Practical tools for analyzing, calculating, and reporting availability, reliability, and maintainability metrics

Engineers in the telecommunications industry must be able to quantify system reliability and availability metrics for use in service level agreements, system design decisions, and daily operations. Increasing system complexity and software dependence require new, more sophisticated tools for system modeling and metric calculation than those available in the current literature.

Telecommunications System Reliability Engineering, Theory, and Practice provides a background in reliability engineering theory as well as detailed sections discussing applications to fiber optic networks (earth station and space segment), microwave networks (long-haul, cellular backhaul and mobile wireless), satellite networks (teleport and VSAT), power systems (generators, commercial power and battery systems), facilities management, and software/firmware. Programming techniques and examples for simulation of the approaches presented are discussed throughout the book.

This powerful resource:

Telecommunications System Reliability Engineering, Theory, and Practice is a must-have guide for telecommunications engineers or engineering students planning to work in the field of telecommunications.

MARK AYERS is manager of RF Engineering at GCI Communications Corp headquartered in Anchorage, Alaska. He has a broad range of telecommunications experience in fiber optics, microwave radio, and satellite network design. Mr. Ayers holds a BS degree in mathematics from the University of Alaska Anchorage and an MS degree in electrical engineering from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. He is a registered Professional Electrical Engineer in the State of Alaska, a senior member in the IEEE, and teaches a variety of courses in the Engineering Department at the University of Alaska Anchorage.

Preface xiii

About the Author xv

Acronym List xvii

INTRODUCTION 1

1 RELIABILITY THEORY 7

1.1 System Metrics 8

1.2 Statistical Distributions 18

1.3 System Modeling Techniques 25

1.4 Systems with Repair 33

1.5 Markov Chain Models 35

1.6 Practical Markov System Models 41

1.7 Monte Carlo Simulation Models 47

1.8 Repair Period Models 58

1.9 Equipment Sparing 61

2 FIBER-OPTIC NETWORKS 71

2.1 Terrestrial Fiber-Optic Networks 71

2.1 Submarine Fiber-Optic Networks 84

3 MICROWAVE NETWORKS 95

3.1 Long-Haul Microwave Networks 96

3.2 Short-Haul Microwave Networks 117

3.3 Local Area Microwave Networks 124

4 SATELLITE NETWORKS 133

4.1 Propagation 134

4.2 Earth Stations 138

4.3 VSAT Earth Stations 140

4.4 Earth Stations 143

4.5 Spacecraft 156

4.6 Satellite Network Topologies 160

5 MOBILE WIRELESS NETWORKS 171

5.1 Mobile Wireless Equipment 172

5.2 Mobile Wireless Network Systems 182

6 TELECOMMUNICATIONS FACILITIES 187

6.1 Power Systems 188

6.2 Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning Systems 207

7 SOFTWARE AND FIRMWARE 213

7.1 Software Failure Mechanisms 214

7.2 Software Failure Rate Modeling 216

7.3 Reliability and Availability of Systems with Software Components 220

References 227

Index 229