Every network has different requirements which have to be considered by the appropriate network planning tool. Due to the fact that it is not possible to use only one planning tool for all networks the network specific tools should be realized by different software modules which all run on a common platform. My responsibilities included the development of the following tools:
As a first step of the planning process, Traffic Planning is carried-out. The traffic from large customers, with direct network access, is considered with the same priority as indirect traffic from customers who use o.tel.o as a Long-Distance Carrier. These indirect customers, who receive Network Access via a POI (Point of Interconnection), are particularly important to consider for the planning of catchment areas and the corresponding traffic distribution. My responsibilities in this area included:
Voice network is planned based on defined traffic sources and destinations. Thus, catchment areas of POI corresponding to the expected traffic sources and destinations are defined. Actual measurements are considered to adapt the distributions given in forecast to the real traffic situation in o.tel.o voice network. It has been agreed with the service divisions, that the preferred customers are those within a local radius of a POI, so that break-out costs are minimized (customer targeting). The catchment areas for indirect traffic are almost local calling areas in which POIs are located and adjacent local calling areas in the area "Regio 50" as defined by DTAG. My responsibilities included:
As a next step, the logical topology of the Voice Network was derived as part of the Network Design process. Network Topology comprises the determination of locations, the number of locations and the structure (meshing) of the connecting links. The following input is necessary to determine the network topology: traffic data, available locations, available connections, locations of the international gateways, locations of the POIs, locations of the POPs, Busy Hour Call Attempt (BHCA) capability of SWITCH. Then, after defining the routing, the network was dimensioned. My responsibilities included:
The Performance Management System collects network operation data from a variety of sources to provide management with information on the health and usage of the network. This information is used by different organizations including Voice Network Planning and Marketing. The Performance Management System obtains data directly from the Network Element Managers (NEM) such as total traffic processed by each switch (AXE) and carried by each transmission link (bundle). My responsibilities included:
The planning data e.g. traffic forecast, dimensioning parameters, network topology, node/link capacities are kept in database server. Oracle was selected as rational database management system. It can be accessed via ODBC using Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Access. My responsibilities included: