Innovative Access Solutions
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Dear Colleague, Aggregation: The Cellular Backhaul Solution to Watch If 3G skeptics needed further proof that third-generation mobile services were for real, then Verizon Wireless' recent announcement that it was launching its VCAST wireless multimedia service for consumers should be the ultimate indication that 3G's moment has arrived. "3G is here - we are delivering true 3G services to our customers. This is not a plan for services on the horizon, this is about now," said Denny Strigl, president and CEO of Verizon Wireless.
VCAST is all about delivering video-on-demand and playing high-quality bandwidth. As such, it's also about moving lots of data in the air and across the service provider's backhaul network. This, of course, raises the crux of the 3G service deployment question: How will Verizon Wireless - or any other ambitious, cost-conscious operator - achieve maximum coverage at minimum expense? Backhaul is one of the major contributors to the high costs of building out and running a mobile network. This is true whether the mobile operator owns the transport links or leases lines from a local carrier, or whether the carrier is deploying a dedicated transport segment for 3G or planning to integrate several generations into the same platform. Indeed, a recent survey conducted by Philip Marshall, Director of Wireless Mobile Technologies at The Yankee Group, clearly identifies why cellular operators are searching for ways to boost the efficiency of their technical operations. The Yankee Group report indicated that 30 percent of cellular operators' expenditures are consumed by technical operations, and a whopping 62 percent of these costs are for backhaul transmission and the related expenses of site rental, field maintenance and product support. These statistics are compounded by the fact that the backhaul access network spans the entire coverage area.
A single aggregator for both generations of cellular technologies will not only yield significant savings on Capex and Opex, but also furnish cellular service providers with the flexibility and dexterity to move between Circuit Emulation Services (CES) and UNI/IMA, an asset that can also further reduce expenditures on field maintenance and support. Aggregation devices can be optimized to provide CES over AAL1 in order to connect GSM equipment, as well as IMA to connect UMTS, both over ATM. By aggregating traffic from several sites and transporting it onto a single ATM link, operators can minimize costs by placing their Node Bs alongside their existing 2G base stations and use the same transport network for all cellular services. The migration from TDM-based 2G circuit-switched networks to ATM-based (and eventually Gigabit Ethernet/IP/MPLS-based) 3G packet switched networks raises new challenges. In particular, the mobile network operator must weigh the cost, suitability and availability of the access platform chosen to handle the expected increase in bandwidth capacity and be able to manage the complexities of a converged voice and data network.
To capture significant market share in the race for 3G subscribers, mobile operators will shell out oodles of money on marketing campaigns. But to remain competitive - and profitable - they will need to dramatically reduce their operating costs and equipment expenditures. Prudent network planning and convergence architecture will enable them to succeed in the race for bottom-line viability. For more information, download
the White Paper "How to Reduce Cellular Backhaul Transport Costs
While Improving 2G and 3G Network Operating Efficiencies" at http://www.rad.com/Article/0,6583,21595,00.html. Thousands of RAD Modems to be Deployed in Major Indian Cellular Telecoms Project
Teleperformance France Saves More Than €10,000 Per Month and Gets Three 2 Mbps Links for the Price of One
N.Y. Recording Studio Beams CDs and DVDs Across Manhattan's Skyline
Intelligent Converters for Fast Ethernet-over-SDH/SONET Solutions
Low-Cost, Compact Traffic Groomer for Cellular, Wireless and Leased Line Applications
Updated and Expanded 2005 Catalog The latest edition of RAD's 2005 International
Catalog has been expanded to include products and applications that
did not make the previous version as well as a data communications
and networking glossary. The revised catalog is now available for
downloading at: http://www.rad.com/Home/0,6583,1865,00.html New Brochures
The profusion of wireless hot spots along with the growing interest in lower cost leased-line replacement has generated new demand for wireless backhaul solutions. RAD's AirMux-200 provides a quick return on investment in a variety of campus, enterprise and service provider applications. The brochure "Network Access Solutions over Broadband Wireless" explains how. Download these and other RAD brochures at: http://www.rad.com/Home/0,6583,7270,00.html
Sincerely, |
Considering the huge impact that backhaul has
on operating expenses (Opex) and capital expenses (Capex), and given
the fact that 3G, by its very nature, gobbles up enormous amounts of
costly bandwidth, mobile operators will be carefully reviewing their
backhauling strategies before making additional network
infrastructure investments.
Aggregation, by enabling the transmission of
more traffic over existing bandwidth, is the solution to watch
because it enables operators to achieve better bandwidth utilization
and improve the efficiency of backhaul infrastructure while paving
the way to the packet-based solutions of the future. 
Thousands of RAD fiber optic modems and
hundreds of SHDSL modems will be deployed in one of the largest
nationwide telecommunications projects that has ever been undertaken
in India. The modems will provide backhaul for cellular traffic.
French call center operator Teleperformance
has deployed RAD's Vmux voice trunking gateway to triple the number
of telephone channels carried over what had been an overloaded 2
Mbps leased line. 
Rainbow Broadband Inc., a wireless network
operator specializing in providing high bandwidth services to small
and medium-sized enterprises that do not have access to fiber, has
selected RAD's AirMux-200 wireless multiplexer to enable broadband
Last Mile connectivity from New York office buildings directly to
the Internet service provider. 
RAD's RICi-E1 and RICi-T1 intelligent converters enable
service provisioning and carrier backhaul applications over low
and high speed SDH/SONET and PDH circuits from fractional and full
E1/T1, E3/T3 to STM-1. This comprehensive product range positions
RAD as a single source supplier for carrier and campus applications.
Advanced remote management and DHCP-client support for easy plug-and-play
installation facilitate configuration and speed up deployment of
new Ethernet services. In addition, diagnostic tools for quick identification
and isolation of TDM and Ethernet network problems reduce operational
costs and system downtime. RICi converters also support standard
802.1p VLAN-tagging with four levels of prioritization, enabling
carriers to offer differentiated Ethernet services. VLAN tagging
can also be employed to separate traffic, ensuring transparency
of the customer traffic and bolstering security of management traffic.
The compact, plug-and-play DXC-4 is a standalone E1/T1
grooming device that is ideal for cellular, wireless and leased line
applications. It collects up to 31/24 different time slots from up
to 8 leased lines and grooms them into one trunk. The DXC-4 has
optional power supply redundancy for enhanced reliability. The
product has two management and control ports and can be managed
locally or remotely via multiple management options like ASCII
terminal, Telnet, and RADview NMS.
RAD has revised its brochure on "Efficient
Backhaul and Transmission Solutions for Mobile Networks" to include
a number of specific applications aimed at reducing operating
expenses and capital equipment costs. The brochure offers mobile
network operators a wide range of product solutions supporting
current and future backhaul network interfaces, protocols and
technologies that ensure the lowest cost and most efficient solution
for any cellular backhaul network scenario.