Step 4: Grafana Dashboards
Inspect authored Grafana panels for telemetry review. Grafana remains an external service.
Dashboard Overview
Build three specialized dashboards:
- O-RAN Operations Dashboard — Real-time NOC view with KPIs
- Timing Review Dashboard — authored offset bands
- Network Performance Dashboard — Capacity planning and optimization
Dashboard 1: O-RAN Operations (NOC View)
Real-time operational dashboard for network operations center:
JSON Configuration
{
"dashboard": {
"id": null,
"title": "O-RAN Edge Operations Dashboard",
"description": "Real-time O-RAN DU telemetry for NOC operations",
"tags": ["oran", "telco", "noc", "operations"],
"timezone": "browser",
"refresh": "30s",
"time": {
"from": "now-1h",
"to": "now"
},
"panels": [
{
"id": 1,
"title": "Network Health Overview",
"type": "stat",
"gridPos": { "h": 6, "w": 8, "x": 0, "y": 0 },
"targets": [
{
"expr": "count(oran_ptp_review_score > 90)",
"legendFormat": "Sites in review band",
"refId": "A"
},
{
"expr": "count(oran_ptp_review_score)",
"legendFormat": "Total Sites",
"refId": "B"
}
],
"fieldConfig": {
"defaults": {
"color": { "mode": "thresholds" },
"thresholds": {
"steps": [
{ "color": "red", "value": 0 },
{ "color": "yellow", "value": 80 },
{ "color": "green", "value": 95 }
]
},
"unit": "short"
}
},
"options": {
"reduceOptions": {
"values": false,
"calcs": ["lastNotNull"],
"fields": ""
},
"orientation": "auto",
"textMode": "auto",
"colorMode": "background"
}
},
{
"id": 2,
"title": "PTP Timing Review",
"type": "gauge",
"gridPos": { "h": 6, "w": 8, "x": 8, "y": 0 },
"targets": [
{
"expr": "avg(oran_ptp_review_score)",
"legendFormat": "Network Average",
"refId": "A"
}
],
"fieldConfig": {
"defaults": {
"color": { "mode": "thresholds" },
"thresholds": {
"mode": "absolute",
"steps": [
{ "color": "red", "value": 0 },
{ "color": "yellow", "value": 70 },
{ "color": "green", "value": 90 }
]
},
"unit": "percent",
"min": 0,
"max": 100
}
},
"options": {
"reduceOptions": {
"values": false,
"calcs": ["lastNotNull"]
},
"orientation": "auto",
"showThresholdLabels": false,
"showThresholdMarkers": true
}
},
{
"id": 3,
"title": "Critical Alerts",
"type": "table",
"gridPos": { "h": 6, "w": 8, "x": 16, "y": 0 },
"targets": [
{
"expr": "oran_ptp_review_score{ptp_review=\"critical\"} < 50",
"format": "table",
"legendFormat": "{{du_id}} - {{cell_id}}",
"refId": "A"
}
],
"fieldConfig": {
"defaults": {
"custom": {
"align": "auto",
"displayMode": "list",
"filterable": true
},
"color": { "mode": "thresholds" },
"thresholds": {
"steps": [
{ "color": "transparent", "value": 0 },
{ "color": "red", "value": 1 }
]
}
}
},
"options": {
"showHeader": true,
"sortBy": [{ "desc": true, "displayName": "Value" }]
},
"transformations": [
{
"id": "organize",
"options": {
"excludeByName": { "Time": true },
"indexByName": {
"du_id": 0,
"cell_id": 1,
"Value": 2
},
"renameByName": {
"du_id": "DU ID",
"cell_id": "Cell ID",
"Value": "Review Score"
}
}
}
]
},
{
"id": 4,
"title": "PRB Utilization Heatmap",
"type": "heatmap",
"gridPos": { "h": 8, "w": 12, "x": 0, "y": 6 },
"targets": [
{
"expr": "oran_prb_utilization_percent{direction=\"downlink\"}",
"legendFormat": "{{du_id}}-{{cell_id}}",
"refId": "A"
}
],
"fieldConfig": {
"defaults": {
"custom": {
"hideFrom": {
"legend": false,
"tooltip": false,
"vis": false
},
"scaleDistribution": { "type": "linear" }
},
"color": {
"mode": "continuous-GrYlRd",
"steps": 256
},
"unit": "percent"
}
},
"options": {
"calculate": true,
"calculation": { "xBuckets": { "mode": "count", "value": "50" } },
"cellGap": 2,
"cellValues": { "unit": "percent" },
"color": {
"exponent": 0.5,
"fill": "dark-orange",
"mode": "spectrum",
"reverse": false,
"scheme": "Oranges",
"steps": 64
},
"exemplars": { "color": "rgba(255,0,255,0.7)" },
"filterValues": { "le": 1e-9 },
"legend": { "show": false },
"rowsFrame": { "layout": "auto" },
"tooltip": { "show": true, "yHistogram": false },
"yAxis": {
"axisPlacement": "left",
"reverse": false,
"unit": "short"
}
}
},
{
"id": 5,
"title": "CPU Utilization by Site",
"type": "timeseries",
"gridPos": { "h": 8, "w": 12, "x": 12, "y": 6 },
"targets": [
{
"expr": "oran_cpu_utilization_percent",
"legendFormat": "{{du_id}} ({{region}})",
"refId": "A"
}
],
"fieldConfig": {
"defaults": {
"color": { "mode": "palette-classic" },
"custom": {
"axisPlacement": "auto",
"barAlignment": 0,
"drawStyle": "line",
"fillOpacity": 10,
"gradientMode": "none",
"hideFrom": {
"legend": false,
"tooltip": false,
"vis": false
},
"lineInterpolation": "smooth",
"lineWidth": 2,
"pointSize": 5,
"scaleDistribution": { "type": "linear" },
"showPoints": "never",
"spanNulls": false,
"stacking": { "group": "A", "mode": "none" },
"thresholdsStyle": { "mode": "line" }
},
"thresholds": {
"mode": "absolute",
"steps": [
{ "color": "green", "value": null },
{ "color": "yellow", "value": 70 },
{ "color": "red", "value": 90 }
]
},
"unit": "percent"
}
},
"options": {
"legend": {
"calcs": ["mean", "max"],
"displayMode": "table",
"placement": "bottom"
},
"tooltip": { "mode": "multi", "sort": "desc" }
}
},
{
"id": 6,
"title": "RF Quality Distribution",
"type": "piechart",
"gridPos": { "h": 6, "w": 8, "x": 0, "y": 14 },
"targets": [
{
"expr": "count by (rsrp_quality) (oran_rf_health_score)",
"legendFormat": "{{rsrp_quality}}",
"refId": "A"
}
],
"fieldConfig": {
"defaults": {
"color": { "mode": "palette-classic" },
"custom": {
"hideFrom": {
"legend": false,
"tooltip": false,
"vis": false
}
},
"unit": "short"
},
"overrides": [
{
"matcher": { "id": "byName", "options": "excellent" },
"properties": [
{
"id": "color",
"value": { "mode": "fixed", "fixedColor": "green" }
}
]
},
{
"matcher": { "id": "byName", "options": "poor" },
"properties": [
{
"id": "color",
"value": { "mode": "fixed", "fixedColor": "red" }
}
]
}
]
},
"options": {
"reduceOptions": {
"values": false,
"calcs": ["lastNotNull"],
"fields": ""
},
"pieType": "pie",
"tooltip": { "mode": "single", "sort": "none" },
"legend": {
"displayMode": "table",
"placement": "right",
"values": ["percent"]
}
}
},
{
"id": 7,
"title": "Congestion Forecast",
"type": "timeseries",
"gridPos": { "h": 6, "w": 16, "x": 8, "y": 14 },
"targets": [
{
"expr": "predict_linear(oran_prb_utilization_percent{direction=\"downlink\"}[30m], 3600)",
"legendFormat": "Predicted DL PRB % (+1h)",
"refId": "A"
},
{
"expr": "oran_prb_utilization_percent{direction=\"downlink\"}",
"legendFormat": "Current DL PRB %",
"refId": "B"
}
],
"fieldConfig": {
"defaults": {
"color": { "mode": "palette-classic" },
"custom": {
"axisPlacement": "auto",
"drawStyle": "line",
"lineWidth": 2,
"fillOpacity": 20,
"gradientMode": "opacity"
},
"thresholds": {
"mode": "absolute",
"steps": [
{ "color": "transparent", "value": null },
{ "color": "yellow", "value": 80 },
{ "color": "red", "value": 95 }
]
},
"unit": "percent"
}
},
"options": {
"legend": { "displayMode": "table", "placement": "bottom" },
"tooltip": { "mode": "multi", "sort": "desc" }
}
}
]
}
}
Dashboard 2: Timing Review
Reference dashboard for authored timing bands:
Key Panels
{
"dashboard": {
"title": "O-RAN PTP Timing Review",
"description": "5G precision timing protocol review monitoring",
"panels": [
{
"id": 1,
"title": "PTP Offset Distribution",
"type": "histogram",
"targets": [
{
"expr": "histogram_quantile(0.95, rate(oran_ptp_offset_nanoseconds_bucket[5m]))",
"legendFormat": "95th percentile",
"refId": "A"
}
],
"fieldConfig": {
"defaults": {
"custom": { "bucketSize": 50 },
"unit": "ns",
"color": { "mode": "continuous-GrYlRd" }
}
}
},
{
"id": 2,
"title": "Review Violations (Last 24h)",
"type": "table",
"targets": [
{
"expr": "increase(oran_ptp_violations_total[24h])",
"format": "table",
"refId": "A"
}
],
"transformations": [
{
"id": "groupBy",
"options": {
"fields": {
"du_id": {
"aggregation": ["distinctCount"],
"operation": "groupby"
},
"severity": { "aggregation": ["last"], "operation": "groupby" },
"Value": { "aggregation": ["sum"], "operation": "aggregate" }
}
}
}
]
},
{
"id": 3,
"title": "PTP Master Clock Health",
"type": "stat",
"targets": [
{
"expr": "oran_ptp_master_reachable",
"legendFormat": "Master Reachable",
"refId": "A"
}
],
"fieldConfig": {
"defaults": {
"color": { "mode": "thresholds" },
"thresholds": {
"steps": [
{ "color": "red", "value": 0 },
{ "color": "green", "value": 1 }
]
},
"mappings": [
{
"options": { "0": { "text": "Unreachable" } },
"type": "value"
},
{ "options": { "1": { "text": "Healthy" } }, "type": "value" }
]
}
}
}
]
}
}
Dashboard 3: Network Performance Analytics
Advanced analytics dashboard for capacity planning:
Performance Panels
{
"dashboard": {
"title": "O-RAN Network Performance Analytics",
"panels": [
{
"id": 1,
"title": "Spectral Efficiency Trend",
"type": "timeseries",
"targets": [
{
"expr": "avg by (cell_id) (oran_spectral_efficiency_dl)",
"legendFormat": "{{cell_id}} Efficiency",
"refId": "A"
}
],
"fieldConfig": {
"defaults": {
"unit": "bps/Hz",
"custom": {
"drawStyle": "line",
"lineWidth": 2,
"fillOpacity": 10
}
}
}
},
{
"id": 2,
"title": "Capacity Headroom by Region",
"type": "bargauge",
"targets": [
{
"expr": "avg by (region) (oran_capacity_headroom_percent)",
"legendFormat": "{{region}}",
"refId": "A"
}
],
"fieldConfig": {
"defaults": {
"unit": "percent",
"thresholds": {
"steps": [
{ "color": "red", "value": 0 },
{ "color": "yellow", "value": 20 },
{ "color": "green", "value": 50 }
]
}
}
}
},
{
"id": 3,
"title": "Coverage Quality Matrix",
"type": "heatmap",
"targets": [
{
"expr": "oran_rf_health_score",
"format": "time_series",
"refId": "A"
}
],
"fieldConfig": {
"defaults": {
"custom": {
"hideFrom": { "legend": false, "tooltip": false, "vis": false }
},
"color": { "mode": "continuous-GrYlRd" }
}
}
}
]
}
}
Alert Rules
Configure Prometheus alerting rules for proactive monitoring:
# alerts/oran-alerts.yml
groups:
- name: oran_ptp_review
rules:
- alert: PTPReviewCritical
expr: oran_ptp_review_score < 50
for: 2m
labels:
severity: critical
service: oran_timing
annotations:
summary: 'PTP review critical on {{$labels.du_id}}'
description: 'PTP review score is {{$value}}% on DU {{$labels.du_id}}, cell {{$labels.cell_id}}'
- alert: PTPOffsetHigh
expr: abs(oran_ptp_offset_nanoseconds) > 1000
for: 1m
labels:
severity: warning
service: oran_timing
annotations:
summary: 'High PTP offset detected'
description: 'PTP offset is {{$value}}ns on {{$labels.du_id}}'
- name: oran_capacity
rules:
- alert: PRBUtilizationHigh
expr: oran_prb_utilization_percent{direction="downlink"} > 90
for: 5m
labels:
severity: warning
service: oran_capacity
annotations:
summary: 'High PRB utilization on {{$labels.du_id}}'
description: 'DL PRB utilization is {{$value}}% on cell {{$labels.cell_id}}'
- alert: CongestedCellPredicted
expr: predict_linear(oran_prb_utilization_percent{direction="downlink"}[30m], 3600) > 95
for: 10m
labels:
severity: warning
service: oran_capacity
annotations:
summary: 'Cell congestion predicted in 1 hour'
description: 'PRB utilization on {{$labels.cell_id}} predicted to reach {{$value}}%'
- name: oran_rf_quality
rules:
- alert: RFQualityDegraded
expr: oran_rf_health_score < 40
for: 3m
labels:
severity: warning
service: oran_rf
annotations:
summary: 'RF quality degraded on {{$labels.du_id}}'
description: 'RF health score is {{$value}} on cell {{$labels.cell_id}}'
Dashboard Import Script
Automate dashboard deployment:
#!/bin/bash
# scripts/import-dashboards.sh
GRAFANA_URL="http://grafana:3000"
GRAFANA_TOKEN="your-api-token"
# Import O-RAN Operations Dashboard
curl -X POST \
-H "Authorization: Bearer ${GRAFANA_TOKEN}" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d @dashboards/oran-operations.json \
"${GRAFANA_URL}/api/dashboards/db"
# Import PTP Review Dashboard
curl -X POST \
-H "Authorization: Bearer ${GRAFANA_TOKEN}" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d @dashboards/oran-ptp-review.json \
"${GRAFANA_URL}/api/dashboards/db"
# Import Performance Analytics Dashboard
curl -X POST \
-H "Authorization: Bearer ${GRAFANA_TOKEN}" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d @dashboards/oran-performance.json \
"${GRAFANA_URL}/api/dashboards/db"
echo "Dashboards imported successfully"
Dashboard Variables
Configure template variables for dynamic filtering:
{
"templating": {
"list": [
{
"name": "region",
"type": "query",
"query": "label_values(oran_ptp_review_score, region)",
"refresh": 2,
"includeAll": true,
"allValue": ".*"
},
{
"name": "du_id",
"type": "query",
"query": "label_values(oran_ptp_review_score{region=~\"$region\"}, du_id)",
"refresh": 2,
"includeAll": true,
"multi": true
},
{
"name": "time_range",
"type": "custom",
"options": [
{ "text": "Last 15 minutes", "value": "15m" },
{ "text": "Last hour", "value": "1h" },
{ "text": "Last 6 hours", "value": "6h" },
{ "text": "Last 24 hours", "value": "24h" }
],
"current": { "text": "Last hour", "value": "1h" }
}
]
}
}
Next Steps
With Grafana dashboards providing real-time visibility, proceed to Parquet storage and Cloudera integration for long-term analytics capabilities.