SAMager Agent is acting as SNMP Master Agent and enables atscSAM to monitor ATSC and ATSC M/H multiplexes on all technical layers via SNMP. It covers:

• RF layer
• Transport/MPEG2 layer
• M/H layer
• IP layer
• RTP layer
• FLUTE layer
• ESG layer
• Audio/Video layer

One leg of the agent is communicating with the dvbSAM monitoring components (SAMcorder and SAMesg ) running right on the monitoring probe.

The other leg is communicating with the SNMP client operated by the broadcaster (e.g. the SAMager Console or any other SNMP client using the decontis SNMP MIB) which receives SNMP traps, performs status queries and administers the probe via SNMP.

The SAMager Agent enables the solution to be controlled via SNMP.

SAMager Agent provides comprehensive monitoring features on all technical layers and an SNMP MIB consisting of almost 800(!) SNMP operations and traps.

Key Attributes:

• supports SNMP based monitoring of ATSC and ATSC M/H multiplexes on all technical layers - see the Feature Matrix
• support of SNMPv2 GET, GET NEXT, GET BULK, SET and TRAP
• individual configuration of error and warning thresholds
• detailed MIB & TRAP configuration
• comfortable graphical user interface
• comprehensive logging capabilities
• very detailed configuration possibilities in order to fit also complex monitoring requirements
• for the operator a very comfortable SNMP client is available for administration and status visualization of all probes in the network (also in a geographical map)
• capable of unattended operation at 24/7
• complete monitoring solution available as SAM-MT 450

Following atscSAM components are realizing the transport stream monitoring for ATSC and ATSC M/H:

• SAMager Agent
  On the one hand SAMager Agent connects to all atscSAM components involved in the monitoring tasks and collects & aggregates all status information from these components continuously.
  On the other hand SAMager Agent provides theSNMP control and status interface to the SNMP backend used by the operator.
  
  
• SAMcorder
  SAMcorder, the central input/output processor of atscSAM, receives the ATSC/MDTV multiplex via RF, ASI or IP interfaces and provides the received data for further analysis to SAMesg and monitors all relevant parameters of the entire multiplex on RF, MPEG2, M/H, IP and RTP layer in realtime.
  
  
• SAMesg
  SAMesg monitors the ESG containers of all Electronic Service Guides contained in the multiplex simultaneously in realtime, performs plausibility checks, monitors update cycles and much more.
  
  

SAMager Agent provides a comprehensive SNMP MIB consisting of about 800(!) SNMP operations and TRAPs. It further fully supports SNMP tables and uses this capability to provide information about every monitoring detail.

For example, in ETSI TR 101290 a priority one check of the timing of all contained PMTs is required. If one PMT timing is out of range then the aggregated PMT monitoring result is "error". So if one PMT is out of range, in other monitoring solutions there is usually no information available anymore, whether all other PMTs are within the allowed range or not, only an error gets signaled in those solutions.

However, the SAMager Agent provides a table listing all information about all table entries (such as the PMTs in the example) separately. So the operator can analyze quickly whether e.g. the "PMT Error" affects the entire multiplex or only a single PMT.

Moreover, SAMager Agent even allows to take out a particular table entry (such as a particular PMT in the example) from monitoring via SNMP, thereby aggregating the sum status only from the remaining SNMP table entries. This is a very useful feature in case there are "known" errors within a multiplex which the operator does not want to be considered while building the aggregated status of a monitoring parameter.

This feature is supported accross all monitoring layers and used whereever tables are useful, making monitoring very efficient even if there are "known" problems inside the multiplex.

The SNMP MIB further supports sending of SNMP TRAPs, which can individually be configured in any regard.

For each TRAP it can be configured, whether:

• a TRAP shall get sent with every state change of the particular monitoring parameter or only, if the state gets worse
• a TRAP shall get sent continuously as long as a warning or error condition of the particular monitoring parameter is set or whether the TRAP shall get sent only once when the state changes
• a TRAP shall get sent for error conditions only or for warning + error conditions of the particular monitoring parameter
• a TRAP shall contain further detailed state information or just the new state of the particular monitoring parameter

This flexibility and the versatile configuration possibilites make it ideal for any monitoring purposes for ATSC and ATSC M/H.

SAMager Agent - Main Window

SAMager Agent - GUI for TRAP configuration

Monitoring Network Overview - atscSAM SNMP based monitoring