Device Status⁣⁣

The "Device Status" page is displayed by default after the authentication step. It displays the main parameters of the unit in real-time.

You can set the "Auto Refresh" option to refresh the statistics automatically. Refresh frequency can be set by the "Auto Refresh Time" parameter. The minimal possible value is “0” seconds and it updates the information instantly. These options are available in the bottom-left side of the "Device Status" screen:

The device statistics can also be refreshed manually by clicking the «Refresh» button.

The "Device Status" page has the following sections:

• "CPU load" - displays the load percentage of the CPU

• "Memory load":

  • Memory (the data stored in volatile memory are valid only during the current session, until the system reset) displays in real-time the total memory available and the used memory by the running processes

  • Flash memory (non-volatile memory) displays in real-time the total memory available and the used memory by the operation system and configuration files

• "Interface Statistics" - displays the main parameters of all configured interfaces (physical and logical)

• "Wireless Links Statistics" - displays the main parameters of all wireless connections between the device and the neighbor devices

• "Switch Statistics" - displays counters of the frames which have been switched or dropped.

Interface Statistics

The software version is displayed in the right side of Interface Statistics section (for example: TDMAv2.1.26).

In case of connection to the AUX-ODU-SYNC synchronization unit, the number of visible GPS/GLONASS satellites will be displayed as well as the current device synchronization status:

• "Sync": the device is in sync. The value in brackets is current value of the offset (in microseconds) between the internal clock of the device and the external timing reference from GPS/GLONASS

• "Wait Sync": the device is waiting the external timing reference from GPS/GLONASS

• "Lost Sync": the connecting to the AUX-ODU-SYNC was lost

• "No Sync": the device is not in sync. The current value of offset between the internal clock and the external timing reference from GPS/GLONASS is beyond the allowed value range (±10 microseconds)

Following parameters are displayed in the "Interface Statistics" section:

All these counters can be reset by clicking the «Reset All Counters» button:

Links Statistics on rf6.0

This section displays the following information for the radio interface of the unit:

• Node name and ID

• Noise level

• Number of established links

• ATPC status (activated or deactivated)

• Autobitrate status (activated or deactivated)

• Operational mode of the unit (Master/Slave)

• For Master - current TDMA parameters:

  • Time slot duration (in microseconds)

  • Downlink percentage of the time slot

  • Maximum RSSI level (in dBm)

  • Maximum operational distance (in kilometers)

  • RX/TX Capacity

By clicking the "Route Map" button in the right corner under the Link Statistics table you can get the MINT topology schematic map with the visualization of the active and alternative routes to each node.

Schematic topology map allows you to visually determine the network connectivity and complexity and to track the route switching, including mobile objects.

The radio interfaces of the Masters devices are marked with a rectangle, the Slaves are marked with ellipses. The device name highlighted in red indicates problems in its operation. Connections are represented by arrows pointing the prevailing direction of data transfer. Arrows have the following color differences:

• Blue - wireless connection, thicker the line, the higher a load on the link.

• Yellow - PRF connection.

• Green - join connection between radio and prf interfaces.

• Red - indicates the interruptions of the link.

Dashed lines represent backup routes.

For additional information on each node, double click on it to get remote commands (rcmd).

Detailed information about options in this tool is described in the "Command Line" section.

Switch Statistics

This section displays the number of detected MAC addresses, unicast, broadcast and flood packets switched within each Switch group and also within kernel system (internal traffic), in real-time (since the last reboot):

In addition, this section displays in real time statistics on dropped packets from the last configuration update.

Total forwarded, dropped, ignored and buffer overflow packets are displayed in real-time below the table.

All these counters can be reset by clicking the «Reset All Counters» button.

Switch Statistics parameters:

By clicking the «System Log» button, you can view the "System Log" section:

The "System Log" section allows browsing the unit’s system log. It is possible to minimize/enlarge the system log window by clicking the buttons:

You can delete all the information saved in the system log by clicking the «Clear System Log» button. You can hide the System Log section by clicking the «Hide System Log» button.

Extended Interface Statistics

The "Extended Interface Statistics" tools gather complete information and enhanced statistics for each interface of the unit. Each interface type has its own set of available tools applicable to it.

In order to access the "Extended Interface Statistics" tools, click on the row of each interface within the "Interface Statistics" section:

General Statistics

The "General Statistics" tool displays the information about the interface such as the interface mode, current status, Rx and Tx statistics, etc. The actual statistics details depend on the interface type.

For Ethernet interfaces information about current status, operational mode and load statistics is available.

Rx and Tx statistics parameters:

Receive statistics

Transmit statistics

For the radio interface information about current status, DFS mode and load statistics is available.

Rx and Tx statistics parameters:

Receive statistics

Transmit statistics

For the pseudo-radio interface information about parent interface, MTU value and load statistics is available.

Rx and Tx statistics parameters:

Receive statistics

Transmit statistics

For the SVI interface information about current status, RX and TX staistics is available.

By clicking the «Close» button, you return to the "Device Status" page.

By clicking the «Reset» button, you clear all counters displayed in the page.

The "Auto Refresh" option is active by default and refreshes the statistics automatically. You can disable the auto refresh.

Modulation Statistics

The "Modulation Statistics" tool displays the information about modulation types, such as receive and transmit statistics for different coding scheme.

Please note that lower modulation is used for service traffic transmission, therefore, if such traffic prevails in the network, the counter growth for low modulations is normal.

By clicking the «Close» button, you return to the "Device Status" page.

By clicking the «Reset» button, you clear all counters displayed in the page.

The "Auto Refresh" option is active by default and refreshes the statistics automatically. You can disable the auto refresh.

Errors/Drops Statistics/SNR/EVM

The "Errors/Drops Statistics/SNR/EVM" window displays the number of errors, retries and droped packets during transmission for each link. This tool provides information about the SNR level for each polarization of the remote and local devices, as well as rates of lost and late delivery acknowledgments.

In addition, this section displays the estimated throughput per subscriber in Mbps. The lower values show the guaranteed throughput in the worst case scenario when all subscribers are actively transmitting. The upper values display the throughput in the best scenario, when data is transmitted only by the selected subscriber.

The EVM value is measured not at the operation modulation, but at the lowest possible. In case the misoctl option is enabled and VBR is disabled on Slave, the lowest possible modulation uses a single data stream. If misoctl is turned off or VBR is turned on, both channels will be used for transmission, and the EVM parameter values will be displayed for each modulation.

By clicking the «Close» button, you return to the "Device Status" page.

By clicking the «Reset» button, you clear all counters displayed in the page.

The "Auto Refresh" option is active by default and refreshes the statistics automatically. You can disable the auto refresh.

Radio Scanner

The "Radio Scanner" tool allows to estimate the efficiency of the radio links utilization, analyzing the radio-frequency environment for the current frequency, under the current channel bandwidth, without the radio link interruption and displays the following statistics:

• Radio parameters of every source in the radio link

• Number of sources, number of packets, including the skipped ones

• Number of pulses, their average level and average number of pulses per second

The abbreviations for each node type are also displayed in the interface:

By clicking the «Close» button, you return to the "Device Status" page.

The "Auto Refresh" option is active by default and refreshes the statistics automatically. You can disable the auto refresh.

QoS Statistics

QoS (Quality of Service) characterizes the entire network performance which is defined by the parameters such as: throughput, latency, jitter, error rate, available bandwidth, etc. In order to provide the guaranteed Quality of Service for certain applications, users or data flows, different prioritization methods are used.

The "QoS Statistics" tool displays the statistics of the MINT priority queues for the interface.

Priority is one of the parameters which define in what sequence, different types of data traversing every Evolution device in MINT network are treated. Each channel may be assigned a priority (for example: P01, P02 … P16).

Once assigned, a priority is automatically recognized by every node inside the MINT network. Each priority value corresponds to a device queue. Once in a queue, every packet is scheduled according to the queuing algorithm set on the device. QM manager supports Weighted Fair Queuing scheduling algorithms. Weighted Fair Queuing uses weights for every queue of an interface and allows different queues to have different service shares, depending on that weight.

Every channel is also characterized by the latency parameter. This parameter determines the maximum time for the packets to stay in the channel. If a packet is waiting in a queue of the channel more than the time specified in the latency parameter, then it is discarded. Latency can be set for each channel in the "Traffic Shaping⁣" section.

Transparent packet prioritization is an operation fystem feature which allows QM manager to transparently map 802.1p/TOS/DSCP priority to MINT priority for the ease of deployment.

You have to make sure that “Dot1p Tags” and/or “IP ToS” options are enabled in the "QoS" section.

This section displays the number of inbound packets to each priority queue and the number of dropped packets. Of the 32 priority queues 17 are available for user configuration (from P00 to P16), where 0 is the highest priority. The rest are reserved for the system. Packets with 802.1p priority are distributed to queues with "cosX" values.

By clicking the «Close» button, you return to the "Device Status" page.

By clicking the «Reset» button, you clear all counters displayed in the page.

The "Auto Refresh" option is active by default and refreshes the statistics automatically. You can disable the auto refresh.

Network Address Table

The "Network Address Table" tool shows the network address table for the interface.

By clicking the «Close» button, you return to the "Device Status" page.

The "Auto Refresh" option is active by default and refreshes the statistics automatically. You can disable the auto refresh.

LLDP Information

The "LLDP Information" tool allows to get information on the link layer discovery protocol.

By clicking the «Close» button, you return to the "Device Status" page.

The "Auto Refresh" option is active by default and refreshes the statistics automatically. You can disable the auto refresh.

Extended Link Diagnostics

Once a wireless connection between the unit and the remote neighbor is established, it is possible to make extended diagnostics and optimization for the wireless link.

In order to access the "Extended Link Diagnostics" tools, click on the row of each wireless link within the "Links Statistics on rf6.0" section:

Five options are available: "Performance Tests", "Antenna Alignment Tool", "Statistics Graphs", "Remote Commands" and "Link Restart".

Performance tests

The "Performance tests" tool performs link throughput tests for the configured channel bandwidth and on the current frequency, without radio link interruption.

The "Performance tests" tool generates traffic between the devices and displays the channel throughput for the traffic with chosen priority. For the full throughput tests of the channel, you must set the highest priority “0” for the test traffic. In this case, the transmission of any other traffic is stopped for the testing time and the traffic generated by the tool will occupy all the channel.

The "Performance tests" tool displays the values of the full channel throughput which is available under the current settings, for current bitrate.

Performance tests contains of 8 tests performed on established bitrate, test can be performed in one direction or bidirectionally.

By clicking the «Run Tests»/«Stop Tests» buttons at the bottom of the page, you can start/stop the performance tests.

By clicking the «Exit Test» button, you return to the "Device Status" page.

Each row corresponds to a certain bitrate value and can be selected or deselected for participating in the performance test by marking/unmarking the corresponding check-box on the right side. By marking “Select all” check-box, all the bitrates could be selected or deselected at once.

Three more parameters are available for management:

• “Test time” parameter - allows setting the duration (in seconds) of the test for each bitrate (5s by default).

• “Bidirectional” check-box - allows choosing between bi-directional (when checked) and unidirectional (when unchecked) performance test.

• "Priority (0-16)" - by default, it is 16, which is lower than the data traffic that has priority 15. You can increase the test priority by setting a lower value.

• "Packet size" - allows to set the desired packet size in bytes.

• "Load limit" - sets a limit on the data rate at which the test runs, in Mbps.

Antenna Alignment Tool

The "Antenna Alignment Tool" allows to visualize the signal characteristics on both sides of the link in order to make the antenna alignment process more accurate and easier.

The accuracy of the antenna alignment at the neighbor device is very important for the link quality.

By clicking the «Start Test»/«Stop Test» buttons at the bottom of the page, you can start/stop the alignment test.

By clicking the «Clear History» button, you delete all data stored from the moment you clicked the «Start Test» button.

By clicking the «Exit Test» button, you return to the "Device Status" page.

Once the test is started, the antenna alignment can be monitored using the graphic and text indicators. The indicators for both local and remote devices are displayed together in the same page which allows viewing the alignment process for both sides of the link.

Each side of the link (local and remote) has two similar test indicator sets, corresponding to each antenna polarization (one for Vertical polarization and another for Horizontal). This allows controlling the alignment process for each antenna polarization for the local and for the remote device simultaneously.

Graphical indicator:

The main indicator is the Input Signal stripe.

The height of the Input Signal stripe is measured in dB by the Input Signal Level scale. The higher the stripe is, the stronger the signal is.

The stripe may change its position along the Cross Fading scale, showing how much influence the corresponding device antenna has (for example: how much vertically and horizontally polarized signals influence each other). Higher the value of the stripe according to the Cross Fading scale (the farther stripe is from the 0 dB value), less the influence antennas have on each other.

The top of the Input Signal stripe can be located in black (Good signal) or red (Bad signal) background areas or somewhere in between them. This means the signal is good, bad or average correspondingly. When aligning the antenna, it is recommended to try achieving the stripe top to be located in the black area.

At the bottom of the Input Signal stripe may appear a special red sub-stripe. This sub-stripe indicates the presence of the packet retries and the percentage of the total number of transmitted packets.

During the alignment test, the Input Signal stripe may change its position along the Cross Fading scale and increase or decrease in height, indicating the changes in the received signal. When the top of the stripe changes its location, moving from one point on the background area to another, it leaves pink and blue marks behind, indicating the maximum and minimum measured levels of the signal at a particular point. Thus, it makes possible to observe the “history” of the signal changes.

You can clear the marks by clicking the «Clear History» button at the bottom of the page.

The text indicators are:

• "RSSI" - indicates the power level of the received radio signal (measured in dBm), optimal parameter value -60 ... -40.

• "CINR" - input signal level to noise + interference (measured in dB) indicator, >=28.

• "Crosstalk" - indicates how much vertically and horizontally polarized signals influence each other, >20.

• "Error Vector Magnitude (EVM)" - indicator of the measured input signal quality (it should be as high as possible in absolute value, the recommended level is not less than 21 dB. Some old firmware had EVM value positive, but most the firmware has negative value, so for the troubleshooting, evaluate the absolute EVM value), > 21 in absolute value.

• "Tx bitrate" - displays the current bitrate for the remote and local units (measured in Kbps).

Main recommendations when using the “Antenna Alignment" tool:

• It is recommended to start antenna alignment with searching the maximum signal level on a minimal possible bitrate. Afterwards, automatic MINT mechanisms will set the most appropriate bitrate when “Autobitrate” mode is enabled.

• Input signal level (CINR) should be between 12 dB and 50 dB.

• If signal level is more than 50 dB, it is recommended to lower the amplifier power.

• If maximal signal level is less than 12, it is recommended to lower the channel width (for example: from 20 MHz to 10 MHz).

• In some cases, a signal level that is less than 12 may be enough for the radio link operation. In this case, you should be guided by parameters such as the number of retries and Error Vector Magnitude. If the number of retries is low (close to “0”) and EVM is more than 21 (Input Signal stripe is green) then the radio link is most likely, operating properly.

• The top of an Input Signal stripe should be located in the black area.

• The signal quality should be good: EVM value should be more than 21.

• Input signals of the two antennas of the device should have similar Cross fading values (Input Signal stripes should be symmetrically to the value of 0 dB).

All described recommendations are applicable to both ("Local" and "Remote") sections.

Statistics Graphs

The "Statistics Graphs" tool has been developed based on “digraphs”, which is a fast, flexible open source JavaScript charting library.

The "Statistics Graphs" tool allows you to monitor the device parameters represented in the graphical charts. The following modes are available: real-time monitoring, daily and monthly data logs display (use the dropdown menu from the top of the page to change the mode).

The system displays, by default, the daily data logs. All charts support simultaneous zoom to improve usability: the “zoom in” action in a certain region on any of the charts reflects on all other charts that are re-scaled automatically to display the data collected during the same period of time.

Critical events like link outages or frequency swaps are marked by small red balloons on the bottom of each graph. The link down periods are marked with red fields. Move the mouse over each balloon for details:

Working with the charts:

• Select a chart region to zoom in

• Hold the «Shift» button and drag the graphs to the pan

• Double-click on any chart to reset the zoom.

The parameters that can be monitored are:

This chart displays the measured RX (green) and TX (blue) signal levels. Red regions represent link outages. The default graph uses the CINR measurement method; however, the RSSI method can be selected from the drop-down menu.

This chart displays the retry percentage (it provides a quick estimation of the link quality). Similar to the previous graph, RX retries are represented by the green lines, TX retries by the blue lines and link outages by the red lines.

The Bitrate chart displays the bitrate for each of the two units in the link. These parameters indicate the link quality, too.

The load charts display the actual link load information, either in real time or for a set period of time. The yellow lines represent the total link load, the green lines represent the RX load and the blue lines represent the TX load.

The last chart displays the current CPU load and unit temperature (only for the units equipped with temperature sensors).

You can view the six graphs presented above into one or two columns per page by clicking the «Change Layout» button.

Remote Commands

The "Remote Commands" tool allows one MINT node to perform commands on another or all MINT nodes in the network at L2 level using AstraFleX OS CLI commands.

Run the string you typed into the “Command” field by clicking the «Execute» button. For the full list and description of AstraFleX OS CLI commands, please refer to the AstraFleX OS User Manual.

You can set the key grant access to the remote node using the “Key” textbox and clicking the «Execute» button. Please note that this key must be prior set at the remote node via CLI (commands "guestKey", "fullKey" - see details in the AstraFlex OS User Manual).

Erase the string you typed into the “Command” field and all output from the display section by clicking the «Clear» button.

Stop a command execution during the execution phase by clicking the «Stop Execution» button.

By clicking the «Close» button, you return to the "Device Status" page.

You can choose between plain and rich text format by marking/unmarking the corresponding checkbox.

You can execute the same command from the BS to all CPEs in the network (to the nodes that are linked to the BS) by marking “Send to all” checkbox before clicking the «Execute» button.

You can upload the configuration file to the remote node by clicking the «Upload Config…» button and you can reboot the remote node by clicking the «Reboot Remote Unit» button (a warning message pops up before the reboot).

For the ease of usage of the "Remote Commands" tool, the corresponding buttons for the most used AstraFleX OS CLI commands are available in the right side of the screen:

By clicking the «System Info» button, you fill in the command field with "system version, system uptime and system cpu" commands.

By clicking the «System Config» button, you fill in the command field with "system uptime and config show" commands.

By clicking the «System Log» button, you fill in the command field with "system log show" command.

By clicking the «Routing Table» button, you fill in the command field with "netstat -r" command.

By clicking the «ARP Table» button, you fill in the command field with "arp view" command.

By clicking the «Switch Statistics» button, you fill in the command field with "switch statistics" command.

By clicking the «Link Status» button, you fill in the command field with "mint map detail" command.

By clicking the «Interface Table» button, you fill in the command field with "netstat-i" command.

By clicking the «Radio Scanner» button, you fill in the command field with "muffer rf6.0 -t5 -p mac3" command.

All commands are executed automatically after clicking one of the buttons mentioned above.

Link Restart

You can restart the wireless link (re-association, re-authentication and re-connection) by selecting the “Link Restart” radio button and then by clicking the «OK» button in the link options.

A warning message pops up before the link restart. If the operation is executed, the link disappears from "Device Status" page until it is reestablished again.

Extended Switch Statistics

The "Extended Switch Statistics" tools allow gathering complete information and enhanced statistics for each group of the unit.

In order to access the "Extended Switch Statistics" tools, click on the row of each switch group or kernel within the "Switch Statistics" section:

Two options are available: "Switch DB statistics" and "Switch VLAN statistics".

Switch DB Statistics

The "Switch DB Statistics" tool gathers complete information and enhanced statistics for each switch group, including kernel:

By clicking the «Close» button, you return to the "Device Status" page.

The "Auto Refresh" option is disabled by default. You can enable the auto refresh in order to have the statistics automatically refreshed.

Switch VLAN Statistics

The "Switch VLAN Statistics" tool gathers complete information and enhanced statistics for each VLAN created:

By clicking the «Close» button you return to the "Device Status" page.

The "Auto Refresh" option is disabled by default. You can enable the auto refresh in order to have the statistics automatically refreshed.