This project aimed to clarify the need for standardisation in satellite communications performance management interfaces through interviews with key stakeholder organisations and people. Also, the project conducted an investigation of the use of standards in other telecommunications areas for possible reuse within satcom.
Interviews with Inmarsat, Avanti, STM, and ND Satcom were conducted under this project. Furthermore, the use of standards in other telecom domains was investigated through meetings and session participation at the TM Forum Management World conference in May 2011 in Dublin. A number of existing standards were analysed and compared.
A demand for development and implementation of standards in satcom performance management among operators, network management solution vendors, and system integrators was identified:
- Standards will enable operators of multiple networks of different technology (e.g. satellite-based and GSM/WCDMA) to streamline operations.
- Standards will open the satcom network management solution market, thereby increasing competition and innovation.
- Standards will reduce integration costs.
From the analysis of existing standards, the study proposes MTOSI and CIM (from telecom and IT communities, respectively) to achieve standardisation of satcom performance management interfaces.
The objectives of the project are the following:
- The first objective is to clarify the need for standardisation in satellite communications of network management interfaces, in particular network performance management.
- The second objective is to investigate the use of standards in other telecommunications areas for possible reuse within satcom.
Satellite-based service providers are constantly under pressure to reduce Operational Expenditures (OPEX) in network operations. A key reason for high OPEX in satcom network operations is the lack of standards on how to collect and monitor performance data used in network troubleshooting. A service provider typically builds a network from a mix of equipment from different vendors. Each piece of equipment has certain capabilities to monitor its status and performance, but the level of standardisation and use of common practices is low, so there is a huge overhead to build/integrate a complete NMS utilizing off-the-shelf solutions for fault detection, root cause analysis, etc.
The project is planning to bring the following benefits:
- Clarity on the use of standards in performance management in the operations of satellite communitions networks compared to trends in other telecommunications domains,
- Explicit recommendations on how to lower costs of setting up a network management system of a satellite communitions network.
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During the first three months, the project investigated the demand for standardisation through interviews with stakeholders among operators and equipment providers under WP2000. Under the same WP, opportunities for utilizing existing standards from the telecom domain were investigated.
In the finalisation of the project, conclusions and recommendations were developed based on the findings under WP3000. The project has been completed in August 2011.
The project was started in February 2011 and it has been completed in August 2011. Project results will be disseminated during the last part of 2011. It is planned to present project results at the DVB-RCS meeting in London in September 2011.