Cisco ONS 15327 User manual

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Release Notes for Cisco ONS 15327
Release 3.3
December, 2003
Release notes address closed (maintenance) issues, caveats, and new features for the Cisco ONS 15327
SONET multiplexer. For detailed information regarding features, capabilities, hardware, and software
introduced with this release, refer to Release 3.3 of the Cisco ONS 15327 Installation and Operations Guide,
Cisco ONS 15327 Troubleshooting and Reference Guide, and Cisco ONS 15454 and Cisco ONS 15327 TL1
Command Guide, Release 3.3. For the most current version of the Release Notes for Cisco ONS 15327
Release 3.3, visit the following URL:
http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/ong/15327/rnotes/index.htm
Cisco also provides Bug Toolkit, a web resource for tracking defects. To access Bug Toolkit, visit the
following URL:
http://www.cisco.com/cgi-bin/Support/Bugtool/launch_bugtool.pl
Contents
Changes to the Release Notes, page 2
Caveats, page 2
Resolved Software Caveats for Release 3.3, page 7
New Features and Functionality, page 10
Related Documentation, page 38
Obtaining Documentation, page 38
Obtaining Technical Assistance, page 39

2
Release Notes for Cisco ONS 15327 Release 3.3 OL-2671-01
Changes to the Release Notes
Changes to the Release Notes
This section documents supplemental changes that have been added to the Release Notes for Cisco ONS
15327 Release 3.3 since the production of the Cisco ONS 15327 System Software CD for Release 3.3.
The following changes have been added to the release notes for Release 3.3.
Changes to Caveats
The following caveats have been added to the release notes.
JRE Updates, page 2
JRE Updates, page 2
DDTS # CSCdx78825, page 3
Caveats
Review the notes listed below before deploying the ONS 15327. Caveats with DDTS tracking numbers
are knownsystem limitations that are scheduled to be addressed in a subsequent release. Caveats without
DDTS tracking numbers are provided to point out procedural or situational considerations when
deploying the product.
Maintenance and Administration
Caution VxWorks is intended for qualified Cisco personnel only. Customer use of VxWorks is not
recommended, nor is it supported by Cisco's Technical Assistance Center. Inappropriate use of
VxWorks commands can have a negative and service affecting impact on your network. Please
consult the troubleshooting guide for your release and platform for appropriate troubleshooting
procedures. To exit without logging in, enter a Control-D (hold down the Control and D keys at the
same time) at the Username prompt. To exit after logging in, type “logout” at the VxWorks shell
prompt.
JRE Updates
Cisco ONS platforms ship with a Java Runtime Environment (JRE) from Sun Microsystems.
Occasionally Sun releases maintenance releases to the JRE. The Sun Microsystems website lists JRE
maintenance releases and the issues resolved for each. Cisco recommends that you review these listings
to determine if the issues resolved in any given JRE maintenance release warrant a JRE upgrade for your
particular network. Cisco tests only with the specific JRE actually shipped with the ONS software CD.
DDTS # CSCeb05404
PWR-A/B alarms can become stuck for an ONS 15327 node in the event of a transient power failure.
The alarms will clear after resetting both XTCs. This issue is resolved in Release 4.6.

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Release Notes for Cisco ONS 15327 Release 3.3
OL-2671-01
Caveats
DDTS # CSCdx78825
The ONS 15327 XTC reboots after the XTC has received 64 or more ARP requests on a subnet different
from that of the XTC. This situation can occur when the network settings (IP address and netmask) are
incorrect for the craft Ethernet environment. The node may respond to Ethernet ARP requests via its
automatic host detection feature. If this feature is triggered more than 64 times, the node's XTC will
reboot. Removing the craft Ethernet connection resets the count, so this situation is unlikely to occur
with an End Network Element (ENE). To avoid this issue, ensure that the node is properly provisioned
for its craft Ethernet environment. In particular, ensure that the netmask is correct. For ENEs that depend
on automatic host detection, avoid leaving the craft Ethernet connected for more than one day at a time.
This issue is resolved in Release 3.4.
Upgrades from Release 1.0
If you wish to upgrade from Release 1.0 to Release 3.3, you must first upgrade to maintenance Release
1.0.2. If you are already running maintenance Release 1.0.1, you do not have to perform the intermediate
upgrade.
DDTS # CSCdx02680
If you create a VT circuit, set the DS1 port in service, generate any alarm, then set the port out of service,
you may see VT alarms that will not clear. To clear the alarms, delete the VT circuit. This issue will be
resolved in Release 3.4.
DDTS # CSCds23552
You cannot delete the standby XTC once it is removed. If you have two XTC cards and then decide to
operate with only one, you will get a standing minor alarm. The alarm cannot be removed by CTC. The
XTC is a combo card, combining the functionality of the ONS 15454 TCC+, cross connect, DS1 and
DS3 cards, with a protection group automatically provisioned. On the ONS 15454, similar behavior
occurs for the TCC+ card. The cross connect card for the ONS 15454 can only be deleted if there are no
circuits provisioned. DS1 and DS3 cards can only be deleted if they are not in a protection group. It is
not known at this time when or if this issue will be resolved.
DDTS # CSCdw71844
If a manual switch request is made when a higher priority request is present (in other words, SD/SF or
lockout), the user request will not be denied. This issue will be resolved in Release 3.4. As of Release
3.4, if a user initiated switch should not cause an actual switch (because of a higher priority request), the
switch will be denied.
If a switch is accepted but overridden at a later time because a higher priority request is initiated, the
current switch will be cleared. This applies to 1+1, UPSR/SNCP and BLSR/MS-SPRing.
DDTS # CSCdw95301
When there are large numbers of VT circuits (greater than 100) and when there is a lot of circuit activity
(for example, when there are a lot of updates), the circuits pane can be extremely slow to repaint, and
the user interface can fail to respond for several minutes. This issue will be resolved in a future release.

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Release Notes for Cisco ONS 15327 Release 3.3 OL-2671-01
Caveats
DDTS # CSCdt30119
VT1.5 circuits might require new VT tunnels despite sufficient bandwidth on existing VT tunnels. In
complex configurations of the Cisco ONS 15327 that use both 1+1 and UPSR protection, automatic
circuit routing may fail to use existing VT tunnels. When you create new VT1.5 circuits with automatic
circuit routing, the ONS 15327 might prompt you to create new VT tunnels even though sufficient
bandwidth is available in existing VT tunnels. Use manual routing to specify a path for the VT1.5 circuit
through the existing VT tunnels. This issue will be resolved in a future release.
Line Cards
DDTS # CSCdt50628
B3 errors might appear on an OC-12 span after an XTC side switch. A one-time burst of B3 errors might
occur after an XTC side switch when the ONS 15327 is configured with an OC-12 line card. This is a
rare condition which has been seen in approximately 1% of such XTC side switches. The result is less
than 1 errored second. No traffic outage is associated with this burst of B3 errors. The issue only arises
with OC-12 configurations. OC-48 configurations are not affected. This issue will be resolved in a future
release.
BLSR Functionality
DDTS # CSCdw64086
For a given BLSR node equipped with two XTCs or two TCCs, say Node 1, if you back up the database,
change the node ID of any of the other nodes in the ring, and then restore the database for Node 1,
following completion of the database restoral, a node ID mismatch condition will exist. However, the
node ID mismatch alarm may not be raised to warn you that BLSR will not function properly. If this
occurs, after the database restoral has completed, you can change the local node's Node ID (you can then
change it back to the previous ID if you prefer) to restore functionality of the BLSR (and clear the alarm,
if it is raised). If you perform a database restoral on a BLSR node, always verify afterwards that all nodes
in the ring have the correct ring map. This will ensure that any such issue for which an alarm is not raised
can be found and corrected. This issue will be resolved in Release 3.4.
DDTS # CSCdw66416
Traffic along a running ring segment cannot be restored while a participating node is rebooting. To see
this problem, in a two fiber BLSR with circuits created along a given ring segment, you must isolate that
ring segment by powering down two or more nodes where one of the nodes powered down is at the edge
of the segment and the others are outside of the segment. Then power up and reboot the node at the edge
of the segment. The circuits along this segment will not be restored even though the nodes on the
segment are both up and running. You must restore power to all nodes before the traffic is restored.

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Release Notes for Cisco ONS 15327 Release 3.3
OL-2671-01
Caveats
BLSR Support for Mixed Node Networks
The ONS 15327 is supported for BLSR in combination with ONS 15454 nodes only if Release 3.3 is
installed and running on all BLSR nodes. If you wish to provision a BLSR on a combination of ONS
15327 and ONS 15454 nodes, you should upgrade to Release 3.3 on all ONS 15454 and ONS 15327
nodes first.
UPSR Functionality
DDTS # CSCdx40081
If, in an OC-48 UPSR network, there is an STS-3C circuit, using STS 4-6, that terminates on OC-12 IR
cards, and 28 VT circuits are bulk provisioned between two nodes on the ring, the STS-3C circuit can
take at least one traffic hit during the VT circuit provisioning process. This only occurs if an OC-12 IR
card has been reset after the STS-3C circuit was created.
Deleting one or more VT circuits in the same situation may also cause an STS3C traffic hit. It is not
known when or if this issue will be resolved.
TL1
Note To be compatible with TL1 and DNS, all nodes must have valid names. Node names should contain
alphanumeric characters or hyphens, but no special characters or spaces.
TL1 Gateway Network Elements
The ONS 15327 cannot act as a TL1 Gateway Network Element in Release 3.3.
Changes in TL1
In Release 3.3, TL1 output has changed to conform to Telcordia standards as follows:
•The time period parameter has changed from 15MIN to 15-MIN, and its position in the output has
shifted.
•The direction parameter, BTH, is no longer included in the output. Only TRMT, or RCV is valid.
•The mondat and montm parameters have been added to the end of output.
For example:
In Releases 1.0.x, you would see:
> rtrv-pm-oc12::fac-2-1:1::,,,,15min;
IP 1
<
va327-22 1970-01-01 16:09:07
M 1 COMPLD
“FAC-2-1:SEFS,0,COMPL,NEND,15MIN,BTH,,"
"FAC-2-1:CVL,0,COMPL,NEND,15MIN,BTH,,"
"FAC-2-1:ESL,0,COMPL,NEND,15MIN,BTH,,"
"FAC-2-1:SESL,0,COMPL,NEND,15MIN,BTH,,"
"FAC-2-1:UASL,0,COMPL,NEND,15MIN,BTH,,"

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Release Notes for Cisco ONS 15327 Release 3.3 OL-2671-01
Caveats
"FAC-2-1:FCL,0,COMPL,NEND,15MIN,BTH,,"
"FAC-2-1:NPJC-PDET,0,COMPL,NEND,15MIN,RCV,,"
"FAC-2-1:PPJC-PDET,0,COMPL,NEND,15MIN,RCV,,"
"FAC-2-1:NPJC-PGEN,0,COMPL,NEND,15MIN,TRMT,,"
"FAC-2-1:PPJC-PGEN,0,COMPL,NEND,15MIN,TRMT,,"
"FAC-2-1:CVL,0,COMPL,FEND,15MIN,BTH,,"
"FAC-2-1:ESL,0,COMPL,FEND,15MIN,BTH,,"
"FAC-2-1:SESL,0,COMPL,FEND,15MIN,BTH,,"
"FAC-2-1:UASL,0,COMPL,FEND,15MIN,BTH,,"
"FAC-2-1:FCL,0,COMPL,FEND,15MIN,BTH,,"
;
>
While the Release 3.3 output differs as follows:
> rtrv-pm-oc12::fac-2-1:1::,0-up;
rtrv-pm-oc12::fac-2-1:1::,0-up;
va327-22 1970-01-01 16:03:04
M 1 COMPLD
“FAC-2-1,OC12:CVS,0,PRTL,NEND,RCV,15-MIN,01-01,16-00”
“FAC-2-1,OC12:ESS,0,PRTL,NEND,RCV,15-MIN,01-01,16-00"
"FAC-2-1,OC12:SESS,0,PRTL,NEND,RCV,15-MIN,01-01,16-00"
"FAC-2-1,OC12:SEFS,0,PRTL,NEND,RCV,15-MIN,01-01,16-00"
"FAC-2-1,OC12:CVL,0,PRTL,NEND,RCV,15-MIN,01-01,16-00"
"FAC-2-1,OC12:ESL,0,PRTL,NEND,RCV,15-MIN,01-01,16-00"
"FAC-2-1,OC12:SESL,0,PRTL,NEND,RCV,15-MIN,01-01,16-00"
"FAC-2-1,OC12:UASL,0,PRTL,NEND,RCV,15-MIN,01-01,16-00"
"FAC-2-1,OC12:FCL,0,PRTL,NEND,RCV,15-MIN,01-01,16-00"
;
>
Commands not Supported in Release 3.3
The following commands are not supported:
•ED-CRS-<STS_PATH>
•ED-CRS-VT1
•OPR-UPGRADE
•DLT-<MOD2>, ENT-<MOD2>, RMV-<MOD2>, and RST-<MOD2> do not apply to DS1, STS1,
STS3C, STS12C, STS48C, VT1
•ED-EQPT
•RTRV-USER-SECU
•ED-VT1
•RTRV-VT1
These commands will be supported in a future release.
Performance Monitoring
DDTS # CSCdt10886
The far-end STS PM counts do not accumulate on an OC-48 linear 1+1 circuit even though the near-end
STS PM counts on the other end are increasing. To see this issue, connect two nodes with an OC-12 or
OC-48 linear 1+1 protected span. Place a piece of test equipment in the middle of the span and inject B3

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Release Notes for Cisco ONS 15327 Release 3.3
OL-2671-01
Resolved Software Caveats for Release 3.3
errors. The near-end STS PM counts accumulate, but the far-end STS PM counts do not accumulate. To
work around this issue, Use the near-end STS PM count from the adjacent node to see the far-end STS
PM count for the current node. This issue will be resolved in a future release.
Resolved Software Caveats for Release 3.3
The following items are resolved in Release 3.3.
Line Cards
DDTS # CSCds78402
Exporting the Ethernet PM window does not save the data field. Click on an E10/100-4 card to display
the CTC card view. Click the Performance tab. Export the History, Utilization, and Statistics windows
as .html, .csv, .tsv files. When these files are opened, the data field does not show any details. This issue
is resolved in Release 3.3.
Performance Monitoring
DDTS # CSCdu06778
The UAS, ES, and SES PM counters on the ONS 15327 do not meet the Telcordia GR-253 requirements
in Section 6.2.2; specifically, an interpretation of the block diagrams in fig. 6.19 of the specification
(which see). Provision a circuit on an ONS 15327 and inject a high rate of bit errors. Go to the
performance monitoring screen and look at the ES, SES, and UAS counters. According to the Telcordia
GR-253 block diagrams, when 10 consecutive SES are declared, UAS should be declared and should
start counting from 10. When UAS starts counting, SES and ES should also be decremented by 10. This
issue is resolved in Release 3.3.
DDTS # CSCdu37695
The far-end line layer PM data on an ONS 15327 node are not inhibited by near-end LOS, LOF, or
AIS-L. Provision an STS circuit between two ONS 15327 nodes connected through OC-12 or OC-48
cards and inject AIS-L on one end. From the CTC Performance Monitoring screen on the node where
the AIS-L is injected, observe the far-end line layer registers and notice that they are not inhibited by the
near-end AIS-L, nor are they set to be invalid. This is true for AIS-L, LOF, or LOS. This issue is resolved
in Release 3.3.
DDTS # CSCdt08920
No far-end PM counts are reported for CV-VFE, ES-VFE, SES-VFE and UAS-VFE. Set up an OC-48
UPSR between Cisco ONS 15327s and Cisco ONS 15454s as shown in Figure 1.

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Release Notes for Cisco ONS 15327 Release 3.3 OL-2671-01
Resolved Software Caveats for Release 3.3
Figure 1 OC-48 UPSR
Provision a circuit over the UPSR with a DS-1 drop at each end. Clear all fifteen-minute counts on
near-end and far-end bins. From the variable optical attenuator, increase the attenuation ~20 db. The
OC-48 trunk card starts to see signal degrade (SD) on its line. The near-end DS-1 port on the ONS 15327
starts to accumulate CV-V and ES-V. The far-end DS-1 should also show PM counts (i.e. CV-V, ES-V,
SES-V, UAS-V), but does not. This issue is resolved in Release 3.3.
DDTS # CSCds66639
When the PM counters are zeroed, the entries for CV-V, ES-V, SES, and UAS-V are not colored yellow
to mark them as “invalid.” Provision VT circuits. In CTC, browse to the Performance Monitoring tab for
one of the DS-1 facilities involved in the VT circuits. Attempt to zero the PM counters. The entries for
the zeroed counters should turn yellow to indicate that they are invalid assessments of the current time
period, but they do not change color. After zeroing the performance counters, all counters become valid
at the same time. To determine if an affected counter is valid, note whether all other counters in the same
time block are valid. This issue is resolved in Release 3.3.
DDTS # CSCds77660
The ONS 15327 might report TCAs for VT-level unavailable seconds (UAS-V), errored seconds (ES-V),
and coding violations (CV-V) when the PM counts are not changing. These TCAs have been seen on
DS-1 Ports 3 and 5. From the CTC Circuits tab, use the Create button to build VT circuits from several
DS-1 ports. Monitor the Alarms tab for TCAs. This issue is resolved in Release 3.3.
37511
ONS 15454
ONS 15327
ONS 15454
ONS 15327
In-line
attenuator

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Release Notes for Cisco ONS 15327 Release 3.3
OL-2671-01
Resolved Software Caveats for Release 3.3
Maintenance and Administration
DDTS # CSCdv62990
Telcordia GR-815 requires that a new password must have at least 1 numeric character (0 to 9) and at
least one special character from the character set {plus-sign (+), pound-sign (#), percent-sign (%)}. CTC
normally issues a warning if the password is non-compliant, but allows you to create the password.
However, CTC does not issue a warning when a new password is requested that has two special
characters, but no numeric component. Thus, for example, there is no warning in CTC for the password
“aaaa++,” which lacks the numeric character and is non-compliant. This issue is resolved in CTC
Release 3.3.
DDTS # CSCdu03513
A node can become permanently gray in the network view of a CTC session, and therefore inaccessible
for that session. Under some conditions, CTC will stop trying to establish connection to a node and the
node will turn gray in the network view, thus remaining inaccessible throughout the CTC session (at
present you are not notified when this occurs). The conditions include:
•CTC encounters something unexpected in the CTC Cache—either a missing file, or a file that does
not have the expected contents. This occurs most frequently when there are multiple topology hosts
with overlapping topologies specified in the preferences file and you access the nodes during their
reboot process (active card booted, standby card rebooting).
•The issue cannot be positively identified until after you are sure the node has had a reasonable length
of time to be discovered. Wait at least fifteen minutes for a node to be discovered and represented
as accessible.
•Also, some nodes may be validly represented as inaccessible during a CTC session when software
versions are incompatible. The incompatible software version alarm might not always be raised in
these circumstances.
If the inaccessible node is running a software version that differs from that of other nodes in the network,
start CTC from the highest-versioned node in the network. If, however, the node ought to be accessible
but is still grayed out, eliminate multiple nodes from a single topology from the group list. in other
words, set up your group list such that one node can discover another node, rather than putting them into
a topology host group. (Define the group list from the Edit > Preferences menu, and select it in the login
dialog box when you launch CTC.) This issue is resolved in Release 3.3.
DDTS # CSCds92475
The ACT/STBY LED of the active XTC is permanently amber after the Lamp Test button in CTC is
clicked. (Display the CTC node view and click the Maintenance > Diagnostic tabs to view the Lamp
Test.)
Under normal conditions, the ACT/STBY LED of the active XTC should be green. The ACT/STBY LED
of the standby XTC should be amber. Browse to the Maintenance > Diagnostic tabs in CTC and click
the Lamp Test button. The ACT/STBY LED of the active XTC turns amber and remains that way.
It is possible to return the node to a state where the active XTC has a green ACT/STBY LED by resetting
the active XTC from the CTC. Note that in a node with redundant XTCs, this reset will force an XTC
protection switch and cause an in-service traffic disruption of less than 60 ms. In a node with only one
XTC, the traffic disruption will be longer and may be unacceptable. Determine which XTC is active by

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Release Notes for Cisco ONS 15327 Release 3.3 OL-2671-01
New Features and Functionality
selecting the XTC Protection Group (XTCPROTGRP) in the Maintenance > Protection tabs at the node
view. Right-click the active XTC in the shelf graphic, and select “Reset” to reset the XTC. The standby
XTC will come on line and its ACT/STBY LED will turn green.
This issue is resolved in Release 3.3.
DDTS # CSCdt22538
Nodes that are connected to the LAN only by the DCC do not have their time set by an SNTP server on
the LAN. The time and date do not synchronize with that of the SNTP server.
This occurs with the following configuration: Node 2---(DCC)---Node 1---LAN
Node 2 does not have a LAN connection. Provision Node 2 to use an SNTP server to obtain the correct
date and time. The remote node will not be able to connect to the SNTP server. The default date and
time will be displayed.
There are two workarounds.
1. Set up a static route to the SNTP server. The static route must be provisioned on the node with the
LAN connection. Here is an example:
Static route:
Destination: (IP address of SNTP server goes here)
Mask: 255.255.255.255
Next Hop: (IP address of LAN connected node goes here)
Cost: 2
2. Disable use of an SNTP server and set the date and time manually in CTC. An XTC protection switch
will not cause the date and time to be reset, but if both XTCs are powered down simultaneously (or a
simplex XTC is reset) the date and time will return to the default values.
This issue is resolved in Release 3.3.
New Features and Functionality
This section highlights new features and functionality for Release 3.3. For detailed documentation of
each of these features, consult the user documentation.
Hardware
Industrial Temperature
With Release 3.3., the ONS 15327 and its line cards are certified for Industrial Temperature (I-temp)
operation. I-temp certification specifies that equipment operate in temperatures between -40 to +65
degrees C. The ONS 15327 Ethernet (E100-4) and OC48-1-IR 1310nm cards are not certified for I-temp.
Each I-temp certified product indicates its certification by a “-T” in the part number.