With EXS Manage, switch management is automated and segregated from applications. Developers and service providers are thus freed to focus on offering differentiated, revenue-generating services. The result is reduced development costs and expedited time to market. EXS manage delivers the following important features and benefits:
Integration of Multi-Service Platforms. EXS Manage capitalizes on the open programmability of the Excel switch to offer advanced management and operations services. For example, EXS Manage provides a unified environment for integrated carrier-class network infrastructure solutions. This feature enables carriers to deploy network routing, multiple enhanced services and various media-based services on a single, highly integrated platform, with a unified operations interface. EXS Manage supports the complete EXS switching environment, including EXNET Connect, where media resources are integrated into the EXS switching fabric and managed as part of that environment. It also manages the EXS Host, providing switch-level management of services utilizing an embedded host computing system. This tight integration means that EXS Manage can configure, monitor, manage traffic and provide error-handling for the entire EXS switching environment. The result is a consistent operations management environment (with an optional SNMP Agent interface), reducing operations management training and staffing costs.
Programmable OAM&P. EXS Manage uses Excel's patented Programmable Protocol Language (PPL™) to bring a high level of programmability to the OAM&P function. Using an easy-to-use graphical interface, EXS Manage can be modified to address customer and application specific requirements. For example, every card in the switch environment can be programmed to handle errors differently, if required. A set of default error handling "templates" are delivered with every system to enable fast time-to-market… and since these default templates were designed using PPL, they can be modified to meet specialized needs. As a result, developers can not only manipulate the parameters by which error handling is executed; they can also actually modify the templates themselves, affecting the processing that takes place. If needed, every resource, even every card, can be programmed to handle errors differently.
Ease of Use. EXS Manage uses key elements of Excel's exclusive Programmable Protocol Language (PPL) to deliver simple and rapid customization of the OAM&P environment. PPL-based templates and default models for switch configurations, traffic conditions, redundancy and alarm handling provide a robust baseline that can be easily adapted and edited through an icon-based, drag-and-drop graphical environment. The graphical interface provided by the EXS Manage Administrator module delivers similar facility in monitoring of switch status and operations. The result is greater effectiveness in overall OAM&P, saving time and money in
service deployment, and in ongoing maintenance and operations.
Multi-Application Performance. EXS Manage enables services, formerly requiring separate switching environments, to run in a single, integrated EXS-Managed environment. As a result, EXS Manage solves inefficiencies such as duplication of equipment and unused capacity. The entire service environment runs in a more resource-efficient manner, conserving investment costs and enhancing revenues. EXS Manage also manages and pools switch resources such as SS7 and
DSP-ONE, making them available to multiple applications. Because these resources no longer need to be segmented by application, load balancing is achieved, since resource capacity under-utilized by one application can be reallocated dynamically to another application where and when it is needed.
Dynamic Reconfiguration. EXS Manage integrates with all layers of EXS Software including EXS Signaling and EXS Call Control. With EXS Manage, PPL "scripts" can be automatically or manually downloaded to the switch to provide new protocol support, new network interfaces, new call models, as well as to partition and configure system resources to adjust to changes in traffic conditions, error handling, or other conditions typical of a dynamic, real-time environment. The result is a seamless, consistent and flexible foundation on which to develop integrated network routing and enhanced services.
Service Configuration Flexibility. EXS Manage gives carriers a rich set of options for deploying services. It supports applications that are physically integrated, logically integrated or distributed, in any combination. Physically integrated applications are those services that are deployed on EXS Host - Excel's embedded host computer, a high-performance compact processing system
that provides the benefits of reduced footprint, tight physical integration and high reliability. EXS Manage also supports applications operating on integrated media processing systems, providing physical integration into the switching fabric via Excel's EXNET Connect. Applications residing on a separate host system but managed under EXS Manage are logically integrated into the
system. Finally, applications can be connected to the system via T-ONE and E-ONE interfaces, providing a distributed service environment. EXS Manage itself can reside on the EXS Host. As a C++ application, EXS Manage can also run on a full range of external Windows NT hosts and redundant/fault tolerant systems. Through ONE Architecture™, EXS Manage can support up to four other applications, conserving host resources and providing a single, consistent operations
management interface.
High Reliability. EXS Manage extends the reliability features of EXS switching to the entire service environment. At the system level it supports 1+1 redundancy, and can run on redundant or fault tolerant hosts. At the switching level, EXS Manage regulates and arbitrates all N+1 and 1+1 redundant resources. Specifically, it is capable of initiating switchover operation - by
individual resource and by type of redundancy - when appropriate. Set-up for this operation is simplified by the provision of templates for any number of fault conditions, which can be pre-programmed to handle automatic switchover in the event of a fault. The result is assured optimal performance even during fault conditions.
Adherence to Open Standards. Written in C++, EXS Manage is open, modular and object oriented throughout its design and implementation. It runs on Windows NT 4.0, and utilizes industry-standard state-of-the-art technologies such as CORBA for inter-process communication, TCP/IP for socket communication, ODBD format for databases and SNMP for network management. It also provides a programmable interface to host services through open network management standards such as SNMP, CMIP, or TMN. This openness leverages the utility and
adaptability of EXS Manage through common and accepted tools, practices and procedures. The result is maximum flexibility in switch management at minimum overhead, and protection of hardware and software investments.
EXS Manage Operational Features
