Best Practices for Quality Management in the

Telecommunications Industry

ENSE627/ENPM647Spring 2004 Guangming Zhang

Graciela PiedrasRowin Andruscavage

Introduction: Information & Telecommunications Technologies

Scope

Case Study (fodder)

● Wired Telephone system evolution● operator switchboard● circuit switched analog (PSTN/POTS)● circuit switched digital (PBX, ADPCM backbone)● packet switched, connection-oriented vs. connectionless

(ISDN, FDDI, ATM, *DSL ... )– applications: Internet, VoIP, SIP, VTC

● Mobile Telephone system evolution(http://roadmap.ecn.purdue.edu/CTR/documents/

wireless_roadmap_final.pdf)● 1G Analog● 2G Digital (TDMA, PDC, GSM, CDMA)● 2.5G Packet Digital (GPRS, EDGE, CDMA2000)● 3G High-Speed Digital (WCDMA)● 4G Seamless mobility between fixed wire & WLAN

Case Study (fodder)

● Networks (refer to OSI model)● Building networks

– Cabling: BNC, CAT5, fiber– Ethernet: 10BT, 100TX, 1000-T– Protocols: IPv4, IPv6– Serial peripherals: RS232, USB, Firewire

● ISM band wireless networks– WiFi WLAN: 802.11b/a/g– IrDA, Bluetooth, WUSB

Case Study (fodder)● Government steering & regulatory commissions:

NTIA, FCC, FTC ...● Standardization bodies: ETSI, ITU, ANSI● Service networks: Sprint, AT&T, Baby Bells● Data networks: Metricom Ricochet● Satellite networks: Iridium, GlobalStar, InmarSat,

Teledesic

Baldrige Criteria Framework

● Telecom organization can itself be network-centric*– * make heavy use information & communication

technology systems in structure and operations of the business.

– (currently being defined by DoD to streamline operations by setting up systems of sensors -- decision makers – effectors . Characterized by moving “power to the edge”, flattening the chain of command & empowering agents to make tactical decisions, freeing up the operational control center to make more strategic decisions)

Organizational Profile● Gov't regulation, resource mgmt (decades to

institute change)● Industry consortiums, standards bodies (decades

to change)● Service providers● Manufacturers● Software / systems integrators

Org Profile: Environment

Org Profile: Relationships

Org Profile: Challenges● Highly competitive & fast paced● Regulatory environment● Interoperability● Backwards compatibility w/ legacy systems● Large deployed base makes for expensive

system-wide upgrades● Tackling resistance to change

1. Leadership● Common qualities, business vs. technical

leadership● Bios

2. Strategic Planning● R&D technology => service deployment● Funding, VC● Risk management

3. Customer & Market Focus● CRM databases● Working together teams● Identify gaps in market● Timing (bluetooth vs. WLAN, Iridium vs. GSM

networks)

4. Measurement, Analysis, and Knowledge Management

● Network centric operations hub– Centralized IT system – knowledge databases,

5. Human Resource Focus

● Organization– Matrixed between functional & IPT leads– Functional spheres of expertise mapped to processes;

should overlap with others● Communications tools

– Human nodes are decision makers in net centric operations

– e-mail, PIM collaboration, IM, & other infrastructure● Management & Technical Proficiency

– Representation in industrial consortiums, conferences

6. Process Management

● Online configuration-controlled process docs● Store and employ best practices● Change board● Continuous improvement● Example: Standards process (RFC, sample

implementation, ratification, test suite)● Example: CMMI continuous improvement of

regulations, standards, deployed hardware, software updates

7. Business Results● standard/proprietary format acceptance,

adaptation, rejection● market growth / market share● trouble tickets, incompatibility reports● adherence to evolution plan

Extra Issues: Reliability● OSI model - different quality goals distributed

between different levels of communications stack:– Physical layer: high S/N ratio – need quality

components– Link layer: low bit error rate via encoding– Network layer: quality of service (QoS) guarantees– Transport layer: error detection & recovery

Extra Issues: Security● Goal: Competitiveness – similar to quality,

different means (also for privacy)● Encryption regulations, specifications, export

restrictions

Conclusion● Standards driven● Breaking down resistance to change● Application to future transitions:

– DRM, decentralized distributed ad-hoc networking (JTRS), p2p applications, info mgmt infrastructure (semantic web, discovery, etc.)

Links / Bibliography

Questions