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TWDM-PON: The solution of choice for NG-PON2

Giga DSL: Gigabit access over copper

FTTW drives WLAN construction

eRelay simplifieswireless backhaul

Heterogeneous access enables ultra-broadband ubiquity

Enriching life through communication

Sponsor: Huawei COMMUNICATE Editorial Board,Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.

Consultants: Ken Hu, Eric Xu, Ryan DingCharlie Chen, Bill Zhang, Zha Jun

Editor-in-Chief: Sally Gao ([email protected])

Editors: Michael Huang, Pearl Zhu, Jason PattersonJulia Yao, Joyce Fan, Linda Xu, Pan TaoLi Xuefeng, Xue Hua, Xu Ping, Chen YuhongCao Zhihui, Zhou Shumin

Contributors: Li Chaoyang, Shen Jianrong, Xie JuanHuang Xinqiang, Zhang Ying, Wu QiongZhang Yufen, Yu Xiangyang, Xing JingfanZheng Yuanyuan, Li Zhi

E-mail: [email protected]

Tel: +86 755 28786665, 28787643

Fax: +86 755 28788811

Address: B1, Huawei Industrial Base, Bantian, Longgang, Shenzhen 518129, China

Publication Registration No.: Yue B No.10148

Copyright © Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. 2013. All rights reserved.No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written consent of Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.

NO WARRANTYThe contents of this document are for information purpose only, and provided “as is”. Except as required by applicable laws, no warranties of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, are made in relation to contents of this document. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, in no case shall Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd be liable for any special, incidental, indirect, or consequential damages, or lost profits, business, revenue, data, goodwill or anticipated savings arising out of or in connection with any use of this document.

We are now in an era where innovation spurs revolution and challenge is another name for opportunity. The ongoing global economic malaise has brought unprecedented pressure to bear on the public & private sectors alike; the telco sector is no exception. A global ambition for ubiquitous ultra-broadband access is presenting an unprecedented opportunity, and yet the unsatisfactory return on investment (ROI) seen thus far, coupled with explosive growth in data traffic, is casting a shadow over the market at large.

FTTx represents the method of choice for ubiquitous ultra-broadband access, as it can satiate the world’s growing hunger for high-bandwidth services such as online video, online gaming, and IPTV. Statistics show that over 90% of operators globally have committed to commercial FTTx deployments, trials, or technology testing. However, a cost-effective FTTx rollout involves a lot more than just trenching and soldering. Cost-effective network rollout, shortened time-to-market (TTM), efficient O&M, reduced TCO, and enhanced ROI must also be achieved, and that’s not factoring in all the headaches involved in last-mile hookup in buildings that are already occupied.

The maximum reuse of legacy infrastructure is key to the enhancement of both ROI and real-world broadband speed. Recent innovations such as Vectoring and G.fast are playing an important role here, as operators can revitalize their legacy twisted pairs through upgrade to the Gpbs range, making for an era of “born-again copper” in broadband service provisioning.

For ultra-broadband access ubiquity, operators must flexibly utilize whichever access medium is available for service provisioning, based on user demand. However, network synergy is also needed before such access can be offered in a cost-effective manner that meets people’s daily needs, whether at home, work, or on the move, but that’s all largely hypothetical. Enhanced customer loyalty, business model innovation, and sustained advantage are also needed for an operator to succeed in a crowded marketplace full of MSOs, MVNOs, OTTs, and other operators.

With our diverse and far-reaching experiences in delivering ultra-broadband solutions that are both efficient and heterogeneous, Huawei is there to help with our SingleFAN 2.0 solution, while our innovative FTTx solutions and business models help operators leverage continuous growth and profit from their ultra-broadband operations. In addition, Huawei’s joint efforts with industry partners will surely help to build a healthy, sustainable, and ubiquitous broadband ecosystem, where the user, operator, and vendor win.

Ubiquity through heterogeneity

Zha Jun

President of Huawei Fixed Network Business Unit

What’s inside:

03 Heterogeneous access for ubiquitous ultra-broadband networksPeople now expect broadband access anywhere, anytime, with services now blurring the scenarios of usage. Covering various media, rollout techniques, and application scenarios, heterogeneous access helps operators flexibly meet different customer demands and market expectations, ensuring both competitive advantage and optimal ROI.

By Zou Xudong

Cover Story

14 China Mobile Shanxi smartens up

fiber managementBy Luo Weiguo, China Mobile Shanxi

16 Network sharing with FTTH/PON architectures

By Juan Rendon

24 COMBO: Broadband ability,narrowband reliability

By Zhang Quanfeng

19 FTTW drives WLAN construction By Yi Wengen

25 FTTB/C sites: Where it all comes together

By Lv Yongpu

10 TWDM-PON: The solution of choice for NG-PON2

By Yuanqiu Luo & Frank Effenberger

Fiber Utilization

22 Giga DSL: Gigabit access over copper

By Huang Lei

Copper Reborn

Let’s COMMUNICATE beyond technology and share understandings of the latest industry trends,

successful operational cases, leading technologies and more. Based on in-depth analysis of the

matters that lie close to your heart, we will help you stay on top of the telecom game.

39 LTE TDD broadens your VPN By Huang Zhiming

31 eMBMS keeps mobile video rolling

By Yu Wenyong

33 eRelay simplifies wireless backhaul

By Li Wenqi

35 LTE spectrum utilization:It’s a jungle out there

By Gary Yiu & Alessandro Casagni

47 Network integration makes for smooth NBN deployment

By Gu Lina

50 HD will succeed where bit rates have failed

By Wu Haijun, Ouyang Weilong & Hou Baoshan

52 Making WLAN workBy Qiao Ruole

28 LTE TDD: Unpaired & unleashedAs multi-layer, multi-mode convergence becomes the norm in mobile communications, LTE TDD, with its many advantages, has gone mainstream, putting it on the fast track for growth.

By Shao Zhijie

Mobile Ubiquity

44 Open-access NBNOpen-access national broadband, which represents a departure from the typical practice of a single operator building and operating the NBN to provide direct consumer services, encourages both innovation and market dynamism, making the upfront investments far more palatable in this age of austerity.

By Wang Qin & Yi Wengen

Strategic Operations

NEWS

JAN 2013 . ISSUE 681 2

Huawei Partners with SELEX Elsag for UAE Railway

D u b a i , U A E , D e c e m b e r

20, 2012, Huawei has been

selected by SELEX Elsag (a

U.K. mobile solutions provider)

to supp l y op t i ca l and I P

equipment for a new GSM-R

railway network that will cover

the United Arab Emirates, the

first section of which will be

1200km long and completed

at the end of 2017.

Huawei Enterprise's wireless

network will guarantee mobile

commun ica t ions a long a

266km portion of the railway

line, which will connect the

ent i re oi l -bear ing area of

Shah, becoming the primary

means of transporting more

than seven mill ion tons of

granulated sulphur per year

from the Habshan area to the

port of Ruwais for export.

Huawei's GSM-R technology

is vital to rail network safety,

offering critical communication

functions so that train engineers,

civil engineers, controllers, and

crew members are able to

effectively communicate with

each other, while providing

passengers with an enhanced

commuting experience.

Huawei GSM-R solutions

have already been successfully

implemented in China, Europe,

Asia and Australia.

Huawei and Fastweb Form Strategic Partnership for NGN Broadband

Rome, Italy, December 13,

2012, Huawei announced that it

has signed a strategic partnership

a g r e e m e n t w i t h I t a l i a n

operator Fastweb. According

to this agreement, Huawei

and Fastweb will collaborate

in building next-generation

(NGN) ultrafast broadband

networking and researching the

relevant advanced technologies.

This agreement is part of an

economic and trade cooperation

project worth USD1.27 billion,

signed between China and Italy

on the same day.

Fastweb, a subsidiary of

Swisscom, plans to invest

EUR2 billion into technology

innovation and development

within the next four years,

expecting to provide ultrafast

broadband access for 5.5

m i l l i o n h o u s e h o l d s a n d

bus inesses by the end of

2014, covering 20% of Italy’s

population. Fastweb will build

100Mbps ultrafast broadband

networks that combine copper-

based Vectoring technology

with fiber to the curb (FTTC).

H u a w e i ' s N o d e L e v e l

Vectoring (NLV) solution can

help Fastweb to accomplish this

target, as it provides Vectoring

for different devices located at

the same site, ensuring ultrafast

bandwidth access to all users in

compliance with copper access

regulations. These ultrafast

broadband networks can be

upgraded to support G.fast

technology, which will further

boost copper bandwidth tenfold.

Huawei Will Invest EUR70 Million in Finland

Helsinki, Finland, December

10, 2012, Huawei announced that

it will invest EUR70 million over

a five-year period to establish

an R&D center in Helsinki. This

strategic investment reflects

Huawei's long-term commitment

to Europe and will strengthen

the company’s R&D capabilities,

augmenting its 70,000-strong

global R&D team.

The Finnish R&D center

will be a key driver of new

t e chno log i e s f o r mob i l e

devices. Initial projects will

focus on software development

for smartphones, tablets ,

and other media devices,

optimizing the user experience

of existing operating systems

such as Android and Windows

Phone 8.

At the outset, Huawei plans

to recruit 30 employees for the

center, with the goal of hiring

over 100 in the next five years.

The Helsinki center wil l

serve as one of Huawei’s core

centers for device R&D, joining

an already established modern

design and technology center

in Sweden and a user interface

research center in the United

Kingdom. Huawei currently

employs more than 7,000

people across Europe.

Zain and Huawei Launch Nationwide GSM/UMTS/LTE in Kuwait

K u w a i t C i t y , K u w a i t ,

December 21, 2012, Huawei and

Zain announced the successful

launch of a commercial LTE

1800MHz network that covers

the entire country of Kuwait. The

network is the largest of its kind

in the region and marks a major

step for the development of

the region's mobile broadband

market.

Za in and Huawei have

expanded their LTE partnership

after the successful deployment

of GSM and UMTS networks in

Kuwait. On November 21, 2012,

Zain launched LTE services under

the banner of Wiyana Connect

LTE, an LTE service that utilizes

Circuit Switched Fallback (CSFB)

for LTE voice, with download

speeds that exceed 90Mbps.

T h e n e w LT E n e t w o r k

also enables a wide variety

of high-performance mobile

applications and multimedia

experiences, including video

conferencing, HD content

t ransmiss ion , h igh-speed

video download, and social

networking, providing Zain

subscribers with a superior

mobile broadband experience.

Zain has also partnered with

Huawei to provide a diverse

range of LTE smart devices,

including smartphones, dongles,

routers, and Mi-Fi devices.

JAN 2013 . ISSUE 681 2

Huawei and Rostelecom Deploy Russia’s First iODN

Shenzhen, China, December

25, 2012, Huawei announced

it has completed deployment

o f an i n te l l i gen t op t i ca l

distribution network (iODN) for

Rostelecom in the Perm Krai

region of Russia, making it the

country's first.

Rostelecom is the largest

f i x e d n e t w o r k o p e r a t o r

in Russ ia. To maintain i ts

competitive advantage and

en r i ch se r v i ce o f fe r ings ,

Rostelecom has planned to

roll out high-speed broadband

over fiber to the home (FTTH),

but with concerns over the

deployment efficiency and

O&M of the fiber network

infrastructure. Huawei's iODN

solution is set to effectively

combat these challenges.

Using this solution, fiber

utilization is improved through

electronic and transparent

r e s o u r c e m a n a g e m e n t ,

p ro tec t ing inves tment in

infrastructure and reducing

capacity expansion costs. It also

supports real-time monitoring of

network construction progress

and resilient adjustment of

fiber links, enabling fast service

provisioning. Furthermore, a

multi-level link quality-assurance

mechanism is introduced to

enhance network reliability and

simplify O&M.

"The iODU network deployed

by Huawei is great. It simplifies

the O&M of fiber networks,

helping us deliver high-quality

services and lower O&M costs,"

said Konstantin Korolev, Chief

Technology Officer (CTO) of

Rostelecom's Perm branch.

Huawei Deploys Blade RRU Solution for China Unicom

Shenzhen, China, December

19, 2012, Huawei announced

the successful first large-scale

commercial deployment of

its innovative Blade Remote

Radio Unit (RRU) solut ion

as part of a China Unicom

network expansion in Shanghai.

The solution utilizes a new

generation of distributed base

station products designed

especially for operators building

and optimizing multi-band and

multi-mode networks.

China Unicom launched

the world's largest WCDMA

network on October 1, 2009,

and now provides High Speed

Packet Access (HSPA) and

Mobi le Broadband (MBB)

data services in most cities.

The operator has since sought

to quickly expand hotspot

coverage to enhance and ensure

overall network capacity and

quality, while considering the

smooth evolution of its network

to LTE. Huawei's Blade RRU

solution was chosen to address

these challenges, as a single

deployed RRU consumes 12

cubic meters and weighs 14kg,

both significantly improved over

the industry standard. Its blade

server-inspired design supports

seamless assembly for multi-

band, multi-mode, and multi-

sector network expansion.

B lade RRU reduces the

number of onsite modules,

s imp l i f y ing and reduc ing

requirements for site space,

equipment installation, and

maintenance. It is also especially

well-suited for rapid network

building and expansion in dense

urban areas.

Blade RRU solution is fully

compatible with China Unicom’s

existing WCDMA network,

and empowers the operator to

introduce LTE when appropriate.

Huawei Wins Big at Telecom Asia Readers’ Choice Awards

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia,

November 29, 2012, Huawei

has been awarded the LTE

Innovation of the Year, Core

Network Vendor of the Year

and Wire less Broadband


awards at the 2012 Telecom

Asia Readers' Choice Awards.

Huawei received the LTE

Innovation of the Year award

for its introduction of its "No-

Edge Networks" concept,

which uti l izes various LTE,

LTE-Advanced, and other

future-oriented technologies,

including Huawei's Coordinated

Multipoint, Adaptive Inter-

cell Interference Coordination,

Advanced Receiver, Interference

Reject ion Combining, and

its Turbo Equalizer, to enable

ultra-broadband, zero-wait,

ubiquitous connectivity.

To earn the Core Network

Vendor of the Year award,

Huawei has enabled software

v i r tual izat ion for network

evolution into Cloud Core

for CaaS (Capab i l i t y as a

Service), meeting customer

requ i rements fo r smooth

evolution from 2G and 3G

to 4G with its innovative EPC

(Evolved Packet Core) upon

deployment.

W i r e l e s s B r o a d b a n d


was awarded in recognition

of Huawei’s two new MBB

products – its ARU (Adaptive

Radio Unit) and AtomCell, which

are part of the vendor's GigaSite

suite of network equipment.

Cover Story

JAN 2013 . ISSUE 683 4

CO

VER

STO

RY

for ubiquitous ultra-broadband networks

Heterogeneous access

JAN 2013 . ISSUE 68

Huawei Communicate

3 4

eople now expect broadband access anywhere, anytime, with services now blurring

the scenarios of usage. Covering various media, rollout techniques, and application

scenarios, heterogeneous access helps operators flexibly meet different customer

demands and market expectations, ensuring both competitive advantage and optimal ROI.

Operators such as STC have built their heterogeneous networks, with a fiber foundation,

delivering enhanced bandwidth with timely deployment.By Zou Xudong

of fiber deployment costs; Google launched a trenching race to encourage innovation, while also researching new fiber deployment techniques on their own to reduce costs.

The kicker is that Google Fiber installation requires online pre-registration; in other words, Google Fiber will only provide services to an area when it shows sufficient interest. During deployment, the Google Fiber team will lay the connection to the registrant’s home and install user equipment, with the latter handling the actual indoor connection.

Carriers would be hard pressed to duplicate these practices, as an interloper like Google, with its tremendous resources and lack of legacy baggage, can survive a write-off if this effort never turns a profit, but telcos don’t have that luxury, as they typically have the regulatory burdens of utilities, without the guaranteed revenue stream. Operators need a network deployment technique that can match their current capabilities with an enhanced return on investment (ROI).

All-optical access challenge

FTTH is the ultimate fixed broadband access as optical fibers can provide near unlimited bandwidth, but it requires huge CAPEX. Rollout costs are high as operators need to layout massive ducting in a variety of scenarios, a task that requires a lot of experience and foresight. Multi-service provisioning, maintenance, and fault location on

Classic access network construction, with its inherent limits in terms of service provisioning, can no longer meet telco customer needs, regardless of market location, competition level or services offered. This is pushing operators into the fiber realm, but a one-size-fits-all plan simply will not work, at least not profitably, forcing operators to turn to heterogeneous access (with various media, rollout techniques, and application scenarios) for broadband service delivery.

Google Fiber emerges

On July 26, 2012, Google Fiber s tar ted providing commercial gigabit access in Kansas City, Missouri, representing an intrusion into telcos’ last sacred ground – the pipe itself.

The success of Google Fiber, if it ever comes, will take time, but Google CFO Patrick Pichette has indicated that this initiative will create a cost & improvement curve for broadband access similar to the curves for computer storage. This would be impressive, as the high costs of fiber deployment have been burdening service providers for some time.

As part of its efforts to rein in costs, Google launched a competition where any community in the U.S. could apply to be the first to enjoy 1Gbps access; over 1,100 communities applied. This helped Google gain the necessary public support in terms of policies, resources, and manpower, at a reduced cost. Trenching takes up the lion’s share

P

Cover Story

JAN 2013 . ISSUE 685 6

Heterogeneous access for ubiquitous ultra-broadband networks

the optical distribution network (ODN) are no picnic either, as a result of the complicated and fault-prone nature of ODN cabling routes.

What’s worse, FTTH involves indoor cable routing (requiring cooperation from the end user), prolonging and complicating the process further. In certain countries, indoor cabling can account for more than 45% of the overall FTTH rollout costs. Resistance from end users has forced China Unicom to adjust its 2012 FTTH plan from five million homes covered in Beijing to only one million, over a time now prolonged by at least three months.

Diversity is the future

Operators once adopted a standardized network rollout model for DSL networking, as it could fully satisfy users’ bandwidth needs while keeping central office construction inexpensive, but this will not do in the ultra-broadband era.

However, for many operators, the task of choosing the right model for network rollout has been trial & error. From 2007 to 2010, Telecom Italia used FTTB, FTTH, and FTTC, while France Telecom has changed from pure FTTH to mixed FTTH/FTTC networking. This lack of a consistent

answer has helped bring about other application scenarios such as fiber to the distribution point (FTTDp) and fiber to the street (FTTS), in use by BT and Swisscom, respectively, that enable diverse bandwidth and ROI flexibility.

Operator X, a tier-one fixed operator in Europe, had watched its market share shrink owing to strict local loop unbundling (LLU) supervision and fierce competition in recent years. The largest cable provider had eroded Operator X’s customer base through bundled services and high-bandwidth access (the highest at the time), while a nationwide broadcaster released a software application for Internet television and radio service that received 180 million requests within one year (with this number increasing to 123 million per month by May 2010). This application generated about 10% of network traffic nationwide, and brought even greater upgrade pressure to bear.

The government planned to levy broadband taxes to sponsor the modernization of its digital infrastructure. Gaining government support and considering service demands and competition, the operator started to evolve its network to ultra-broadband.

Operator X started a fiber to the premises (FTTP) trial in 2007, and then moved to FTTC two years later. Results showed that FTTP rollout

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As opposed to Internet service providers (ISPs), operators own their copper and fiber resources, but their market leadership can be strengthened by integrating other access media, such as Ethernet, coax, power lines, and even idle Wi-Fi channels.

cost per household to be about USD2400, five times that for FTTC. This motivated the operator to deploy the latter nationwide, with the former reserved for high-demand and/or fiercely competitive areas.

With FTTC offering 40-80Mbps, and FTTP delivering 100-300Mbps, Operator X now has a superior offering to any of its competitors. Its broadband market share hit 31% in 2012, up 4% from the previous year. The estimated ROI for its FTTx network has also been reduced from the ten years that FTTP would have delivered to five. Supplementing this with VDSL2 and Vectoring technologies for its legacy copper, Operator X has seen its last-mile bit rates exceed 80Mbps, while extending the product lifecycle to boot. Investors have also greatly appreciated the operator’s strategy, as seen in its nearly 50% rise in stock price from 2009 to 2011.

Cross-arena competition

Fixed operators are facing competition on two fronts. One is against the mobile operators such as China Mobile, Vodafone, America Movil, and T-Mobile, who are now in the midst of FTTx rollout so that they can offer bundles that include

fixed voice, broadband, TV, and mobile services, at a lower price. Their other competitors are their longtime nemeses, the MSOs.

Cable operators have long been dependent on DOCSIS 1.0/2.0 technologies, which provide up to 50Mbps of downstream speed, but DOCSIS 3.0 is revolutionizing the business, thanks to its theoretical 5Gpbs downstream speed, enabling 100Mbps+ broadband access for each and every user.

An increasing number of cable operators have tested high-speed DOCSIS 3.0. KDG (Germany) started its 1Gbps trial in 2010, while UPC (the Netherlands) and Virgin Media (U.K.) piloted 1.3Gbps and 1.5Gbps solutions, respectively, in 2011. ARRIS (U.S.) demonstrated a 4.5Gbps cable solution in the same year; while CableLabs (an R&D consortium for cable TV) has already proposed the DOCSIS 3.1 standard, with the goal of supporting up to 1Gbps access for individual users.

Fierce competit ion has forced operators worldwide to use every means possible to provide broadband services. AT&T uses coax for home networking, while Orange uses VDSL2 over coax in certain areas instead of more heavily regulated twisted pairs, and KDG adopts VDSL2 (for access) plus DOCSIS (for backhaul) to provide broadband

Cover Story

JAN 2013 . ISSUE 687 87

access to certain users.As opposed to Internet service providers (ISPs),

operators own their copper and fiber resources, but their market leadership can be strengthened by integrating other access media, such as Ethernet, coax, power lines, and even idle Wi-Fi channels.

In the ADSL era, when incumbents were required to share their last-mile copper access, competitors could rent the former’s equipment rooms and wiring to provide services to end users. However, FTTx sites are closer to end users, making them more dispersed (trickier to share). The EU, after years of debate, has yet to resolve this issue, and this has made a lot of operators risk-averse and thus reluctant to invest in FTTx, with ground being lost to the MSOs as a result.

To resolve this dilemma, operators are resorting to less-regulated access media, such as coax and power lines. In Germany, most in-building twisted pair cables and TV coaxial cables belong to proprietors and are managed by residential leasing companies. The right to use them is open to any company or individual. Twisted pairs have peer-to-peer (P2P) connections, so the right to use them requires house-to-house negotiation, whereas coaxial cables have point-to-multipoint (P2MP) connection and require only building-to-building negotiation.

In 2011, Deutsche Telekom began to realize that TV coaxial cables were of strategic importance to its overall broadband development; a continuous focus on the acquisition of these cables for its broadband service provisioning efforts has been in place since that time.

Multiple access scenarios

People now expect broadband access anywhere, anytime, while services now blur the usage scenarios. HDTV might now be expected on a smartphone. Telepresence, once the province of enterprises, is now used by families. Today’s superphones can now bring the office to you, or even you to the office; but in the future, fixed and mobile broadband networks will jointly provide ubiquitous ultra-broadband access, with a unified user experience.

Many operators have invested heavily in FTTx networks that extend to every street corner. Such networks can provide access for homes, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and mobile users, and may be supplemented with LTE small cells and Wi-Fi. With the latter two elements in play, operators can build a heterogeneous network, with a fiber foundation, that delivers enhanced bandwidth with

Heterogeneous access for ubiquitous ultra-broadband networks

JAN 2013 . ISSUE 68

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Mixed network construction improves resource usage and VIP customer retention. Covering various rollout techniques and application scenarios, heterogeneous access helps operators meet different customer demands, ensuring optimal ROI and competitiveness.

8

Editor: Michael [email protected]

timely deployment. STC, Saudi Arabia’s leading fixed and mobile

operator, commenced FTTx construction in 2008. In June 2011, the operator commenced the bidding for its LTE and mobile backhaul networks, with rigid requirements in place for network protection, synchronization, quality of service (QoS), packet delay, and jitter. STC eventually chose FTTx GPON for its LTE backhaul and SME broadband services, and this decision seems savvy in three respects.

First, its FTTx network coverage is already broad, and its FTTx sites are close to its LTE s i te s , so the opera tor can bui ld a re l i ab le backhaul network through remote device (MxU) interoperations. Second, the operator can use FTTx for LTE sites and SMEs, eliminating the need to build an independent network for each, while enhancing the profit margin for the original networks. And finally, its FTTx provides unified network access and management for all scenarios, reducing OPEX and O&M complexity considerably.

Heterogeneity goes mainstream

A fixed access solution should be technically & economically optimal, and meet a variety of broadband access demands. In densely populated, fiercely competitive, or post-greenfield areas, opera tor s can pr ior i t i ze FTTH and other supplementary means to ensure suf f ic ient bandwidth. In less competitive/crowded areas, operators can adopt FTTC or FTTB to ensure cost-effective bandwidth, while DSL or FTTC can work in the rural areas.

Mixed network construction can help operators maximize resource usage and retain high-value customers, making for a virtuous cycle of network, user, and profit growth. Covering various media, rollout techniques, and application scenarios, heterogeneous access helps operators flexibly meet different customer demands and market competitions, ensuring optimal ROI and secured competitive edge.

Designed for future-oriented heterogeneous access, the Huawei SingleFAN 2.0 solution delivers unified management for the entire access network. Thanks to its unified access and innovative network management, SingleFAN 2.0 can help operators build a ubiquitous ultra-broadband heterogeneous network for home, mobile and SME customers.

Fiber Utilization

JAN 2013 . ISSUE 689 10

Fiber may be the ultimate fixed networking medium,

but new management and sharing techniques are

needed for it to truly realize its potential.

FIB

ER U

TILI

ZATI

ON

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9 10

t the April 2012 meeting of the Full Service Access Network (FSAN) group, time and wavelength division multiplexed passive optical network

(TWDM-PON) technology was chosen as the primary solution for next-generation passive optical network stage-2 (NG-PON2) architecture, thanks to its evolving specifications, wavelength plans, loss budgets, and key technologies that enable tunable ONUs. Huawei has developed the world’s first full system 40Gbps TWDM-PON prototype, and test efforts verify that TWDM-PON is achievable through the reuse and integration of commercial devices and components.

TWDM-PON selection

Immediately after the 10Gbps passive optical network (XG-PON1) project was spun out to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), FSAN began to work on NG-PON2, with the relevant requirements study initiated in late 2010 among the FSAN operators, while the NG-PON2 system proposal investigation commenced in 2011,

A with the active involvement of FSAN vendors.At the beginning of this project, the basic

requirements were for a system with at least 40Gbps of capacity and 40km of reach at a 64-way split, but not necessarily backwards compatibility with existing optical distribution network (ODN) technology or even previous PON systems, such as those for video overlay. Based on this very loose scope of requirements, many different systems were proposed, and they are reviewed here.• The first proposal was based on time division

multiplexed PON (TDM-PON), namely 40Gbps time division multiplexed PON (XLG-PON), which increases the single carrier serial downstream bit rate for XG-PON1 from 10Gbps to 40Gbps, while the upstream supports a 10Gbps serial time division multiple access (TDMA) bit rate.

• The second proposal was based on t ime and wavelength division multiplexed PON (TWDM-PON). It stacks multiple XG-PON1s using wavelength division multiplexing (WDM). Four pairs of wavelengths would support aggregated rates of 40Gbps in the downstream and 10Gbps in the upstream.

By Yuanqiu Luo & Frank Effenberger

TWDM-PONThe solution of choice for NG-PON2

China Mobile Shanxi smartens up fiber management

14

Network sharing with FTTH/PON architectures

16

FTTW drives WLAN construction19

Fiber Utilization

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• The third direction includes five flavors of wavelength division multiplexed PON (WDM-PON). Each provides a dedicated wavelength channel at the rate of 1Gbps to each optical network unit (ONU). The major differences lie in the employed WDM transmitter or receiver technologies.

• The last direction employs three types of orthogonal frequency division multiplexed PONs (OFDM-PONs) that apply quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) and the fast Fourier transform (FFT) algorithm to generate digital OFDM signals. Their differences lie in the specific implementation of OFDM technology.Given the diversity in these options, the FSAN

operators reconsidered their true objectives for the NG-PON2 project. The ability to operate on existing fiber ODN was the first firm requirement to crystallize, followed by support of up to eight independent operators, and compatibility with video overlay. Compatibility with XG-PON was also made mandatory, with the timeframe for practical availability set at 2015.

The FSAN members analyzed each of these system proposals, comparing functional complexity, achievable loss budget, power consumption, technological challenges, and key component maturity. It turned out that the above requirement updates had a huge impact on the final selection. Some systems were eliminated due to the ODN compatibility requirement, with others eliminated due to the timeframe requirement. In short, all eyes turned to TWDM-PON, which was finally selected in April 2012.

TWDM-PON

In the TWDM-PON architecture, four XG-PON1s are stacked using four pairs of wavelengths. For simple network deployment and inventory management purposes, the ONUs use colorless tunable transmitters and receivers. The transmitter is tunable to any of the upstream wavelengths, whi l e the rece ive r can tune to any o f the downstream ones. To achieve a power budget higher than that of XG-PON1, optical amplifiers are employed at the OLT side to boost the downstream signals as well as to pre-amplify the upstream signals. ODN remains passive since both the optical amplifier and WDM Mux/DeMux are placed at the OLT side.

There a re opt ions tha t f i t the ba se l ine architecture to broader market scenarios. TWDM-PON, for example, can support eight pairs of wavelengths. This type of TWDM-PON system is valuable in a market where multiple operators share one physical network infrastructure. Another example would involve provision of Gigabit PON (G-PON) rates for each pair of wavelengths, which would probably also relax the TWDM-PON optics requirements.

Coexistence with previous PON generations in the legacy ODN depends on the TWDM-PON wavelength plan, and the first option is to reuse the XG-PON wavelength bands. This implies a finer grid inside of the previously defined bands, as was described in the NG-PON1 study. This wavelength plan leverages the development work that has gone on in XG-PON optics. It is also compatible with G-PON and the 1555nm radio frequency (RF) video overlay channel, while blocking standardized XG-PON. Its loss budget is similar to that for XG-PON; a typical loss budget value is about 33dB.

The second option is to redefine the C-band enhancement band to contain both the upstream and downstream wavelengths; this features the attractive optical characteristics of Erbium-doped Fiber Amplifiers (EDFAs) for signal amplification, with reduced transmission fiber loss to boot. Such a system also has a higher power budget and a longer reach, with the RF video overlay channel blocked. With EDFAs, this wavelength plan could achieve a loss budget of about 38dB.

Another option is a mixture of both of these plans. The downstream channels would be designed in the L-plus band, with the upstream channels in the C-minus band. This option maintains the G-PON and RF video channels, while upstream transmission is similar to the wavelength plan for the second option. This wavelength plan is also compatible with G-PON and XG-PON, and will hopefully support coexistence with RF video overlay. Fortunately, C-band components could work with an EDFA preamplifier to provide a higher power budget, though in the downstream, an L-band amplifier is needed to improve the power budget; a loss budget of about 38dB could be achieved here.

This area is an active study topic for FSAN and the ITU-T Recommendation series G.989. In September 2012, the ITU-T SG 15 plenary meeting consented the G.989.1 Recommendation. T h i s r e c o m m e n d a t i o n s p e c i f i e s s y s t e m requirements for NG-PON2 as well as the typical


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system features for TWDM-PON. Beyond the physical layer changes, TWDM-PON is intended to completely reuse but not change all the material developed for XG-PON1; the MAC layer, OMCI, and interoperability documents are all the same. However, there is a need for some small additions to specify the methods to manage and control the multiple wavelengths in the system. These aspects are being developed in an ITU-T Recommendation effort, G.multi. TWDM-PON system standards are expected to be completed by July 2013.

Key components and technologies

M o s t T W D M - P O N c o m p o n e n t s a r e commercially available in access networks today. As compared to previous PON generations (G-PON, XG-PON), the only significantly new components in TWDM-PON are the tunable receivers and tunable transmitters at the ONU. Technology options to implement the required wavelength tuning functions at the ONU include:

Tunable transmitters

• Dist r ibuted feedback (DFB) l a se r wi th temperature control (TC) – This technology is widely available now, and a radical redesign to reduce costs is being industrially developed.

Readiness is expected in 2013. • DFB laser with partial TC – This concept was

introduced at FSAN, and partial temperature control i s a s impli f icat ion of the above. Industrial development is in progress now, and readiness is expected in 2014.

• Multi-section DFB (electrical control) without cooling – Devices for this technology are available now, but costs need to be tamed through reduction or removal of features and packaging. Viable products are expected in 2014.

• External cavity laser (ECL) with mechanical control without cooling – Prototypes for this technology are available, but reliability and stability warrant improvement. 2015 should see the first commercial devices.

• ECL with thermo/electro/piezo/magneto-optic control without cooling – This is a generic placeholder for the entire range of ECL devices, for which nearly all are currently experimental; any could pan out. Commercial devices are expected in 2015 or later.

Tunable receivers

• Thermally-tuned Fabry-Perot (FP) filter – Commercially available.

• Angle-tuned FP filter – Commercially used in low volumes, but SWAP engineering is needed before mass production, which could take place in 2013.

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• Injection-tuned silicon ring resonator – This technology is currently experimental, but it has a strong potential for monolithic detector integration. Devices are expected in 2015.

• Liquid-crystal tunable filter – Also experimental, and more development is needed, but it would consume very little power if viable. Commercial devices are expected in 2014.

• Thermally-tunable FP detector – Experimental now, and more development is needed, but it would prove inherently monolithic if viable. Commercial readiness is expected in 2014. The first fully packaged tunable transceivers are

expected to be available in 2013, while modules that could be considered commercially viable are expected in 2014.

As to the technology leap and readiness, TWDM-PON is based on the XG-PON system, and leverages al l the development that has been in progress since the ITU-T G.987 series recommendations were developed two years ago. A fully functional prototype of the TWDM-PON system was developed by Huawei in September 2011, and has been lab demonstrated in several telco labs. In other words, TWDM-PON is already in the prototype stage, and limited field trials could begin as soon as demand dictates. Given that the standards process began in 2012, with 2013 as a completion target, a finished system should be available in 2014.

First full system TWDM-PON prototype

Huawei announced the f i r s t fu l l system TWDM-PON prototype in September 2011, with the first operator-vendor joint test, conducted by China Telecom and Huawei, in the same month.

The prototype system employs the C-band wavelength plan to achieve coexistence with the previous generations of PON, while the four downstream wavelengths are spaced 200GHz apart. The output power for each downstream wavelength is also about 10dBm after the EDFA booster, while the four upstream wavelengths are 100GHz apart.

The ONUs a re equ ipped w i th tunab l e transmitters and tunable receivers, with the ONU tunable transmitter based on a thermally-tuned DFB laser with more than 400GHz of wavelength tuning range. The ONU tunable receiver is based on a thin-film tunable filter in front of a 10Gbps

APD ROSA, while an ONU can tune to any channel upon software command from the PON control logic.

The MAC layer functionalities are based on XG-PON1 transmission convergence (TC) layer specifications in ITU-T Recommendation G.987.3, while the TWDM-PON MAC is implemented in a commercial FPGA. Modules such as dynamic bandwidth allocation, forward error correction (FEC), scrambling, and XG-PON1 encapsulation mode (XGEM) are integrated to demonstrate full system operation.

In the prototype system, Huawei G-PON and XG-PON OLT cards are placed into the same TWDM-PON OLT card chassis. The ODN contains two stages of splitters. A 1:8 splitter is followed by a 1:64 splitter to provide a total split ratio of 1:512, while the feeder fiber is 20km. Note that, depending on the legacy ODN deployment, the first splitter can be 1:16 or 1:32 and the second can be 1:32 or 1:16. Also note that the split ratio and reach distance can be adjusted to meet the needs of the legacy ODN deployment. For example, 1:512 split with 20km can be safely converted into a 1:128 split with 40km or a 1:64 split with 60km. A type-MA5616 G-PON ONU and a type-MA5612 XG-PON ONU are connected to the first-stage splitter (the 1:8 splitter), and this helps enable performance evaluation of G-PON, XG-PON, and 40G TWDM-PON coexistence.

In addition to receiver sensitivity, upstream power budget, and coexistence tests, voice & data services have also been tested in the prototype. There is no interference between services over TWDM-PON and over the other two PONs (G-PON and XG-PON), showing that 40Gbps TWDM-PON can coexist with both G-PON and XG-PON while reusing the same ODN.

TWDM-PON has been selected by FSAN as the primary solution for NG-PON2. It provides 40Gbps for downstream and 10Gbps for upstream by stacking four pairs of wavelengths operating at the XG-PON1 rates. A full system 40Gbps TWDM-PON prototype was developed by Huawei in 2011. The salient test results with operators verify that TWDM-PON is achievable through the reuse and integration of commercial devices and components. With the rapid progress in NG-PON2 standards, TWDM-PON standards will be completed in 2013, and a finished commercial system should see the light of day in 2014.


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smartens up fiber management

By Luo Weiguo, China Mobile Shanxi

China Mobile Shanxi

hina Mobile Shanxi (Shanxi Mobile), the Shanxi provincial branch of the world’s largest operator, was among the first

of the giant’s branches to go broadband. Metropolitan fiber infrastructure buildout commenced in 2005, with fiber resources growing abundant since that time. However, the operator’s legacy optical network was only modestly utilized, as fibers were adopted independently for shared, exclusive, or reserved purposes. Furthermore, some fibers were deteriorating, with attenuation increasing.

In recent years, urban development has been in full swing in Shanxi, with fiber optic communications often interrupted as a result, but fault location has been difficult, thanks to a lack of an effective monitoring

system. Although Shanxi Mobile’s legacy management system could manage fiber resources to some extent, O&M inefficiencies were creating a dire need for a unified platform. In 2011, Shanxi Mobile introduced the Huawei intelligent optical distribution network (iODN) management system to the metropolitan fiber infrastructure then being laid in the provincial capital of Taiyuan.

iODN introduction

Shanxi Mobi le conc luded that intelligent fiber infrastructure could accelerate fiber troubleshooting and add flexibility to the fiber route scheduling process, both major areas of concern

at the time. The first phase of its fiber management upgrade covered five core equipment rooms for convergence devices (and their affiliated rooms). By October 2012, this first phase was completed, with certain services at two of the rooms cut over and the system operating stably.

Unified resource management

Shanxi Mobile had previously managed its fiber resources in a decentralized manner, recording the relevant data manually; this made for an error-prone process where timely refresh was impossible.

The Huawei iODN network management system (NMS) changed all of that, thanks to its integration of geographic information system (GIS) maps for ODN fiber

Thanks to Huawei’s iODN intelligent fiber management system, China Mobile Shanxi can now collect network data with a single click, enhancing both service time-to-market (TTM) and the troubleshooting process. It is also expected to reduce its O&M costs, as a result of significant efficiency improvements in both fiber resource utilization & service provisioning, as well as the elimination of fiber deployment rework.

C

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resources, as well as its clear port occupation and ODN topology diagrams, enabling centralized management of fiber resources & equipment.

Proactive diagnostics

Shanxi Mobile had a large number of passive nodes in its legacy fiber infrastructure, making troubleshooting a real headache. Fiber maintenance typically happened only after a user complaint, leaving both sides in an unenviable position. Definition of the responsible party for troubleshooting depended primarily on engineer experience, leading to an unacceptable percentage of invalid work orders. What’s worse, fault location depended on optical t ime domain reflectometer (OTDR) readings, leading to a lot of trial and error. Engineers with the skill to avoid these inefficiencies are few in number, pushing maintenance costs to even more frustrating heights.

Huawei iODN, combined with the vendor’s N2510 line diagnosis system, employs dark fiber management to help solve this problem, as three to five cores of 288-core fiber-optic cable are used for network monitoring. By noting attenuation changes in optical signal power for the select cores, warnings arrive earlier for the entire cable. Fiber cable health records can also be made through routine OTDR tests, which would involve two-way monitoring. To reduce the quantity of OTDRs used and the costs involved, a single OTDR monitors the fiber optic ring through optical switch unit (OSU) cascading. After a fault is detected, the OTDR measures the distance to the fault point automatically, enabling accurate display of the location and cause of a fault via GIS.

Intelligent fiber route scheduling

Previously, Shanxi Mobile’s metro network used fibers for either exclusive, shared, or reserved purposes. Exclusive fibers were used first, and if they were in short supply at certain sites, shared fibers would be used through fiber patch cords. However, as shared sites increased, so

China Mobile Shanxi smartens up fiber management

did the number of patch cords, leading to very high costs.

Huawei iODN can uniformly manage fiber resources, identifying each fiber cable’s usage and ensuring 100% accurate resource data. Since its implementation, Shanxi Mobile uses shared fibers exclusively, meaning far fewer patch cords. First, the operator plans, allocates, and pre-connects shared fibers, and then uses iODN to configure them as exclusive to certain sites. When traffic increases, the iODN can flexibly allocate other shared fibers for those sites, maximizing fiber usage. Equipment installation costs are also reduced, as fiber deployment requires only a single site visit, while fibers are configured in batches.

Fiber infrastructure cloudHuawei iODN provides one-click

information collection and real-time network patrol functionality, helping to ensure that all fiber connections are correct, enabling fiber core pre-connection and allocation as needed. Shanxi Mobile can now identify pre-connected fibers with ease, and incorporate them into a virtual network. Fiber core number and routing can be adjusted based on service need, making for a fiber infrastructure cloud that consists of four rollout phases – planning, deployment, application, and optimization.

Planning – Optical cables are generally deployed section by section, and connected with fiber patch cords only when in use. Shanxi Mobile pre-connects certain ports to form virtual cables, while allocating a set number of fiber cores for hotspots and key areas. The operator adopts only shared fibers between optical distribution frames (ODFs) and fiber distribution terminals (FDTs), eliminating the need for exclusive and reserved fibers. With each node’s properties illustrated by GIS, virtual fiber network design can be done, based on expert opinions. Thanks to this virtualized network, each cable can be virtualized into multiples, enabling flexible bandwidth allocation & enhanced service provisioning, at less cost.

Deployment – Shanxi Mobile delivers Editor: Michael [email protected]

electronic work orders to construction parties, who can connect all shared fibers in a single batch. As each fiber port is equipped with a unique eID label, Shanxi Mobile can ensure the correct interconnection of fiber patch cords, enabling flexible fiber resource allocation based on service needs.

Application – Thanks to iODN’s intelligent fiber management, Shanxi Mobile can now choose a viable fiber route for new service application quickly. After choosing the optimal shared fibers, the operator issues a work order to its engineers, who connect fiber cores at the user and central office sides only, shortening service provisioning time significantly. Shanxi Mobile can also identify idle or active fibers, and obtain fiber utilization rates and other statistics through iODN. If the fiber quality deteriorates (optical attenuation increases), its fault diagnostics will issue an immediate warning, upon which iODN allocates a new optical route to the affected service, while locating the precise fault point and issuing troubleshooting instructions to engineers.

Optimization – Shanxi Mobile can now adjust its fiber network flexibly to bring it in line with service development. The operator will receive an advance warning through iODN if fiber resources will soon be overwhelmed by service growth, and if services remain flat in certain areas despite abundant fiber resources. The operator can optimize the fiber network by changing the relevant ports only, and then allocating idle fiber resources to hotter spots.

With Huawei iODN, Shanxi Mobile can now eliminate the manual errors involved in the collection and recording of network data. The system can also enable real-time monitoring and scheduled checks, while displaying network resources data for fibers, equipment, port status, and more. Shanxi Mobile is expected to slash its O&M costs, thanks to enhanced network efficiency, shortened TTM, and reduced rework for service deployment, making for network management that is truly intelligent.

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Network sharing with

FTTH/PON architectures

By Juan Rendon, Principal Consultant, Huawei Carrier Solutions Department

One network, many possibilities

ountr ie s and reg ions the world over have nat ional broadband plans either in place or on the way, and fiber

to the home (FTTH) is considered future-proof thanks to its transmission capacity. However, even though many operators globally have already gone optical for the access network, passive network infrastructure can be costly, due to difficulties in the field such as digging and trenching, which can account for a minimum of 60 to 70% of the initial investment. This is a tough pill to swallow in the current economic climate.

However, operators can reduce the cost of passive infrastructure through access network sharing which, as a consequence, reduces the cost per operator for a home passed. This approach has been used in the wireless arena for 3G and 4G, but less so for fiber-based access.

Many operators have plans to deploy FTTH/Passive Optical Networks (PONs) over the next few years. Industry and standardizat ion groups have been working on new revisions for PON

As cash-strapped governments and operators look to FTTH as a means to provide high-speed broadband access, operators have the opportunity to share their networks to help make the upfront costs less daunting. However, a thorough understanding of the technical and financial implications of such an arrangement, both in terms of the architecture and number of operators involved, is needed before any commitments are made.

Juan Rendon works in Huawei’s Carrier Solutions Department in Western Europe, and is an expert in the technical, strategic, financial, and regulatory aspects of telecommunications networks. Dr. Rendon has over 12 years of experience in the telecommunications industry working with operators, consulting firms, and manufacturers.

Carchitecture. Two phases for Next-Generation-PON (NG-PON1 & NG-PON2) have been defined by the Full Service Access Network (FSAN) group, a pre-standards forum composed of equipment manufacturers, independent test labs, and telco service providers. Wavelength Division Multiplexing ( W D M ) t e c h n o l o g i e s t h a t w o rk on PON architectures and enable multichannel transmission at different optical wavelengths along a single fiber have also been under discussion at the FSAN and at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

Certain operators, interested in making strategic decisions regarding possible investment in FTTH/PON, are considering network sharing with other parties to reduce deployment costs. This article explores how this might be done for various architectural scenarios.

PON architectures

This article considers four PON-based architectures that have been studied or are being studied by Study Group 15 (SG15) of the ITU-T, making them deployment candidates for various operators around the globe – Gigabit PON (GPON), 10-Gigabit-capable

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PON (XG-PON), Time and Wavelength Division Multiplexing PON (TWDM-PON), and Arrayed Waveguide Grating (AWG)-based WDM-PON.

GPON

GPON is already standardized and has been in commercial use for some time. Its downlink and uplink transmission capacities are 2.5Gbps and 1.2Gbps, respectively. Operators tend to use a distance of 20km, though a logical reach of 60km is possible, and even though its splitting factor can reach 128, a value of 64 or lower is typically employed in the field. However, given the fact that all signals work with the same wavelength pairs, it is not possible to share an individual fiber, making multi-fiber deployment a prerequisite for network sharing.

XG-PON

XG-PON was defined as part of the NG-PON1 standardization path, with its features elaborated in the ITU-T G.987 recommendations from 2010 and commercial availability expected in 2012 or 2013. XG-PON’s downlink transmission capacity is 10Gbps, while its uplink can reach 2.5Gbps. The splitting factor can be 128 or even more, but its logical reach is the same as that for GPON, as

are its limitations in terms of sharing an individual fiber due to wavelength occupation. However, the good news is that XG-PON is compatible with existing GPON passive access infrastructure elements, such as cables and splitters.

TWDM-PON

Thus far, the primary solution for NG-PON2 standardization has been TWDM-PON, a process that should be finished in 2013 or 2014, with commercial availability possible in 2016 to 2018. TWDM-PON works with TWDM and it is currently possible to stack 4 XG-PON signals on one TWDM-PON line, though stacking of 8 or 16 signals is being explored.

A downlink port has a capacity of 40Gbps (4*10Gbps) while the uplink capacity is 10Gbps (4*2.5Gbps). The splitting factor should be at least 128 (512 theoretical max.) while the reach could be 40 to 60km. In comparison with GPON and XG-PON, TWDM-PON enables operators to work with different wavelengths on the same fiber, meaning that individual fibers can be shared. A WDM mux can be used to combine signals from different operators, at a capacity of 4 or 8 XG-PON ports, but the kicker is that TWDM-PON architecture can reuse the passive infrastructure

Figure 1 Cost per home connected (USD), 50% market share overall, urban deployment

GPON XG-GPON TWDM-PON AWG-based WDM-PON

One operator

Shared network (two operators)

Shared network (three operators)

2,500

2,000

1,500

1,000

500

0

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used by GPON and/or XG-PON (cables & splitters).

AWG-based WDM-PON

The ITU-T has defined Arrayed Waveguide Grat ing-based WDM-PON as a t ranspor t technology, but it is still not clear when products will be available commercially for residential use. The downlink and uplink transmission capacity for this technology is 1.25Gbps per user, and this is exclusively used by a single subscriber, while total transmission capacity per fiber is 40Gbps (32*1.25Gbps). It has not been decided whether there will be 16, 32, or 48 wavelengths per fiber, but the distance in the access segment can reach 40km.

Cost of network sharing with FTTH/PON architectures

Passive infrastructure for GPON and XG-PON can be shared by different operators through a multi-fiber scheme. In the cost analysis presented in this article, the main components for the passive infrastructure are the in-house cabling, splitters in the basement, distribution segment, street cabinet, feeder segment, and Optical Distribution Frame (ODF) in the central office. Active elements are the Optical Network Terminal (ONT) on the subscriber’s premises and the Optical Line Terminal (OLT) with XG-PON and upstream Ethernet ports in the central office.

For this particular cost calculation, two splitting levels were considered for GPON, XG-PON, and TWDM-PON architectures, with 1:8 in the street cabinet and 1:4 in the basement, yielding a total splitting factor of 1:32 per PON port. All network elements of the access network, from the Ethernet upstream port (in the OLT) to the ONT, have been included in the cost calculation to derive the cost of a home connected.

To compare the cost of deploying the AWG-based WDM-PON technology with the three PON architectures, a support figure of up to 32 users was used for the former.

The cos t pe r home connec ted fo r each architecture is illustrated in Figure 1. The values were derived for an average urban area in certain European countries where the market share for all the operators adds up to 50%. Three scenarios

were taken into account (one, two, and three operators using the network). The number of operators that can physically share the network depends on the local needs and on the possibility of obtaining a sufficient market share to enable a reasonable return of investment. Usually, it will be two to four operators sharing a physical network, though theoretically it could be more. For the cost calculation, CAPEX and OPEX values were considered.

When comparing the average values for the three scenarios, the costs for XG-PON and TWDM-PON proved 3.5 and 3.9% higher than that for GPON, respectively. Even though the costs of the active network elements for XG-PON (OLT and ONT) are higher than those for GPON, the cost of the passive network infrastructure (in-house cabling, splitters in the street cabinet & basement, and feeder & distribution segments) is the same. The impact of active network element costs for GPON and XG-PON proved relatively low as more than 88% of the overall cost derives from the passive elements.

The cost of XG-PON deployment for the three scenarios is 0.3% lower than that for TWDM-PON, and even though the active element costs for the latter are higher than those for the former, each fiber in the feeder and distribution segments can be assigned to several operators with XG-PON, leading to reduced passive infrastructure costs. When comparing the scenarios where two or three operators share the network, the cost for TWDM-PON is 5.6% lower than that for XG-PON.

The mean cost of AWG-based WDM-PON is 18% higher than that for the other technologies. In AWG-based WDM-PON architecture, there are no splitters, and there is a single fiber in the feeder segment; nevertheless, in the distribution segment there is one fiber assigned to every end user. Moreover, the active element costs for AWG-based WDM-PON are higher than those for others.

Compared with a lone operator scenario, the total cost reduction is 47% on average when two operators share the network, and 65% when three operators share it.

The evolution of PON architectures enables the complete reuse of passive infrastructure, enabling the planning of a safe long-term investment. From a technical and financial standpoint, network sharing of FTTH/PON architectures is a viable solution for any & all operators looking to reduce the risk of investment in fiber-based networks.

Editor: Jason [email protected]

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FTTW drives WLAN construction

FTTW drives WLAN constructionWLAN picks up steam

n July 24, 2012, Beijing resident John Sun was walking in the city’s financial district in the aftermath of the heaviest

rainstorm to hit China’s capital in 60 years. Like any other day, he searched for his My Beijing WLAN network on his handset, and to his delight it was still there, enabling him to access microblogs, WeChat (China’s equivalent of WhatsApp), and the web at large, proving WLAN a practical technology in this age of extreme weather.

With the rapid popularization of smart devices, WLAN is transforming the way users enjoy broadband services. It is an economical supplement for traffic offload, enabling operators to provide premium, differentiated data services. Currently,

China Mobile has more than 1.6 million access points (APs) and plans to build over six million more over the next three years, but fixed network carriers can also employ WLAN for traffic sharing with mobile carriers, thus enabling them to attract more customers, improve brand awareness & customer loyalty, and explore new broadband commercial models. BT, for example, has already deployed over four million WLAN hotspots throughout the U.K., making WLAN one of its key growth areas, and the fever is spreading to carriers worldwide.

PON for WLANPON is the mainstream technology for

optical access networking. Most carriers have already deployed it for FTTH, FTTB, and FTTC scenarios, laying the foundation

WLAN, though not a new technology, is emerging as a viable solution for traffic offload, and fiber to the wireless (FTTW) makes it all the more viable through its combination of robust bandwidth and deployment versatility; Huawei offers the solutions in this area that should keep traffic flowing smoothly and economically over the last mile.

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for WLAN carriage. China Mobile’s Shanxi provincial branch has confirmed that WLAN over PON represents a 10% cost savings over what switches would command. By leveraging its legacy FTTx, the operator has been able to deploy WLAN very rapidly, at a speed of 20,000 APs per month.

In terms of WLAN traff ic , PON devices outperform POE switches in many aspects. Operators often need aggregation switches for WLAN traffic, which are then placed between the end-access and central office switches. However, power supply is a pressing conundrum. Coordination with the power company is both troublesome and expensive, as are the extra electricity meters needed when power must be supplied to each convergence switch.

PON, on the other hand, replaces aggregation switches with passive splitters, while its deployment is relatively flexible, making for less O&M outlay and easier management. As for WLAN traffic, PON ONU devices are diverse, with capacities of 8, 16, and 24 ports available, while power supply can be AC or DC, indoors or out. PON technology also enables better utilization of legacy resources, especially the OLT/ODN networks.

China Mobile’s enthusiasm for WLAN over PON is well documented, and is helping motivate China Telecom to follow suit.

FTTW boosts WLAN

Huawei works with operators to develop fiber-to-the-wireless (FTTW) solutions that accelerate WLAN construction. Compared with traditional FTTH/FTTB fixed-access solutions, FTTW offers diverse specs and the relative strengths of mobile networking, along with POE support.

As WLAN utilizes large-capacity APs that require complex installation, Huawei provides indoor MA5626 passive cooling multi-dwelling unit (MDU) devices in multiple capacities so that POE switches need not be connected to PON ONUs. These devices also support POE/POE+ output and AC & DC power supply, with the latter possibly obtained from mobile sites themselves (without extra supply or batteries). When AP porting is sparse and onsite power supply cannot be guaranteed, POE supply is available, at a maximum power consumption of 30W, which accommodates virtually any AP power supply requirement. As for in-wall devices, Huawei provides the indoor MA5621 MDU, which guarantees stable data backhaul at temperatures as high as 85°C.

China Telecom Beijing (Beijing Telecom) deploys

most of its WLAN APs outdoors, making for a strenuous ONU environment, but Huawei provides its outdoor MA5669 MDU, which supports 2GE output and can work in temperatures ranging from -40°C to 55°C, while also featuring an IP55 protection rating and 6KV surge protection. This unit can be mounted inconspicuously on walls, cables, and poles, without affecting the surrounding view; it also supports flexible GPON/GE upstream networking, where only a single engineer is needed for installation and operation. The MA5669 MDU has been highly recognized by Beijing Telecom since its launch, and more than 1000 units are presently in place.

O&M is always a major concern for carriers, but Huawei’s U2000 network solution can help by managing both GPON and POE. POE can be enabled and disabled in a safe and prioritized manner. When device power consumption exceeds the total POE output, the POE power supply is disabled for low priority devices to ensure power output for the key ones. U2000 can also query POE output and display the network system’s running status and remaining expansion capacity. Its ONU devices are also plug-and-play; when powered, they automatically download configurations and even software from the network management system, streamlining their own installation and O&M.

As mentioned previously, FTTW better utilizes legacy network resources, particularly OLT/ODN networks, and can be deployed together with FTTH and FTTB (reducing OPEX). Thanks to Huawei’s FTTW solution, China Mobile Shandong (Shandong Mobile) has successfully constructed WLAN mobile backhaul networks in 17 cities, having deployed up to 50,000 WLAN APs (with 54Mbps peak access) in areas such as colleges, traffic hubs, and other population centers. In June 2012, Shandong Mobile boasted over five million WLAN users and 640,000 APs, covering over 70,000 hot spots in Shandong province, making for the top-ranked WLAN user base and service duration nationwide.

According to the Dell’Oro Group, the WLAN market will continue to grow, with networks bringing in over USD8 billion in 2015. More than half of global Internet traffic is expected to come from WLAN, and FTTx+WLAN is forecast to become the primary ultra-broadband access approach for the future. Currently, Huawei’s FTTW solution is in use throughout China, and should have an impact internationally in the near future. As a maturing technology, FTTW will play an ever important role in WLAN construction, making for a bright future for anyone involved.

Editor: Xu Shenglan [email protected]

Copper Reborn

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Thanks to new technologies such as Vectoring

and G.fast, copper is being revitalized as an integral

part of ultra-broadband networking.

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Gigabit access over copperbsolescence looms large over DSL copper access, thanks to bandwidth-heavy applications such as HDTV, whi le compet ing media , such as

coaxial cable, are evolving to deliver higher speeds. Huawei meets this challenge with Giga DSL (a new-generation single twisted pair DSL access technology), for which the prototype arrived in December 2011. Delivering 1Gbps uplink & downlink speeds within 100 meters, this technology has the viability to keep copper resources fully utilized over the next decade.

Service and competition challenges

People are shifting their focus from mere web browsing to online video, with HD/3D video either in place or on the way; all are posing much greater demands on fixed bandwidth, for which 20 to 50Mbps has become basic. Access of 100Mbps or higher will soon become the mainstream, and yet ADSL2+ and VDSL2 can deliver peak throughputs of only 25 and 100Mbps, respectively (generally 50Mbps from VDSL2 when inter-line crosstalk is

accounted for). Multi-service operators (MSOs) are using

DOCSIS 3.0 technology to provide up to 200Mbps coaxial access to residential homes, far beyond the capabilities of legacy DSL. Although FTTH can provide over 100Mbps access, its large-scale deployment has been hindered by distribution costs and onsite obstacles.

Gigabit access over copper

Legacy copper utilization through new DSL technologies is now a very efficient route to high-speed broadband. Huawei released its industry-first Gigabit DSL prototype in December 2011. Tests with several major operators show that when using 0.5mm copper, this prototype delivers uplink/downlink speeds of 550Mbps within 200 meters and up to 1Gbps within 100 meters. Huawei Giga DSL delivers the following key features:

Expanded frequency range

Wider frequency ranges can deliver enhanced bandwidth over a given length of copper. VDSL2 uses a 30MHz frequency range, del iver ing

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Giga DSL: Gigabit access over copper22

FTTB/C sites: Where it all comes together

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COMBO: Broadband ability, narrowband reliability

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By Huang Lei

Giga DSL

Copper Reborn

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100Mbps downlink speed, while Giga DSL expands the frequency range to 100MHz, and can be further extended to 200MHz, enabling far superior downlink.

TDD/OFDM duplexing & modulation

VDSL2 utilizes frequency division duplex (FDD) technology and orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) modulation, as well as different frequency bands for uplink and downlink, though there may be signal echo at the receivers, which becomes significant if the frequency band is wide, leading to poor system performance.

Compared with VDSL2, Giga DSL uses a higher frequency band, as well as time division duplexing (TDD) and OFDM, both of which allocate different timeslots for uplink and downlink data transmission, with reduced echo interference, simplified circuit design, and reduced complexity in digital-analog conversion. TDD and OFDM are also easier to implement as the transmitters and receivers use the same t ime/frequency conversion module; they can also help adjust the ratio of uplink and downlink timeslots and rates, facilitating smooth bandwidth allocation and management.

Fewer subcarriers, less complexity

With h i ghe r f r equency band s , OFDM subcarriers require increased intervals, reducing the number of subcarriers and ensuring a simple physical layer. VDSL2 adopts 4,096 subcarriers, with 4.3125KHz spacing for each, while Giga DSL reduces this number to 2,048, making for an

interval approximately twelve times larger than that for the former. As an added bonus, Giga DSL is compatible with legacy DSL technology, including ADSL2+/VDSL2, so operation can continue during the upgrade process.

Discontinuous modality

Giga DSL has relatively lower power consumption in terms of signal transmission and line drivers, but higher consumption in digital signal processors and digital-analog converters, thanks to the higher frequency bands employed. When the transmission rate is low, Giga DSL uses discontinuous modes and disables some t imes lots , requir ing no modulation on either the transmission or reception side, while digital signal processors, digital-analog converters, and line drivers can be disabled or kept in sleep mode to conserve power. Compared with ADSL2+/VDSL2, which require 100mW signal transmission power, Giga DSL requires a hundred times less.

Giga DSL benefits

Huawei Giga DSL delivers 1Gbps of data access over a single twisted pair, enabling operators to meet user demand, enhance profits, and better compete with the coax-enabled services offered by MSOs. Giga DSL also features reduced inter ference, low power consumption, and backwards compatibility with legacy technologies, ensuring smooth evolution and an extended product lifecycle.

However, Giga DSL deployment requires certain conditions. First, of course, is that twisted pairs must already be in place for home access. Second, the transmission distance should be less than 250 meters. And finally, when Giga DSL is used in a fiber to the distribution point (FTTDp) scenario, it should serve less than 50 subscribers, as costs need be kept in check that relate to the various small-capacity equipment involved, while keeping the setup ecofriendly and easy to maintain.

In the future, other technologies may coexist with Giga DSL, and their inter-line crosstalk, counteraction, and other relevant issues demand our continuous attention on the research front. Giga DSL also has higher requirements in terms of power supply and maintenance, and the relevant solutions are being developed.

Giga DSL: Gigabit access over copper

Figure 1 Giga DSL prototype & performance

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Broadband ability, narrowband reliability

Huawei COMBO solution is the optimal solution for fixed network reconstruction at reduced cost. With COMBO, seamless coverage of broadband services can be achieved on fixed networks. Residences can make phone calls via narrowband, while enjoying broadband data services concurrently, on a scale never before achieved.

Network reconstruction takes a bite

s subscribers constantly hunger for higher-bandwidth services such as IPTV, fixed operators are pressured to reconstruct and

accelerate their networks for broadband by any means necessary. This often means either fiber replacement or implementation o f VDSL2 or some o the r copper accelerator, but that’s not the end of it. In light of increasing broadband speeds, considerable antiquated narrowband equipment on the legacy network is expected to be phased out, which means concurrent reconstruction of the narrowband & broadband infrastructure.

G e n e r a l l y, n a r r o w b a n d a n d broadband services each have their own network management system (NMS), with the networks themselves constructed separately. This leads to very high costs for both construction and maintenance, and what’s worse, the following issues have to be overcome.

Limited space – Legacy publ ic switched telephone network (PSTN) equipment is far too sparsely ported to sustain broadband services, while its bulk leaves little room for further construction.

Complex jumper settings – When broadband services are deployed over PSTN, jumpers have to be set repeatedly (an arduous process) for connection

of narrowband devices with Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer (DSLAM) devices.

Frequent site visits – If broadband services are deployed in unattended equipment rooms or street cabinets, revisits are needed for board installation and jumper setting, and these can be quite expensive. In Europe, an engineer might be paid roughly 140 euros for a single site visit, not counting any changes in jumper settings. Multiply this by several thousand and you have a downright scary proposition.

COMBO solution

Huawei COMBO solution features a new service board that can process both broadband and narrowband services, while optimizing other elements of fixed network reconstruction and operational efficiency.

Thanks to its 48 VDSL2/ADSL2+ ports, 48 POTS ports, and 48 splitters, all densely integrated into one 237.00mm x 395.40mm service board, carriers will be largely spared the burden of network reconstruction and cable routing, while 48 different users can enjoy narrowband and broadband services concurrently. The splitter is placed on the COMBO board , mak ing complex ex t e rna l jumper se t t ing in the equipment room unnecessary, while facilitating rapid deployment of broadband and

A

By Zhang Quanfeng

narrowband services . In addit ion, equipment room space, distribution cabling, and main distribution frame (MDF) usage can be reduced by 50%, 75%, and 66%, respectively, with cabling efficiency improved by half.

As would be needed with such a dense solution, COMBO exhibits exceptional heat dissipation. Huawei employs low-power chips (10% less per port) to optimize component layout, while adopting an advanced design that tackles the relevant heat conduction issues. With its intelligent power management system, COMBO disables broadband ports automatically if the mains fail, so critical voice services last longer when needed most.

Huawei COMBO solution boasts not just cutting-edge technology, but also business enhancement. A carrier in Europe adopted COMBO for its legacy network, providing broadband and narrowband service access for all ports. This allowed them to offer a package called “free broadband for life” to its narrowband customers. Its customer base shot up by 500,000 within three months.

Huawe i COMBO so lu t ion can make a serious dent in your CAPEX and OPEX, while greatly boosting your operational efficiency. Site revisits are all but eliminated, with greatly enhanced board capacity to boot. As a money saver, COMBO is second to none for fixed network reconstruction.

COMBO

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ixed fiber deployment represents a serious cost savings for incumbents with widespread legacy

copper. Besides reducing the logistical headaches involved in routing fiber through the bowels of older buildings, FTTB/C also reduces the number of door visits, while shortening service provisioning times, and thus the wait for payback. Impact on both personnel and the legacy network management system is also reduced, making for reduced investments in development, integration, and training.

In 2011, 41 of the world’s top 100 carriers adopted mixed FTTB/FTTC/

FTTH construction, while the overall scale of FTTB/C construction saw a 37.1% increase over 2010 levels, making FTTB/C site construction an increasing part of the average operator’s workload.

New concerns in site construction

The key feature for Huawei NCC is that access devices are moved from the central office (CO) to an outdoor site, closer to the end user (within 800 meters), enabling high bandwidth (20 to

100Mbps) over the twisted pairs in place. The FTTB/C site acquisition process

is expensive and arduous but worthwhile as each site makes for a convergence point for fiber, copper, and electrical lines, enabling transmission rates of 10G/40G and access modes such as VDSL2, LAN, xPON, and Wi-Fi at the users’ end.

FTTB/C sites will evolve to become small integrated regional equipment rooms in the future – functioning as the capacity centers for bandwidth expans ion, power supply, mobi le backhaul, and network management, and ultimately the core control point for both mobile & fixed operation.

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The rise of VDSL2, Vectoring (which delivers 100Mbps bandwidth at up to 300 meters) and Giga DSL will hold off the obsolescence of copper for the foreseeable future, in the form of FTTB/C. This represents a new approach to high-bandwidth networking, and Huawei is helping operators best leverage it through its New Copper Cable (NCC) solution.

By Lv Yongpu


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Acceleration center

Bandwidth expansion is the key function of any FTTB/C site, and since these sites are moving downward (with access devices getting closer to the end user), bandwidth is expanding thanks to reduced signal attenuation over the twisted pairs. But of course, FTTB/C only postpones the inevitable if it is not future-proof.

This is where Huawei comes in with New Copper Cable , which enables smooth s i te evolution, providing greater bandwidth through mere capacity expansion and software upgrade, delivering long-term benefit with minimal effort. By leveraging ADSL2+ technology, NCC provides access bandwidth of 20Mbps or lower, with upgrade to 50Mbps or above possible through board replacement and VDSL2 uti l ization; even 100Mbps can be reached via Bonding and Vectoring, both of which require a mere software upgrade. What’s more, Super MIMO and Giga DSL technologies expand the bandwidth to the 200Mbps to 1Gbps range.

On the transport layer, operators can carry out the evolutions from GE to 10GE and PON to 10G PON or 40G PON through simple replacement of the interface board or optical module.

Power center

Power supply is a key concern in FTTB/FTTC site construction. Normally, FTTC sites are pole-adjacent for aerial line access or near a manhole for powering by the underground mains. Legacy twisted pairs can both take power in and transmit it to remote devices. However, things are not all wine and roses here.

Municipal and real estate regulations can restrict power supply access or make it prohibitively expensive to carry out video surveillance or power Wi-Fi devices near an FTTB/C site. Under these circumstances, the site itself must play a central role in the supply of power. Fortunately, this scenario brings two benefits. The first is integrated device management and metering, while the second is the lack of a need for standby power supply for the aforementioned lower-layer devices; both significantly cut down on construction & maintenance costs.

Huawei’s FTTB/C site solution, as a key element of Huawei NCC, accommodates remote power supply technologies such as power over Ethernet (POE), low-voltage DC supply, and high-voltage DC supply, enabling operators to choose how

they will power their lower-layer devices with ease. Currently, this solution is being used for a variety of FTTB/C scenarios involving video surveillance and Wi-Fi coverage in China.

Backhaul center

With the rapid development of MBB, fixed carrier networks will probably become part of the mobile backhaul infrastructure in the near future. As ubiquitous endpoints for the former, FTTB/C sites will become the optimal access points for mobile backhaul.

Firstly, though a regional coverage center, an FTTB/C site will highly overlap in coverage and partially overlap in location with small cells, so existing site resources can be reused. Secondly, as the access convergence point, an FTTB/C site can provide reliable PON, P2P, and xDSL interfaces for small cells, by leveraging existing fiber resources.

Huawei FTTB/C sites provide multiple access modes, support various clock interfaces and type B/C protections, and are suitable for enterprise, WLAN, and base station services, helping to implement fast, low-cost, and highly reliable backhaul.

Management center

Traditional MSAN sites are usually managed less intelligently as they are large in capacity, small in number, and centralized in location, with dedicated personnel involved in their daily maintenance. However, with FTTB/C sites, everything is the opposite; they require more intelligent management so that they themselves can manage in three different areas.

The first is management of all devices within the coverage area through e-labeling so that elements are monitored, consumptive ones especially, so damage or loss can be dealt with immediately. The second is assurance that all devices within coverage run stably and economically, through intelligent management methods for batteries, consumption, and autonomous power supply adaptation. Lastly, these sites must manage all lines within coverage, with the assistance of the line management system, so that fault location/troubleshooting are smooth & efficient. With these functions in place, FTTB/C sites are brought into the era of intelligent management, making for sharp reductions in operator OPEX.

Editor: Joyce Fan [email protected]

Mobile Ubiquity

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As multi-layer, multi-mode convergence becomes

the norm in mobile communications, LTE TDD,

with its many advantages, has gone mainstream,

putting it on the fast track for growth.

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By Shao Zhijie

The trend toward convergence

ccording to the Broadband Commission for Digital Development, the growth rate for global mobile data traffic is projected to reach 60% annually from 2011-2017,

resulting in a 15-fold increase in traffic by the end of that time as global telcos constantly up their broadband pipe investment to accommodate.

As the most advanced commercial technology in mobile communications, LTE is in a better position to meet this surge in MBB demand thanks to its far superior bandwidth advantage over UMTS. However, there is still a long way to go before LTE fully replaces its predecessors, given the fact that 2G and 3G networks now serve 90% and 45% of the global population, respectively. Existing GSM/UMTS base stations, which number in the millions, are a huge asset that operators hold dear and will be slow to let go. This makes the coexistence of these technologies a prime concern, and convergence an inevitability.

For operators looking to deploy LTE, spectrum is the key issue. Even global operators are struggling to acquire the mere 40MHz of paired, continuous

spectrum within the crowded 2GHz band needed for viable FDD service, while in the meantime, 700MHz of spectrum has already been allocated for LTE TDD beyond 2GHz, including the 2.3, 2.6, and 3.5GHz bands. Moreover, LTE TDD employs asymmetric spectrum, which better simulates real-life traffic patterns and makes acquisition of continuous blocks quite a bit easier. All these factors combine to indicate a mainstream technology with a bright future.

The simpler, the better However, spectrum suitability alone is not a

panacea. Operators have a business to run, and that means containment of CAPEX and OPEX, making simplicity a must for any LTE network, even a future-proof one that accommodates diverse technologies and services.

At p re s en t , the g rea t e s t cha l l enge i s the incorporation of legacy radio access equipment – no easy task in terms of both architectural design and network planning. When it comes to actual deployment, the complexities are even more daunting, as they cover maximal retention of sites/equipment,

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LTE TDD: Unpaired & unleashed

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LTE TDD broadens your VPN39

eRelay simplifies wireless backhaul33

LTE spectrum utilization: It’s a jungle out there

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eMBMS keeps mobile video rolling31

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interference minimization, traffic balance among technologies, reduction of handover/delay, vendor compatibility, and user experience integrity/consistency.

Another cha l l enge i s the f ac t tha t use r experience cannot be compromised during the network transition. Post-launch, frequent network handover is inevitable, due to the sporadic nature of the initial LTE coverage. Handover success between networks must exceed 99% and service interruption must be shorter than one second before a “one network” user experience can be realized across different technologies. For this to occur, a flat network architecture is needed where GSM/UMTS/LTE converge.

Huawei solutionsAs a leader in the LTE TDD field, bolstered by

its unified SingleRAN platform (a mature wireless interworking solution for different network standards), Huawei can enable the best convergent user experience in existence, helping operators succeed on both the commercial and technical fronts.

Less CAPEX – With the SingleRAN hardware platform, operators can upgrade existing GSM/UMTS sites to support LTE features; no additional

site acquisition is needed. Shared site support resources include the equipment room, power distribution system, transmission equipment, antenna system, and tower itself, helping to minimize the cost of network deployment.

Less OPEX – In terms of high-cost and/or high-input network optimization services, operators can integrate O&M through the Huawei M2000, while implementing self-organizing optimization through Huawei SingleSON, without any extra input from personnel. In this way, convergence of sites, O&M, optimization is realized. To ensure legacy vendor compatibility, Huawei bridges the gap with our e-coordinator equipment, eliminating the steep OPEX that goes into software upgrade for the relevant equipment.

Cross-mode interworking – Network interworking involves network entry, camping, reselection, and handover, with the latter encompassing redirection, voice handover, and data handover. With the various interworking triggering policies already supported by the wireless air interfaces, unified business experiences can be ensured.

In terms of network entry, camping, and reselection, policies that vary by prioritization of frequency, cell, and cell coverage are adopted, while for terminal access, the wireless network and preset public land mobile network (PLMN) prioritization from the subscriber identity module (SIM) are

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followed. Taken together, operators can set flexible policies for LTE networks, with minimum impact on services.

For handover, redirection technology ensures that upper-layer services can be rerouted to another network when terminals do not support inter-network handover, ensuring minimal service disruption; this is especially helpful post-launch.

In terms of service handover, adoption of circuit switched fallback (CSFB) and 3GPP’s Single Radio Voice Call Continuity (SRVCC) technologies for voice and PS transition for data, along with enhanced solutions such as Flash CSFB and CSFB, based on location area identity (LAI), help further refine the service experience, enabling smooth service handover that escapes the user’s notice.

Thanks to diverse handover triggering algorithms, mobility management can be realized as needed to support wireless coverage, load balancing, frequency prioritization, uplink quality, service prioritization, distances, S1 failures, and eNodeB overload, which combined together, form the key elements in any operator’s interworking strategy.

A complete ecosystem

The 3GPP had def ined interoperabi l i ty standards between LTE and GSM/UMTS as early

as the first standardization of LTE (Release 8). Over three years of refinements spanning Releases 9, 10, and 11, these standards have become quite complete, forming a solid basis for the ecosystem now in place.

In terms of terminals, mainstream chip vendors such as Qualcomm, HiSilicon, and Altair all have offerings compliant with 3GPP R8 and R9, while mainstream terminal vendors have released nearly 100 LTE TDD multi-mode terminals, encompassing dongles, Mi-Fi devices, CPE, and smartphones, the latter of which now make possible convergent commercial applications such as CSFB and PS handover.

Mainstream vendors of wireless gear, core network equipment, and terminal chips have finished interoperability tests (IOTs) for 3GPP R9 and R10 standards. Huawei is among them, having completed IOT testing in partnership with industry-leading chipset and terminal vendors, as well as vendors of evolved packet core (EPC) equipment.

Huawei, having no fear of the surge in network data, is ready to cooperate with the industry at large to create what its CEO calls, “pipes as wide as the Pacific Ocean,” with LTE TDD serving as the bedrock.

Editor: Pearl Zhu [email protected]

As a leader in the LTE TDD field, bolstered by its unified SingleRAN platform, Huawei can enable the best convergent user experience in existence, helping operators succeed on both the commercial and technical fronts.

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eMBMS keeps mobile video rolling

By Yu Wenyong

LTE technologies have brought more opportunities for mobile video service, with broadcast being among them. With its low cost and ease of update, this service has become a hot topic in a telco industry where video now dominates traffic.

eMBMS keeps mobile video rolling

he te lecom industry has changed a lot over the past five years. OTT players are emerg ing and opera tor s

are losing ground, even after heavy investments in their own infrastructure. As they struggle to go beyond being mere pipe providers, operators need new business models and services that offer enhanced value to their customers.

Some expect LTE networks to enhance revenue through a better user experience, but base stations and bandwidth alone will not bring about either. Premium services are the key to long-term mobile broadband success.

eMBMS for service innovation

Thanks to its high bandwidth and low latency, LTE is promoting the growth of video services, making for a

T market with great potential. Broadcast video has been a focus thanks to its advantages in cost efficiency and user access. Multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS) over UMTS networks hit the industry about five years ago, but the outcome has not been satisfactory, as most content has been generated from traditional TV programs, which have proven less than ideal for the fragmented mobile viewing experience.

In 2010, 3GPP Release 9 marked the beginning of evolved MBMS (eMBMS) technology for LTE networks, which, with its point-to-multipoint capability, can better utilize existing spectrum/networks, providing effective delivery of broadcast and multicast services.

In 2011, Huawei launched its eMBMS LTE video solution, which provides high-quality broadcast video and push services. With this solution, operators can ensure the mobile video experience, while enhancing LTE spectrum efficiency, as one band can serve multiple viewers.

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Secured user experience

User experience integrity is the cornerstone for service success; a lack of it led to the failure of MBMS. Huawei LTE video uses multicast-broadcast single frequency network (MBSFN) technology to reduce interference at the cell edge, greatly reducing the amount of optimization that needs to be done; this both reduces O&M costs and ensures a superb user experience anywhere within a cell’s coverage, thanks to improved signal strength and bit rates.

Huawei LTE video aides the push and storage of video in user terminals; this comes in handy for time-sensitive content such as sporting events, as broadcasts can be pushed and stored for viewing at a time convenient to the user. It can also work for news broadcasts and morning shows, which can be transmitted during network off-hours (before dawn) and viewed after the user awakens, when networks are likely to be busy. Huawei LTE video also supports seamless handover to Wi-Fi, which is what a lot of mobile users are likely to be using at first.

Set-top boxes (STBs) and other customer-premises equipment (CPE) can be used for seamless switching between the home and mobile screen. Users can keep watching a program they started at home on the way to work, and vice versa.

Enhanced bandwidth utilization

The Huawei LTE video solution helps operators fully utilize their spectrum resources based on service needs, daily traffic distribution, and interoperation with unicast services. Bandwidth used by multicast and unicast services is adjusted flexibly; as unicast

services decrease, operators can promote multicast services over idle resources. Operators can also adjust the proportion of video and push services, enabling flexible time-based service offerings.

As shown in Figure 1, unicast demand wanes between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., leading to idle resources in any LTE network. With Huawei LTE video, operators can step up the push traffic during this time period, and reduce the bandwidth usage by multicast services the rest of the time, ensuring a better unicast experience. Bandwidth can also be evaluated for push and video services, with the number of channels adjusted accordingly.

Huawei LTE video helps synergize unicast and broadcast services by using the latter to increase unicast traffic, producing more revenue for operators. Operators can push news highlights, music videos, movie trailers, and the like, to users, who click for more information by using unicast services. During a football match, users can click a comment button, opening a transparent onscreen window where ideas and feedback can be shared. Users can also view the football player’s vital statistics and professional record by clicking a different button. If they are interested in what is being sold to them, they can click the advertisements.

Huawei’s LTE video solution helps operators transform their businesses. Thanks to the high bandwidth of LTE, carriers can provide a variety of ad services. Highlights from the runway can be shared with fashionistas, including the relevant textiles, prices, and outlets, enabling operators and advertisers to tighten their partnerships, with the former focusing on user experience and the latter innovating services. Both can help operators go beyond the usual pipe business, making them hip and relevant again through an enhanced user experience.


Figure 1 Daily mobile traffic distribution

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eRelay simplifies wireless backhaul

eRelay simplifies wireless backhaulAs small cells gain industry momentum, their backhaul has become an ever more pressing issue, until now; Huawei answers the call with its eRelay solution, which delivers robust performance and ease of deployment, all at a cost that will help operators breathe easier.

By Li Wenqi

n July 20, 2012, the Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour took place at Madrid’s L a s Ve n t a s s t a d i u m ,

Spain’s largest bullfighting arena. To meet the communication needs of the more than 32,000 spectators, a local operator deployed small cells to cover the arena. This, in and of itself, was not challenging. The rub was that the backhaul wiring had to remain inconspicuous at this historic site; eRelay, Huawei’s wireless backhaul solution, was the answer.

Small cell promise

Small cells are already in widespread

Ouse for data offload and improved indoor coverage. When clustered, they create a new capacity layer on top of the macro cel l s , forming a heterogeneous network. The benefits are straightforward, as they enable enhanced capacity over existing spectrum. ABI Research predicts that the global small cell market will hit USD14.4 billion in 2017, but their backhaul is a growing concern.

There are currently three major small cell backhaul options on the market – fiber, xDSL, and microwave. Fiber delivers large capacity with little delay, but there are tradeoffs in terms of proximity and cost; xDSL can meet the needs of basic backhaul, but it proves inadequate in high-capacity scenarios,

while microwave supports line-of-sight (LOS) transmission only. For non-line-of-sight (NLOS) scenarios, additional nodes are needed to convert NLOS propagation paths into multiple LOS paths, which inevitably increases the total cost of ownership (TCO).

eRelay has your back

According to ABI Research, OFDM NLOS will become the most popular backhaul technology for small cells in 2017, thanks to its NLOS properties and Point-to-Multipoint (PtMP) hub-and-spoke architecture. Based on this technology, Huawei has introduced a wireless backhaul solution, eRelay.

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Through its mix of economy, timeliness, and performance, this solution tackles the small cell last-mile backhaul challenges seen with hotspots, indoor scenarios, and suburban areas.

Huawei eRelay consists of base stations and remote radio nodes (RRNs), connected through the air interface and centrally managed via the M2000 management system. And what’s more, its base stations can be upgraded to support LTE TDD through a simple update, protecting the initial investment.

Easy deployment – Base stations can be co-located with macro base stations. Thanks to its advanced distributed structure, an eRelay base station is divided into baseband units (BBUs) and remote radio units (RRUs). BBUs can be placed in indoor cabinets or in Huawei outdoor integrated power cabinets (APM30H) with power supply in place, while RRUs can be mounted on poles, towers, or walls, and installed near antennas to reduce feeder loss and increase backhaul distance. Similarly, RRNs can be mounted on poles or walls near small cells, and powered via Ethernet (PoE).

PtMP – Featuring PtMP technology, eRelay base stations use directional sector antennas for increased coverage and can each support multiple small cells via corresponding RRNs. The air interface can be shared and scheduled dynamically between multiple RRNs, based on service priority and data throughput, making for most efficient usage. RRNs for one base station can forward data directly amongst one another, enabling small cells to exchange service data at the local level.

NLOS propagation – Huawei eRelay supports NLOS propagat ion, meaning that angular adjustment requirements for base stations and RRN antennas will be less strict, making for simplified installation/commissioning, lower O&M costs, and more flexible deployment in complex environments.

Higher transmission bandwidth – MIMO and 64-QAM improve air interface throughput, increasing the transmission bandwidth for a single sector to 80Mbps for downlink and 50Mbps for uplink.

Simple O&M management – The M2000 system can be utilized for centralized maintenance and upgrade of eRelay base stations and RRN software, reducing O&M costs. Besides sending alarms, M2000 can also analyze and display channel quality, as well as throughput, for base stations and RRNs. RRNs also have LED indicators that aid fault diagnostics.

Technical highlights

L2 transmission – As eRelay supports L2 transmission, there is no need to reserve IP addresses for base stations or RRNs, nor do additional IP routes need to be configured. Small cells are connected to RRNs via FE cable, without the need for further configuration, which reduces the IP routing for the overall network and simplifies network configuration.

VLAN – Huawei eRelay controls broadcast packets within each VLAN to reduce unnecessary overhead and improve overall transmission performance, while also enhancing data security through transmission isolation between different ones. The M2000 enables packet capture of source IP addresses, destination IP addresses, or VLANs, specified at the Ethernet port of the eRelay base station. The captured packets are buffered at the base station level and can be downloaded to local workstations for further analysis. Base stations can also facilitate routine maintenance via loopback check for transmission ports.

Clock synchronization – Synchronization is key to any wireless system. High-precision clock systems are critical to ensuring service integrity during handover, while 3G technologies such as TD-SCDMA and CDMA2000 also have strict requirements for phase synchronization; both methods are supported by eRelay, which uses GPS or IEEE 1588v2 as clock sources for its own synchronization, while supporting transparent transmission of IP clock packets so that UMTS and LTE frequencies are synchronized.

End-to-end QoS – Huawei eRelay implements the Differentiated Services (DiffServ) model for end-to-end QoS. Internal queuing methods include priority queue and weighted fair queue. Uplink and downlink data are mirrored on the queues, based on differentiated services code point (DSCP) and VLAN priorities. The system then schedules air interface traffic according to the mirroring relationship between internal queue and QoS class identifier.

The Huawei eRelay solution ensures QoS through optimal capacity planning, as it is costly and wasteful to prepare backhaul capacity according to the peak throughput for each small cell; eRelay can strike the balance between cost and capacity by setting the baseline capacity to equal or double the average busy-hour throughput, ensuring service quality and reducing deployment costs in the process.

Editor: Yao Haifei [email protected]

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LTE spectrum utilization

It’s a jungle out thereSpectrum resources are finite. Despite the great advances in technology that the telecom market has seen over the past 30 years, history teaches us the simple truth that the operators with the most spectrum win and this will continue well into the Giga era, in developed markets as well as developing; this means the utilization of every nanometer of spectrum for LTE, regardless of whether or not it is golden, advanced, or paired.

By Gary Yiu & Alessandro Casagni

Developed market concerns

h e d a t a s u r g e i s a w e l l documented phenomenon, b u t w h a t i s n o t s o we l l documented is the fact that it

has consistently exceeded expectations. The ITU-R reported that the data traffic volume for 2010 was over five times its estimates from 2006, while the traffic seen by some operators in 2011 was even greater than some of the those same forecasts for 2020. In other words, there’s a good chance that even the scariest of recent predictions concerning data traffic levels by 2015 or 2020 are conservative. In some of the advanced markets , 3G data traf f ic has been doubling annually, and even monthly or quarterly in some highly-congested areas.

The European Union has responded with i t s recent ly approved Radio Spectrum Policy Programme, which def ines an object ive of a l locat ing 1200MHz to mobile broadband by 2015, including spectrum already in use. This will certainly aid the progress of LTE, but the modest slices of FDD spectrum being made avai lable to operators will no doubt motivate them to scrounge around for TDD spectrum elsewhere.

TDeveloping market concerns

LTE spectrum is also a matter of concern in the developing world, though for somewhat different reasons. Smartphone penetration may still be low in these countries, but many of them have 2G networks already under strain from basic services, and this could mean a lowering of barriers to 3G operator participation. The incumbents would probably view this as a lowering of ARPU, and would therefore take a serious look at LTE as a way to stay on good terms with both their VIP customers and low-ARPU users, as LTE could be used to clear out the data hogs who are hindering the service quality for the latter.

A converged LTE ecosystem

Despite the early successes of the former, both FDD and TDD share the same ecosystem and are now of equal importance to operators. Most LTE networks currently in use are based on FDD, but thanks to the data surge, TDD’s asymmetric nature, and the scarcity of FDD spectrum, the ecosystem is converging.


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FDD and TDD technology

FDD and TDD share 90% of the s ame technology, and both are defined and a part of the 3GPP standard. FDD uses paired spectrum, where equally-sized channels are used for both upstream and downstream communication. Most mobile operators currently use it in frequency bands such as 700MHz/800MHz (band 20), 1800MHz (band 3), 2600MHz (band 7), and AWS (band 4).

With TDD, a single unpaired spectrum channel is used. Without dedicated channels, bidirectional communication is done by allocating different time slots within the channel. Thanks to its asymmetric nature, TDD is more flexible in terms of bit rate, making it more suitable for the real-life dynamics of wireless networking. Mainstream frequencies include 1900MHz (band 39), 2300MHz (band 40), 2600MHz (band 38 & 41), and 3500MHz (band 42 & 43).

Spectrum: The priciest real estate of all

Roughly 800MHz of overall bandwidth suitable for LTE TDD is available, making it very attractive for operators looking to stay on the cutting edge. While over 600 TDD spectrum licenses have been released globally, over 40 percent remain to be used. As even more TDD spectrum becomes available in the coming years, it will account for a greater portion of the overall body. In Europe, TDD spectrum (mostly from 50MHz of the 2.6GHz band) available in 2012 accounted for 14% of overall LTE bandwidth. This ratio will rise to 38% in 2015 and 45% in 2020, primarily

due to the full release of 100MHz in 2.3GHz and 400MHz in the 3.5GHz band.

However, TDD’s rise is not just a matter of spectrum availability, as FDD is proving more useful in theory than it is in practice. One primary hurdle has been frequency clearance. The U.S. was able to get 700MHz cleared earlier than most places, leaving 1800MHz refarming a hot topic of conversation around the world, but this could take a long time in some cases. Frequency blocks at 800MHz started becoming available in 2011 in Western Europe, but they haven’t come cheap, and the rest of the world is probably still a long way off in terms of frequency clearance.

TDD has enjoyed a cost advantage in recent years, but this looks to be on the wane as cash-strapped governments are looking to raise revenue by any means necessary. In 2010, Austria completed a spectrum auction where the price per MHz per population was EUR0.029 and EUR0.012 for 2.6GHz FDD and TDD, respectively (a 59% advantage for TDD). One year later, the figures rose to EUR0.057 for FDD and EUR0.046 for TDD in Belgium. Both economic conditions and growing acceptance of TDD as a viable technology are probably in play here.

Upcoming spectrum releases lie primarily beyond 2GHz, where TDD dominates, making it the likely choice for operators not content to wait for more FDD frequency to open up. This would indicate that the future of networking for the rest of this decade will involve the technological convergence of LTE FDD/UMTS/GSM with LTE TDD/UMTS/GSM into LTE FDD/LTE TDD/UMTS/GSM.

Kbps

Mbps

Gbps

LTE TDD/LTE FDDUMTS 2100MHzGSM/LTE 1800MHzGSM/UMTS 900MHz

UMTS 2100MHzGSM 1800MHzGSM/UMTS 900MHzGSM 1800MHz

GSM 900MHz

900MHz

1500MHz

GSM

UMTS

CDMA

TD-SCDMA

WiMAX

LTE FDD

LTE TDD

700MHz

800MHz

850MHz

1900MHz

2100MHz

2300MHz

2600MHz

3500MHz

……

1700MHz

1800MHz

Figure 1 Full spectrum migration to LTE

Source: Huawei Wireless MI

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Device availability

According to a GSA report released in November 2012, the number of LTE devices has tripled since the same time a year ago, reaching 560 models (including 151 smartphones) furnished by 83 manufacturers; 115 of them supported LTE TDD. Multi-band, multi-mode LTE-TDD Mi-Fi, USB, and CPE devices are commercially available from all major chipset and device manufacturers, and primarily support bands 38 to 43 (as well as the major FDD/UMTS/GSM bands), while twelve multi-mode LTE TDD smartphones are currently on the market. Others are joining in, such as those intended for the 3.5GHz LTE TDD network launched in the U.K. on June 28, 2012.

Global TDD spectrum development and rollout

As of November 2012, over 32 LTE TDD networks have been deployed globally, with eleven having launched commercial service. All BRIC regions are firmly committed to LTE TDD, with operators in Brazil, India, and Russia already having commenced commercial operations, and China Mobile in the trial network stage. These networks cover 1900MHz, 2300MHz, 2600MHz and 3.5GHz, which are the main drivers for global ecosystem development and terminal cost reduction.

The ample bandwidth for these TDD bands could give an ambit ious operator absolute advantage, with almost 100MHz (2.3GHz) available in Australia, 45MHz (2.6GHz) available in Belgium, and 124MHz (3.5GHz) available in the U.K. Such bounty is rare with paired spectrum.

LTE TDD is being pioneered all over the world. STC constructed a 2.3GHz LTE TDD network in Saudi Arabia (launched in September 2011) while modernizing its existing GSM/UMTS network at the same time. Optus is implementing a converged FDD/TDD strategy where 1800 and 2300MHz are combined to service the majority of Australia’s population centers. SoftBank has made headlines with its record-breaking LTE TDD/AXGP buildout as well.

China Mobile is currently undertaking a large-scale LTE TDD trial involving the 1900, 2300, and 2600MHz TDD bands. Some 1000 base stations were rolled out in six cities in the first phase (completed in September 2011), while 20,000 base stations are currently being tested in the second, scheduled to end in December 2012. In 2013, the operator plans to gradually upgrade an additional

200,000 TD-SCDMA base stations to LTE TDD. However, this is not the whole story. In June 2012, China Mobile’s Hangzhou branch announced and demonstrated successful roaming between its own LTE TDD network and an FDD network in Hong Kong.

This latter milestone in particularly important as frequency harmonization is crucial to both an operator’s roaming policies and MBB services, as well as national policy goals and the overall smartphone market. Regulatory certainty is key here, but work is needed regarding frequency arrangement, coexistence issues, and cross-border coordination.

How do we get spectrum?Mergers & acquisitions

The quest for spectrum has turned the telco world into something resembling a soap opera. Every day brings news of hook-ups, break-ups, thwarted desires, and a lot of whining and crying related to them. Though a certain high-profile wedding between two titans in the U.S. has failed spectacularly, the drama continues.

In October 2012, SoftBank, which has already deployed a massive LTE network in Japan that employs TDD spectrum, acquired a 70% share of Sprint worth USD20 billion that will see the operator greatly expand its businesses overseas. Such a blockbuster deal is no doubt stirring interest in TDD spectrum the world over, both in those who have it and those who want it. In May 2012, Bharti Airtel, the Indian giant that owns TDD licenses in four coverage zones, kicked off its joint venture with India Qualcomm in a deal worth USD165 million, enabling the operator to extend its LTE TDD coverage to another four zones, including huge potential markets such as Mumbai and Delhi.

A l l t h i s d r a m a i s n a t u r a l a s b u r s t s o f M&A activity typically occur during times of technological transition as operators look to regroup ecosystem resources. As TDD spectrum gains in prominence, former bit players are being thrust into the limelight thanks to their once-shunned higher-frequency holdings. Economic conditions are also in play here as a lot of low-margin operators in crowded markets are looking to sell (think France Telecom SA’s sale of Orange Switzerland to Apax for USD2.1 billion) while they plan their expansion into the last remaining bits of virgin territory when it comes to 3G and LTE.


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Table 1 Global LTE TDD spectrum status (key markets for illustration only) Editor: Jason [email protected]

Traditional auctions

It is vital that the LTE bandwidth available for operators be wide enough to enable the high-speed performance that the market expects. Regulators should ensure that operators get at least 20MHz in TDD or 2x10MHz in FDD contiguous bandwidth so that long-term business viability can be guaranteed. However, full availability of a new frequency band for LTE is not always observed in some countries. The EU is working on a more dynamic approach (see below) called Licensed Shared Access (LSA).

Spectrum release and harmonization

Harmonization is the key moving forward, as it is necessary to both uptake and standardization. Both operators and vendors will be falling all over themselves to offer LTE roaming for road warriors, but this won’t happen without more regulatory certainty, as work remains to be done in terms of frequency arrangement, coexistence issues and cross-border coordination (more in the next section). It also won’t happen until the bands in use become less regional in nature; this means 2.3GHz moving beyond the Asia-Pacific region to Europe and the U.S., and 3.5GHz moving from Europe in the other direction.

Licensed Shared Access (LSA)

When spectrum clearing is not viable, LSA allows spectrum to be shared when not in use. Basically, LSA is a framework where incumbents share spectrum with LSA users in accordance with certain pre-defined conditions, which may be static (specific exclusion zones or times allowed for operation) or dynamic (geographic/time sharing, on-demand authorization by LSA licensees, or on-demand restrictions imposed by incumbents). In other words, LSA allows spectrum sharing on the basis of frequency, location, or time. However, a workable LSA agreement must ensure predictable QoS for all stakeholders. The specifics of this approach have yet to be ironed out, but when they are, LSA concepts could prove a good reference for global regulators looking to speed up spectrum release.

This would be none too soon, considering the mind-boggling figures being bandied about by industry experts as to how much data traffic will be transmitted by in the near future. Operators looking to keep their margins healthy would be wise to not be too fussy about where they get their spectrum, as LTE TDD is commercially proven and convergence would seem the way forward for any operator planning on keeping the high-rollers and bandwidth hogs happy for the next several years. As this technology flourishes, winning the spectrum wars becomes more a matter of scrounging up spectrum wherever you can find it, as opposed to outbidding your competitors and romancing the regulators. In other words, it’s simple numbers – whoever has the most wins.

1.9GHz 2.3GHz 2.5/2.6GHz 3.5GHz

BRICs

Brazil

Russia

India

China

Asia-Pacific Region

Australia

Hong Kong

Indonesia

Japan

Korea

Malaysia

New Zealand

Philippines

Singapore

Taiwan

Thailand

Europe

Belgium

Denmark

Finland

France

Germany

Ireland

Italy

Norway

Poland

Spain

Sweden

U.K.

MENA

Ghana

Nigeria

Oman

Saudi Arabia

North America

Canada

U.S.

Sources: Huawei Wireless MITDD Released (LTE TDD) TDD Release Soon / Planning

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LTE TDD broadens your VPN

LTE TDD broadens your VPNThe advent of LTE greatly expands the application scope of VPNs, making outdoor and mobile VPN access possible; this mobility and flexibility makes LTE-based VPNs particularly appealing, especially for enterprises and road warriors who need a fast & reliable connection at all times.

By Huang Zhiming

Opportunities for mobile operators

virtual private network (VPN), as the name implies, is a tool for enabling private data communications on public networks, with support from Internet

service providers (ISPs) and/or network service providers. A typical VPN application is the creation of a virtual tunnel through public networks for enterprise connection to remote branches.

A VPNs are safe, easy to manage & maintain, and controllable. After more than a decade of development, VPNs based on fixed networks are already widely adopted, serving as an essential ICT solution component for enterprises of all sizes.

However, traditional VPNs based on fixed networks have inherent limitations. For one thing, they only go as far as fixed networks can take them, and they can seem an extravagant luxury for small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs).

LTE can take traditional VPNs further in terms of availability and geographic coverage.

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Compared with fixed access, an LTE network is easier to deploy and has a much wider coverage, making outdoor and mobile VPN access possible. LTE TDD, in particular, allows flexible sub-frame configuration for uplink and downlink. For instance, the downlink/uplink ratio can be set at 3:1, which would suit most enterprise applications perfectly, including email, web browsing, ERP, and CRM (all are heavily weighted towards downlink). Another obvious advantage comes from LTE’s superior throughput. For a 20MHz LTE TDD frequency block shared by both downlink and uplink, downlink throughput can reach as high as 110Mbps. In addition, LTE has a much shorter delay; the delay between an LTE base station and user terminal is less than 10ms, compared to 50ms for HSPA+ and 150ms for WCDMA.

LTE-based VPNs also make sense for the operator, as monthly ARPU for VPN rental can exceed those for basic Internet access by a factor of ten. These networks also give operators a chance to add other value-added services to the equation, making for a very lucrative opportunity.

Multiple scenarios

LTE-based VPN services can fall under one of

four categories: mobile office (individual-level), integrated VPN (SMB-level), L2TP VPN or L2 VPN (both enterprise-level).

Mobile office

In this scenario, PCs are used in conjunction with LTE devices such as dongles or customer premises equipment (CPE) to establish a VPN connection. In this case, the operator’s network serves purely as a pipe for data transmission, thus rendering the enterprise’s VPN activities invisible and monthly VPN charging impossible.

Users in such a scenario are basically common LTE users, and are charged accordingly, which may not be very exciting in itself, but such users are likely to purchase premium options, remain loyal, and be willing to expand their VPN services into something more lucrative if their business takes off.

Integrated VPN

This model is most suitable for SMBs, and its technical advantage is that it requires no additional network elements, making both deployment and O&M simple & economical. Routing is typically handled via CPE, with the entire LTE network acting as a large VPN access gateway. In this way, an enterprise private line of sorts is enabled, creating a secure, dedicated, and broad connection

LTE-based VPNs also make sense for the operator, as monthly ARPU for VPN rental can exceed those for basic Internet access by a factor of ten. These networks also give operators a chance to add other value-added services to the equation, making for a very lucrative opportunity.

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channel that is relatively secure, reliable, and pleasant to use.

In terms of billing, users are charged via CPE using the normal LTE billing standard. QoS-based tiered pricing or billing based on the number of branches can also be introduced to increase revenue. These billing methods apply to L2TP VPN and L2 VPN as well.

L2TP VPN

Like integrated VPN, Level 2 Tunnel Protocol (L2TP) VPN is also a Level 3 VPN solution. L2TP VPN is a feasible solution for large enterprises, or those with existing fixed network-based Level 3 VPN services. Access routers (AR) are added at the enterprise’s headquarters and branches, while provider equipment (PE) is deployed on the operator network side where it functions as the VPN gateway, making for effective Level 3 VPN functionality. One advantage for this solution, at least as far as the operator is concerned, is that it works with a multi-vendor LTE network. To improve security, the operator can install an additional PE unit at the client’s headquarters, but there are tradeoffs in terms of deployment cost and O&M.

L2 VPN

For enterprises with legacy fixed or WiMAX-based VPNs, L2 VPN facilitates smooth service expansion to LTE network technology, reducing the need to revamp the legacy gear. This solution is very similar to L2TP VPN in that ARs must be deployed at the branches and at headquarters, serving as the customer equipment for LTE CPE, with gateway PE deployed on the network side; the difference is that L2 VPN can transmit Level 2 tags transparently, while L2TP can only do so at Level 3.

In terms of management, as ARs must be added for each branch and there are diverse requirements for LTE CPE, thi s so lut ion requires more capital investment & maintenance, while daily management is somewhat more complex than that for the abovementioned solutions.

Among the enterprise-grade solutions, integrated VPN requires the least amount of investment and is easiest to deploy, meeting the needs of most SMBs and SOHO users. L2TP VPN, however, better suits large enterprises with multiple branches. As the fixed network normally uses Level 2 VPN, LTE

L2 VPN means less impact and re-engineering for enterprises with existing fixed network-based services. However, it requires significant investment from both operators and enterprises, and has certain requirements for several network elements, such as the terminals and the core network. It is also more complicated to operate & manage, while its protocol stack is complex, as more layers of data need to be encapsulated, leading to less efficiency at the air interface.

LTE-based VPN takes off

A certain airport in Europe is currently using LTE-based VPN on a pilot basis to remotely print flight tickets and display simultaneous real-time flight information on multiple screens/locations. In Italy, operators have identified a demand for LTE-based POS connection, while in India, LTE-based VPN is being extensively verified. One operator in Sri Lanka will also have launched large-scale enterprise VPN service on its commercial LTE TDD network by the end of 2012.

In the future, as mobile broadband and cloud computing take hold, VPN applications such as private cloud desktop and video conferencing will leverage LTE’s bandwidth and secure encapsulation features, creating even more opportunities for mobile operators.

As the world’s leading LTE equipment provider, Huawei provides a full suite of stable and flexible LTE-based VPN solutions. Stability stems from a broad and stable pipe that forms the foundation of the Service Level Agreement (SLA) requirements that would be involved. Huawei is the industry leader in LTE networking, both technical and commercial. Huawei’s LTE networks support multiple VPN applications, including private cloud desktop, multi-party video conferencing, and video broadcasting.

Flexibility is more straightforward, and refers to the dynamism and adaptability of our VPN solutions. Huawei provides integrated LTE-based VPNs, which require minimal investment and are easy to deploy, for SMBs, as well as multi-layer VPNs for enterprises. Networking and management can be flexibly customized, based on the customer applications and network scenarios involved, meeting the various needs of any business.

Editor: Yao Haifei [email protected]

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Open-access national broadband networking has broken

the traditional business mold of an operator building, operating,

and running their own network for service provisioning,

enabling openness, sharing, innovation, and competition.

STR

ATE

GIC

OPE

RA

TIO

NS

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Open-access NBNBroadband’s strategic importance to national competitiveness and GDP is being increasingly recognized on the national and international stage, making it vital to the competitiveness and general well being of any country. In such a situation, open access is naturally the better way.

By Wang Qin & Yi Wengen

certain European countries mandating privatization and the opening of copper infrastructure. With the copper at the central office (CO)-end opened, retail service providers (RSPs) can build digital subscriber line access multiplexers (DSLAMs) at this end to develop services for users, who now have a choice of broadband provider. In this case, incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) are effectively pushed to enhance their networks for better service quality.

In recent years, as FTTx has become the norm for national broadband, the traditional monopolized broadband construction model has become a hindrance to broadband penetration. To promote competition, regulatory bodies in some countries have put forward an open access model where governments or authorized operators are responsible for the network architecture construction, including both the passive and active elements, enabling RSPs to directly rent bandwidth and efficiently provide users with diversified services.

tudies by both the Brookings Institution and World Bank, among others, have echoed the finding that a 10% increase in national broadband penetration leads to

a GDP uptick of 0.25 to 1.38%. So far, roughly 50 countries have officially released national broadband plans, including Britain (NGA plan), Singapore (NG-NBN), Malaysia (HSBB), New Zealand (UFB), Australia, Qatar, and Cameroon.

To be or not to be open

Due to the high costs of broadband over copper, fixed network operators once faced a tricky balancing act between profitability and service quality; if subsidies were unavailable, steep initial charges for installation were the norm. This resulted in users being serviced by monopolies who lacked the incentive to innovate, an unsatisfactory situation that led to

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Network integration makes for smooth NBN deployment

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Making WLAN work 52

HD will succeed where bit rates have failed

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Open-access national broadband

Open-access model

National broadband networks usually involve three parties – providers of passive networks (including resources such as pipes, fiber, and copper), providers of active networks (including telco devices related to the access, aggregate, and core network), and RSPs who lease bandwidth to provide services to users. In terms of open access, there are three different modes in commercial use.

For the first, the passive network is open for RSP lease, which is common with European ADSL or VDSL networks, as well as European P2P fiber access, thanks to a favorable regulatory environment for all. France’s telco regulator (ARCEP) sets up rules where Orange lays the outdoor ducting while estate developers do the indoor work, with both outdoor and indoor resources open to all.

For the second mode, Layer-2 bitstream bandwidth is open for RSP lease, with the underlying passive and active networks constructed by a leading telco (or the government). One example is Britain’s FTTx network, which British Telecom started constructing in 2009 to provide services directly to users while leasing to RSPs at the same time. In the case of Malaysia, the government invests, with incumbent Telekom Malaysia actually constructing the NBN, which both accelerates the construction process, reduces its overall costs, and promotes fair competition among third-party operators. This approach has often been used in concert with FTTH, as seen in Australia and New Zealand.

The last approach is quite different in that the passive network provider, active network provider, and RSPs are completely independent from one another. Specifically, the former sells physical resources to the active network provider, who then wholesales bandwidth to RSPs. At present, only Singapore’s next-generation nationwide broadband network (NG-NBN) operates in this way. On the whole, this approach promotes free competition and a fairly level playfield, as the government invests heavily and regulates stringently to ensure a relatively low market price. However, it is challenging to integrate all these pieces together and still be able to troubleshoot effectively, thanks to the separation of duties between numerous parties, making this approach ill-suited to larger, more populous states.

With the development of FTTC/Vectoring technology, new NBN challenges are coming to

light that relate to the opening of copper. Without Vectoring, FTTC allows for physical copper line opening. Countries such as France and Germany require the installation of multiple DSLAMs in street cabinets during open physical-layer deployment.

However, Vectoring requires that users on the same bundle of copper be connected to the same DSLAM so that crosstalk can be calculated and avoided. In the case of the second aforementioned mode, which is used in the U.K., BT is the sole builder of the entire network, and it leases bandwidth to RSPs, through FTTH or FTTC, without affecting Vectoring deployment. However, for the other two approaches, where the physical resources are open for lease, this is a big problem. One way to avoid this issue is NLV (node-level Vectoring), which allows DSLAMs at the same node to communicate to share Vectoring information, though this technology is not yet commercialized and has communication difficulties when the DSLAMs belong to different operators; thus, some countries choose not to open, or have different regions for different operators.

Open-access ecosystem

Open-access national broadband brings new opportunities and challenges to the entire telco ecosystem, including governments, regulators, incumbents & their competitors, RSPs, equipment providers, and end users.

Governments & regulators: In June 2011, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) released a report calling for nations to enhance their competitiveness through NBN. During the ITU Telecom World he ld in Geneva in October 2011, the UN Broadband Commission for Digital Development set four new global broadband development targets for 2015 – popularize broadband, reduce broadband entry barriers, provide home access, and promote public Internet access.

Governments are undoubtedly the primary force taking up this call. However, before setting goals or making plans, they must confer with consultancies, the public, and other governments & operators. Funding can be either direct investment or partial subsidy, but its scope should consider the coverage and bandwidth needed, as well as the viable technologies.

Regulators need to formulate policies for open-access models, wholesale prices, and responsibility

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allocation among the various stakeholders, making periodic adjustments as needed. The Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) separates the different layers of its NG-NBN to optimize open access and implement cross-carriage rules that allow consumers to enjoy content via another RSP’s infrastructure, avoiding the high costs involved when access rights are exclusive.

ILECs: ILECs need to seize their opportunities in NBN and play an active role in passive & active network construction; they should also leverage their considerable legacy pipe resources whenever possible. Initially, when governments start establishing goals, ILECs can provide advice and feedback so that the relevant mandates/regulations are feasible.

Malaysia’s NBN construction commenced in 2009 with an investment of MYR240 million (USD79 million). It is estimated that this network will boost national GDP by MYR1.6 billion and create 100,000 jobs by 2017. Telekom Malaysia has been entrusted to build the network platform, including the passive and active elements. With this cooperative approach, FTTH coverage has quickly reached 35%, with CAPEX reduced by 36%; these saved funds are being funneled into more tertiary matters that will ensure the proper development of the NBN ecosystem. The operator is also committed to opening its network and wholesaling the bandwidth to other operators for fair access assurance of broadband for schools, research institutions, remote areas, and other official purposes, making for a situation where the government, operators, and end users win.

CLECs: National broadband also gives competing operators a great opportunity to boost brand equity and market positioning. Nucleus Connect (NC), NetCo for Singapore’s NG-NBN, was founded in April 2009, but has already achieved great business success and brand equity through NG-NBN, with CEO David Storrie being named one of the hundred most influential people in the global telecom industry in 2010 by Global Telecom Business magazine. At the Singapore national broadband summit in 2010, NC became a focus of attention of the roughly 100 operators that attended.

RSPs: For RSPs, national broadband provides a fair, accessible platform, so their market share is no longer determined by their fiber and CO resources, but by their content and package appeal. Free of the burden of building, operating, and maintaining their own network infrastructure, RSPs need only rent bandwidth when end users apply for their services, effectively reducing CAPEX/OPEX. This

open platform also provides RSPs with services from high to medium to low priority levels that can meet their business demands. This allows them to recover their investment more quickly, with a higher return and a capital flow that is better managed.

Equipment providers: As NBN involves network-wide E2E products and services that involve the passive, active, MAN, OTN, IP backbone network, core network, OSS, BSS, and IPTV infrastructure, NBN equipment providers need a wide variety of E2E capabilities and experiences. They must consider the business model and funding factors during the initial stage, and consider the open access mode design, network planning, integration, and delivery later. A good equipment provider can greatly accelerate NBN construction, making one an invaluable commodity.

End users: With an open broadband network, users are no longer confined to one operator’s services. They can now enjoy IPTV from one operator and voice services from another, without even having to change their home terminals. This not only changes how users enjoy their home media, it also helps to power new industries such as e-commerce, e-medicine, and e-education.

Everybody wins

With open access, a monopoly is broken, sharing is achieved, and competition & innovation are promoted – a situation where everybody wins.

National broadband networks, with FTTx technologies, provide a unified network architecture that allows users to flexibly and easily switch from one RSP to another. Optimized OSS/BSS for the open mode even allows users to switch services directly via online channels or by making calls, instead of going through an in-house installation process, making for a great deal of consumer freedom. This also reduces investment risks for RSPs and promotes competition by shortening the investment return cycle. Traditionally, it takes eight to ten years to recoup an investment in FTTH and the risks are high. With an open model, this cycle is shortened to one or two years, making for a much lower investment threshold and risk level for competing RSPs.

Freed from network burdens, RSPs can now focus more on services and content. This level playing field will greatly facilitate RSP innovation in the industry at large.

Editor: Pearl Zhu [email protected]


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Huawei provides an E2E network integration service that fully addresses operators’ needs during the national broadband network (NBN) deployment process, including network assessment, network design, network deployment, service migration, and post-handover services, making for a true end-to-end solution that improves GDP for the nation in question while bettering ROI for the operator.

NBN obstacles

s s t a t ed by the Fede r a l Communications Commission ( F C C ) i n i t s Na t i o n a l Broadband Plan’s executive

summary, publicly released on March 16, 2010, “Broadband is the great infrastructure challenge of the early 21st century. Like electricity a century ago, broadband is a foundation for economic growth, job creation, global competitiveness and a better way of life. It is enabling entire new industries and unlocking vast new possibilities for existing ones. It is changing how we educate children, deliver health care, manage energy, ensure public safety, engage government, and access, organize and disseminate knowledge.”

Broadband is now accepted as an impetus for economic growth, and is or soon will be a matter of policy in many countries. And while governments, as decision makers and policy makers, finance and monitor these efforts, including their impact on economic and social welfare, operators are often called upon to join the bidding, draft the plans, plan & deploy network/services, and operate & maintain the network itself, leading to numerous challenges for the latter.

The foremost challenge is deployment complexity. The need for NBNs to carry multiple services makes for higher requirements in terms of reliability, usability, and security. With daunting tasks ahead that involve multi-layer networking and multi-solution/product/

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vendor integration, operators’ capabilities are tested across the board on the site, engineering, and management fronts.

A lengthy construct ion cycle i s another hindrance. Given the massive scales involved in most cases, completion usually takes quite a few years, and operators need to design their networks very carefully, or vast network resources go to waste. What’s worse, any infrastructure project with a national in the name typically has a long time to ROI, which can be hard to accept, given the current economic malaise.

Fault location for a nationwide network is no easy task either, especially one where multiple vendors are used (and indeed operators may be under mandate to do so); demarcation between them can be a real headache, and the in-house experience may be lacking to proactively manage network performance and service quality.

Huawei E2E integration for NBN

Huawei provides an E2E integration service that comprises national broadband network assessment, design, deployment, service migration, and post-handover care, so that NBNs can scale as needed and evolve in a manner that is reliable and affordable.

Network assessment

Huawei’s network assessment service evaluates current network capabilities (high-speed Internet, VoIP, IPTV, wholesale) to identify the gaps that the NBN should fill, making for a solid design foundation.

Specifically, this involves equipment capability assessment, network capacity assessment, and service simulation. The former involves assessment of E2E network equipment funct iona l i ty, performance, and configuration, while network capacity assessment models network traffic and examines available bandwidth so that service deployment is optimal. Service simulation involves assessment of service quality and network quality, as well as evaluation of the simulator itself.

Network design

Products and services that span the backbone, metro, access, and home networks are very diverse, and NBN design must seamlessly integrate them; Huawei’s E2E integration design service can do just that.

To verify the feasibi l i ty of the design in question, Huawei carries out comprehensive testing across all products and vendors using dedicated test tools, encompassing specification compliance; network access; service performance; node-level and link-level reliability; adaptability to simulated bottlenecks, signaling storms, and overloads; overall stability; remote O&M; and simulation of abnormal user actions. Testing deliverables include testing schemes, case studies, and reports.

Huawei also offers a customized design service for single-layer networks such as FTTx/ODN, IP core, metro, and WDM (wavelength division multiplexing) that encompasses architecture, protocols, services, capacities, resources, ODN lines, and fiber routes, tailored to customer demands and business needs.

What’s more, Huawei offers customized probes with indicators and thresholds most suited to the network or service in question; the reporting format can also be tailored.

Implementation and service migration

Huawei installs and commissions networks at different layers, including the backbone, metro, access, and home networks, as well as the service platforms (encompassing multiple products/vendors), ensuring that all network equipment can be managed.

Huawei’s ODN deployment service includes fiber routing, fiber connection & testing, and device installation. To accommodate different deployment scenarios for commercial buildings, high-rise residences, government facilities, and villas, indoor and outdoor fiber routing is ducted, aerial, buried, air-blown, or micro-trenched as needed, with the fibers themselves connected primarily through fusion splicing, mechanical splicing, or quick connectors. Testing is usually done for the links and ODN components, while device installation involves the ODF (optical distribution frame), FDT (fiber distribution terminal), FAT (fiber access terminal), and ATB (access terminal box) hardware. Through timely and professional device installation, link attenuation and cable loss can be greatly reduced, with construction costs saved as well.

Huawei offers a timely migration solution that accounts for the differences between the pre- & post-migration networks in terms of service realization so that services and data can run securely and reliably on the latter, helping to minimize both CAPEX/OPEX and live network impact.


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procedures through training.

Huawei advantages

Huawei’s E2E delivery capability integrates multiple products, services, vendors, SPs, and domains, helping to remove barriers for operators and making NBN implementation that much easier. Huawei has worked with Singapore Nucleus Connect on the very f i rs t NBN with open access, and with Telekom Malaysia on the most sophisticated multi-vendor NBN in existence thus far, as well as with BT, Brunei Telecom, and Qtel (entire TK project) on their own NBNs.

With Huawei’s professional tools, each and every stage of national broadband delivery, including network assessment, design, migration, and monitoring, can be done up to 35% more efficiently, while Huawei’s NBN project management and process control teams ensure each of these stages throughout the relevant duration. With over 1000 subcontractors around the world and a complete training program, Huawei can build a professional team on your end very quickly, making for an NBN that is both handled and leveraged effectively.


Day2 Care

Huawei’s Day2 Care service commences on the second day after handover begins and ends with receipt of the final acceptance certificate (FAC). This process usually lasts three to six months, and encompasses fault location assistance, solution changing & testing, service provisioning assistance, and skill transfer, enabling a smooth deployment process and rapid service commercialization.

Fault location assistance is fairly straightforward and effectively tackles the efficiency issues involved in locating faults across an E2E network that integrates multiple products/vendors, as it is usually beyond the capabilities of operators’ O&M personnel. Optimization suggestions are also provided, based on customer complaint analysis.

Solution change and test services analyze user complaints, trace back day-1 handover actions, review the design solution, provide design changes and testing as needed, and implement design change assurance. Service provisioning assistance involves analysis of the relevant procedures & periodic faults, and formulation of standard service provisioning procedures, while skill transfer refers to transfer of fault location skills, process documents, and E2E service provisioning Editor: Pearl Zhu [email protected]

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HD will succeed where bit rates have failedChinese operators carried out large-scale FTTx deployment in 2011, but uptake has been slow thanks to a lack of services that effectively utilize it. CPs/SPs have the HD content that can motivate users to upgrade, but they lack the resources to attractively present it over the network at current market prices. If both sides work together, ROI will be within reach.

HD OTT has underwhelmed

andwidth itself is a prosaic concept, and often proves an inadequate differentiator for subscribers, who want the entire network experience to be faster (a user

can have a high-speed connection but a pedestrian experience thanks to a variety of factors), with diversified services to boot. At present, outside of high-definition IPTV, there are few appealing, bandwidth-intensive services available in China, so local subscribers feel no pressing need to upgrade their broadband into the double digits. HDTVs and next-gen all-in-one PCs (equipped with 22-inch screens) are becoming popular, but HD and/or 3D content is limited and often substandard in terms of video quality.

However, OTT players should not be envied. Although the market for over-the-top video doubles in China every year, no content provider (CP) or service provider (SP) has made a profit anytime recently, including Youku Tudou (China’s answer to YouTube). OTT video providers want to provide HD content to attract more users, thus boosting revenue from ads and paid content, but the bandwidth needed to carry it is expensive to these providers, who spend over 35% of their total costs on it.

Chinese operators currently employ a flat broadband pricing model tiered by uplink/downlink rates, but without differentiated service offerings and a smoother user experience (local connections are

known to punch below their weight), the situation will eventually degenerate into a price war. Because of weak market demand, operators choose to discount or even give away free bandwidth upgrades to subscribers, but broadband traffic consumption per user in China is increasing 30 to 50% per year, so these low prices and free offers are not sustainable; something has to be done.

Partnership between operators and CPs/SPs is a way out, but what would this look like in practice?

Profit through partnership

To improve OTT video quality and stimulate market demand for bandwidth, operators must first tier their offerings by something more appreciable than megabits per second. Offerings can be HD (720p), full HD (1080p), or 3D, and operators can partner with CPs/SPs to make certain that the content is there and up to par.

Currently, China’s major OTT video sharing sites do offer HD (720p) content, but the bit rates hover around 1 to 1.3Mbps, relatively low when compared with the 3 to 5Mbps that you get in developed markets. This leads to choppiness, pixelation, and all the other things you don’t want from an HD image. CPs/SPs are aware of this issue, but the upgrade costs are prohibitive. Operators can help by reducing the bandwidth charges per megabit.

As to the bit rates themselves, a 2Mpbs broadband package is fine for viewing a 480p standard definition (SD) video signal at 0.8 to 1.0Mbps, while a

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4Mbps package can handle 720p video at 2.0 to 3.6Kbps; full HD can be delivered at 8Mbps (4.1 to 6.1Mbps), while 16Mbps can deliver one 3D or two concurrent 1080p channels.

If every broadband subscriber in China upgrades his bandwidth, leading to an extra 30 cents (USD) spent per month, operators would see USD540 million more in revenue annually. This is far more than what all domestic OTT video providers combined spent on their bandwidth and content delivery networks (CDNs) in 2011, and over half of their total annual revenue. Charging CPs/SPs a little less and charging users a little more for the bandwidth used makes a lot more sense in the overall scheme of things.

A plan of action for operators

The implementation plan for this new business model would have three stages. First, operators should lay the foundations of this model by deploying a CDN for the metropolitan area network (MAN), as it would help ease the burden on the backbone network, reduce transmission costs per bit, shorten network response time, and enhance user experience.

Second, operators should stop their free bandwidth upgrades and start cooperating with major video CPs/SPs. If most subscribers are using 2Mbps bandwidth or lower, operators can sell 720p video bandwidth to CPs/SPs at the price of SD video, thus encouraging them to improve their bit rates for this resolution. At the same time, operators can introduce a 4Mbps broadband package bundled with 720p OTT video. When subscribers find that 2Mbps is not enough for 720p, they will prove willing to upgrade their broadband package.

When 4Mbps becomes the standard, operators can cooperate with CPs/SPs to introduce 1080p video by promoting 8Mpbs packages.

Lastly, to enhance the user experience, operators can proactively introduce OTT set-top boxes (STBs), enabling convenient OTT viewing on TV sets as opposed to computers or mobile screens, stimulating even more desire for upper-tier bandwidth.

The gains are real

Table 1 il lustrates this scenario for three different operators. Operator X services China’s tier-one cities, Operator Y services China’s tier-twos and tier-threes, while Operator Z services another country, a moderately advanced one. All three operators have significant price gaps between their premium and bargain packages, gaps that would enable 15 to 25% ARPU growth if users chose to upgrade.

This table assumes that the access network and MAN have already been upgraded to support higher bandwidth, while CAPEX refers to CDN investments & HD STB subsidies and OPEX translates to O&M costs for the CDN, which would increase 5% annually. Revenue includes only what is collected from end users who upgrade their bandwidth, plus a 6% tariff reduction per year (bandwidth and content delivery charges collected from CPs/SPs are excluded). It is also assumed that 200 out of every 1000 broadband users view HD OTT video at peak times.

If 13% of subscribers choose to upgrade, this new model yields good numbers in terms of revenue, ROI, and time to payback. Operator X, for example, sees a revenue increase of USD51.6 million at an ROI of 1.97, with payback starting in a little over 20 months. Operator Z does even better, with an ROI of 3.45 and payback starting five months earlier.

But of course, there is no “happily ever after” here. Operators can later try to increase their revenue and subscriber retention further through other methods, such as online app stores, but OTT partnerships are definitely the next step for operators in growth markets, and there is no reason why they could not extend into other media such as music or gaming, enabling brand differentiation at a level not yet seen and a bright future for those involved.

Editor: Joyce Fan [email protected]

Operator X Operator Y Operator Z

User base (million) 1.60 1.05 1.10

Bandwidth upgrade plans 4=>12Mbps 2=>4Mbps 2=>5Mbps

ARPU growth (USD) 7.93 6.50 12.38

ROI 1.97 1.95 3.45

Time to payback (years) 1.7 1.8 1.3

TCO (USD million) 26.19 14.28 19.04

Revenue from bandwidth upgrade (USD million)

51.58 27.77 65.07

Table 1 Operational scenario data for Operators X, Y, and Z

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Making WLAN workOperators are finding WLAN deployment for 3G offload necessary to stay afloat amidst a deluge of data, but the process of constructing a carrier-class WLAN is no easy task. China Mobile Shandong, however, has made remarkable progress in this regard, making it a model for others to follow, both at home and abroad.

WLAN – A mobile Internet breakthrough

urrently, broadband access over 3G cellular networks is rather limited thanks to spectrum scarcities and high network rollout and expansion costs.

According to the UMTS Forum, mobile traffic will exceed 2011 levels by 32 fold in 2020, totaling over 127 exabytes. This level will overwhelm 3G networks as they are now, even with the help of a more mature LTE ecosystem. WLAN can provide high-speed data services at minimal cost, as its estimated construction costs per gigabit are one-

fortieth to one-sixtieth of those for 3G. With the widespread application of Wi-Fi, mobile

operators can employ WLAN as an economical supplement for 3G networks. China Telecom put forward a strategy of developing CDMA in concert with WLAN in May 2011. In 2012, the operator earmarked about RMB1.67 billion (USD270 million) for WLAN, deploying 400,000 access points (APs). China Mobile has also prioritized WLAN as it looks to synergize its GSM/TD-SCDMA/LTE TDD technologies. For 2012, it has planned to deploy more than two million APs nationwide and replace wired access with WLAN in certain pilot areas, including eastern China’s Shandong Province.

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Hindrances to WLAN

Construction of carrier-class WLAN requires the overcoming of a raft of challenges. One is ease of use, as users need to be aware of WLAN coverage and availability. Operators are expected to record WLAN service coverage data in their OSS during WLAN deployment, and to disclose the relevant information online. A simple authentication process is also needed, as smooth coordination between WLAN and the macro network will not happen without it, nor will seamless roaming (another major issue here). WLAN configuration should support various device access methods and authentication modes, such as Portal, MAC address binding, EAP-PEAK, and EAP-SIM.

Charging is also a major concern. Operators must provide uniform service packaging with precise charging mechanisms for WLAN users, irrespective of terminal brand or category. Flexible charging modes will vary by duration, interval (unlimited duration but limited volume), or volume, while monthly packages can be bundled with other value-added service offerings. However, WLAN users need to be crystal-clear about their traffic volume usage; SMS reminders can come in handy here.

Sophisticated carrier-class networks entail meticulous planning, design, and maintenance, as WLAN coverage typically has a limited range, requiring a rather large number of APs, all of which must be managed, powered, monitored, and maintained.

WLAN in Shandong

China Mobile Shandong (Shandong Mobile) is a pioneer in WLAN substitution. From 2002 to August 2010, the operator deployed roughly 60 thousand APs around Shangdong province, serving a very large number of data card users and heralding the era of commercial WLAN in China. As of mid-2011, Shandong Mobile had deployed up to 14 thousand hotspots for areas such as colleges, traffic hubs, hotels, resorts, commercial buildings, and residential complexes, for which the operator releases information regularly regarding coverage and provides flexible web-based customer services.

Shandong Mobile employs Huawei’s SIM-based authentication solution, which enables integration

of its 3G network with WLAN, streamlining the handset authentication process, from the terminal to the WLAN, GPON, BRAS, and Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting (AAA) protocols. Account names and passwords are required for first-time users only.

Thanks to MAC address binding, Shandong Mobile subscribers enjoy simplified authentication courtesy of BRAS redevelopment and Portal/AAA programming, the latter of which enables users to roam via WLAN in other provinces seamlessly. For visitors to Shandong, access controllers (ACs) forward authentication requests to Remote Authentication Dial In User Service (RADIUS) servers, and the subsequent web authentication process is followed in the same manner.

Shandong Mobile also provides assorted tariff packages. If users choose duration-based charging, users are charged according to total service time, regardless of the terminal, by registering their mobile phone number. Users can also subscribe to separate WLAN services or packages with a free capped WLAN duration.

This had led to a boom in Shandong Mobile’s data services, as well as synergy between the operator’s GSM/TD-SCDMA/WLAN/LTE TDD technologies, which have combined to keep its profits healthy.

Prev ious l y, the WL AN bea re r ne twork had cons i s t ed o f sw i t che s f rom mul t ip l e vendors, meaning high OPEX and a protracted troubleshooting process that drew customer ire. This motivated the operator to use GPONs for WLAN traffic. Through its utilization of ONUs with Power over Ethernet (POE) for APs, GPON supports Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE) simulation, automatic fault diagnostics, and precise location, leading to construction cost reductions of 30 to 40% when compared to switches.

Shandong Mobile has successfully converged WLAN with its legacy network technology, reducing construction costs per gigabit and relieving the burden on the macro network, while making expansion easier to achieve. The operator currently boasts five million WLAN users, while its commercial applications enjoy wide coverage, simple authentication, user experience excellence, service package flexibility, and easy maintenance, making the operator a model for others to follow into the realm of commercial WLAN.


Making WLAN work

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