundancy

The JAMBALA™ Application Platform provides three levels of redundancy:

Object database redundancy: All data is kept in at least two mirror copies. If one
data set is lost or corrupted, the other takes over immediately.
Critical hardware redundancy: All hardware components, in which an element
failure could lead to a disturbance in service performance, are duplicated. The
traffic processors have a specific setup: N+1 redundancy. Each processor has a
mated pair relationship with other traffic processors so that if one should
become unavailable, the other will take over the tasks immediately.
Geographic redundancy: JAMBALA™ supports the concept of replicated data
across mated nodes. These nodes can be separated by large distances to protect
against outages resulting from natural disaster. JAMBALA™ supports two
modes of data replication. One mode is called Hot-Standby and uses a preferred
node to handle all of the traffic while a second node stands by, waiting to take
over in the event of a failure to the preferred node. The second mode is termed
Load-Sharing wherein both nodes of the mated-pair each handle half of the total
traffic. In the event of failure to node A, node B will be ready to assume the
traffic load of both A and B.

JAMBALA
JAMBALA TCP/IP JAMBALA
JAMBALA
Node
Node 11 Node
Node 22
SS7/ITU7

MSC
MSC MSC
MSC

PLMN / PSTN

Figure 5-12: Geographic redundancy

– 258 – LZM 112 303 R4A

5 Switching Ne 5 Switching Network: Processor Capacity

JAMBALA™ APPLICATIONS AND SERVICES EXAMPLES

The following examples are just some of the applications and services possibilities.
The JAMBALA™ portfolio is ever growing and developing towards satisfying the
future demands of the telecommunications market.

HLR (Home Location Register) for TDMA/CDMA: central network element for
storing mobile subscriber information. It administers the subscriber information and
distributes it to the network.

AC (Authentication Center) for TDMA/CDMA: prevents fraud in a mobile

network. Mobile networks use authentication to verify that individuals accessing the
network are legitimate subscribers using authorized equipment.

SCP (Service Control Point) for TDMA: service platform that enables operators to
provide flexible value-added WIN service solutions.

MG (Mobility Gateway): provides the capability for mobile subscribers to

seamlessly roam between GSM and TDMA networks. The subscribers have a single
subscription and directory number for both networks.

WAP Gateway: enables wireless handheld devices to access information located on

servers connected to the Internet or to a corporate Intranet. It is the bridge between
mobile communication and the Internet independent of access technology.

AS (Application Server): a layer on top of the JAMBALA Application Platform

supporting multiple use of application protocols and plug-ins and used for execution
of IN/value-added services.

SCS (Service Capability Server): features open Application Programming

Interfaces (API) according to Parlay / Open Service Architecture standards. This
enables third party Application Servers in the network to communicate with
JAMBALA Service Capability Servers and to control network resources regardless
of the platform and the underlying network. Typical service capabilities are Call
Control and Location and Notification Information.

SDE (Service Development Environment): supports and covers the complete life
cycle handling of developing, modifying, deploying and removing a service on the
Application Server.

AAA (Authentication, Authorization and Accounting): provides all basic

authentication, authorization and accounting functions needed for mobile operators
providing 3G services.

LZM 112 303 R4A – 259 –

WCDMA/GSM Network Planning – Core Network

VPN (Virtual Private Network): provides the corporate customer with a private
number plan within the public telephone network. An end user can dial a private
number instead of the complete public number in order to contact someone else
within the VPN. Corporate subscribers can also use the VPN to establish their own
integrated fixed and mobile extension number system.

Home & Office: allows the operator to offer end-users a subscription that enables
short numbers and reduced tariffs on calls to predefined numbers.

– 260 – LZM 112 303 R4A