Charles P. Dixon

FSE-4 / ALU Instructor - Technical Accomplishments
 

• Becoming enlisted as a trainer for the Alcatel-Lucent Field Force Certification Group:

• I was identified for training on the new NPI 1626 WDM system.  The 1626 was able to adjust power levels via software control as opposed to manually balancing the system with attenuators.  After one week of training, Vince Beeler asked me if I would like to become a Certification Instructor.  I accepted the position working as a contractor at the Alcatel Lucent labs located in Plano, Texas.  I developed relationships with Product Managers, Lab Managers and TEC support personnel.
   

• I started working with two Alcatel product managers on the NPI of the 1850TSS-100 and the 1678MCC that were being released at the same time.  Both are SONET products that would also provide Ethernet services.  Both systems run Redhat Linux.  (In fact, all of the Alcatel-Lucent products run some form of Linux or Unix.)  The 1850 also supported T1 and T3 circuits, while the 1678 only provided OC3/12/48 and Ethernet access.  The 1678 had a larger matrix. 
   

• I performed the turn-up of the first 1850 system at a large power utility company in the Southwest.  The equipment was located in new substations and power for testing was provided by backup generators during testing.  As this was NPI equipment, there were several issues that had to be resolved during the project.  I was working with a co-worker that had to leave to support another project.  I completed the project by myself, driving to sites across two states with lone access to sites late at night in remote desert and urban locations.  I completed the customer signoff within the project schedule.
   

• 1678MCC Field Force Courseware Development:

• The 1678MCC product manager asked if I could develop a training program for the installation, test and turn-up of 1678 shelf.  As this was new technology, I had to teach myself all about Ethernet SFPs and testing procedures.  I had to identify test sets that were capable of performing Ethernet testing and learn how to use the test sets with the equipment.  Working with the 1678 not only required knowledge of TL1, but also using Linux shell commands and CLI commands.  I had experience with UNIX, but CLI was new to me.  I studied CLI protocols, and command syntax using the 1678 equipment manuals.  I created a training program to teach the installation of the 1678 shelf.  This was the easy part.  The challenge came when upper Field Force management, Mr. Camacho, mandated that new shelves be "green lighted" upon completion of the installation.  This meant that all of the cards in the system would have green LEDs instead of red.  This presented a challenge as the 1678 would not green light until software was loaded.  Loading software had not been a requirement for installers.  I developed a training program where I was teaching not only the shelf installation, but also software installation on the 1678 shelf.  Loading software on the 1678 shelf was not a trivial matter.  The process took 5 hours for someone who knew what they were doing.  It involved using two Ethernet ports, a switch connected to a laptop LAN port, two serial ports connected to the 1678 controller cards, TL1, CLI and shell commands to switch between the Controller cards and the Matrix cards in the shelf.  To pass the test after a 4 day training class, the students had to pass a written exam and a hands-on lab practical exam.  I conducted many classes with only a hand full of students not able to make the transition.  This was my introduction into course development.
   

• Next I developed a training course for the 1678 that included local testing of the shelf.  This involved TL1, CLI, Linux shell commands, Optical one directional and two directional TL1 cross-connection procedures, Ethernet daisy-chain testing procedures, card switching testing procedures.  Based on procedures that I used to test the 1630, I developed the course and taught it to system integrators (of only a few had done any testing like this before).  Teaching TL1 and CLI involved white boards filled completely with commands, the explanation of each word in the syntax and how they were modified and applied to each of the different cards and SFPs in the system.  When one command was learned, white boards again were filled with the dissection of another command.  This continued until all commands were learned.  Remember, this was a one were course with written and hands-on exams on day 5.  Not only did the students have to learn a new shelf, they had to learn how to perform all of the integration tasks to perform all local testing as required by the Product Manager.  I was constantly amazed at how well my students were able to learn these tasks within a one week time frame.  I trained both internal and external 3rd party technicians.
   

• The next training challenge was the need to perform 1678MCC remote software updates through the customer firewall.  There were over 150 1678MCC sites that would receive updates.  This procedure would include gaining access permission through the customer firewall, maintaining multiple remote connections to the equipment, performing simultaneous TL1, CLI and shell commands and performing these task using two maintenance windows.  The whole operation was conducted with previously hand-picked 1678 trained technicians in conjunction with live monitoring by CTAC personnel and customer NOC communications.  The students would come to Plano to learn and practice the upgrade on local equipment using only classrooms located in the training center.  We would perform the upgrades using procedures from the Software Upgrade MOP, Customer Release Notes and UNIX training that I developed.  (I used Cygwin to teach the students how to navigate a UNIX files system, perform file checks, edit files using the VI editor, backup and create files.)  Part of the procedure required using telnet to connect to other cards through the backplane and perform specific commands on these cards.  Jumping from TL1 to CLI to Shell Commands was all performed during the course of the night.  Since this was a remote upgrade, commands were issued to verify the stability and state of the equipment.  We also practiced the complete back-out procedure to roll back to the previous release so that everyone would have a chance to perform the procedure.  Everyone's laptop was displayed on the projector so we could all follow along with their progress.  The training was very successful without a single outage over the course of several upgrades performed over several years.  I was very proud of our team.  During one training session I worked two training sessions each day, one at night and one during the morning.  The time span between the sessions did not allow for enough time to travel home.  The only way to get enough sleep was for me to sleep in my car overnight.
   

• 1850 TSS-5/100/320 Field Force Training Courseware Development:

• The next training project was for the 1850TSS-100.  I used the training methods that I developed for the 1678 to design installation and integration courseware.  We started calling the installation course "Level 1" and the integration course "Level 2" training.
   

• 1830 PSS Field Force Courseware Development:

• During this timeframe, another instructor, Kurt Smith, was hired and we moved to the EDU training lab.  We worked alongside the EDU instructors, took over the maintenance and installation and turn-up of new hardware and worked closely with the EDU instructors to learn new equipment and procedures.  I also started teaching 1671, 1678 and 1696 courses to field force personnel.  The same equipment that I used was also used by EDU to instruct customers.  Many times we had training classes being conducted for FF and customers at the same time.  We initially installed the first 1830PSS system in the EDU lab.  Over the span of several years we installed 5 more systems including the 1830PPS 4 and PSS 16 shelves.  We also developed training courses for the 1830PSS-4 system.
   

• I joined Kurt Smith who had started teaching the 1830 PSS WDM system.  He was using the OLCS manuals as the basis for his Level 1 instruction along with outputs from an equipment configuration program called EPT.  The EPT outputs varied for each system providing shelf/card configuration, cabling configuration, WDM circuit configuration and rack configuration.  We worked together to develop the first PowerPoint slides instead of "skipping" around the various OLCS manuals.  We were also approached by 1830 integrators to develop a written system local testing procedure.  (The OLCS local testing procedure only consisted of a few CLI commands to verify the software load and alarms.)  Kurt and I developed the first local testing procedures based on procedures that were used for SONET local and ring testing.  Based on verbal input from the integrator, we improved on their description and came up with a method to completely test a 1830 shelf as a standalone system.  We took this procedure a step further and developed the method to test from site-to-site.  These procedures were eventually integrated into the OLCS manuals.
   

• We were also approached by the GPEC group (now GNPI) to help develop the first IEH manuals for the 1830.  IEH manuals are Integration Engineering Handbooks that have step-by-step procedures for specific tasks.  We performed the initial training of GPEC personnel and assisted with the development of the new manuals.  We continued to work with Armin Eigenees from Germany and Alain Valeille from the GNPI group based out of Canada.  Kurt was eventually hired to start working directly for the GNPI group.