SDMT – System for planning and configuring the O2 network

Brief description of the client

Telefónica O2 Czech Republic, a.s. was established as the first integrated operator in the Czech Republic on 1 July 2006 through the merger of ČESKÝ TELECOM, a.s. (the largest landline operator) and Eurotel Praha, spol. s r.o. (the strongest mobile operator) into a single telecommunications company. Today, the company operates almost eight million landlines and mobile numbers, making it one of the world’s leading providers of fully convergent services. Telefónica O2 Czech Republic offers the most fully integrated offer of voice and data services in the Czech Republic.

The company devotes an extraordinary level of attention to growth potential, primarily with regard to data and internet services. It operates the most extensive landline and mobile network, including unique third generation networks, specifically the CDMA data network, and the UMTS network, which makes it possible to transfer data, voice, image, and video. Telefónica O2 Czech Republic also offers the largest network of WiFi hotspots in the country.

Process

The entire project was initiated in June 2000 with the preparation of a user requirements catalogue. Thanks to the use of the KMX Requirements methodology, the user specifications were generated in less than two months and the results from this process have been used throughout the project. It is interesting to note that no changes have had to be made to these specifications. Once the user requirements were defined, a general proposal for the entire system was prepared. After three months, the following information was available:

• Functional architecture: the basic system components were defined as well as their functions and how they are interrelated
• Technological architecture: the individual layers were proposed, including the technical methods that would be used for their processing, the basic principles for the data model, and other information
• Configuration data processing method: several possible options were identified that could be used to obtain the configuration data
• Proposal for the development process: specifically the preliminary definition of individual increments, which respected the users’ needs (as reflected in the requirements) and the technical requirements. This was followed by the preparation of the individual increments, the development of which represents the creation of a detailed design, the actual programming, the preparation of test cases, and the testing. The contents of the additional increments are regularly reviewed and adapted according to the feedback provided by the individual users using the application.

Application technology

The entire application is written as a multi-layer B2B system.

Database: The database consists of several sections. The metadata section contains the descriptions of the individual technological elements of the telecommunication network, their structure, and additional information. The remaining components of the database consist of the actual configuration data, information regarding planned changes, a service section, and others.

Database Interface (DBI): The objective of the RBI layer is to provide access to the data with as minimal a relationship to the actual contents of the data as possible. This access (together with the stored metadata) makes it possible to expand the processed area to include entirely new sections without having to do any programming within the application. A second objective is to provide the ability to maximise the use of the database options while retaining the independence of the logical processing from the databases that are used.

Data pump: The data pump is responsible for importing the configuration data into the database. The entire import process is controlled by the metadata, which describe the input data format and the way in which the configuration data are to be stored for processing by the application.

Application server: The core consists of a KMX application server, over which the physical processing of the configuration data is performed. Firstly, the application server provides access to the basic information according to the requirements defined in the client component of the system. Secondly, it performs the logic processing for the entire system.

Client: The client is conceived as a modern MDI application. The objective of the client component of the application is to act as the intermediary between the inputs and the outputs, where the format of the outputs is partially controlled by the metadata.

Brief description of the application

The Switching Database Management Tool (SDMT) has two main objectives:

• To provide access to the configuration data for selected network elements in order that they may be managed with maximum effectiveness. The complete configuration data for the individual network elements are imported into the application on a daily basis and subsequently displayed in several different views, specifically as basic information (e.g. basic data areas, links to the surrounding environment, change history, parameter comparisons for multiple elements, etc.), or as special outputs (representing a comprehensive view of a specific part of the configuration); and
• To support and improve the effectiveness of making changes in the network. From this perspective, the data that are loaded are used as the input for planning changes to them. The changes may be created either using the existing data or as a Greenfield deployment. It is possible to organise these changes in a way that facilitates the activities of managing and executive employees.

The full functionality of the application has been operating in the production environment since 2004. Slight modifications to the application are made within the context of maintenance in order to improve effectiveness and simplify user activities. Another important task performed by the project team is to keep the description of the configuration data up-to-date and to gradually expand the number of network elements that are covered by the application.

Evaluation of the project – benefits

“The development of the SDMT system that we know and use today was no trivial matter. As has already been mentioned, the project was initiated in 2000 in cooperation with KOMIX. This important step was, however, preceded by eighteen months of preparations, during which it was necessary to identify the areas where significant support would have to be provided for the strategic processes associated with planning the core of the company’s telecommunication network for a forecast timeframe of five to ten years! Given the dynamic developments in the telecommunication industry that we had the chance to observe at the dawn of the new millennium, this task seemed extremely difficult, up to the point of being unrealistic. For this reason, a great deal of attention was paid to the preparation of the user requirements catalogue and the subsequent system specifications. The actual creation of the catalogue was accompanied by a great number of internal meetings with O2’s experts in order to ensure that the end product fully met the demanding criteria. The main task was – and continues to be – to provide the experts with the maximum possible level of support and to not burden them with needless administration. The development of the system was very strictly defined so that the system could be directly used for network planning after only the first six months. This approach made it possible to apply the selected incremental development method, where the basic application was completed first with quite limited functionality and then the individual functions were gradually added to it and made available for use immediately once they were completed. Planning specialists continue to be involved in the project, and they can continuously take over more and more functions that they themselves define gradually over time. It is the maximum user satisfaction with the SDMT system that guarantees the overall success of this large investment. Considering the high level of complexity of the issues that are addressed, it is no surprise that more of the company’s working teams start to use the product only several years after the actual development started. The product thus gradually increases the effectiveness of additional, very strategic and carefully monitored processes, which, until recently, relied exclusively on manual processes. Another fact that we may value highly is that after several years of working on the issues we are successfully attaining the originally defined objectives of the development. The ever-existing concerns that the final product will not achieve its goals have thus far been unfounded.”

Ing. Zdeněk Bílek, Telefónica O2 Czech Republic
Network Configuration Planning Officer

“Over the past few years the SDMT system has proven its worth during the implementation of mobile portability, the launching of the O2-CZ 3G network, and the launching of the O2-SK GSM network. At the same time that the 3G network was launched in the Czech Republic, the SDMT system was expanded to include a new type of element, specifically the Mobile Switching Server (MSS). At the start of 2007, the 3G element – Radio Network Controller (RNC) – was added to the SDMT. In addition, the connection to the REMEDY system was enhanced. This system is used to process individual changes in the network. As far as future development is concerned, we are planning on adding parameters used for the Integrated Rescue Service. All in all, the main development phase of the application has been completed and now the primary focus is being placed on data quality and reliability and on the optimisation of the individual functions.”

Ing. Jiří Kouba, Telefónica O2 Czech Republic
Configuration Planning Manager

“During the entire product development period, our developers faced extremely demanding and intensive work on the project. They were assisted by their colleagues from O2, who all highly value cooperation. They all have in-depth technical knowledge and realistic expectations. Since the very beginning of the project, they have known exactly what they want and have striven to attain their objective. This very effective cooperative effort has been carried over into the application maintenance phase, which makes it possible for both parties to combine a guarantee of smooth operations with the gradual enhancement of the application’s functionality and an increase in the number of network elements that are covered by the application.”

Ing. Tomáš Trapl, KOMIX s.r.o.
Project Manager