Sponsorship Message

Hundreds of Columns Sorted by Topic

Home

Wireless       The Rationale for RFoG The HFC-DOCSIS network continues to serve as the access mechanism. However, network operators are beginning to look for the next generation of access technology as service demands stretch the limits of HFC/DOCSIS systems. Most agree that an optical network is key to their strategy, but getting from HFC to an optical infrastructure is the challenge. One option is RF over Glass (RFoG). Shane Eleniak       Prime Time for MPLS In the beginning, MPLS was driven by the need to scale the public Internet and large corporate intranets. Remember "Tag Switching"? The migration to converged service networks is real and accelerating. Service Providers have selected MPLS to power the any-play services of voice, video, data, and mobility. Stephen Liu       The Converged Edge for Fixed and Mobile Networks Current trends affecting service providers’ networks include the consolidation of fixed and mobile network assets and the increasing sophistication of mobile devices. Fixed and mobile operators have many differences, both in access networks—mobile operators focus on radio spectrum management and often rely on fixed operators’ facilities for backhaul and interconnects—and in network architectures. Fixed and mobile networks require different technologies and deployment architectures. However, operators now realize that IP can enable consolidation of fixed and mobile networks, leading to new service possibilities and the need for end-to-end IP services across the converged network. At the same time, mobile devices are becoming more complex. Sridhar Ramachandran and Natasha Tamaskar       Network Planning and Forecasting – Past, Present and Future The networks of yesterday were dominated by voice and low-bandwidth data services, such as e-mail and basic Internet connectivity. They have been planned in the same way for the last one hundred years, with the marketing organization and the planning organization working together in a time-honored dance. Fast-forward to the present day. Standard forecasting and data trending was sufficient for planning yesterday’s networks, but is no longer adequate for introducing next generation network architectures, or new bandwidth-hungry services, as there is no historical data to use for trending purposes. Ross Munro and Mark Mortensen       The Dawning of the Era of Application Service Level Agreements The WAN optimization market has delivered a variety of key technologies to help enterprises and service providers extract maximum network performance. Network visibility, advanced compression, quality of service and acceleration techniques are among the more prominent developments. Now the table stakes are being raised yet again… Mike Morford       Delivering Carrier Ethernet Solutions It is clear that Ethernet has become the technology of choice for packet transport networks. However, service providers require carrier-grade capabilities to deploy the technology in their networks to provide reliable services. For that, the industry has defined standards for carrier-class Ethernet, which includes recommendations for scalability, resiliency, reliability, multiservice capabilities, TDM support, quality of service (QoS) and manageability.  Alon Livne       WiMAX Won’t Go Far Without Backhaul Scalability The introduction of WiMAX appliances (whether mobile or fixed) at the edge of the network creates the opportunity to deliver exciting new services such as personal broadband, streaming video and interactive gaming. Although the WiMAX radio access network can deliver the required connectivity, we need to rethink the backhaul network or these new services will starve for bandwidth and the entire ecosystem will be endangered. Alan Solheim       Mobile WiMAX Won’t Go Far Without In-Building Coverage Wireless carriers are starting to bet on WiMAX. Most are focused on making their outdoor mobile infrastructure efficient and cost-effective, but another piece of the puzzle is in-building coverage. In this article, we’ll look at the challenge of delivering WiMAX inside buildings. John Spindler       Building Migration-Ready Mobile Backhaul Networks with High-capacity Microwave Mobile networks, which today are based almost entirely on TDM, will gradually become all-IP/Ethernet. But what is the best migration strategy for getting there? Can Point-to-Point Microwave support this migration path? Aviv Ronai       Migrating to Flatter, All-IP Wireless Networks Service providers are moving toward emerging all-IP wireless technologies that promise to reduce complexity, simplify the wireless core, and decrease service providers’ operational and capital expenses. Implementing a flat, user-plane, all-IP network architecture with fewer nodes will enable mobile operators to integrate the core with the access network, providing lower latencies for real-time multimedia services. Eric Andrews       Backhaul Requirements of Emerging 4G and WiMax Deployments Many operators are considering wireless Ethernet backhaul for their 4G deployments. Key requirements of the backhaul network will include network availability, low latency, capacity scalability, network reach, total cost of ownership, and Ethernet functionality. Here is a look at t.hese requirements Greg Friesen       Data Protection - Safeguarding Mobile Devices Mobile devices are the fastest growing device segment—smartphone adoption is increasing at a rate of 77 percent and other mobile devices are growing at 27 percent. With this expanding adoption comes increased vulnerability for threats. While still in a stage of infancy, mobile virus variants have doubled every six months from 2004 to 2006. Here are some "best practices" for network operators. Steve Duffy       Consumers Demand Nothing Less Than Personal Broadband Capabilities -- Now and Anyway In the next generation of wireless, users will expect – make that demand! -- to enjoy more applications, more services and more content, seamlessly over any device and any access network – wired, Wi-Fi, WiMAX, cable, evolving generations of cellular, advanced peer-to-peer networks and more. Network upgrade choices abound, but no matter what path a carrier ultimately chooses, staying competitive will depend on the ability to extend coverage with minimal new infrastructure costs, increase network capacity through more efficient use of available spectrum, and keep operations and maintenance expenses under control. Dan Coombes       WiMAX in the Cable Market With WiMAX, users will no longer perceive wireless Internet access as being inferior in quality compared with today's fixed DSL and cable access offers. Instead, WiMAX is expected to bring long-sought-after performance parity between wireless and wired Internet access. But, how do cable operators, who traditionally do not have wireless offerings, get access to this promising technology? Tom Buttermore       Reliable Client Connectivity in Metro-Scale Wi-Fi Networks Ensuring user satisfaction in metro-scale Wi-Fi networks involves more than just deploying large numbers of nodes. A number of other factors are at least as important. For example, the links between the mesh and the Internet matter. What users do on the network matters. And, more than anything, client connectivity matters. Bert Williams       Security Wireless Mesh Networks -- Key Recommendations An outdoor wireless mesh network has two components: the access network and the inter-node network. Security for the access network is similar to that for the well-known Wi-Fi network, although the larger number of users accessing the wireless mesh creates unique challenges. However, having to provide security for an inter-node network composed of multiple Mesh Access Points (MAPs) connected via wireless links is new to the wireless industry. Third-generation MAPs with multiple radios per MAP can create a mesh network composed of 20 or more MAPs per hard-wired connection. Not only must the subscriber’s data be kept private across these multiple wireless links, but also the security and privacy of management and control-plane traffic must be ensured. Here are some key recommendations Kirby Russell       Top 10 Trends at 3GSM World Congress 2007, Barcelona Here is a list of the Top 10 trends in the wireless industry that will be on display at this year's 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. Roman Polz       Ten Predictions about the Cell Phone Industry in 2007 As the year 2006 winds to a close, I suspect a key question on your mind is: What will happen in the wireless industry in 2007? This article makes ten predictions. Prediction Number 1: CD-Quality Music Will Be The Killer Cell Phone App. Don't expect the same for mobile TV use, at least not yet. Roman Polz       Architectures for Fixed-Mobile Convergence: IMS vs. UMA Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) and the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS)—two standard architectures under the 3GPP umbrella—both support fixed-mobile convergence (FMC). But their approaches to FMC have little in common. UMA is a highly constrained approach to a single service—dual-mode access to GSM networks—while IMS is an open platform for all types of services and all types of networks. UMA offers mobile network operators (MNOs) a quick fix, but IMS promises profitable new services and sustainable growth for all service providers. Here is a comparison. Kevin McCracken       Extending the Enterprise Reach – The Hotspot Hurdles Projections for the hotspot market are rosy, with some analysts predicting the number of public hotspots will exceed 200,000 by 2008. For enterprise users on the go, public WiFi access presents both opportunites and challenges. Richard Watson [1/2] Send us your response to this article.