HOWTO: Fore/Marconi Callrecord Files


Get the C code here...



How to get your Fore/Marconi switch to record call (SVC) info:

If you have a Fore (Marconi) ATM switch, you can configure it to keep track of the SVCs (calls) that it handles. You can use this information for tracking resource usage, debugging circuits, or even for billing.

When you enable this functionality, your switch uses some of its DRAM for holding call information. From time to time, it will store this information on your server using FTP. You can configure the amount of memory that your switch can use for this purpose, as well as the time interval between FTP sessions to your server.

You can find the basic configuration information in your Fore documentation under "callrecord", but here is a basic example. In this example, we have the following setup:

Configuration steps:

Now, every 10 minutes, your switch will use FTP to upload the latest call information to your account (foredata) on the server. Each file contains the current call information in binary (encoded) form.

How to use the data

To use the call data, you can either get Foreview (from Marconi), or use the program I wrote. You may wish to use this program as a building block, or just to find out how to decode the binary file to create your own custom application.

WARNING: The program here was prepared from looking at the raw call record data. It is still incomplete, so please check back from time to time to see if I have updated it. If you find new information about the call record types, please send me an email.

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