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For example, a leading provider of telecommunications solutions in Europe is using JDSU’s services to provide end-to-end, real-time monitoring and troubleshooting of its LTE network, ensuring QoS while managing growing volumes of high-bandwidth traffic and increased network complexity.

A new generation of service-assurance solutions lets mobile operators track an extensive set of KPIs that include network performance and data service quality. These solutions also help operators manage network infrastructure and deliver an outstanding customer experience with easily configured KPIs and thresholds that pinpoint critical service and network problems— complex network-wide service information is automatically interpreted and correlated. Clear, simple presentations of this information along with guided analyses can help installation and maintenance teams resolve problems efficiently.

To maximize the efficiency of network assurance and minimize operating expenses, operators need to focus on the right KPIs and the essential data. Carriers should look to monitor just the service-focused KPIs that are important to their business rather than hundreds of available KPIs that will overwhelm operations teams. They should be attentive to KPIs, such as network functionality and data service quality, to evaluate how to resolve service-affecting issues. Composite KPIs can reduce the number of KPIs without losing detail. Operators will most likely need to capture all of the control plane data but can be more flexible about the user plane. An intuitive interface makes it easy to understand signaling messages and clearly highlights failures.

Going a step further, next-generation assurance tools can analyze subscribers’ networks and service interactions, correlating these transactions into a single context and tracing them from real time to several weeks in the past. As an example, many different individual transactions must be completed across the entire network to successfully set up a call. Effective troubleshooting demands that this series of inter-related transactions be presented in a single end-to-end view of the complete LTE network. With this comprehensive view, an operations team can diagnose complex issues quickly and reliably. And, this approach moves a large volume of troubleshooting from a niche area occupied by handful of specialists into one in which less- experienced technicians are able to effectively diagnose problems.

Monitoring and troubleshooting mobile data services is substantially more complex with shifts from 3G to LTE. Carriers will need to plan and execute LTE trials and solve a number of problems that will inevitably occur during deployment. New equipment requires evaluation; new services need verification; and problem-resolution times need to be shortened. Fortunately, advanced test solutions help minimize these challenges and help operators substantially speed and improve LTE deployments.