Insight 2q12 Wireless

7/31/2019 Insight 2q12 Wireless

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UNDER PRESSURE

OR UNDER CONTROL?How to Get More Out of

Mobile Backhaul Networks

By Karen LienMiller

UNDER PRESSUREOR UNDER CONTROL?

How to Get More Out of

Mobile Backhaul Networks

By Karen Lien Miller

InsightQ2 20


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UNDER CONTROL?

Its a dream business case. Everyone wants what you produce. They use it every day,

everywhere they go. Most say they cant live without it.

But for wireless service providers, subscribers never-ending appetite for the mobile

Internet can quickly turn into a nightmare.

Service expectations rise as mobile Internet use increases. People assume apps

will deliver the same quality of experience theyre used to on wired networks. As the

bar on quality goes up, so does the load on the network.

Its a given wireless service providers must grow networks to meet customer demand

for bandwidth. But, if they overbuild, profitability is at risk along with the ability to

adapt rapidly as new services hit the market.

Thats a lot of pressure.

Wireless service providers are responding in two ways:

1. Continuing to leverage existing architectures to get the most out of

network investments;

2. Starting the transition to LTE and LTE-Advanced wireless networks to

deliver gigabit-per-second speeds to cell sites, enabling huge volumes of

high-bandwidth traffic.

This approach while fiscally sound is very complex. It involves managing

multiple generations of network protocols and thousands of network elements all while

adapting to a changing network architecture.

How do you go from under pressure to under control?

Think higher

Mobile networks are vast and complicated. Technology advances hold the promise

of increased speed and capacity, but the transition doesnt happen overnight. Most mobile

networks employ some combination of 2G, 3G and 4G technologies and will for some

InsightQ2 20

LTE: Long Term
http://info.tellabs.com/smartpipeshttp://www.tellabs.com/markets/tlab_end-of-profit_study.pdfhttp://www.tellabs.com/markets/tlab_end-of-profit_study.pdfhttp://info.tellabs.com/smartpipes


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time to come and can contain up to tens of thousands of network elements in various

parts of the network, from cell sites to EPC.

Its easy to get caught up in the layers of network architecture, tackling traffic

issues from the bottom up. But, a better approach is to gain visibility across all network

elements, regardless of the underlying protocols, to pump up the overall performance

of the network.

A view from the top

Optimal mobile backhaul is more than just the right technology. Its about the eco-

nomics of managing the solutions you have in place to achieve ROI. By having one very

clear window into whats happening end-to-end throughout the network, engineers can

more easily control service quality and bandwidth allocation.

Looking at the various disparate network elements through one network manage-

ment system isnt a new idea. But, making sure you have the right tools in place to an-

alyze data, automate technically difficult tasks and ensure network availability is the

difference between having a partly obstructed view or a truly advantageous viewpoint.

3G vs. LTE backhaul networks

Weve always looked toward the next big thing in mobile network technology. Why

does the jump from 3G to LTE mobile backhaul require special consideration?

LTE networks offer higher capacity than 3G. But, LTE fundamentally changes the

nature and requirements of mobile backhaul networks.

New architecture: LTE is based on the concept of a flat IP architecture and is no

longer strictly a point-to-point topology like in 3G networks. The RNC is eliminated.

Operators face a whole new set of requirements for LTE backhaul networks.

Routing/packet forwarding is handled by RAN devices (MMEs, S/P-GWs, eNBs),

which is based on Layer 3 (L3) IP addressing. Various underlying infrastructures supportInsightQ2 20

RAN: Radio Acce

RNC: Radio Netw

ROI: Return on I

What would you

give up to keep

your smartphone

for a week?

A recent study by

Vodafone finds

Brits love their

smartphones so

much that:

70% of wouldgive up booze

63% would stop

eating chocolate

33% would give

up sex

22% would give

up a toothbrush


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this packet forwarding. The absence of an RNC creates a need for backhaul network

security because the mobile core is exposed.

Decreased delay: One of the benefits of an LTE network is a decreased traffic delay

for users compared to earlier mobile data services. This makes fair, QoS class-based

traffic management in the transport network more important. To deliver these types of

services, operators must align their delay requirements end-to-end.

Synchronization:The deployment of LTE technologies means that all traffic, in-

cluding sync, can be carried over packet networks. So, operators must deploy technolo-

gies which support both frequency reference and phase and time-of-day synchronization.

Small cells: LTE networks increase the capacity of the air interface compared

to 3G technologies. The trend in LTE networks is to introduce smaller cell sites

especially in densely populated areas dramatically increasing the number of boxes

to administer and the amount of data to collect and manage.

InsightQ2 20

QoS: Quality of S

CELL TOWER TELEPHONE

NETWORK

TELLABS MOBILE BACKHAUL SOLUTION

INTERNET
http://www.tellabs.com/blog/index.cfm/2012/2/23/Syntonization-and-synchronization-essential-for-all-mobile-networks--especially-LTEhttp://www.tellabs.com/blog/index.cfm/2012/2/23/Syntonization-and-synchronization-essential-for-all-mobile-networks--especially-LTE


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Making it all work together

In LTE networks, more intelligence is in the network elements. They are able to

make independent decisions based on network conditions. But, this doesnt make

networks easier to manage. The operator no longer has a full understanding of network

conditions at a point in time. And, because of the smaller cell sites, there are more

network elements to control.

Existing network investments arent going away any time soon. So, an intelligent

management system that supports a wide range of technologies, automates complicated

tasks and easily adapts as network architecture changes is critical to the long-term

health of the wireless network.

The move to LTE is underway

The growth of mobile data traffic is exponential. Individual users historically have

been the main drivers for OTT video, mobile apps and Internet connectivity. Now add

the growth of FMC to support business services and enterprise applications and the

popularity of cloud services, and the pressure on wireless service providers to add more

bandwidth capacity is immense.

LTE networks can enable wireless service providers to deliver tremendous, wireline-

like quality to customers with data speed up to gigabit-per-second to end-user devices.

According to Infonetics, 46 commercial LTE networks were operable at the end of

2011. They expect 119 LTE networks to be live by the end of 2012. Additionally,

investments to increase capacity and prepare for LTE networks are underway, whether

the transition to LTE is underway now, or planned before 2015.

But, most operators will continue to manage a mix of 2G, 3G and 4G technologies

for some time to come.

InsightQ2 20

FMC: Fixed-mob

OTT: Over the To


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Grace under pressure

By approaching the migration to LTE from the highest level network management

operators are best positioned to get more out of their mobile backhaul networks.

With end-to-end visibility into the network and easy provisioning tools,

operators can:

More easily roll out new mobile services or expand

network coverage for human users and machines

Gain more control of increasingly complex

network assets and growing traffic demands

Use the network as a competitive advantage to

make the most of the transition to LTE.

InsightQ2 20
http://www.tellabs.com/products/8000/tlab8600_ltebackhaul_an.pdfhttp://www.tellabs.com/products/8000/tlab8600_ltebackhaul_an.pdf


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OAM: Operations

Management

SLA: Service Lev

Network Management System Checklist

Heres what to look for when selecting a network management tool:

End-to-end network visibility and OAM tools

Automation for network rollout and service provisioning with automated

tools, templates and processes

Ability to integrate and manage multiple network technologies

Analysis of capacity usage

Easy-to-use Graphical User Interface (GUI)

Scalability to add and monitor network elements easily

Advanced troubleshooting and reporting capabilities to

detect and fix network errors quickly, reduce network downtime and

minimize SLA penalties

Synchronization monitoring

Documents

Insight 2q12 Wireless