NEM Software Connects AISG
12 October 2005
In support of remote operation and monitoring of antenna networks, wireless technology group, Radio Frequency Systems (RFS), has developed a new software tool to interface with Antenna Interface Standards Group (AISG) compliant devices. New RFS network element manager (NEM) software allows cell-based wireless carriers to control tower-mount amplifiers (TMA) and remote electrical tilt (RET) characteristics locally from the tower base, or remotely from the operations and maintenance center (OMC).The NEM software's primary functions are to set antenna properties--such as beam tilt--while monitoring all antenna system components, including TMA and RET control units.
The PC-based software is available in two versions: the NEM-ALD-A and NEM-ALD-S. The NEM-ALD-A is designed to support local AISG protocol-compliant communication with antenna system components. The NEM-ALD-S is designed to support simple network management protocol (SNMP), including file transfer protocol (FTP) communication, to be used from the OMC. To provide a complete system, RFS has designed a control network interfaces (CNI) module, which is an autonomous AISG primary station to interface with SNMP communication.
Fully compliant with the AISG version 1.1 open control interface specification for antenna line devices (ALD), the RFS NEM software incorporates monitoring, configuring and upgrading functionality. "As an active member of the AISG, RFS is very close to decisions concerning the standard," said Erik Wille, RFS Area Product Manager RF Conditioning. "The NEM software can easily be updated to newer versions of the standard as they become available though a simple FTP download."
According to Wille, the main features of this software are its friendly user and strong AISG 1.1 hardware interfaces. "This is not just a web browser-based software, it is a special software package comprising an AISG-compliant interface with the ALDs, and an SNMP interface with the node B," he said. "But it's still simple to use--we've even incorporated a 'set-up wizard' to facilitate the procedure during commissioning."
