CAM is a versatile and extensible control and monitoring system. Any piece of equipment which provides status and accepts configuration using a computer interface can be connected to a CAM machine and controlled completely from a user friendly windowed environment.
CAM machines can be connected together to form a larger network. Status of all the connected hardware is filtered around the CAM machines and making it possible to control and monitor hardware connected at distant sites.
The primary user interface is CAM-GFX our custom-written GUI. It provides a single, consistent view of all equipment in the network. A network 'explorer' allows quick 'drill down' to individual network components. There are a large number of customization options available which allow users to build up their own views of the equipment in the network: Racks of equipment can be configured to reflect their actual location in the comms room. Chains can also be made which show the complete delivery chain from hub modem -> amplifier -> distant receiver -> modem.
Connection to remote sites can be made using in-band IP or 'Engineering Service Channels' built in to most modems. Using these links, full remote management of both distant equipment and CAM PC is possible. Standard net tools such as telnet and ftp can be used for system admin.
PSTN Dial-up access to the remote CAMs can be utilized in the event of link failure to diagnose problems without solely relying on the 'over air' control.
CAM provides day-to-day monitoring and control of the equipment within the network, complete link reconfigurations are even possible over-air.
Full alarm logging and reporting is included with a single screen showing the 'health' of any piece of equipment, any site or the network as a whole. Alarms can be categorized into Info, Notice, Warning, Faults and Critical faults. They can be acknowledged to indicate operation attention and may also become latched when the alarm condition clears. Trigger levels and hysteresis times are user-configurable on a per-alarm basis. Any alarm can generate an audible notification, visual alert, SNMP trap, SMS message or email.
Equipment status can be written to a file once a day with changes to the status of the equipment (e.g. faults, power level fluctuations, Eb/No, BER stats) logged as they happen. Adjustments to configuration, either by CAM or from the equipment itself are also logged. These statistics can be loaded into a spreadsheet for analysis or turned into availability graphs and QoS information.
Full-control or read-only access can be granted on a user by user basis. This allows sysops full control of the network, but can restrict comms-room staff to a simple 'view only'
CAM can operate as an SNMP gateway and provide full SNMP control and monitoring of non-SNMP-aware devices. MIBs are available for all our supported devices thus providing a simple way of integrating this equipment into an SNMP-based management system (e.g. HP OpenView)
CAM Pricing is based on a licence scheme. There is a charge per CAM machine in the network and a charge per device controlled. Driver costs vary according to the complexity of the device. We can also happy to quote for suitable hardware, interface cards, installation, training and after-sales support.
Controlling equipment at remote sites
There are three methods of controlling equipment at a remote site:
1) Install a CAM PC. This connects to the equipment at the site and is linked to the main site either by an async overhead channel on the modem or via an IP connection. This method may cost a little more as extra hardware needs to be fitted and a CAM licence purchased but it offers a number of advantages: i) It is possible for an engineer at the remote site to monitor and control both the local hardware and the entire network. ii) alternative connections could be made to the site in the event of a main link failure, e.g. dial-up
2) Use 'linked-M&C'. This is a feature of Paradise Modems which allows control of a distant modem via it's own async overhead channel. It is also possible for certain equipment to be 'daisy chained' onto the distant modem and control them too. This relies on the serial settings and M&C protocols of the equipment being compatible with the Modem. Codan and Anacom RFTs have been tested as working, other devices may work but would need testing.
3) Use Serial/IP converters. If there is an IP connection to the remote site - either in-band or land-line - then these inexpensive converters can be used. These are small devices which allow an IP address to be assigned to its serial port, a TCP connection can then be made from the controlling CAM machine and the serial port is then treated as if it is local.
Neither methods 2 or 3 allow local control of the distant equipment or alternative access methods.