Chapter 9, Alarm and TCA Monitoring and Management

This chapter describes Cisco Transport Controller (CTC) alarm and threshold crossing alert (TCA) monitoring and management. To troubleshoot specific alarms, refer to the Cisco ONS 15454 DWDM Troubleshooting Guide.

Note Unless otherwise specified, "ONS 15454" refers to both ANSI and ETSI shelf assemblies.

9.1 Overview

CTC detects and reports alarms generated by the Cisco ONS 15454 and the larger network. You can use CTC to monitor and manage alarms at the card, node, or network level. Default alarm severities conform to the Telcordia GR-474-CORE standard, but you can set alarm severities in customized alarm profiles or suppress CTC alarm reporting. For a detailed description of the standard Telcordia categories employed by Optical Networking System (ONS) nodes, refer to the Cisco ONS 15454 DWDM Troubleshooting Guide.

Note ONS 15454 alarms can also be monitored and managed through Transaction Language One (TL1) or a network management system (NMS).

9.2 Alarm Counts on the LCD for a Node, Slot, or Port

You can view node, slot, or port-level alarm counts and summaries using the buttons on the ONS 15454 LCD panel. The Slot and Port buttons toggle between display types; the Slot button toggles between node display and slot display, and the Port button toggles between slot and port views. Pressing the Status button after you choose the display mode changes the display from alarm count to alarm summary.

The ONS 15454 has a one-button update for some commonly viewed alarm counts. If you press the Slot button once and then wait eight seconds, the display automatically changes from a slot alarm count to a slot alarm summary. If you press the Port button to toggle to port-level display, you can use the Port button to toggle to a specific slot and to view each port's port-level alarm count. Figure 9-1 shows the LCD panel layout.

9.3 Alarm Display

In the card, node, or network CTC view, click the Alarms tab to display the alarms for that card, node, or network. The Alarms window shows alarms in compliance with Telcordia GR-253-CORE. This means that if a network problem causes two alarms, such as loss of frame (LOF) and loss of signal (LOS), CTC only shows the LOS alarm in this window because it supersedes the LOF and replaces it.

The Path Width column in the Alarms and Conditions tabs expands on the alarmed object information contained in the access identifier (AID) string (such as "STS-4-1-3") by giving the number of STSs contained in the alarmed path. For example, the Path Width tells you whether a critical alarm applies to an STS1 or an STS48c. The column reports the width as a 1, 3, 6, 12, 48, etc. as appropriate, understood to be "STS-N."

Table 9-1 lists the column headings and the information recorded in each column.

Table 9-1 Alarm Column Descriptions
Column	Information Recorded
Num	Sequence number of the original alarm. (The column is hidden by default; to view it, right-click a column and choose Show Column > Num.)
Ref	Reference number of the original alarm. (The column is hidden by default; to view it, right-click a column and choose Show Column > Ref.)
New	Indicates a new alarm; to change this status, click either the Synchronize button or the Delete Cleared Alarms button.
Date	Date and time of the alarm.
Node	Shows the name of the node where the condition or alarm occurred. (Visible in network view.)
Object	TL1 access identifier (AID) for the alarmed object; for an STSmon or VTmon, this is the monitored STS or VT.
Eqpt Type	If an alarm is raised on a card, the card type in this slot.
Slot	If an alarm is raised on a card, the slot where the alarm occurred [appears only in network and node view (single-shelf mode) or shelf view (multishelf mode)].
Port	If an alarm is raised on a card, the port where the alarm is raised; for STSTerm and VTTerm, the port refers to the upstream card it is partnered with.
Path Width	Indicates how many STSs are contained in the alarmed path. This information complements the alarm object notation, which is explained in the Cisco ONS 15454 DWDM Troubleshooting Guide
Sev	Severity level: CR (Critical), MJ (Major), MN (minor), NA (Not Alarmed), NR (Not Reported).
ST	Status: R (raised), C (clear), T (transient).
SA	When checked, indicates a service-affecting alarm.
Cond	The error message/alarm name; these names are alphabetically defined in the Cisco ONS 15454 DWDM Troubleshooting Guide.
Description	Description of the alarm.

Table 9-2 Color Codes for Alarms and Condition Severities
Color	Description
Red	Raised Critical (CR) alarm
Orange	Raised Major (MJ) alarm
Yellow	Raised Minor (MN) alarm
Magenta (pink)	Raised Not Alarmed (NA) condition
Blue	Raised Not Reported (NR) condition
White	Cleared (C) alarm or condition

9.3.1 Viewing Alarms by Time Zone

By default, alarms and conditions are displayed with the time stamp of the CTC workstation where you are viewing them. However, you can set the node to report alarms (and conditions) using the time zone where the node is located.

9.3.2 Controlling Alarm Display

You can control the display of the alarms shown on the Alarms window. Table 9-3 shows the actions you can perform in the Alarms window.

Table 9-3 Alarm Display
Button/Check Box/Tool	Action
Filter button	Allows you to change the display on the Alarms window to show only alarms that meet a certain severity level, occur in a specified time frame, or reflect specific conditions. For example, you can set the filter so that only critical alarms display in the window. If you enable the Filter feature by clicking the Filter button in one CTC view, such as node view (single-shelf mode) or shelf view (multishelf mode), it is enabled in the others as well (card view and network view).
Synchronize button	Updates the alarm display. Although CTC displays alarms in real time, the Synchronize button allows you to verify the alarm display. This is particularly useful during provisioning or troubleshooting.
Delete Cleared Alarms button	Deletes, from the view, alarms that have been cleared.
AutoDelete Cleared Alarms check box	If checked, CTC automatically deletes cleared alarms.
Filter tool	Enables or disables alarm filtering in the card, node, or network view. When enabled or disabled, this state applies to other views for that node and for all other nodes in the network. For example, if the Filter tool is enabled in the node (default login) view Alarms window, the network view Alarms window and card view Alarms window also show the tool enabled. All other nodes in the network also show the tool enabled.

9.3.3 Filtering Alarms

The alarm display can be filtered to prevent display of alarms with certain severities or alarms that occurred between certain dates and times. You can set the filtering parameters by clicking the Filter button at the bottom-left of the Alarms window. You can turn the filter on or off by clicking the Filter tool at the bottom-right of the window. CTC retains your filter activation setting. For example, if you turn the filter on and then log out, CTC keeps the filter active the next time you log in.

9.3.4 Conditions Tab

The Conditions window displays retrieved fault conditions. A condition is a fault or status detected by ONS 15454 hardware or software. When a condition occurs and continues for a minimum period, CTC raises a condition, which is a flag showing that this particular condition currently exists on the ONS 15454.

The Conditions window shows all conditions that occur, including those that are superseded. For instance, if a network problem causes two alarms, such as LOF and LOS, CTC shows both the LOF and LOS conditions in this window (even though LOS supersedes LOF). Having all conditions visible can be helpful when troubleshooting the ONS 15454. If you want to retrieve conditions that obey a root-cause hierarchy (that is, LOS supersedes and replaces LOF), you can exclude the same root causes by checking the "Exclude Same Root Cause" check box in the window.

Fault conditions include reported alarms and Not Reported or Not Alarmed conditions. Refer to the trouble notifications information in the Cisco ONS 15454 DWDM Troubleshooting Guide for more information about alarm and condition classifications.

9.3.5 Controlling the Conditions Display

You can control the display of the conditions on the Conditions window. Table 9-4 shows the actions you can perform in the window.

Table 9-4 Conditions Display
Button	Action
Retrieve	Retrieves the current set of all existing fault conditions, as maintained by the alarm manager, from the ONS 15454.
Filter	Allows you to change the Conditions window display to only show the conditions that meet a certain severity level or occur in a specified time frame. For example, you can set the filter so that only critical conditions display on the window. There is a Filter button on the lower-right of the window that allows you to enable or disable the filter feature.
Exclude Same Root Cause	Retrieves conditions that obey a root-cause hierarchy (LOS supersedes and replaces LOF).

9.3.5.1 Retrieving and Displaying Conditions

The current set of all existing conditions maintained by the alarm manager can be seen when you click the Retrieve button. The set of conditions retrieved is relative to the CTC view. For example, if you click the button while displaying the node view (single-shelf mode) or shelf view (multishelf mode), node-specific conditions appear. If you click the button while displaying the network view, all conditions for the network (including ONS 15454 nodes and other connected nodes) appear, and the card view shows only card-specific conditions.

You can also set a node to display conditions using the time zone where the node is located, rather than the time zone of the PC where they are being viewed.

9.3.5.2 Conditions Column Descriptions

Table 9-5 lists the Conditions window column headings and the information recorded in each column.

Table 9-5 Conditions Column Description
Column	Information Recorded
Date	Date and time of the condition.
Node	Shows the name of the node where the condition or alarm occurred. (Visible in network view.)
Object	TL1 AID for the condition object. For an STSmon or VTmon, the object.
Eqpt Type	Card type in this slot.
Slot	Slot where the condition occurred (appears only in network and node view).
Port	Port where the condition occurred. For STSTerm and VTTerm, the port refers to the upstream card it is partnered with.
Path Width	Width of the data path.
Sev¹	Severity level: CR (Critical), MJ (Major), MN (Minor), NA (Not Alarmed), NR (Not Reported).
SA 1	Indicates a service-affecting alarm (when checked).
Cond	The error message/alarm name; these names are alphabetically defined in the Cisco ONS 15454 DWDM Troubleshooting Guide.
Description	Description of the condition.

¹All alarms, their severities, and service-affecting statuses are also displayed in the Condition tab unless you choose to filter the alarm from the display using the Filter button.

9.3.5.3 Filtering Conditions

The condition display can be filtered to prevent display of conditions (including alarms) with certain severities or that occurred between certain dates. You can set the filtering parameters by clicking the Filter button at the bottom-left of the Conditions window. You can turn the filter on or off by clicking the Filter tool at the bottom-right of the window. CTC retains your filter activation setting. For example, if you turn the filter on and then log out, CTC keeps the filter active the next time your user ID is activated.

9.3.6 Viewing History

The History window displays historic alarm or condition data for the node or for your login session. You can chose to display only alarm history, only events, or both by checking check boxes in the History > Shelf window. You can view network-level alarm and condition history, such as for circuits, for all the nodes visible in network view. At the node level, you can see all port (facility), card, STS, and system-level history entries for that node. For example, protection-switching events or performance-monitoring threshold crossings appear here. If you double-click a card, you can view all port, card, and STS alarm or condition history that directly affects the card.

Note In the Preference dialog General tab, the Maximum History Entries value only applies to the Session window.

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The History > Session window is shown in network view, node view (single-shelf mode) or shelf view (multishelf mode), and card view. It shows alarms and conditions that occurred during the current user CTC session.

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The History > Shelf window is only shown in node view (single-shelf mode) or shelf view (multishelf mode). It shows the alarms and conditions that occurred on the node since CTC software was operated on the node.

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The History > Card window is only shown in card view. It shows the alarms and conditions that occurred on the card since CTC software was installed on the node.

Tip

Double-click an alarm in the History window to display the corresponding view. For example, double-clicking a card alarm takes you to card view. In network view, double-clicking a node alarm takes you to node view (single-shelf mode) or shelf view (multishelf mode).

If you check the History window Alarms check box, you display the node history of alarms. If you check the Events check box, you display the node history of Not Alarmed and transient events (conditions). If you check both check boxes, you retrieve node history for both.

9.3.6.1 History Column Descriptions

Table 9-6 lists the History window column headings and the information recorded in each column.

Table 9-6 History Column Description
Column	Information Recorded
Num	Num (number) is the quantity of alarm messages received, and is incremented automatically as alarms occur to display the current total of received error messages. (The column is hidden by default; to view it, right-click a column and choose Show Column > Num.)
Ref	Ref (reference) is a unique identification number assigned to each alarm to reference a specific alarm message that is displayed. (The column is hidden by default; to view it, right-click a column and choose Show Column > Ref.)
Date	Date and time of the condition.
Node	Shows the name of the node where the condition or alarm occurred. (Visible in network view.)
Object	TL1 AID for the condition object. For an STSmon or VTmon, the object.
Slot	Slot where the condition occurred [only displays in network view and node view (single-shelf mode) or shelf view (multishelf mode)].
Port	Port where the condition occurred. For STSTerm and VTTerm, the port refers to the upstream card it is partnered with.
Path Width	Width of the data path.
Sev	Severity level: Critical (CR), Major (MJ), Minor (MN), Not Alarmed (NA), Not Reported (NR).
ST	Status: raised (R), cleared (C), or transient (T).
SA	Indicates a service-affecting alarm (when checked).
Cond	Condition name.
Description	Description of the condition.
Eqpt Type	Card type in this slot.

9.3.6.2 Retrieving and Displaying Alarm and Condition History

You can retrieve and view the history of alarms and conditions, including transient conditions (passing notifications of processes as they occur) in the CTC History window. The information in this window is specific to the view where it is shown (that is, network history in the network view, node history in the node view (single-shelf mode) or shelf view (multishelf mode), and card history in the card view).

The node and card history views are each divided into two tabs. In node view (single-shelf mode) or shelf view (multishelf mode), when you click the Retrieve button, you can see the history of alarms, conditions, and transients that have occurred on the node in the History > Node window, and the history of alarms, conditions, and transients that have occurred on the node during your login session in the History > Session window. In the card-view history window, after you retrieve the card history, you can see the history of alarms, conditions, and transients on the card in the History > Card window, or a history of alarms, conditions, and transients that have occurred during your login session in the History > Session window. You can also filter the severities and occurrence period in these history windows.

9.3.7 Alarm History and Log Buffer Capacities

The ONS 15454 alarm history log, stored in the TCC2/TCC2P RSA memory, contains four categories of alarms. These include:

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the combined group of cleared, Not Alarmed severity, and Not Reported severity alarms

Each category can store between 4 and 640 alarm chunks, or entries. In each category, when the upper limit is reached, the oldest entry in the category is deleted. The capacity is not user-provisionable.

CTC also has a log buffer, separate from the alarm history log, that pertains to the total number of entries displayed in the Alarms, Conditions, and History windows. The total capacity is provisionable up to 5,000 entries. When the upper limit is reached, the oldest entries are deleted.

9.4 Alarm Severities

ONS 15454 alarm severities follow the Telcordia GR-474-CORE standard, so a condition might be Alarmed (at a severity of Critical [CR], Major [MJ], or Minor [MN]), Not Alarmed (NA), or Not Reported (NR). These severities are reported in the CTC software Alarms, Conditions, and History windows at all levels: network, shelf, and card.

ONS equipment provides a standard profile named Default listing all alarms and conditions with severity settings based on Telcordia GR-474-CORE and other standards, but users can create their own profiles with different settings for some or all conditions and apply these wherever desired. (See the "Alarm Profiles" section.) For example, in a custom alarm profile, the default severity of a carrier loss (CARLOSS) alarm on an Ethernet port could be changed from major to critical. The profile allows setting to Not Reported or Not Alarmed, as well as the three alarmed severities.

Critical and Major severities are only used for service-affecting alarms. If a condition is set as Critical or Major by profile, it will raise as Minor alarm in the following situations:

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In a protection group, if the alarm is on a standby entity (the side not carrying traffic)

Because of this possibility of being raised at two different levels, the alarm profile pane shows Critical as CR / MN and Major as MJ / MN.

9.5 Alarm Profiles

The alarm profiles feature allows you to change default alarm severities by creating unique alarm profiles for individual ONS 15454 ports, cards, or nodes. A created alarm profile can be applied to any node on the network. Alarm profiles can be saved to a file and imported elsewhere in the network, but the profile must be stored locally on a node before it can be applied to the node, its cards, or its cards' ports.

CTC can store up to ten active alarm profiles at any time to apply to the node. Custom profiles can take eight of these active profile positions. Two other profiles, Default profile and Inherited profile, are reserved by the NE, and cannot be edited.The reserved Default profile contains Telcordia GR-474-CORE severities. The reserved Inherited profile allows port alarm severities to be governed by the card-level severities, or card alarm severities to be determined by the node-level severities.

If one or more alarm profiles have been stored as files from elsewhere in the network onto the local PC or server hard drive where CTC resides, you can utilize as many profiles as you can physically store by deleting and replacing them locally in CTC so that only eight are active at any given time.

9.5.1 Creating and Modifying Alarm Profiles

Alarm profiles are created in the network view using the node view (single-shelf mode) or shelf view (multishelf mode) Provisioning > Alarm Profiles tabs. Figure 9-2 shows the default list of alarm severities. A default alarm severity following Telcordia GR-474-CORE standards is preprovisioned for every alarm. After loading the default profile or another profile on the node, you can clone a profile to create custom profiles. After the new profile is created, the Alarm Profiles window shows the original profile (frequently Default) and the new profile.

Note The alarm profile list contains a master list of alarms that is used for a mixed node network. Some of these alarms might not be used in all ONS nodes.

Note The Default alarm profile list contains alarm and condition severities that correspond when applicable to default values established in Telcordia GR-474-CORE.

Note All default or user-defined severity settings that are Critical (CR) or Major (MJ) are demoted to Minor (MN) in non-service-affecting situations as defined in Telcordia GR-474-CORE.

Tip

To see the full list of profiles, including those available for loading or cloning, click the Available button. You must load a profile before you can clone it.

Note Up to 10 profiles, including the two reserved profiles (Inherited and Default) can be stored in CTC.

Wherever it is applied, the Default alarm profile sets severities to standard Telcordia GR-474-CORE settings. In the Inherited profile, alarms inherit, or copy, severity from the next-highest level. For example, a card with an Inherited alarm profile copies the severities used by the node housing the card. If you choose the Inherited profile from the network view, the severities at the lower levels (node and card) are copied from this selection.

You do not have to apply a single severity profile to the node-, card-, and port-level alarms. Different profiles can be applied at different levels. You could use the inherited or default profile on a node and on all cards and ports, but apply a custom profile that downgrades an alarm on one particular card. For example, you might choose to downgrade an OC-N unequipped path alarm (UNEQ-P) from Critical (CR) to Not Alarmed (NA) on an optical card because this alarm raises and then clears every time you create a circuit. UNEQ-P alarms for the card with the custom profile would not display on the Alarms tab (but they would still be recorded on the Conditions and History tabs.)

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All Critical (CR) or Major (MJ) default or user-defined severity settings are demoted to Minor (MN) in Non-Service-Affecting (NSA) situations as defined in Telcordia GR-474.

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Default severities are used for all alarms and conditions until you create a new profile and apply it.

The Load and Store buttons are not available for Retrieve and Maintenance users.

The Delete and Store options will only display nodes to delete profiles from or store profiles to if the user has provisioning permission for those nodes. If the user does not have the proper permissions, CTC greys out the buttons and they are not available to the user.

9.5.2 Alarm Profile Buttons

The Alarm Profiles window displays six buttons at the bottom of the screen. Table 9-7 lists and describes each of the alarm profile buttons and their functions.

Table 9-7 Alarm Profile Buttons
Button	Description
New	Creates a new profile.
Load	Loads a profile to a node or a file.
Store	Saves profiles on a node (or nodes) or in a file.
Delete	Deletes profiles from a node.
Compare	Displays differences between alarm profiles (for example, individual alarms that are not configured equivalently between profiles).
Available	Displays all profiles available on each node.
Usage	Displays all entities (nodes and alarm subjects) present in the network and which profiles contain the alarm. Can be printed.

9.5.3 Alarm Profile Editing

Table 9-8 lists and describes the five profile-editing options available when you right-click an alarm item in the profile column (such as Default).

Table 9-8 Alarm Profile Editing Options
Button	Description
Store	Saves a profile in a node or in a file.
Rename	Changes a profile name.
Clone	Creates a profile that contains the same alarm severity settings as the profile being cloned.
Reset	Restores a profile to its previous state or to the original state (if it has not yet been applied).
Remove	Removes a profile from the table editor.

9.5.4 Alarm Severity Options

To change or assign alarm severity, left-click the alarm severity you want to change in the alarm profile column. Seven severity levels appear for the alarm:

Inherited and Use Default severity levels only appear in alarm profiles. They do not appear when you view alarms, history, or conditions.

9.5.5 Row Display Options

In the network or node view (single-shelf mode) or shelf view (multishelf mode), the Alarm Profiles window (Alarm Profile Editor for node view) displays three check boxes at the bottom of the window:

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Only show service-affecting severities—If unchecked, the editor shows severities in the format sev1/sev2 where sev1 is a service-affecting severity and sev2 is not service-affecting. If checked, the editor only shows sev1 alarms.

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Hide reference values—Highlights alarms with nondefault severities by clearing alarm cells with default severities.

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Hide identical rows—Hides rows of alarms that contain the same severity for each profile.

9.5.6 Applying Alarm Profiles

In CTC node view (single-shelf mode) or shelf view (multishelf mode), the Alarm Behavior window displays alarm profiles for the node. In card view, the Alarm Behavior window displays the alarm profiles for the selected card. Alarm profiles form a hierarchy. A node-level alarm profile applies to all cards in the node except cards that have their own profiles. A card-level alarm profile applies to all ports on the card except ports that have their own profiles.

At the node level, you can apply profile changes on a card-by-card basis or set a profile for the entire node. At the card-level view, you can apply profile changes on a port-by-port basis or set alarm profiles for all ports on that card. Figure 9-3 shows alarm profiles for an OPT-BST card.

9.6 External Alarms and Controls

External alarm inputs can be provisioned on the Alarm Interface Controller-International (AIC-I) card for external sensors such as an open door and flood sensors, temperature sensors, and other environmental conditions. External control outputs on these two cards allow you to drive external visual or audible devices such as bells and lights. They can control other devices such as generators, heaters, and fans.

Up to 12 external alarm inputs and four external controls are available with the AIC-I card. If you also provision the alarm extension panel (AEP), there are 32 inputs and 16 outputs. The AEP is compatible with the ONS 15454 ANSI shelf only. It is not compatible with the ONS 15454 ETSI shelf.

9.6.1 External Alarms

You can provision each alarm input separately. Provisionable characteristics of external alarm inputs include:

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Raised When—Open means that the normal condition is no current flowing through the contact, and the alarm is generated when current does flow; closed means that normal condition is to have current flowing through the contact, and the alarm is generated when current stops flowing.

Note

If you provision an external alarm to raise when a contact is open, and you have not attached the alarm cable, the alarm will remain raised until the alarm cable is connected.

Note

When you provision an external alarm, the alarm object is ENV-IN-nn. The variable nn refers to the external alarm's number, regardless of the name you assign.

9.6.2 External Controls

You can provision each alarm output separately. Provisionable characteristics of alarm outputs include:

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Closure setting (manually or by trigger). If you provision the output closure to be triggered, the following characteristics can be used as triggers:

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Local NE alarm severity—A chosen alarm severity (for example, major) and any higher-severity alarm (in this case, critical) causes output closure.

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Remote NE alarm severity—Similar to local NE alarm severity trigger setting, but applies to remote alarms.

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Virtual wire entities—You can provision an alarm that is input to a virtual wire to trigger an external control output.

9.6.3 Virtual Wires

Provisioning the AIC and AIC-I card provides a "virtual wires" option used to route external alarms and controls from different nodes to one or more alarm collection centers. In Figure 9-4, smoke detectors at Nodes 1, 2, 3, and 4 are assigned to Virtual Wire #1, and Virtual Wire #1 is provisioned as the trigger for an external bell at Node 1.

9.7 Alarm Suppression

9.7.1 Alarms Suppressed for Maintenance

When you place a port in OOS,MT administrative state, this raises the alarm suppressed for maintenance (AS-MT) alarm in the Conditions and History windows¹ and causes subsequently raised alarms for that port to be suppressed.

While the facility is in the OOS,MT state, any alarms or conditions that are raised and suppressed on it (for example, a transmit failure [TRMT] alarm) are reported in the Conditions window and show their normal severity in the Sev column. The suppressed alarms are not shown in the Alarms and History windows. (These windows only show AS-MT). When you place the port back into IS,AINS administrative state, the AS-MT alarm is resolved in all three windows. Suppressed alarms remain raised in the Conditions window until they are cleared.

9.7.2 Alarms Suppressed by User Command

In the node view (single-shelf mode) or shelf view (multishelf mode) Provisioning > Alarm Profiles tabs > Alarm Behavior tabs, the ONS 15454 has an alarm suppression option that clears raised alarm messages for the node, chassis, one or more slots (cards), or one or more ports. Using this option raises the alarms suppressed by user command, or AS-CMD alarm. The AS-CMD alarm, like the AS-MT alarm, appears in the Conditions, and History 1 windows. Suppressed conditions (including alarms) appear only in the Conditions window--showing their normal severity in the Sev column. When the Suppress Alarms check box is unchecked, the AS-CMD alarm is cleared from all three windows.

A suppression command applied at a higher level does not supersede a command applied at a lower level. For example, applying a node-level alarm suppression command makes all raised alarms for the node appear to be cleared, but it does not cancel out card-level or port-level suppression. Each of these conditions can exist independently and must be cleared independently.

9.8 Multishelf Configuration Alarming

Multishelf systems can share a single IP address among shelves and also correlate optical signal alarms. Ethernet alarm-raising for this configuration also differs from alarm-raising for single-shelf configurations. This section explains how alarms are viewed on a multishelf configuration, how alarm locations are determined, and how multishelf alarming differs from single-shelf alarming.

9.8.1 Viewing Multishelf Alarmed Entities

The multishelf view in CTC shows which slots are occupied in each shelf of the configuration ( Figure 9-5).

You can determine where an alarm is raised by viewing the Object column. The entry there (for example, FAC-1-3-1) tells you the entity ("fac," or facility), shelf, slot, and port. In shelf view, the Alarms and Conditions tabs also contain a Shelf column that indicates where the alarmed card is located.

9.8.2 Multishelf-Specific Alarming

The following sections explain how Ethernet communication alarms and correlated multishelf alarms are processed in the ONS 15454 DWDM system.

9.8.2.1 Ethernet Communication Alarms

The Ethernet interface card (MS-ISC) that is required for multishelf configurations does not raise traditional Ethernet alarms, such as CARLOSS, that apply to transponder (TXP) or muxponder (MXP) client ports. Instead, MS-ISC card alarms are raised on the shelf as EQPT alarms. These alarms include Duplicate Shelf ID (DUP-SHELF-ID) and Shelf Communication Failure (SHELF-COMM-FAIL).

9.8.2.2 Multishelf Correlated Alarms

ITU-T G.798-based alarm correlation simplifies alarm reporting for DWDM channels. Communication failures including Loss of Signal (LOS), Loss of Signal Payload (LOS-P), and Optical Power Receive Fail-Loss of Light (OPWR-LFAIL) generate multiple conditions at each affected node and channel. Correlation simplifies troubleshooting because a single alarm is reported for each root cause. (The original alarms retain their severity in the Conditions window.)

The Payload Missing Indication (PMI) condition is raised at the far end to correlate optical multiplex section (OMS) and optical transmission section (OTS) communication failures. A single PMI condition is sent when every channel on the aggregated port is lost, that is, when there are no pass-through channels or active added channels in service. If there are added channels on the node, the Forward Defect Indication (FDI) condition is raised at the near end to indicate there are no pass-through optical channels (OCH) in service.

9.9 Threshold Crossing Alert Suppression

This section describes threshold crosssing alert (TCA) suppression on TXP and MXP cards when they are installed in a DWDM node.

9.9.1 Overview

Threshold default settings define the default cumulative values (thresholds) beyond which a TCA will be raised. TCAs make it possible to monitor the network and detect errors early.

Threshold defaults are defined for near end and/or far end and at 15-minute or one-day intervals.

When LOS-P, LOS, or LOF alarms occur on the TXP./MXP cards, different TCAs are suppressed. Which TCAs are suppressed by an alarm depends on how the trunk is configured (ITU-T G.709, SONET, or SDH). The reason for suppressing the TCAs after the alarm occurs is to prevent a flood of TCAs after a system failure.

TCA suppression does not extend to optical thresholds such as OPR (optical power received). Optical threshold TCAs can effectively be suppressed by setting their thresholds to the maximum value.TCA suppression also does not extend to client ports; it only applies to TXP and MXP trunk ports when they are configured as ITU-T G.709, SONET, or SDH. TCA suppression does not extend to 10GE payloads.

Note Suppressed TCAs are not reported as Not Reported (NR) conditions. As a result, suppressed TCAs do not appear in the CTC Conditions tab and they cannot be retrieved with the RTRV-COND TL1 command.

9.9.2 G.709, SONET, and SDH TCA Groups

This section lists the TCAs that are suppressed for each alarm. TCA suppression is determined by how framing is configured for TXP and MXP trunks.

Table 9-9 TCA Suppression Groups
Alarm	TXP/MXP Trunk Framing	TCA Suppressed
LOS-P and LOF	G.709	BBE-SM ES-SM SES-SM UAS-SM FC-SM ESR-SM SESR-SM BBER-SM BBE-PM ES-PM SES-PM UAS-PM FC-PM ESR-PM SESR-PM BBER-PM BIT-EC UNC-WORDS
LOS or LOF	SONET	ES-S SES-S SEFS-S CV-S ES-L SES-L UAS-L CV-L FC-L
LOS or LOF	SDH	RS-ES RS-ESR RS-SES RS-SESR RS-BBR RS-BBER RS-UAS RS-EB MS-ES MS-ESR MS-SES MS-SESR MS-BBR MS-BBER MS-UAS MS-EB

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Alarm and TCA Monitoring and Management