9 Trace Record Transfer

3GPP52.008GSM subscriber and equipment traceRelease 17Telecommunication managementTS

9.1 General

This clause is concerned solely with the management of the trace record collection process. This service component controls the transfer of the trace records from the NEFs to the OSF. The conceptual model is illustrated in figure 5, which employs both the event report function (CCITT X.734 [14]) and the log control function (CCITT X.735 [15]).

The trace control function collects traceable events within the NEF and formats them into trace records. These trace records may be stored locally within the NEF filestore or transferred to the OSF in the form of event reports. This is controlled by means of the "priority" indicator, which is a part of the trace type. If the "priority" indicator is not set then the trace records shall stored within the local filestore and subsequently transferred to the OSF in bulk via FTAM.

If a trace is activated with the "priority" indicator set then the trace records shall be sent to the OSF either direct by the trace control function or through Event Forwarding Discriminators (EFDs).

If EFDs are used then all trace records are offered to the EFDs. The EFDs determine which of the records are to be transmitted to the OSF in the form of event reports and the Operation System Id field in the header is ignored. The EDFs have complex filter constructs, which allow the operator to define the criteria for destinations and filters.

If EFDs are not used then all priority records are forwarded to the OSF whose address is given in the Operation System Id field. The NEF is required to supply additional information to provide the OS management application entity title.

Finally, the trace records may also be stored in the form of log entries within the log of the NEF. It is up to the operator to decide if the log function is needed in parallel with the event reporting and file store. Once stored, the log records may be individually accessed by the OSF via the appropriate object management functions. Care should be taken of filter criteria for log records to avoid unnecessary overheads.

Figure 5: Data collection model

This service component contains the following groups of TMN management functions:

– bulk record transfer;

– event reporting;

– log control;

– log access.

9.2 Transfer of Records

9.2.1 Bulk record transfer

This group of TMN functions is concerned with the bulk transfer of trace records from the NEF record filestore to the OSF.

The trace records shall be transferred from the NEF to the OSF by the use of FTAM services. For further details of the use of FTAM see GSM 12.01 [8].

In addition to the simple file transfer services provided by FTAM, peer‑to‑peer application process communication may also be supported. The use of CMIS services for the uploading of files from the NEF to the OSF is specified in the GSM 12.00 [7].

When the procedure defined in GSM 12.00 [7] and GSM 12.01 [8] are used to transfer the trace records, the file type shall be traceRecords and the format of the file is given by the type TraceFileFormat.

9.2.2 Log control

This function permits the trace record to be stored and retrieved from logs within the NEF. The logging of these records is performed in accordance with the log control function specified in CCITT X.735 [15] and no additional management functions are required.

9.2.3 Log access

This TMN function controls the access to the log described above. Each log defined may contain one or more log entries. Each log entry contains a single trace record.

NOTE: The term log entry has been used instead of the term log record to avoid confusion between records contained within the local filestore and the records stored within logs.

For further details concerning the use of logs, see CCITT X.735 [15].

The following system management functions are required:

– Get/Delete traceLogEntry.

9.2.4 Event Reporting

9.2.4.1 Event Forwarding Discriminators

For short‑term recording of tracing events and for more complicated filter conditions the event forwarding discriminator construct defined in CCITT X.734 [14] and CCITT X.721 [13] can be employed. The event forwarding discriminator construct is extremely flexible permitting the combination of a number of fields and logical operations with a wide variety of scheduling options. The EFD also controls the destinations to which the event reports are sent. Several such filters may be defined and scheduled for operation at different times and for different time periods.

The following system management functions are required:

– Create/Set/Get/Delete eventForwardingDiscrimator.

9.2.4.2 Direct Transfer by Trace Control Function

This function permits the NEF to transmit trace records direct to the OSF. In general the trace record shall be sent on completion of the call or the traceable event. This function is controlled by means of the "priority" indicator, which is contained in the trace type. If the priority indicator is not set, then the trace records shall be stored on file within the NE filestore. These records may be subsequently collected via bulk record transfer as described in subclause 9.2.1. If the trace type specified on activation includes the "priority" indicator then all of the records shall be sent via trace reports to the OSF specified by the operation system id.

NOTE: As the operations system id. provided is an AddressString (e.g. CCITT E.164 number) some form of translation or directory service may be required within the NE in order to provide the appropriate OS management application entity title.

The following system management functions are required:

– Notification traceReport.