Section Overview – Measurements contains current data measurement (obtained from sensors).

Arrow-headed symbols (↑, ↓, →) have following meaning:

	Note
	Value measurements are collected once per 10s (excluding radio interface, where values can be collected once per 10s or more often – depends on the radio communication character).

Section Overview – Statistics shows a short view of the statistics over last 15 minutes (from the time of opening the window or pressing Refresh button).

Provides a complete information extract about all active interfaces (addresses, details and statistics included). All interfaces used by the linux router (including all internal interfaces like npi, loop, ag, ip6tnl, etc.) are displayed in this section.

Fig. 8.1: DIAGNOSTICS > Information > Interfaces > Ethernet

Intefaces used in RipEX2 units are in general either Bridged ports (BP-L2) or Routed interfaces (RI-L3).

All interfaces used by the linux router (internal interfaces excluded) are displayed in the following list.

Provides information about data extract from section Routing.

Fig. 8.2: DIAGNOSTICS > Information > Routing

This section is divided into following parts:

Provides general overview about data extract from sections L2, L3 and NAT.

8.3.3.1. Firewall L2

Displays data called by linux command “iptables -L”.

Fig. 8.3: DIAGNOSTICS > Information > Firewall > L2

8.3.3.2. Firewall L3

Displays data called by following linux commands “iptables -nvL –line-numbers”.

Fig. 8.4: DIAGNOSTICS > Information > Firewall > L3

8.3.3.3. NAT

Displays data called by following linux commands:

• “iptables -t nat -nvL postrouting_user” – data about SNAT

• “iptables -t nat -nvL prerouting_user” – data about DNAT

Fig. 8.5: DIAGNOSTICS > Information > Firewall > NAT

Creates a table about object and statistics extract for each given interface. This table contains:

Fig. 8.6: DIAGNOSTICS > Information > Quality of service

Provides general information about the unit (device).

Fig. 8.7: DIAGNOSTICS > Information > Device

This menu serves for collecting data, either from local or remote station and storing them into a package (file). Diagnostic package serves primarily as a help tool, for RACOM’s technical support in case of any potential unit issues. Minimum size of a package is 5kB. Maximum size depends on the amount of radio links contained in the statistics. Diagnostic package is downloaded already compressed, which saves approx. 1/3 of its original size.

Only one package collecting (applies for both local and remote) at a time is supported.

Fig. 8.8: DIAGNOSTICS > Information > Diagnostic package

After setting all parameters, click on “Generate” button. By clicking the “Refresh” button update the processing status of the package. Once the package is ready, it can be downloaded by clicking the “Download” button. After its download, the package is deleted from the unit. The package will be deleted even if its download is unsuccessful and if the download is not initiated, the package will be deleted automatically after 24h.

Statistics data are always retrieved as aggregated for a certain time Interval. This Interval can be set by putting specific date and time into “From” and “To” fields, or using buttons “Last day”, “Last hour” or “More options” fast presets (from several minutes to several days). Button “Set Current Time” sets current time to both From and To fields to ease current unit status diagnostics.

There are following sets of statistical data available in the unit:

“Display” button then shows chosen data below. “Download Selected Data” button generates CSV (UTF-8 encoded) file of all chosen systems’ data and downloads them as files without displaying them. Both “Display” and “Download …” buttons send a request for the required set of statistics data to the unit. Retrieving and transferring of the data (over the radio channel) takes some time. Downloading the data is practical when the user needs to process them in a spreadsheet and wants to save some bandwidth. It is also recommended to use spreadsheet editor like Microsoft Excel or Apple Numbers to process statistics on mobile devices due to better user experience provided by the specialized apps.

Radio interface statistics provides set of data monitoring the interface between the Router module (IP routing engine in the unit) and the Radio protocol module. It corresponds to monitoring Radio – Router.

Tx direction: from the Router module to the Radio protocol module. Rx direction: from the Radio protocol module to the Router module.

MAC address – MAC address of the IP packet. Source for Rx or destination for Tx packets.

IP address – translated MAC address when available. Address 0.0.0.0 is used as a placeholder if the translation is not available. If the Transparent protocol is used, the translation is not available at all.

UDP, TCP, ICMP, ARP – Packet count and amount of data in Bytes [B] for different protocol types. Amount of data is summed over the whole Layer 2 Ethernet frame (i.e. all IP headers are counted).

Other – Packets not handled by the previous counters (e.g. VLAN, services, GRE, IPsec (ESP), …)

Radio protocol statistics provides set of data monitoring the radio channel access protocol frames and events. It corresponds to monitoring Radio – Interface.

Frames which are not addressed to/from this unit are not handled (they do not affect any counter).

Rx direction: from the ‘air’ radio interface to the Radio protocol module. Tx direction: from the Radio protocol module to the radio interface.

Link address – Link address of the frame. Source for Rx or destination for Tx frames. This is a Link address assigned at the origin (input) – when entering, or at the target (output) – when leaving the radio network.

In case of Base driven protocol or Transparent protocol, this address pair is not modified when re-translated. As a result of this fact, the whole traffic to a remote station behind the re-translation is counted together in a line assigned to the remote station.

For the Link address:

In case of Base driven protocol – the Protocol address is used

IP address – translated MAC address when available. Address 0.0.0.0 is used as a placeholder if the translation is not available. If the Transparent protocol is used, the translation is not available at all.

Frame OK (Rx) – Correctly received data frames count.

Frame OK (Tx) – Correctly send data frames count. Control frames are not included. When ACK is on, only acknowledged frames are included. Re-translated data frames are not included.

Frame err (Rx) – Received corrupted data frames count (CRC error)

Frame lost (Tx) – Transmitted unacknowledged frames count. It happens when ACK is on and acknowledging frame was not received even when full number of re-transmission attempts was reached.

Frame dupl (Rx) – Received, but dropped, duplicated data frames count. ‘Duplicated’ frames are repeatedly received acknowledged frames.

Frame rep (Tx) – Repeated frames count (they can appear when ACK is on). Re-translated frames are not included.

Frame rej (Tx) – Rejected frames count (rejected just before transmission) – reason: buffer timeout. In case of Transparent protocol (Bridge mode) it happens when there is a collision during re-translation.

Packet rej (Rx) – Correctly received but rejected packets count – reason: impossible to decrypt or decompress.

Packet rej (Tx) – Rejected packets count (rejected before handed over to the transmitter) – reason: buffer overflow, buffer timeout.

Ctrl frames (Rx, Tx) – Received / transmitted control frames count.

Total (Rx) – Received frames count and amount of data in Bytes. Amount of data – for both Rx and Tx – is summed over the whole Layer 2 Ethernet frame (i.e. all IP headers are counted).

Total (Tx) – Transmitted frames count and amount of data in Bytes. Re-translated frames are included.

Radio protocol ‘non-addressable’ statistics provides set of data monitoring the radio channel access protocol frames and events which cannot be linked with any address (e.g. broadcasts). It corresponds to monitoring Radio – Interface.

False Sync – False synchronization incidents count

Phy header err – Packet reception failure count – reason: sub header error

Phy err – Packet reception failure count – reason: physical layer analysis error

Header err – Packet reception failure count – reason: header content error or CRC error.

Incompatible – Received incompatible frames count – reason: different radio protocol

Strange – Received unexpected frames count – reason: wrong addresses, wrong sequence etc. Valid for Base Driven Protocol only.

Unroutable – Packets counter which were scheduled for transmission but impossible to be forwarded to the Radio protocol – multiple reasons: e.g. the destination IP address is not known

Radio signal statistics provides set of data monitoring the radio interface quantities and events. It corresponds to monitoring Radio – Interface.

Statistic data are collected by the frame source address – Link address, which is an address of the originating radio transmitter (unlike “Radio protocol statistics” where the Link address is an address of the unit where the packet entered the RipEX2 network).

There is a special address ‘RELAY’ to indicate frames coming from the re-translation unit in case of Base Driven Protocol operation.

Header count – Received headers count

RSS [dBm] – Radio Signal Strength – measured within the header reception

avg / dev / min / max – average / standard deviation / minimum / maximum

Phy header MSE [dB] – modulation Mean Squared Error – measured within the header reception

Freq offset [Hz] – Averaged frequency offset between the transmitter and the receiver station, measured by the receiver station.

Att1 [%] – First internal attenuator (15 dB) activated. Shown in percents of affected frames.

Att2 [dB] – Value of the 2nd internal attenuation applied (0 – 31 dB).

Data count – Received complete frames (including data part) count. Frames with valid header CRC, but wrong data CRC are not counted

Data MSE [dB] – modulation Mean Squared Error – measured within the frame data part reception

Radio signal statistics provides set of data monitoring the radio interface quantities and events. This table contains measurements handled before the frame reception and measurements which cannot be linked with any address (e.g. broadcasts). It corresponds to monitoring Radio – Interface.

Pre-frame – Values based on measurements handled before the frame reception

RSS [dBm] – Radio Signal Strength – measured short time just before the frame reception

Others – Values for frames which cannot be linked with any address

Serial protocols statistics provides set of data monitoring the COM port(s) and Terminal server (s). Only enabled interfaces are displayed. The statistics counters are based on packets entering or leaving the COM port or Terminal server module. As a result of this the ‘count’ values correspond to the Protocol messages (the “Protocol” selected on the specific COM port or Terminal server). If the packet is ‘glued’ from the several frames, it is evaluated as a single packet. In case of COM port statistics, the summary of ‘Correct’ and ‘Drop’ Bytes provides the total amount of Bytes on the physical interface.

Rx direction: from the connected (at the COM or ETH port) external device to the RipEX2 unit (i.e. from the COM port module or Terminal server module to the Router module). Tx direction: from the RipEX2 unit to the external device.

Interface – Interface name

Correct (Rx, Tx) – Correctly received / transmitted packets count and amount of data in Bytes. Accepted by the COM port or Terminal server module – based on the selected Protocol processing. Amount of data – for both Correct and Drop counters – is affected by COM port data only (i.e. IP headers of the UDP frames created in the COM port module are NOT counted).

Drop (Rx, Tx) – Dropped received / transmitted packets – reason: corrupted frame, CRC error, wrong protocol message, unsupported protocol message.

Ethernet statistics provides set of data monitoring the physical Ethernet ports. Only enabled interfaces are displayed.

Only correctly received frames are handled. The counters correspond to the specific IP protocol types.

Rx direction: from the physical Ethernet port to the RipEX2 unit (i.e. to the Router module). Tx direction: from the RipEX2 unit to the physical Ethernet port.

Interface – Interface name.

UDP, TCP, ICMP, ARP, VLAN, Multicast – Packet count and amount of data in Bytes [B] for different protocol types – IPv4 traffic. Amount of data – for all counters – is summed over the whole Layer 2 Ethernet frame (i.e. all IP headers are counted).

IPv4 other – IPv4 traffic not handled by the previous counters

IPv6 – IPv6 traffic counter

Other – Counter summing up the frames which were not handled by the previous counters – for example MPLS and GOOSE protocols.

Cellular statistics are available for optional extension module if used.

8.5.9.1. Cellular interface statistics

Cellular interface statistics provides set of data collected from the interface between the Router module (IP routing engine in the unit) and the Cellular module. It corresponds to monitoring Cellular – Interface.

Tx direction: from the Router module to the Cellular module.
Rx direction: from the Cellular module to the Router module.

Interface

– “cell-ext” interface is used for RipEX2 optional extension cellular module.

UDP, TCP, ICMP, ARP

– Packet count and amount of data in Bytes [B] for different protocol types. Amount of data is summed over the whole Layer 2 Ethernet frame (i.e. all IP headers are counted).

IPv4 other

– Packets not handled by the previous counters (e.g. VLAN, services, GRE, IPsec (ESP), …).

IPv6

– IPv6 packets are handled separately.

Other

– other packets than IPv4 or IPv6

8.5.9.2. Cellular state statistics

Interface

– “cell-ext” interface is used for RipEX2 optional extension cellular module.

SIM [%]

– information about using the individual SIM cards during the time displayed in %.

Services [%]

– N/A (not available), 2G (e.g. GPRS, EDGE), 3G (e.g. UMTS), 4G (e.g. LTE) services usage displayed in % of time.

Networks [%]

– NC (not connected), Home (home network), Roaming (roaming network), Other (not matching previous type of networks) displayed in % of time.

	Note
	Values are rounded to an integer (in %).

8.5.9.3. Cellular signal statistics

Interface

– “cell-ext” interface is used for RipEX2 optional extension cellular module.

2G RSSI / 3G RSCP / 4G RSRP

Signal levels in dBm.

Samples

Number of samples used for the individual statistics.

avg / dev / min / max

Average / standard deviation / minimum / maximum value.

8.5.9.4. Measurements

Sensor

Measured values on RipEX2.

count

Number of times that the sensor measured given value (counter).

avg / min / max

Average / minimum / maximum value.

Save button – saves the new settings of the monitoring parameters.

Refresh monitoring data button – refreshes the settings menu according to the statistics status saved in the unit. The difference between the displayed and saved status can occur for example when the status is changed in different browser tab.

8.6.1.2. Interfaces

This section allows detailed settings of particular monitoring parameters for all interfaces.

Common parameters for several interfaces:

Rx enabled, Tx enabled

List box {On; Off}, default = “On”

A packet is considered a Tx one when it comes out from the respective software module (e.g. RADIO or Terminal Server) and vice versa. When an external interface (e.g. Interface COM) is monitored, the Tx also means packets being transmitted from the RipEX2 over the respective interface (Rx means “received”). Understanding the directions over the internal interfaces may not be that straightforward, please see Fig. 8.10, “Interfaces in the context of unit monitoring” above for clarification.

All

List box {On; Off}, default = “On”

Monitoring output can also be limited by IP protocol type. Select Off to be able to enable/disable specific protocol output individually – see next parameter(s).

UDP / TCP / ICMP / Other / ARP

List box {On; Off}, default = “Off”

Monitoring output of specific IP protocol limitation.

Offset [B]

Default = 0

Number of bytes from the beginning of packet/frame, which will not be displayed – the monitoring output is truncated by ‘Offset’ bytes at the beginning of the message.

Length [B]

Default = 32

Number of bytes to be displayed from each packet/frame.

Example: Offset=2, Length=4 means, that bytes from the 3rd byte to the 6th (inclusive) will be displayed:

Data (HEX):                 01AB 3798 A285 93CD 6B96

Monitoring output:                  3798 A285

Bandwidth

List box {LOW; NORMAL; HIGH; UNLIMITED}, default = “NORMAL”

Monitoring bandwidth limit to prevent overload of management link between client PC and the RipEX2 unit. LOW (up to ~300 kb/s), NORMAL (up to ~800 kb/s), HIGH (up to ~2 Mb/s), UNLIMITED (up to ~8 Mb/s)

Source port (from) / Source port (to)

TCP/UDP source port to be enabled/disabled in the monitoring output. Use these parameters to specify the source range of ports <from – to>.

Destination port (from) / Destination port (to)

TCP/UDP destination port to be enabled/disabled in the monitoring output. Use these parameters to specify the destination range of ports <from – to>.

Dropped frames

List box {On; Off}, default = “Off”

When On, monitoring shows frames which are dropped (e.g. CRC is not valid, buffer overflow, …).

ETH interfaces

Include management traffic

List box {On; Off}, default = “Off”

Enable/disable management packets monitoring output.

Include ETH headers

List box {On; Off}, default = “Off”

Displays (enable) / omits (disable) L2 headers in the monitoring output.

Include reverse

List box {On; Off}, default = “Off”

Enable/disable reverse traffic (e.g. TCP reply to a request) monitoring.

Source IP / mask, Destination IP / mask

Monitoring output can also be limited to a specific address range – Source and Destination IP address and mask can be used to define the required range.

Radio interface

Corrupted frames

List box {On; Off}, default = “On”

Corrupted (“header CRC error”, “data CRC error”, etc.) received frames monitoring output can be suppressed. This can be useful when the communication in the channel is heavily disturbed by interference or noise, resulting in „garbage” messages which can make the monitoring output difficult to read.

Other modes

List box {On; Off}, default = “Off”

When Promiscuous mode is enabled, the unit is capable to monitor (receive) frames from the other RipEX2 units even if the other unit(s) is(are) working in the other Unit mode (Bridge versus Router).

Frames transmitted under another Unit mode may not be properly ‘analyzed’. In such a case frames are displayed in raw data format.

Include headers (Router)

List box {None; Packet (IP); Frame (ETH)}, default = “None”

• None – Only the payload (L4) is displayed, e.g. the data part of a UDP datagram.

• Packet (IP) – Headers up to a Network layer (L3) are included, i.e. the full IP packet is displayed.

• Frame (ETH) – The full Ethernet frame (L2) is displayed, i.e. including the ETH header.

Include headers (Interface)

List box {None; Radio link; Data coding; Both}, default = “None”

• None – no headers will be displayed

• Radio link – radio link headers will be included into the monitoring output

• Data coding – data coding header will be included, where C: type of compression, E: type of encryption

• Both – both Radio link and data coding headers will be included

Promiscuous mode

List box {On; Off}, default = “Off”

• Off – only frames which are normally received by this unit, i.e. frames whose Radio IP destination equals to Radio IP address of this RipEX2 unit and broadcast frames are available for the monitoring. Monitoring filters are applied afterwards.

• On – all frames detected on the Radio channel are available for the monitoring. Monitoring filters are applied afterwards.

Link Control Frames

List box {On; Off}, default = “Off”

• Off – Radio Link Control Frames (e.g. ACK frames) are never displayed.

• On – Radio Link Control Frames are processed by monitoring. Monitoring filters are applied.

Source IP / mask, Destination IP / mask (router)

Monitoring output can also be limited to a specific address range – Internal (router) Source and Destination IP address and mask can be used to define the required range.

Source IP / mask, Destination IP / mask (radio)

Monitoring output can also be limited to a specific address range – Radio interface Source and Destination IP address and mask can be used to define the required range.

Include reverse / Include Radio reverse

Includes reverse traffic for source / destination settings.

Extended measurement

To the monitoring are added extended values, e.g. modulation type and FEC code, RF power, temperature for TX and modulation type and FEC code, frequency offset, pre-packet RSS for RX.

Menu DIAGNOSTICS > Monitoring > Advanced groups together all setting across all monitoring web pages, mentioned above, in one web page.

Cellular interfaces

Cinterion PLS83-W cellular module is connected to L3 layer, thus captured frames do not contain L2 header(s). For consistency reasons are following values added to the frame:

• SRC mac: 0x0 0x0 0x0 0x0 0x0 0x0

• Dst mac: 0x0 0x0 0x0 0x0 0x0 0x0

• Ethertype: 0x0800

Cellular interface EXT enabled (EXT)

List box {On; Off}, default = “Off”

8.6.1.3. General

Fig. 8.11: DIAGNOSTICS > Monitoring

The settings of output parameters for file output – Max. file size and Time period, the first parameter matched closes the monitoring file. File is saved in compressed way, so the uncompressed and approximate compressed size is displayed in the list box.

Max. file size

List box {7 kB (~1 kB); 70 kB (~10 kB); 358 kB (~50 kB); 700 kB (~100 kB); 3 MB (~500 kB); 7 MB (~1 MB); max (~2 MB)}, default = “700 kB (~100 kB)”

Time period

List box {1 min; 2 min; 5 min; 10 min; 20 min; 30 min; 1 hour; 3 hours; 24 hours; Off}, default = “5 min”

Show time difference

List box {On; Off}, default = “Off”

When On, the time difference between subsequent packets is displayed in the monitoring output.

Record button – starts recording to the file. Triggers a process, which is set by parameters in the chapter above (Section 8.6.1.3, “General”).

Stop recording button – stops recording to the file. The recording will be stopped immediately regardless of the size and time of recording. When the Record button is pressed for the second time the previously recorded data will be cleared.

Refresh button – refreshes the information about time remaining and size of the recorded data (in uncompressed way).

Download button – downloads file to a connected computer. The default name contains of the Unit name, date and time of the begin and day and time of the end of the monitoring. Before downloading you have to stop recording.

Clear button – allows to clear the monitoring data stored in the unit – both downloaded or not downloaded.

Monitor / Stop monitoring button

Download button – downloads the content of the console output as a file

Clear button – clears Console output screen

	Note
	If the amount of monitored data exceeds the limit (2.7 kB for remote monitoring and 32 kB for local monitoring) for one time period (approx. 1 s), some data will not be displayed in the console output. A note about the omited data will be inserted to the console output to the position of the non-displayed data.

All parameters used by standard ICMP ping are available. Start / Stop button starts / stops pinging.

(M!DGE3 / RipEX2 combination)

RSS ping is a diagnostic tool for the radio performance measurement (Radio Signal Strength and modulation Mean Squared Error) of the individual radio hops within a RipEX2 network. Hybrid networks are supported. Output format of different type (other than radio) of hops is similar to ICMP ping.

Routing tool provides the next hop routing information of the given IP address.

The RipEX2 is equipped with circuits and algorithms that make it possible to monitor the state of its output transmission circuits, including the antenna and its cable. To evaluate the situation, the data from the output directional coupling, which is contained in the output port of the transmitter’s final stage, and the current of the final amplifier, which is always measured at the beginning of each transmitted packet, are used.

To take full advantage of these monitoring values, it is necessary to calibrate the system that monitors the transmitter output circuits and the antenna. The individual calibration steps are simple and straightforward, the help is fully available via the web interface, and it is necessary to go through them in the mode that will be used operationally.

The first step is to measure the relevant quantities with the working antenna of the installed unit. The second step is to disconnect the antenna cable from the RipEX2 or RipEX2-HS. The thresholds of the monitored quantities corresponding to the fault condition are then calibrated. The final, third step is to reconnect the antenna cable correctly and complete the calibration process according to the instructions provided by the web interface.

When calibration is complete, the result is automatically evaluated. If the calibration process reports the result as ‘unreliable’, this means that the system for monitoring the status of the transmitter output circuits do not have valid information for their operation and will not be fully functional. However, the calibration procedure that ends with a “mediocre” or “distinctive” result can be used for the system to monitor the state of the transmitter’s output circuits, with the “distinctive” resultensuring greater robustness of the system.

Detector needs to be calibrated first to operate correctly:

Calibrate button initiates the calibration process. Following steps need to be done:

Calibration limits:

Reset button initiates the Detector status reset. Such a reset is needed when the unit is operated as a Hot-standby unit (see below) and the Detector caused the Hot-standby units’ switchover: the passive (repaired) station needs to be reset after the repair.

The “Radio TX or antenna degraded” event is triggered in case the Detector detects a problem.