Traffic Engineering

CST 331/431
Roger G. Clery
2005

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 Network Design Principles
• Voice Traffic Engineering
– POTS
– Cell Phones
– Trunked Radio Services
• Can also be used for packet traffic

2
 Design is a Composite of 4
Characteristics/Factors

1. Service Level
2. Load
3. Behavior of Users in placing and holding
calls
4. Capacity of Network – Trunks – Ports

3
Calculations are based on Busy Hour
Traffic
Traffic and
Blockage
are
LOWER
the rest of
the day.

The Busy
Hour need
not be a
clock
hour.

4
 Design is a Composite of the following
Characteristics/Factors

1. The network owners grade of service

objective (Probability of Blockage)
2. Anticipated load measured in
– Call Attempts
– Call Holding Time
3. Behavior of Users in placing and
holding calls
4. Capacity of Network – Trunks – Ports
5
 Design is a Composite of the following
Characteristics/Factors

The network owners grade of service

objective (Probability of Blockage)

Service is never perfect!

10% = P 0.10 is not so good

0.25% = P 0.0025 is very good

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 Design is a Composite of the following
Characteristics/Factors

1. The network owners grade of service

objective (Probability of Blockage)
2. Anticipated load measured in
– Call Attempts
– Call Holding Time
– Erlangs

How much traffic is in this system?

7
 Design is a Composite of the following
Characteristics/Factors
1. The network owners grade of service
objective (Probability of Blockage)
2. Anticipated load measured in
– Call Attempts
– Call Holding Time
– Erlangs
3. Behavior of Users in placing and
holding calls
What happens when a call is blocked
8
 Design is a Composite of the following
Characteristics/Factors
1. The network owners grade of service
objective (Probability of Blockage)
2. Anticipated load measured in
– Call Attempts
– Call Holding Time
– Erlangs
3. Behavior of Users in placing and
holding calls
4. Capacity of Network – Trunks – Ports
How many?
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 Three Types of Blockage
• BCC Blocked Calls Cleared – Calls
leave the system either permanently or
for some extended time

10
 Three Types of Blockage
• BCC Blocked Calls Cleared – Calls
leave the system either permanently or
for some extended time
• BCD Blocked Calls Delayed – Calls are
Queued until capacity to serve is
available – This call is important to us,
please stay on the line and your call will
be answered sometime.

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 Three Types of Blockage
• BCC Blocked Calls Cleared – Calls leave the
system either permanently or for some
extended time
• BCD Blocked Calls Delayed – Calls are
Queued until capacity to serve is available –
This call is important to us, please stay on the
line and your call will be answered sometime.
• BCH Blocked Calls Held – users redial
immediately until they get through, talk time is
reduces by the time spent dialing.
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 How to measure traffic
• Sum of all calls over some time period
• Usually One Hour = 60 Minutes = 3600
Seconds
• Add up all talk time
– If in minutes divide by 60
– If in seconds divide by 3600

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Examples of Traffic

14
 Traffic Measurement – One
Erlang

• 4 people each talk 15 minutes during a

one hour time period.
• 10 people each talk 6 minutes during a
one hour time period.
• 6 people each talk 10 minutes during a
one hour time period.
• 30 people each talk 120 seconds during
a one hour time period.
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 Traffic Measurement – One
Erlang
• 4 people each talk 15 minutes during a one
hour time period. 4 x 15 = 60 60/60 = 1
• 10 people each talk 6 minutes during a one
hour time period. 10 x 6 = 60 60/60 = 1
• 6 people each talk 10 minutes during a one
hour time period. 6 x 10 = 60 60/60 =1
• 30 people each talk 120 seconds during a
one hour time period. 30 x 120 = 3600
3600 / 3600 = 1 ERLANG
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 Estimate traffic load
• 4 sales people talk 30 minutes and 3
clerks talk 10 minutes
• The average call is 7 minutes long and
at peak time 10 calls arrive an hour
• 72,000 seconds of traffic are generated
in an 8 hour day – peak is 20% of total

17
 Estimate traffic load
• You talk for two hours straight. (trick question)
Traffic can never be more than 1 Erlang in an hour per user,
line or device

Traffic is measured in a one hour period the BUSY HOUR

18
 You could use a
formula/function
but
Looking it up in a table is much
more efficient

19
 Selection of traffic table
• Calls are queued – BCD – use Erlang C
• Calls are high priority – Final route –
Use Poisson
• All others use Erlang B

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 Using the Tables
You need to know 2 of 3 variables

1. Servers- trunks- agents

2. Grade of Service/Blocking or
probability of queueing
3. Traffic in Erlangs

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 Using the Tables
• Need to know 2 of 3 variables
– Servers- trunks- agents
– Grade of service or probability of queueing
– Traffic in Erlangs
– Close is OK – Use as a guide
– For Erlang C table you need to know the
average length of a call

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 Practice Practice Practice
• Installing a PBX 3 Erlangs of traffic at
peak hour, grade of service required is
P.05 how many trunks required?
• New office will have 16 sales agents
average 3 calls per hour each and
average call length is 6 minutes how
many trunks required?

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Erlang B Table

24
Erlang B Table Find P 0.05

25
 Erlang B Table Find 3 Erlangs

Find P = 0.05 Column, then look down to find 3, 3 isn’t there but 2.96 is close enough
Last, go left it the same row to find Trunks. 6 Trunks ! [easy!]
26
 Part 2 16 agents, 3 calls, 6 minutes

• 16 x 3 x 6 = 234 minutes
• 234/60 = 3.9 Erlangs
• What is the Blockage? P value?
– High 0.10
– Low 0.01
– Super Low 0.001

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Solution to part 2
You don’t want
to miss any
sales so low
blockage is
required.

P =0.01
would
require 10
trunks

P = 0.001
would
require 12
trunks
Extrapolating..
How about
11 trunks

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 Practice Practice Practice
• 10 Erlangs are handled by 16 trunks what
is the grade of service?
• 24 trunks can carry ______ Erlangs at
P.01 grade
• 3.1 Erlangs of traffic are traveling to the
4th planet of Alpha Centari using sub-
space channels. Grade of service is to be
P.01, how many sub-space channels are
required?

29
 Always use the B Table
Except when very critical service is
required
Fire, Police, Hospital Emergency
Final trunk routes in phone company
Then use

Poisson
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Web based B Calculator

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end

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