Facts About MIZAR

by The "Q"

     MIZAR is a Bell system used by the RCMAC (Recent Change Memory
Administration Center), also known as the CIC in some areas.  Its purpose is
to process Recent Change Messages.  Before we go into more detail, we will need
to familiarize you with some terms.

     First off, ever Central Office (Wire Center, End Office, whatever) houses
one or more switches, whether electromechanical, electronic (analog), or 
digital.  Each switch is responsible for controlling various aspects of 
telephone service for one or more (usually more) exchanges.  Switches in
general can be classified into two main types: mechanical and SPCS.  Thusly,
SCC's (Switching Control Centers) are divided into separate branches.  There
are the E&M SCC (electromechanical) and the SPC SCC, which handle Stored
Program Control Switches.  The latter are computer controlled by software,
whether they are older versions such as the 1 or 1A ESS (which use crossbars
to complete calls) or digital switches such as the 5ESS or DMS100.  Henceforth
in this article, we will refer to SPCS switches as "electronic" switches, 
whether analog or digital.

     Basically speaking, a switch's memory can be thought of in three main
parts: Call Store (CS), Program Store, and Recent Change.  In general, a
Recent Change Message is a batch of commands which tell the switch to perform
an action on a facility (a TN, an OE, TRKGRP, etc.)  The Program Store can be
thought of as "ROM" memory.  This program controls things behind the scenes
such as interpreting and processing your commands, etc.  Usually at the end of
the day, Recent Changes which were processed that day are copied into the
Call Store, which is a permanent memory storage area, somewhat "finalizing"
the Recent Changes (although they could always be changed again).  The 5ESS
is similar to this, though it has many operational differences in processing
Recent Changes, and Recent Changes are called "SERVORD's" on DMS machines and
go into tables when processed.

     Now that you are somewhat familiarized with some basic terminology, we
will proceed in describing the operation of the MIZAR system.  Like we said
earlier, MIZAR processes Recent Change Messages (orders), which can be
computer-generated (by COSMOS, FACS flow-thru, etc.) or manually entered by
the CIC.  CIMAP (Circuit Installation Maintenance Assist Package) is a sub-
system used by both the frame technicians and CIC.  "CIMAPs" are primarily
generated for new connection (NC) type orders.  At the CIC there are three
main types of orders processed: changes on a facility, snips, and restorals.
Changes could be, for instance, modifications of line attributes.  Snips are
complete disconnects (CD's) which must be carried out on a switch in order to
complete a CD type order.  "Snip" is a term referring to what was done at the
frame, i.e. a cable and pair's termination at the CO was "snipped" from the
frame, hence a disconnect.  "Restoral" is just the opposite of a snip.  A cable
and pair is being "restored," i.e. reconnected to the frame, and must now be
activated at the switch and will hence be in-service once again.

     One the average, a single MIZAR system handles Recent Change processing
for about 20 switches (and it can handle more than that).

     Ever day, MIZAR logs into COSMOS automatically, usually at the end of the
day, to retrieve Recent Change Messages which must be carried out in order to
complete a pending service order.  COSMOS takes a service order, and based on
what is required, is able to generate an RCM from its tables in /usr/rcmap
(on PDP-11's) or /cosmos/rcmap (on 3B20's or Amdahl's) which provides COSMOS
with information concerning what type of switching equipment is associated
with the wire center in effect and uses these tables to create the RCM 
accordingly.  There are four main commands on COSMOS associated with Recent
Changes.  They are: RCS (to obtain a Recent Change Summary), RCR (to obtain
a Recent Change Report), which would allow you to display an RCM if one was
associated with a specific service order (all based on the filter options you
specify for the search), RED (Recent Change EDitor), which allows you to edit
a Recent Change Message pending, and lastly, RCP (Recent Change Packager), 
which generates an RCM for one or more service orders to be processed by MIZAR.

     After MIZAR retrieves RCM's from COSMOS, etc. it connects to the desired
switch's recent change channel and the message is processed on the switch.
MIZAR can connect to switches in various ways, depending upon its configuration.
Switches may be accessed on dialup lines, X.25, or by dedicated hardwired
connections.  Switches can be accessed for the purpose of manually processing
service orders with the ONS command.  Once on the desired switch, it would be
proper to utilize the RCM processing service provided through the MIZAR
software, which will cause the service order to be properly logged to MIZAR's
switch log (located in /tmp/swXX.out, where XX is the numerical code assigned
to that switch), so that all will be up to date and accurate.  However, if the
RCM is entered straight onto the switch without letting MIZAR's log know, then
an "unaccounted for" RC will be processed without ever being logged (except of
course  on the switch's roll-back).  COSMOS can be manually accessed with the
ONC command.  Orders can be queued and have their statuses checked with the
ORI/ORS/VFY/etc. commands.

     When one first logs into MIZAR it should be noted that the login would
be RCxx or RSxx, where xx represents the account number belonging to that
specific RCMAC (CIC).  For example, RC01, RS02, etc.  Passwords, of course,
could be anything within the standard Unix eight character limit.  After
receiving a login message, you will be prompted with an "SW?" and a "UID?".
SW stands for what switch you wish to be logged in as (i.e. once logged in,
any transactions would be reflected upon that actual switch).  Hitting "?" will
provide you with the list of switch identifiers available.  They can be two
letters (like on COSMOS) or more (which is usually the case, as part of
the identifier indicates the type of electronic switch).

     The UID must be a valid three letter code which would authorize that
particular user to perform transactions with the desired switch.  Typical
UID's to be aware of are "all" and "any" which usually will work in conjunction
with any switch you try to log in under.  SW and UID must be provided for the
purpose of setting up environment variables used by the MIZAR software.  This
is done in your .profile.

     The typical MIZAR user's commands are located in the path /mms/mms (and
are all three letters long).  It should be noted that CFS on MIZAR is meant
to be accurate and up to date with COSMOS'.

     Some useful MIZAR commands are: MAR, which lists a MIZAR Activity Report,
telling you what MIZAR's up to.  MAB, Manually Adjust Blackout periods, is an
important command.  In some areas, MIZAR classifies switches as being in a 
"blackout period" at a certain time late in the day (usually the evening), as
probably no one would be one that late, or possibly work is being done on the
switch.  Establishing a blackout period disables normal users from accessing
a particular switch from MIZAR.  One the other hand, MAB can be used to ENABLE
a switch, and remove it from the blackout state.  However, the CIC usually
closes at 6PM (sometimes staying open as late as 9PM), and logins at such a late
time would be foolish as you may jeopardize your future access.  SDR, for Switch
Data Report, allows you to list out useful information about the switches you
specify - for instance, the NPA and exchanges this particular switch handles
(including thousands of groups of DID and IBN blocks), its WC name on COSMOS,
its configuration as a FACS/SOAC machine, MIZAR's times to call COSMOS, any
preset blackout periods, whether AIS or E911 is available to the switch, all
valid UID's for login to MIZAR, and usernames and/or passwords for switches
that require them (such as the 5ESS or DMS100), as well as other useful
information.  WCH (Wire center CHange) allows you to change to another wire
center (hence, further transactions apply to that wire center).

     As you may have noticed from this article, MIZAR is a very useful system
indeed.  It's a fortress containing a wealth of resources.  The coupled power
of COSMOS and a small army of switches to do your bidding is a treasure worth
its weight in gold.

     This article was meant to familiarize the reader with the MIZAR management
system.  We welcome any questions you may have, and we will take pride in
providing further articles on similar Bell systems and subjects, so as to better
inform the curious mind.

Bart Simpson is one rad dude.