VoIP Immersive 3D Monitoring and Management

Transcription

1 VoIP Immersive 3D Monitoring and Management Page 1 of 58

2 Executive Summary The telecommunications industry is shifting its focus away from traditional fixed networks and into mobile and broadband telephony. The broadband market is currently small but growing at rapid pace due to widespread broadband access and competitive pricing. It is predicted that this growth will continue and broadband will become a mainstream telephony medium. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is the standard protocol for transmitting voice over broadband networks. VoIP has specific monitoring and management needs. As a real time application its network needs are more demanding than data, latency, packet loss and delay must be carefully managed to provide acceptable QoS. Additionally telephony has many metrics and features which need to be conveyed effectively and efficiently. The telephony service and the underlying network must be managed side by side. Current VoIP management solutions are generally propriety and require administrators to have specific knowledge of VoIP technologies. Most solutions condense information into tables and 2D graphs. We have recognised a gap in the market for a management tool which has high usability and communicates large volumes of complex data efficiently and effectively. Research has suggested that representing information in a visual 3D format is useful in certain scenarios. We aim to investigate this usefulness for VoIP management. We propose to develop a unique monitoring and management system for VoIP called LAMS. LAMS will generate a 3D virtual world which reflects in real time an operational VoIP telephony system. Objects and concepts in the telephony system will be represented by objects in the virtual world. Telephony and network metrics will be mapped to visual characteristics of the virtual objects. For example the bandwidth being consumed by a VoIP server may be communicated through the colour of its virtual counter-part. In this way critical information is communicated to the user instantly. LAMS users will be immersed in the fully interactive virtual world. Actions performed on the virtual objects will invoke actions on the real world system. We will create a working prototype of LAMS which will monitor a small IP PBX under lab conditions. A subset of critical network and telephony metrics will be represented in the prototype, and a few main management tasks may be executed. LAMS will use L3DGEWorld, an open source 3D visualisation utility to create the virtual environment. Our test IP-PBX which LAMS will manage will be created through minimum Page 2 of 58

3 specification hardware and open source telephony package Asterisk. We will write scripts which extract data from Asterisk servers and convert it into a format L3DGEWorld display. We will create 3D models and maps which best represent the telephony servers and the context of the telephony network. The role of the prototype is to demonstrate the potential of LAMS as a monitoring and management system for VoIP. We will investigate the prototype for its effectiveness and efficiency in monitoring VoIP and its impact on the telephony network. Page 3 of 58

4 Table of Contents Executive Summary Introduction Industry Background The Telecommunications Industry Trends of Voice Provision Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) Overview of VoIP Market Position IP Telephony Systems Monitoring and Management of IP Telephony The need for VoIP management tools Current VoIP Management Solutions Information Visualisation Project Description Project Intent Project Scope Uses for LAMS Description of the prototype User Experience User Collaboration Visual Characteristics Mapping of Visual Characteristics Tabulated Information Monitoring and Management Information Hierarchy First Level Service Summary Second Level Server and Telephony Service Third Level Client/Peer Engineering Specifications IP Network Considerations and Limitations D Game Engine Limitations Physical location of LAMS server Security and Resilience Appropriate Visualisation Design Documentation...39 Page 4 of 58

5 3.1 Overview of Design Key Components Design components FreeBSD Operating System L3DGEWorld 2.3 Data Visualisation Utility Asterisk IP Telephony Engine D Modelling & Map Software Image Manipulation Software Tunnelling software Hardware Requirements LAMS Server VoIP Server LAMS Client Product Perspective and Planning Project Impact Statement Licensing Considerations Prototyping Considerations and Sequence Step 1: Basic VoIP System Step 2: Basic L3DGEWorld System Step 3: Modelling and Mapping for LAMS Step 4: Polling Module Step 5: Basic VoIP Monitoring Step 6: Basic VoIP Management Step 7: Visual Information Tuning Step 8: Security Implementation Step 9: Performance Testing Step 10: Usability Testing Conclusion & Recommendations Acknowledgements References...52 APPENDIX A...54 GANTT Chart...54 APPENDIX B...55 List of Acronyms and Abbreviations...55 APPENDIX C...56 Monitoring Hierarchy of Telephony Features...56 Page 5 of 58

6 APPENDIX D...57 Asterisk CLI commands...57 APPENDIX E...58 Asterisk Manager API...58 Page 6 of 58

7 1 Introduction 1.1 Industry Background The Telecommunications Industry The telecommunications industry is worth approximately $1 trillion (USD) and currently undergoing a period of transition. The OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development) describes the industry as sustained growth through transformation [1]. The transformation is a result of three factors: declining PSTN (Public Switch Telephony Network) revenues, the proliferation of high speed Internet access and a highly competitive market. As profits from traditional fixed networks decline telecommunication companies (telcos) are adjusting their focus in order to survive. The focus has moved towards mobile telephony. Mobile telephony accounts for 40% of telecommunication revenues.[1] In an effort to supplement losses on the PSTN and increase revenue per subscriber, telcos are offering value added services of data, content and media. For example Telstra, Australia's primary telecommunications company, has expanded into the areas of Internet access, pay TV and online and mobile content. Telcos can no longer be considered solely voice providers. Similarly Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are providing much more than Internet access. ISPs also offer content and voice services in the form VoIP. iinet is Australia's largest ISP and also offers the largest VoIP network in the country. This blurring of the line between telco and ISP is resulting in an increasingly competitive environment Trends of Voice Provision Although there is increasing focus on Internet and content services, voice services still dominate telecommunications revenues. Telstra's voice services (mobile and fixed) account for 63% of their total revenue.[2] Any change to the way voice is delivered will have a strong impact on the telecommunications industry. Page 7 of 58

8 Fixed telephone access paths (analogue + ISDN lines) Cable Mobile DSL Other broadband 1,800,000,000 1,600,000,000 1,400,000,000 Subscribers 1,200,000,000 1,000,000, ,000, ,000, ,000, ,000, Figure 1: Growth of voice access paths in OECD nations It can be seen in Figure 1 that mobile is the most dominate voice access path, and is growing steadily, accounting for 59% of paths. Traditional fixed lines account for 31% of paths and are in decline. The remaining 10% of paths are broadband voice paths.[3] The broadband voice market is growing at a phenomenal rate; subscribers have increased 88% between 2005 and 2007.[1] The driving factors behind VoIP's popularity are widespread broadband access and competitive cost. Page 8 of 58

9 1.2 Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) Overview of VoIP Voice Over IP (VoIP) is a protocol for transmitting voice over a broadband IP network. Broadband is a high speed network (>256Kbps) wired or wireless. Audio samples are compressed into a digital data stream encapsulated within IP packets. User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is used to transport the audio stream. UDP does not guarantee delivery but it is fast and efficient which is ideal for real time traffic like voice. The main underlying technologies of VoIP include a session set-up/tear-down protocol and a media transport protocol. Most commonly used are SIP (Session Initiation Protocol [4]) and RTP (Real-time Transport Protocol [5]). SIP is used to set up end-to-end connections between the participants of call. RTP provides traffic control of real time data flows such as audio and video with minimal latency. IP networks are not ideal for carrying real time traffic like voice because they are best effort: there are no guarantees about the delivery of data. To accommodate this unreliability and provide reasonable QoS (Quality of Service), VoIP networks will implement some combination of network over-provisioning, priority queuing and traffic engineering. Despite the difficulties of delivering voice over IP, it has the major benefit of increasing network utilisation Market Position VoIP has been popular in international calling for many years now because the costs are drastically lower than through the PSTN. For example, on Telstra's standard home phone plan calls to the UK cost $0.21 per minute [6]. iinet offers VoIP calls to the UK at $0.05 per minute [52]. The primary reason VoIP is cheaper than the PSTN (Public Switch Telephony Network) is network convergence. IP networks can be utilised for many different applications while the PSTN is designed specifically for voice. Another reason for the price difference is that the PSTN is highly regulated and must achieve acceptable levels of QoS which adds to the cost. Additionally the PSTN must provide unprofitable services like emergency dialling and rural services. However as VoIP becomes more mainstream it is expected that similar regulations will apply to VoIP as well. VoIP is now becoming more popular as a home replacement for the PSTN. The reason for this is again partly due to lower prices but also because of the proliferation of broadband Page 9 of 58

10 access in the home. 60% of subscribers in the OECD region have broadband Internet connections [1]. The majority of ISPs are offering attractive VoIP deals bundled with Internet access. New developments in Internet service such as Naked DSL cut out the need for a fixed line rental altogether. This severs all direct payment between the customer and the telecommunications company. ISPs often bundle the cost of Internet access and VoIP together so that from the customer's perspective VoIP phone calls are free IP Telephony Systems VoIP can be used in a great variety of telephony systems. The most common implementations include the PBX, the call centre, commercial VoIP services and the VoIP gateway. A PBX (Private Branch Exchange) is a telephony system used to provide an organisations internal communications. The IP PBX has long been favoured over the original analogue systems. VoIP is popular for this function because it reduces operational costs and can be implemented over the organisation's existing network infrastructure. The IP PBX may either be implemented in-house or provided by a third party. Refer to Table 1 for a detailed list of PBX functions. Table 1: Common functionalities of Private Branch Exchanges (PBXs) [20] Switch between telephone users thereby creating connections. Make sure the connection remains in place properly by keeping its resources. Properly end the connection when a user hangs up. Record the quantities, statistics and metering related to the calls Provide one single number that external callers can use to access all persons in a company. Distribute calls to employees in an answering team in an even way. Automate call answering, but offering a menu of options from which a user can select to be directed to a specific extension or department. Allow the use of customized business greetings while answering calls. Provide system call management features. Place external callers on hold while waiting for a requested person to answer, and playing music or customized commercial messages for the caller waiting. Record voice messages for any extension from an external caller. Transfer calls between internal extensions Page 10 of 58

11 A call centre is a central location for receiving and processing many calls. The calls are switched by a central IP telephony server which forwards calls to the appropriate queue based on user key or voice selection from an option menu. Call centres employ minimal call centre agents who process calls from a queue. Commercial VoIP services are the IP telephony services provided by an ISP or telecommunications company. These are large scale deployments of telephony servers over a wide geographical area. Customers subscribe to the service and the provider will make some guarantees about the Quality of Service and provide features such as call waiting, 3-way calls and an answering service. The provider may also have to comply with government regulation to provide features such as emergency dialling. A VoIP gateway is the interface between different telephony networks. The interface may be between two VoIP providers, or an internal VoIP network and the PSTN or mobile network. A gateway is usually a necessary component of all VoIP implementations. Clearly VoIP can be used for many if not all telephony purposes. There are many products which are used to implement IP telephony services. Below are some well known open source and commercial products: Table 2: Common IP Telephony Products Product About Asterisk Open source telephony software. Primarily a PBX, can also be used as a real time media server and in call centres. Supports many VoIP protocols. [9] FreeSwitch An open source telephony switching software. Supports the most common VoIP protocols. [10] sipx Open source telephony software which provides all standard PBX features. sipx is designed specifically around the SIP protocol. [11] NEC UNIVERGE NEAX A commercial family of fully featured IP PBX systems. [12] Cisco Unified A commercial family of fully featured IP PBX systems.[13] Communications Manager Page 11 of 58

12 1.3 Monitoring and Management of IP Telephony The need for VoIP management tools As a real-time application VoIP s network requirements are more demanding than data. It is intolerant to jitter, packet loss and delay. Further pressure comes from subscriber expectations and in some countries government regulation to provide acceptable levels of Quality of Service (QoS). VoIP services add further complexity to existing networks. Networks which manage real time applications like VoIP need to prioritize this traffic over other traffic types, but doing so can easily overwhelm existing network resources if not managed judiciously. IP networks and the telephony service have a mutual impact on each other. Traditional telecommunications networks are designed specifically for voice so this problem does not exist. A telephony management system designed specifically for VoIP is critical for achieving its QoS needs. The system must manage both the telephony service and the underlying network. It must reflect the network and the telephony service in real-time to enable administrators to react immediately to changing network conditions. As discussed earlier the IP telephony market is extremely competitive and one area provider's focus on to improve their advantage is operational efficiency. Operational efficiency is often measured by the ratio of staff to subscribers. Engin, Australia's largest dedicated VoIP provider, has been working to increase operational efficiency and currently has achieved approximately 500 subscribers/staff [8]. Effective monitoring and management tools can help increase operational efficiency. A management system allows a multiple service points to be monitored by a single person. A management system reduces troubleshooting time by communicating vital information quickly and effectively. Additionally a management system can present information in such a way that less skilled knowledge of technologies is required. Page 12 of 58

13 1.3.2 Current VoIP Management Solutions Current VoIP management solutions are usually proprietary to specific VoIP hardware. All have similar features and are quite expensive. VoIP management software can be divided into two distinct categories: Monitoring of VoIP systems. Administration of VoIP systems. Monitoring is the form of observing the status of the VoIP system and administration is the process of dealing with and controlling the VoIP system. It is practical for solutions to do both. The following is a list of what VoIP management systems commonly achieve: Page 13 of 58

14 Table 3: Common features of VoIP management systems Monitoring Administration Quality of Service General Configuration Connectivity Switch between telephone users Traffic Barge into current call Number of VoIP packets Queue Management Average jitter rates Account management Call quality Call Records Intervals of packets in RTP Caller Extension Management Network Management Minimum call setup time Average call setup time Dial Plans, Speed Dials Maximum call setup time Call Screening RTCP information Conferencing Call duration time Voice Mail configuration Call tear down time Network Monitoring VoIP monitoring features are commonly presented in tables and 2D or 3D graphs. Colour and symbols are often used to communicate more meaning through the data. VoIP management features are usually driven through a graphical user interface. A specific application (either stand alone or via web interface) allows administrators to control VoIP systems. The following figures demonstrate the user interfaces of a few VoIP management solutions. Page 14 of 58

15 Figure 2: Intuitive Voice Technology - Web Mangement Interface Figure 3: NetQoS VoIP Monitor Page 15 of 58

16 Figure 4: Hammer XMS stand alone VoIP manager. It is clear to see that the above examples give a fair amount of detail to the user. From Figure 2, the user is faced with a complex interface if not familiar with VoIP concepts. Figure 3 attempts to use colour to show status of each call being made and Figure 4 tabulates information with menus on the top and side. Page 16 of 58

17 1.3.3 Information Visualisation The previous section has examples of VoIP information being visualised using text, tables, graphs, bars and colours. Information is laid out accordingly for the user to search through and distinguish the current state of the VoIP system. The most common way to represent information is to use 2D graphs and text. An example is shown in Figure 5 below where colour and graph functions are used to monitor the state of a CISCO VoIP system. Figure 5: CISCO VoIP Manager designed by NetQoS. Using 2D and text representations of information is stated to be suitable for the certain basic monitoring situations [21], but not for all. Another area that has been explored with information visualisation is the third dimension. Representing information and monitoring in 3D have been explored by researchers and companies [22][23][24][25][26][27]. An interesting use of 3D visualisation of information was used in [28] where the 3D capabilities of a game engine were utilised to represent network information as 3D virtual objects. More specifically the 3D engine was used as a network monitoring tool that specialised in intrusion detection. The tool that followed [28] is called L3DGEWorld [14] and was developed by the Centre for Advance Internet Architectures (CAIA) [29] at Swinburne University of Technology. Page 17 of 58

18 L3DGEWorld is a data visualisation utility based on Open Arena [15], a 3D first person shooter game that makes use of Quake III game engine. It is designed to be a network monitoring and control application but can be used for other monitoring purposes. L3DGEWorld places a user in a virtual world which represents a real IP network. The status of the IP network can be viewed in the virtual world. 3D objects reside within the virtual world which are mapped to a network statistic. Each 3D object has a number of visual characteristics [30] such as spin, bounce and change colour. These visual characteristics alert the user of the current status of the network visually. The following is an example of 3D entities objects in L3DGEWorld. Figure 6: Normal appearance of a 3D entity. Figure 7: A visual characteristic of a 3D entity changing colour to blue. L3DGEWorld can arrange 3D entity objects in any fashion. Multiple rooms and a hierarchy of maps can be created [31] filled with many 3D entities. An example in Figure 8 below shows entities arranged on four platforms that can represent physical rooms filled with many computers. An advantage of this layout is that it gives administrators the status of the entire network at one glance. Figure 8: L3DGEWorld overview of entire IP network that is being monitored. Page 18 of 58

19 Users are able to interact with the 3D entities in L3DGEWorld. In-game techniques (this involves 'shooting' 3D entities) are used to control or trigger an action. For example a spinning 3D entity may result in a computer on the network known to have a virus. A user (network administrator) would have the option to block access to and from that computer by 'shooting' at the 3D entity, which would result in applying network filtering rules all around the network. Figure 9 shows an example of user interaction with 3D entities in L3DGEWorld. L3DGEWorld also allows for multiple network administrators to interact with the virtual world. This results in collaborate network management which involves having more people watching the network and ability to distribute administrative management tasks. Figure 9 also demonstrates a second network administrator supervising a task. Figure 9: Interaction with 3D entities using ingame techniques results in completing an administrative task such as applying a firewall rule to the network. L3DGEWorld has captured our interest as it is a versatile data utility that can be applied to other network monitoring applications. We intend to use L3DGEWorld as a part of a VoIP management system. We see L3DGEWorld as having the potential to meet VoIP's management needs. Page 19 of 58

20 2 Project Description 2.1 Project Intent We intend to develop a unique VoIP monitoring and management system which uses 3D visualisation techniques. We refer to our system as LAMS (L3DGEWorld Asterisk Management System). L3DGEWorld [14] is a data visualisation utility that will aid in the monitoring of an IP telephony system which is implemented using Asterisk [9]. LAMS will generate a 3D virtual environment which represents an operational VoIP telephony system. The virtual world will change and react in real time to the activities of interest in the telephony system. Objects in the telephony system such as VoIP servers will be represented by objects in the virtual environment. Telephony and network metrics will be mapped to visual characteristics of the virtual objects. For example the bandwidth being consumed by a server may be communicated through the colour of its virtual counter-part. In this way critical information is communicated to users instantly. Network administrators will be immersed in the 3D virtual environment where they can grasp the complexity of the VoIP system without having expert knowledge of VoIP. Network administrators will be alerted to events in the telephony system through highly-visible activity occurring on the virtual counter-part. Management of the telephony system will occur through interaction with objects in the virtual environment. LAMS is intended to be a scalable and versatile solution to many VoIP telephony implementations. The VoIP management goals for LAMS are: To communicate complex telephony and network metrics efficiently and effectively through meaningful visualisation choices. To communicate telephony and network metrics side by side in an informative manner. To reduce the need for detailed knowledge of VoIP technologies through intuitive visualisation. To minimise added cost and overhead to the managed network to acceptable levels. Page 20 of 58

21 2.2 Project Scope As a proof of concept, this project will involve developing a prototype of LAMS. The aims of the prototype are: Use of the third dimension to monitor and manage a VoIP system. Use of visual aids to inform administrators of the current state of the VoIP system. Use of server client architecture to implement our solution. Contrast our VoIP management solution to existing solutions. Research the impact of implementing a management solution onto an existing network. Demonstrate the ease to grasp the complexity of a VoIP system within a few minutes through visualisation. We will not demonstrate the inner workings of game engines, or dive into VoIP architectures. Throughout the report we assume that the network LAMS co-exists with is capable of VoIP and implements standard network security measures. The prototype will monitor a subset of key telephony and network metrics, and implement a few key management operations in order to demonstrate the potential capabilities of the system. Page 21 of 58

22 2.3 Uses for LAMS LAMS can be applied to the following scenarios identified for VoIP telephony. IP PBX Telephony System Internal VoIP telephony systems that utilises the company's computer network must be maintained and monitored by network administrators. LAMS ease of use through its 3D graphical representation will aid network administrators to properly control the IP telephony system. Having network administrators manage the telephony system will provide the company a cost saving. Business 1 in the Figure 10 below represents LAMS integrated within the company's computer network and monitoring the internal telephony system. LAMS would be placed on the same network as the companies IP PBX. The IP PBX is the central point of the telephony system. It is what connects all the IP phones to be able to communicate with each other. The internal company telephony system would also be required to extend into an external telephony system, which would be managed and outsourced by a telecommunications provider. Outsourced IP PBX VoIP providers such as Vonage provide business solutions for companies to utilise VoIP for their internal telephony system. Supporting the VoIP telephony system would require monitoring and management on the provider's behalf. LAMS provides VoIP providers the capability to monitor and manage the status of each companies VoIP telephony system from a certain distance. Business 2 in figure demonstrates LAMS being used from the VoIP provider to monitor a business' VoIP telephony system (IP PBX) over the Internet. LAMS would need to have a secure connection over the public Internet to ensure confidential VoIP telephony system information is not leaked. Internet Service Providers/VoIP Server Providers Internet Service Providers or VoIP providers (such as Vonage or iinet) can use LAMS to control the many VoIP PBX servers. VoIP PBX servers handle all the telephony requests from VoIP customers. LAMS would display important information about the inner workings of a VoIP PBX server. Page 22 of 58

23 ISP/VSP company in figure demonstrates the number VoIP PBX servers they may have to manage and monitor. Real time monitoring and making sure the servers are always operational would be a key criterion. LAMS would identify if there was a problem with one of the VoIP servers. Call Centre Management In a call centre, calls are queued and then routed based on the user extension option. LAMS could be used to monitor the queues and the performance of the call centre employees. Figure 10: Scenarios where LAMS can be utilised to manage a number of VoIP systems. Page 23 of 58

24 2.4 Description of the prototype User Experience LAMS will place users (typically network administrators) in a virtual world just like a first person shooting game. Administrators will have the ability to roam around the virtual world that represents the telephony system. Inside the virtual world, 3D objects called entities will represent an object or concept in the telephony system. Each 3D entity will have visual characteristics that correspond to a VoIP features. For example, a 3D entity could be a telephone, which represents a single VoIP user. A characteristic mapping can be created where whenever the VoIP user makes a call, the 3D phone is made to bounce up and down. This would alert the administrator that a call is being made. Now the administrator might be placed in a room where there are multiple VoIP users which means there are multiple 3D phones. Administrators would easily distinguish from the bouncing phones which users are on the phone and which aren't. Figure 11: No calls being made. All 3D phones are stationary. Figure 12: Administrator is alerted that calls are being made because 3D phones are no longer stationary and are bouncing up and down. The figures shown above are a simplified example of what LAMS can achieve. There are several visual characteristics which L3DGEWorld supports, as shown in Table 4. Characteristics include colour, size, shape, and movement (such as bouncing) which can be employed simultaneously by a single entity to communicate several things at once. Refer to Appendix C for an outline of the features LAMS could monitor. Users can interact with the 3D entities in order to execute administrative tasks. A simple example of an administrative task is to purposely hang up a call. If a current VoIP user has Page 24 of 58

25 been on the phone for far too long, the network administrator using LAMS can interrupt the phone call and cut it off. The administrator would select the correct tool and shoot at the telephone entity to end the phone call as shown in Figure 13. Figure 13: Network Administrator about to 'shoot' a 3D phone which is translated by the VoIP system to hang up the phone call User Collaboration LAMS support multiple users interacting with the virtual environment. Inside the virtual environment, users can collaborate on management activities. For example, one user could be in charge of performing maintenance while another user is off troubleshooting a VoIP customer's connectivity issues. The work load of managing the VoIP system is shared between multiple users. Another advantage of collaboration is that users can make joint decisions about VoIP management. Page 25 of 58

26 2.4.3 Visual Characteristics Administrators are informed about the status of the telephony system through visual characteristics in the LAMS virtual world. The same monitoring concepts of L3DGEWorld [30] will be used for LAMS. Table 4 demonstrates a list of visual characteristics 3D entities will incorporate using a 3D cube as an example. Table 4: Visual characteristics of 3D entity objects Entity Object Characteristics Visualisation Spin The rate of the spin can be modified to spin fast or slow. Also the direction of spinning can be modified as well. Bounce The height of bouncing can be modified to bounce as high or as low as possible. Roll The roll rate can be modified to spin fast or slow. Also the direction of rolling can be modified as well. Colour Overlay Each object may have a colour overlay. Page 26 of 58

27 Change Pattern Each object has a skin/pattern that can be assigned to. It can be changed to give a visual alert just like colour overlay. Change Model Models can instantly change to another model. Scale Model Objects can be scaled larger or smaller. This visual affect works well when other similar objects are adjacent to the scaled object. Page 27 of 58

28 2.4.4 Mapping of Visual Characteristics Each 3D entity will represent a telephony system object or concept such as a VoIP server or phone call. VoIP systems have many features to monitor and manage. Features such as voice channel usage, queue status, packet rates and CPU usage are a few examples. LAMS takes these VoIP features and maps them directly into the 3D virtual world as a visual characteristic of a 3D entity. When a feature status changes, the mapped entity object will react to the change. The reaction can be chosen to be one of the listed visual characteristics such as bounce. Users of LAMS will be able to visually monitor features of a VoIP telephony system. Table 5 is a short list of VoIP system features mapped to example 3D entity objects. Each entity has a list of characteristic actions. Appropriate models will be chosen and tested during the development of LAMS. Figure 14: VoIP Server features are mapped to 3D entities inside the LAMS server. Page 28 of 58

29 Table 5: Example of mapping of telephony and network features to 3D entities. Entity Object VoIP System feature Visualisation Characteristic Operational Colour Change CPU Load Spin Minor Problem Bounce Memory Usage Scale Emergency Problem Change Model Current Calls Spin Call in Progress bounce Telephony Policy Breach Colour Change Network Policy Breach Change Model Packets Per Second (In/Out) bounce Traffic in/out bounce Page 29 of 58

30 2.4.5 Tabulated Information VoIP system features that are not mapped to a visual characteristic can be displayed in an information window. This window can be viewed by invoking a 3D entity object. Typical information placed in this window does not give valuable information when mapped to a visual characteristic. An example of the L3DGEWorld information window is shown in Figure 15. Figure 15: L3DGEWorld information window Page 30 of 58

31 2.5 Monitoring and Management Information Hierarchy As discussed in section 1, telephony systems are greatly varied and there are many features and metrics which need to be managed. LAMS will represent information in a hierarchy to better enable users to digest the information, and to make LAMS more flexible to different telephony systems. Not all telephony systems will require all levels, which are discussed in further detail below. Each level of the hierarchy will appear as a separate room or area within the virtual world. Entities in an upper level will summarise what is occurring on the level beneath. The users can move into a lower level by diving into a 3D entity, and move into an upper level by flying up to the roof of the current area. Refer to Figure 16. Figure 16: Moving between management levels Page 31 of 58

32 A VoIP Service Provider scenario is used in this section to demonstrate LAMS' versatility at all levels of a VoIP telephony system. Scenario: A VoIP service provider needs to maintain its current cluster of VoIP servers. The VoIP Provider serves thousands of customers and provides VoIP for a large geographical area (such as a state). VoIP servers are arranged around the state in small clusters but need to be managed and monitored from a central point. The following is an example of LAMS hierarchy of representing a VoIP system First Level Service Summary The first level displays a geographical representation of where groups of VoIP cluster servers are located. Selecting a cluster (a 3D entity representation of a real-world server cluster) will allow users to dive into the second level. Figure 17: First Level of LAMS Second Level Server and Telephony Service Figure 18 represents the second level where each individual VoIP server is represented as an object entity. Each VoIP server is divided into two objects (coupled together). One object represents telephony statistics and the other computer server statistics. Page 32 of 58

33 Figure 18: Second Level of LAMS Third Level Client/Peer The final level of the LAMS ISP/VSP design. This level represents the status of each individual phone client. Here users will be able to view what calls are currently in progress. The ability to cancel calls, listen to calls may be viable depending the intended use. Figure 19: Third Level of LAMS. Page 33 of 58

34 2.6 Engineering Specifications A number of architectural assumptions underpin LAMS providing an effective and efficient solution to VoIP telephony management IP Network Considerations and Limitations Network Traffic Introduced by LAMS The most fundamental consideration of LAMS is deployment onto an existing IP network. LAMS utilises existing IP data networks to communicate with VoIP servers. It needs to coexist with existing network services and not impede the network's performance. Keeping in mind network availability, LAMS also requires minimum network bandwidth consumption to operate as a real time monitoring system. According to performance testing, the traffic projection produced by the 3D engine of LAMS is 10 KB/s from LAMS server to client (with 5 clients connected) [32]. Each LAMS client produces about 2 KB/s of traffic from server to client and 4 KB/s from client to server. Comparing this data rate to the amount of a small ISP's daily traffic shown in Figure 20 (which has a 100 MB up and down link), is reasonably negligible. Figure 20: Traffic patterns of a small ISP ( which hosts and web hosting. The blue section represents the downlink and pink represents upload. Latency Consideration and Monitoring Distance Since LAMS uses a 3D game engine, using LAMS can be compared to playing first person shooter games over a network. First person shooter games have a network latency tolerance level for acceptable game play. Gamers know that the lower the latency, the more of a pleasurable gaming experience one has. Studies have shown that no more than Page 34 of 58

35 ms (from the game server) is acceptable for first person shooter games [34][35]. LAMS clients will have the same network latency tolerance as first person shooter games. Network latency can estimate the geographical distant from a server to client. Based on game server latency from a reference point in Melbourne, Australia is around 200 ms wide [33]. European and American game servers are ms away in network latency. The given game latency information allows LAMS to be implemented nationwide if needed. LAMS servers can be placed within a network latency radius of the monitored VoIP server. An example is shown below. Figure 21: For true real time monitoring, LAMS must be at most 200ms from the VoIP system it is monitoring. Throughout this report we assume that the network LAMS will co-exist with and is capable of handling VoIP. VoIP conversations require a minimum upload and download link. Current VoIP providers expect customers to have a broadband bandwidth link of at least 128 kbps both up and downlink [42]. We assume LAMS is deployed in a corporate to small business scenario where multiple features will be monitored and a dedicated high speed broadband link is accessible. Page 35 of 58

36 VoIP traffic also needs to propagate throughout a network without any interference. We assume that VoIP traffic is not impeded from getting to and from the user. All firewalls will allow chosen VoIP protocols (SIP, H.323, MGCP and Skinny) to flow through networks. Polling Interval In order for the LAMS server to generate a virtual world of telephony features, it needs to acquire statistics (by polling) from a VoIP server. Since LAMS will be used to monitor a VoIP system in real time, updates of statistics of telephony features are required constantly. Polling the server will give LAMS a snapshot of the status of the VoIP server. Using Nyquist's sampling rule [36], the polling interval should be twice the frequency that VoIP features get updated. The exact polling interval will be investigated in our design process. Initially we will use a sample rate of 60 seconds, as LCMON [37] used the same rate to sample Swinburne's Super Computer comprised of 146 cluster computers. A more detailed testing process is outlined later in this report about modifying the polling interval. Location of Polling There are two options regarding how the LAMS server receives information about the VoIP system. They are: 1. Polling should occur at the VoIP server and send information to the LAMS server. The LAMS server will just listen for information coming from the VoIP server. 2. Polling requests should come from the LAMS server, which in turn is responded by the VoIP server. There is a trade-off between the two options. Option 1 impedes on the processing power of the VoIP server as it will need to calculate the statistics. Though there would only be traffic generated in one direction. Option 2 could generate equal amounts of traffic in both directions. An investigation as to which option is required in our development phase D Game Engine Limitations LAMS use of a game engine has a few limitations. Typical first person shooter games can host up to players [15]. The number of LAMS clients will have the same restraint. The number of entity objects that represent a VoIP feature is also be limited due to the game engine. Currently the 3D engine LAMS will can manage about 250 entities. VoIP service providers such as Engin serve up to 770,000 subscribers [8]. Mapping too many features can overload the LAMS server and reduce the performance of LAMS being a real time monitoring system. Page 36 of 58

37 2.6.3 Physical location of LAMS server The LAMS server must have network access to the VoIP server that is being monitored. The LAMS server location is flexible and is scenario dependant. The following are the possible location of the LAMS server. Inside the same piece of hardware as the VoIP server. On the same network subnet as the VoIP server. A few milliseconds away across the Internet from the Internet provider's link. Ideally the closer the LAMS server to the VoIP server, the less network traffic is generated from LAMS server polling Security and Resilience Telephony It is assumed users of LAMS are authorized personals such as network administrators and telecommunication technicians. Network If monitoring and management is located outside the local area network as for an outsourced IP PBX, securing the data is important. Data should be encrypted and impossible to be intercepted. Correct firewall rules and appropriate network security is assumed to be implemented Appropriate Visualisation Number of Visual Characteristics Each 3D entity within the virtual world is capable of having up to eight visual characteristics. Unfortunately having all visual characteristics functioning at once, would be confusing and chaotic for the user to interpret. As a guide, possibly only two to four visual characteristics should be used for one 3D entity. Modelling and Mapping The models chosen to represent parts of the VoIP system should not be too complex or too simple. Some model types may not be suitable for a number of visual characteristics. For example, choosing a sphere will not be appropriate if the 'spin' or 'roll' characteristic is chosen and the texture is a plain colour. The design of models, rooms and levels if possible should Page 37 of 58

38 represent the real world. Users should intuitively be able to recognise what kind of system they are monitoring based on the visual appearance. Page 38 of 58

39 3 Design Documentation 3.1 Overview of Design A LAMS server monitors a VoIP system over an IP network. LAMS can either reside within the local area network or a certain distance away (measured in milliseconds) over the Internet. The LAMS server continually receives state information about a VoIP server by polling it. Using the received state information and the LAMS 3D engine creates virtual 3D representation which map the status or action of a VoIP server. Users of LAMS can connect to a LAMS server via a client and view the current status of the VoIP server in a 3D environment. Users are able to view many objects that represent different features of the VoIP system. Actions taken by the user in the virtual world can be programmed to affect the VoIP server. Figure 22 shows a logical overview of the LAMS. Figure 22:Logical overview of how LAMS monitors and visually represents a VoIP system in a 3D virtual world. Page 39 of 58

40 3.1.1 Key Components There are three key components to our design. They are the LAMS server, VoIP system to monitor and the polling module that bridges information from LAMS server to VoIP system (Figure 23). Figure 23: Key Components of LAMS. LAMS Server Inside the LAMS server is the 3D engine where each object represents a telephony or network feature. LAMS will be implemented using the 3D engine from L3DGEWorld 2.3. L3DGEWorld is a data visualisation utility based on Open Arena, a GPL'd game that makes use of the Quake III Arena (Q3A) game engine. Page 40 of 58

41 VoIP System VoIP System will be a standalone VoIP server/pbx. This is where all VoIP calls are terminated and are routed to get through to a destination. The VoIP system will be implemented using Asterisk, an open source telephony engine. Polling Module The polling module is the bridge between the VoIP and LAMS server. The polling module communicates both with the LAMS and VoIP server. It is what maps a telephony feature to a 3D object within the LAMS server. An overview of the polling module is shown below. It too can be divided into three distinct parts. Page 41 of 58

42 3.2 Design components The key components of LAMS will be implemented using open source software. Open source software gives us the flexibility to read, modify and redistribute software freely. If open source software were not used, then the project would need to develop each component which will increase the duration of the project significantly. This section outlines open source software that will be used to develop LAMS and why it was chosen FreeBSD Operating System FreeBSD [16] is an advance operating system for x86 compatible architectures. It is developed and maintained by a large team of individuals. FreeBSD will be used as the core operating system for our LAMS and IP PBX server. The reason for choosing FreeBSD as an operating system is because it provides the following: Advance networking and security performance. Is an ideal network server. Has numerous lists of applications it supports. It is free and modifiable to suit the needs of our project L3DGEWorld 2.3 Data Visualisation Utility L3DGEWorld [14] is a data visualisation utility based on Open Arena, a GPL'd game that makes use of the Quake III Arena (Q3A) game engine. L3DGEWorld will be used to visualise data from a VoIP system. The reason for using L3DGEWorld is the following: Designed to be a flexible monitoring and control application. Easily used for multiple purposes by developing other input and output daemons [30]. Input and output daemon code is provided with sufficient documentation. Has a server to client architecture. We do not have to create our own 3D engine. Hierarchy levels can be created. 3D entities can be made to bounce, move and spin. A whole variety of actions can be found in section Allows for collaborative monitoring of a VoIP system. It runs on FreeBSD, MacOSX, Windows and Linux. It's free. Page 42 of 58

43 3.2.3 Asterisk IP Telephony Engine Asterisk [9] is an open source telephony engine and tool kit. It is released under the GPL and is heavily influenced by the VoIP market. Asterisk will be the IP PBX (VoIP system) the LAMS server will be monitoring. Asterisk will be used to simulate one the outline scenarios mentioned in section The reason for using Asterisk is the following: Easily adaptable to many PBX implementations. Supports many Voice over IP protocols Can interoperate with a variety of standard-based telephony equipment using inexpensive hardware. Access to large range of supporting documentation and guides. Many variations of Asterisk used for business solutions. Runs on FreeBSD, Linux, MacOSX. It's free D Modelling & Map Software Milkshape 3D [17] is a low-polygon modeller which is used to model for a variety of 3D game engines. L3DGEWorld uses 3D models specified for the Quake III engine. We will use Milkshape 3D to design how telephony features are represented in the virtual world. Milkshape 3D is shareware and a license is required to use for more than 30 days. GTK Radiant [18] is a level design program for a variety of 3D game engines. GTK Radiant will be used to design the rooms and hierarchy monitoring levels. GTK Radiant is freely available and only runs on Windows Image Manipulation Software Creating textures for models and maps require an image manipulation application. Gimp [38] is an open source image manipulation application. It is similar to Adobe Photoshop Tunnelling software To test scenarios where an encrypted link is required between a LAMS server and VoIP system, tunnelling software is required. OpenVPN [19] is a full-featured open source VPN solution that can accommodate a wide range of configurations. Page 43 of 58

44 3.3 Hardware Requirements LAMS Server If the LAMS server to reside on a separate piece of hardware to the VoIP server, than the minimum requirements would be the similar to a Quake III game server [43]. Since the LAMS server also processes statistics of telephony features, additional system requirements are needed. The following are the minimum system requirements for a LAMS server. Pentium II 200 MHz, At least 256 MB RAM. At least 500 MB free space VoIP Server The hardware chosen will need to handle digital signal processing. As stated by Asterisk, each channel should be allowed at least 30 MHz of CPU power. Overall the server should have 512MB to 1GB of RAM. The number of VoIP users and voice channels needed greatly affect the hardware specifications [39] LAMS Client LAMS takes advantage of the Quake 3 engine. The minimum requirements for a LAMS client are a PIII 500 MHz with 128MBs of RAM, Geforce class video card and 300 MBs of hard drive space. Page 44 of 58