Network Operations Center
• A network operations center
• (or NOC, pronounced "nok,"
• is one or more locations from which control
is exercised over a computer,
• television broadcast, or
• Telecommunications networks,
PSTN, ISDN, PLMN 2G, 2G/3G etc.
One NOC or more than one NOC
• Large organizations may operate more than
one NOC,
• either to manage different networks or to
provide geographic redundancy in the event
of one site being unavailable or offline.
Responsibility of NOCs
• NOCs are responsible for
• monitoring the telecom network for alarms or certain
conditions that may require special attention to avoid
impact on the network's performance.
• For example, in a telecom environment, NOCs are
responsible for monitoring for
• Power failures,
• Communication line alarms (such as BER, FER,
CER, line coding errors, and circuits down) and
• other performance issues that may affect the
network.
Responsibility of NOCs
• NOCs analyse problems, perform
troubleshooting, communicate with site
ENGINEERS and other NOCs, and track
problems through resolution.
• If necessary, NOCs escalate problems to the
appropriate personnel.
• For severe conditions that are impossible to
anticipate – such as a power failure or optical
fiber cable cut – NOCs have to immediately
contact ENGINEERS to remedy the problem.
NOC ENGINEERS
• NOCs are frequently laid out with several rows of
desks, all facing a video wall, which typically
shows details of
• highly significant alarms,
• ongoing incidents and general network
performance;
• a corner of the wall is sometimes used for
showing a news or weather TV channel, as this
can keep the NOC ENGINEERS aware of current
events which may have an impact on the network.
NOC OPERATIONAL (24*7*365)
• NOC staff may perform extra duties;
• a network with equipment in public areas
(such as a mobile network BTS) may be
required to have a telephone number
attached to the equipment for emergencies;
• as the NOC may be the only continuously
(24*7*365) staffed part of the business,
these calls will be answered there.
Tier 1 –tier 4 NOC engineer
• NOCs often escalate issues in a hierarchic manner,
so if an issue is not resolved in a specific time frame,
the next level is informed to speed up problem
remediation.
• Many NOCs have multiple "tiers", which define how
experienced/skilled a NOC engineer is.
• A newly-hired NOC engineer might be considered a
"tier 1", whereas others may be of level "tier 3" or "tier 4".
• As such, some problems are escalated within a
NOC before a site engineer or other network
engineer is contacted.
Overview of a typical NOC. Lot of monitors (front), backbone overview
(back) and news broadcast on TV-set (right)
• A telecommunications network is a collection of
• terminals,
• links and
• nodes which connect together to enable
telecommunication between users of the
terminals.
• Networks may use CS or PS.
• Each terminal in the network must have a unique
address so messages or connections can be
routed to the correct recipients.
Example of how nodes may be interconnected with links to form a
telecommunications network
Five basic components of telecom n/w
• All telecom networks are made up of five basic
components.
• They include
• terminals,
• telecom processors,
• telecom channels,
• computers, and
• telecom control software.
• Early networks were built without computers, but late in the
20th century their switching centers were computerized or
the networks replaced with computer networks.
OSS - Operation and Support System
• Operation and Support System
• The operations and maintenance center (OMC) is
connected to all equipment in the switching system and to
the BSC.
• The implementation of OMC is called the operation and
support system (OSS).
• The OSS is the functional entity from which the network
operator monitors and controls the system.
• The purpose of OSS is to offer the customer cost-effective
support for centralized, regional, and local operational and
maintenance activities that are required for a GSM
network.
• An important function of OSS is to provide a network
overview and support the maintenance activities of
different operation and maintenance organizations.
GSM N/W AREAS
LAs
MSC/VLR Service Areas
PLMN Network Areas
