Testing 1 - Aculab hardware and drivers

Begin by opening the Visual CallLab application which will have been installed along with the Softdial CallGem™ software. You should see a window similar to Fig. 1:

Fig. 1 - Visual CallLab

To begin testing the ports, click the Open All button in the Card Manager window. This will make the board and all its ports available for subsequent operations. If you just need to test one board then you can highlight it in the closed cards list and use the button with the right arrow image to open just that one.

With the cards open, the window should look similar to Fig. 2:

Fig. 2 - Card Manager

As you can see, on the default Resource Administration tab, some information is given on each of the cards that have been opened.

You can check the status of the firmware for each of the ports on each open card by clicking on the Firmware Download tab, like Fig. 3:

Fig. 3 - Firmware Status

In this example, you can see that both ports have firmware Status of Running and do not need anything downloaded to them (Download Ready value of No). If the configuration was performed correctly then this should be the case with all of the ports.

Now click on the Port Statistics tab, this will switch to a view that lets you see in detail the realtime status of each port, like Fig. 4:

Fig. 4 - Port Statistics

As you can see, this window shows a list of the ports on all open cards and then, for each one, some card information and both Layer 1 and Layer 2 status information:

• Layer 1 represents the electrical connection of the port (its ability to send and receive bytes of data)
• Layer 2 represents a higher level of usage to turn those bytes into a number of channels through which calls can be placed

1.5.1) Check Layer 1 stats

The error flags (NOS, AIS, LOS etc) should all be zero (0x0).

The USR value should be 0xf1 and the bipvios/ faserrs/ sliperrs fields should not be increasing in value. This indicates that the physical connection is good and that electrically the connection is good with the two endpoints synchronised and able to exchange bytes of data without error.

You may see some values in the bipvios/ faserrs/ sliperrs fields or some errors listed in the Line Stats box but if these go away and stay away once you click Reset Port then all is well.

1.5.2) Check Layer 2 stats

You should see either 30 green lights (for E1 connections) or 23 (for T1) . This indicates that the protocol chosen is compatible with the remote endpoint and that both ends are in a state where the channels can all be used.

There is an exception to this: in the case of CAS (Channel Associated Signalling) type protocols, the indicators will remain red because for CAS protocols the channels are all used individually with no overall control, as if they were 24 individual telephone lines.

Once everything is OK with the Card Manager window, from the View menu, open up the Protocol Trace and Application Trace windows (Fig. 5):

Fig. 5 - Protocol/ Application Trace

• Protocol Trace - shows the actual bytes of data being sent and received by a specific E1/T1 port. This can be very useful when calls cannot be made or behave in strange ways.
  
• To output a protocol trace to a file

  To output a protocol trace to a file, use the v6trace utility which can be found in the C:\Softdial\Aculab\bin directory.

  The command line format is :

  C:\Softdial\Aculab\bin>v6trace -port <card serial no> <port> -port <card serial no> <port> -trace_high> logfile.txt

  For example, to output a protocol trace for all four ports on card serial number 123456:

  C:\Softdial\Aculab\bin>v6trace –port 123456 3 –port 123456 2 –port 123456 1 –port 123456 0 –trace_high> logfile.txt

  The trace will be output to logfile.txt.

  If you are using a ProsodyX card, make sure the -s99,224 switch is applied to the firmware download, otherwise no protocol trace will be produced.

  For more information see the Aculab FAQ.

• Application Trace - shows the progress of a test call

In order to make a test call, open the port window for the appropriate port (View menu > Ports, as in Fig. 6):

Fig. 6 - Ports Menu

You will see a window like Fig. 7:

Fig. 7 - Port Window

This window has a line of selectable indicators representing each of the valid channels on the E1/ T1. You will use those to make the test call but first you need to set the parameters for the call.

2.2.1) Set call parameters

Click on the Port Properties button to access the configuration dialog as in Fig. 8:

Fig. 8 - Port Properties

You can leave almost everything at its default value. Just change the DDI value to the phone number you want to call (a real phone number for testing PSTN connections or an extension number for a PBX). Click OK to close the dialog.

To actually make the test call, pick one of the outbound channels, left click on it to highlight it and then right click on it to bring up a context menu of actions. Select Make Outgoing Call, like Fig. 9:

Fig. 9 - Port Menu

As the call progresses, the indicator will change colour to show that the call is ringing or has been answered.

To hang up, select the same context menu again and choose Release Call.

The Application Trace window will show events related to the call.

The Protocol Trace will show the bytes of data exchanged across the E1/ T1 connection (Fig. 10):

Fig. 10 - Protocol/ Application Trace 2

In this example, the call proceeded normally, ringing was signalled from the remote end (you may well not see this on PSTN calls), the call was answered and then the remote end hung up, ending the call. The phone that was called will have heard only silence during the call; this is normal.