If a second ends, we add the number of events in that just-ended second
to the number of events in the currently running minute. The same happens
at the end of a minute: We add the number of events in that just-ended
minute into the number of events of the still-running hour, etc.
This gives a much more meaningful numbers and we don't end up with
"12 events per second, but 0 events per minute" kind of situations
anymore.
A 'rate counter' is a counter that counts events but also keeps
track of the rate of events (per second, minute, hour and day).
'rate counters' are generally abstracted in 'rate counter groups',
which are instances of a 'rate counter group description'. This
way we can have e.g. a description describing what kind of counters
a BTS (or TRX) has - and we can then create one instance of that
group for every BTS or TRX that exists.
Harald Welte