TCS Performance

Select Performance from the navigation pane to see performance metrics for G1 network devices. This can be a valuable troubleshooting tool either for individual devices or when comparing multiple devices. 

As with other navigation pane windows, begin by ensuring that the correct network entity has been chosen from the drop-down menus at the top. This filters the network down to the granularity needed. Because the menus are hierarchical, start by selecting the Region, then Market, Site, and Cell as needed. 

The Sector option represents the selection of the Sector’s BN. The Links option will include a drop-down box showing all RNs connected to the selected BN under Sector. Select a specific RN under Links to see metrics for that RN. 

It is important to keep in mind which network entity is selected as the performance metrics will account for all devices within that entity and only that entity.

Figure 33: Performance Monitoring

Use the options in the middle to select the desired time period for the displayed data. Current options include 1 hour, 6 hours, 24 hours, 1 week, 1 month, and a user-defined custom period. If 1 hour is selected, the graph will update automatically every 30 seconds. If any other time period is selected, the refresh icon needs to be clicked to update the graph. TCS stores KPI data for three months.

Figure 34: Select Time Period

Select Compare KPIs in the toggle switch in the upper left-hand corner of the Performance window. Click the Customize icon from the top right to open a selection box of available KPIs for the network entity selected.

Figure 35: Compare and Customize KPIs

Choose the KPIs you wish to graph for the device. Click Done to apply these values to the graphical display. For any network entity selected from Region down to Cell level of granularity, the KPIs available are Active Connections, DL Rate, and UL Rate. This allows customers to chart the UL and DL rates for a region, market, site, or cell compared to the number of active connections.

Figure 36: Customize KPIs for a Region, Market, Site, or Cell

Figure 37: Customize KPIs for a Sector

Figure 38: Customize KPIs for a Link

If desired, KPI metrics for an individual BN or RN may be plotted against a timeline of operation events. To do so, click Events in the Customize icon. Make sure the toggle bar for Show Events Overlay is enabled. Select the operations of interest and click Done. In the example shown below, an individual Sector (BN) and Reboot events have been selected and will be compared.

Figure 39: Overlay Events on a KPI Metric

The events will be displayed in the green band at the top of the graph. Gray on the bar indicates the device was disconnected. Hover the mouse to see a listing of the values for a specific point in time. In the example below the BN from above has a Reboot event (gray and green bar at the top) overlaid on the Input Voltage (selected from the KPI list) and data is displaying for the past month. 

From this data, we know that the BN was powered but not yet connected to TCS for the first half of the month, the input voltage has remained stable above 45V, and no reboot event has been recorded.

Figure 40: Overlay Events on a KPI Metric (BN Example)

In the example below, an individual link (RN) has Alarm events overlaid on two (previously selected) KPIs (Temperature and CPU Utilization) for the past month. The green and gray bar at the top with colored circles represents instances over the past month when Alarms were raised for this RN. The chart below maps the RNs CPU utilization and temperature over the same time period. The key at the bottom shows that temperature is tracked on the green graph and the right-side label for the y-axis shows the temperature units in Celsius. CPU Utilization is tracked with the blue graph and the left-side y-axis shows the percent CPU utilization held steady between 15 and 23%.

Figure 41: Overlay Events on a KPI Metric (RN Example)

Hover the mouse to see a listing of the values for a specific point in time. The example below is a close up of a specific point in time from the image above.

Figure 42: Hover Mouse to See Timestamps

Click and drag the mouse to zoom in on the graph.

Figure 43: Zoom in on Event Graph

Click the Reset Zoom button that appears to reset the graph to the selected time frame. In the example below, the graph will reset to Month. Use the menu icon to view the graph in full screen, print the chart, download the chart as an image (PNG, JPEG, PDF, or SVG) or CSV file.

Figure 44: Reset Zoom

Comparing various KPIs is a valuable troubleshooting tool. It is important to keep in mind which entity is selected when doing these comparisons. As a reminder, selecting an entity (Region, Market, Cell, etc.) will account for all devices within that entity. Selecting individual Links will account for only the RN involved in the selected link. 

KPIs from different devices (entities) may be compared by clicking the slider at the top left and moving it to Compare Entities. Click the Customize icon.

Figure 45: Compare Entities

In the resulting window, make sure KPIs is selected in green (Events are not selectable). Scroll through the list of KPIs or click Look Up KPI to select specific KPIs to compare between selected entities. The first entity will be the one filtered to in the upper middle network entity drop down boxes. In the example below, a specific Link (RN10100) has been selected. In the Compare Entities window, that RN will be compared to another RN (RN10101) that is connected to the same BN (North BN). The KPI being compared is the CPU Utilization. The time period is set for the last 24 hours.

Figure 46: Compare Entities (RN Example)

Click Done to return to the graph and see the comparison.

Figure 47: Compare RNs (CPU Utilization Example)

Note that by filtering down to a specific link (RN), the entities available to compare are only the RNs connected to the same BN. By filtering to a specific sector (BN), a comparison can be made of any BNs in the same cell.

Figure 48: Compare Entities (BN Example)