WiMax Operator's Manual

180 CHAPTER 8 ■ NETWORK MANAGEMENT AND OSS
Network Management
Network management software addresses such integration problems as well, though it generally
does more than that. The term commonly refers to products intended to manage the
network as a whole and to mediate between disparate network element management systems.
The ideal is that the network management software should allow the network administrator to
control any element in the network from the same computer console and indeed from the
same screen menu. Every element in the network becomes completely subordinate to the ultimate
service objective that the entire network must support, and when a service is ordered, the
network will respond automatically to the command with appropriate actions across the chain
of network elements over which the particular application must run.
Both network element management software and network management software commonly
include diagnostic tools for identifying problems in the network and determining their
place of origin. Many such subsystems can issue “trouble tickets” that prompt technical support
staff to perform corrective actions. Incidentally, almost all OSS platforms, not limited to
the previously mentioned classes, are capable of generating detailed status reports.
Network Inventory Management
A third subcategory within the overall category of infrastructure management tools involves
the processes of discovery and inventory management. For a network management system to
operate effectively, it must utilize an accurate database that lists all the network’s physical
resources, including hardwired sections of the network as well as network elements, and that
provides a full accounting of where and to whom available bandwidth, telephone numbers,
and Internet Protocol (IP) addresses are allocated. In a small operation with a few dozen customers,
the network operator may well be able to memorize such information, but in a fully
evolved metropolitan network with hundreds or thousands of customers, that is clearly impossible.
Thus, inventory management software becomes a virtual necessity.
Network Planning
A final subcategory that stands a little apart from the others is network-planning software. I
have already covered software used for siting base stations and determining coverage, but
overall network-planning software goes beyond the mere positioning of equipment and
attempts to determine equipment needs in respect to every layer of the network such that the
operator can achieve service-delivery objectives in the most cost-effective manner. Unfortunately,
most network-planning software developed to date has not been designed with the
specific needs of the wireless broadband operator in mind but instead has been aimed at the
wireline contingent.
OSS for Customer Relations and Transactions
The second major division of OSS has for its objective the automation of the service desk.
OSS will not entirely eliminate the need for telephone agents to answer queries and deal with
complaints, but what it will do is handle most back-office functions. Where in traditional telephone
networks invoices would have to be made out for each change of service and work order
issued so that the changes of service would be enabled on central office equipment, provisioning
software largely exempts these processes from human intervention. In fact, Web-based
provisioning for credit card transactions is entirely possible today.