Amdocs Smart Net Solution

Transcription

1 Amdocs Smart Net Solution With the explosive growth of mobile data and the popularity of Wi-Fi as an access technology, Wi-Fi services have become a key strategy for service providers to alleviate network congestion and extend coverage for a better subscriber experience. Rising customer demand and the proliferation of Wi-Fi-only devices, such as tablets and gaming consoles, are opening up new opportunities for monetization beyond traditional offload for capacity management. Wi-Fi can enable service providers to: Extend roaming support Supplement wireless data services Learn more about customers Create new revenue from innovative Wi-Fi services Shifting to intelligent Wi-Fi offload Realizing the full potential of Wi-Fi as a technology and a business model requires service providers to leverage Wi-Fi in new ways to prevent revenue leakage and subscriber churn while monetizing new service offerings and value-added partnerships. Service providers need: Easier authentication Subscriber base authentication onto available Wi-Fi without manual intervention. Seamless handover The ability to move between Wi-Fi and 4G networks with no disruption to the subscriber. Intelligent offload Subscriber- and network-aware offload based on a broad range of intelligence such as subscriber profile, data usage and network conditions. Control over the customer data experience Understanding subscribers behaviors is key to building an effective Big Data Analytics practice within a business. Today, service providers lose control of the subscriber experience on third-party Wi-Fi.

2 Introducing the Amdocs Smart Net Solution Standards-based The Access Network Discovery and Selection Function (ANDSF) is a 3GPP-specified network element that assists user equipment in the discovery and selection of both 3GPP and non-3gpp access networks (Wi-Fi access points, for example) and fits with existing packet core infrastructures. Seamless offload and onload between Wi-Fi, 3G and 4G networks with an advanced policy rules engine for smart real-time network selection for subscribers, based on multiple parameters configured to fit operators strategies. Advanced QoE measurement and prediction, with information obtained from the network and device sides. Leverages Amdocs BSS by using Customer Management and Charging events to profile users and select the best network. Advanced network based policies based on network, location, subscriber profile, time of day, BSS feed and congestion. Amdocs Smart Net at a glance Amdocs Smart Net Solution provides service providers with access to network performance from the subscriber s perspective, ensuring a seamless and consistent Wi-Fi experience across SIM and SIM-less devices and platforms. Amdocs Smart Net is a carrier-grade solution for intelligent Wi-Fi offload that enables service providers to leverage a broad set of data from the network and the subscriber to deliver a superior quality of experience while fully monetizing their Wi-Fi and 3G/4G networks. The solution: Increases ARPU by driving offload and onload decisions based on factors such as subscriber value, data plans and policy. Provides a better understanding of the relationship between network traffic and QoE by using Big Data collection and Analytics to determine traffic patterns, device behavior and Wi-Fi activity. Utilizes an Access Network Discovery and Selection Function (ANDSF), smart Wi-Fi and 3G/4G balancing to distribute subscriber sessions across multiple network resources, utilizing real-time information and historical analytics. Leverages the existing Amdocs footprint (B/OSS, Wi-Fi experience solution {WES} and Policy). Triggers location-based policy changes based on a configurable radius, optimizing the efficiency of mobile device resources and network usage.

3 Solution Components BSS/OSS Policy Control 3G Congestion Detection 4G Amdocs Smart Net Agent Customer Profile ANDSF/S14 interface Amdocs Smart Net Access Controller Analytics Amdocs Smart Net QoE Profiler Figure 1: Amdocs Smart Net Solution components Amdocs Smart Net Agent Device-based application that retrieves the network selection policy from the Amdocs Smart Net Access Controller, using the 3GPP/S14 interface. Policy rules indicate when and where the access points are available, as well as priorities between them. Rules are extended to help the Amdocs Smart Net Agent select the best networks according to QoS and data allowances. The Amdocs Smart Net Agent measures current QoS and experience quality from users perspectives (QoE) and selects the right network to switch to, according to the best QoE estimations. Amdocs Smart Net Access Controller Provides a 3GPP standards-based access network discovery and selection function (ANDSF) server to interface with ANDSF clients. Provides integration with operator Policy and Charging Control systems, as well as intercommunication through handsets that have the Amdocs Smart Net Agent installed to coordinate device policies. Amdocs capabilities extend ANDSF with location-driven policy changes based on pre-defined virtual regions (VRs), for discovery and intelligent network selection. The solution provides analytics for network and device performance, helping operators improve user experiences. Amdocs Smart Net QoE Profiler Collects and generates predictive models with information from the Smart Net Agent. Makes intelligent offload decisions from crowd-sourced network performance insights.

4 Amdocs Smart Net The best decision The Amdocs Smart Net Solution features Amdocs Smart Net Agent and the Amdocs Smart Net Access Controller, and leverages Amdocs s extensive and proven Network Control, Policy and Subscriber Management capabilities. The solution supports ANDSF, which is a 3GPP-specified network element that assists user equipment in the discovery and selection of both 3GPP and non-3gpp access networks (Wi-Fi access points, for example). Amdocs Smart Net allows best end-to-end decisioning on subscriber connectivity. The process is defined by four main processing steps: DETECT SELECT CONNECT ANALYZE Detect network condition and device behavior Select best network by evaluating QoS and monetization in real-time Connect seamlessly to the selected network Collect and analyze user profiles and network behavior Figure 2: Four main steps of processing

5 Service Provider Benefits Service provider benefits to be realized from the Amdocs Smart Net Solution: BENEFIT Intelligent network selection Revenue optimization Cost reduction Customer satisfaction Expanded network footprint DETAILS Better control of mobile traffic and the subscriber experience, since offloading is performed under specific circumstances (and not automatically). The multiple network environments allow for different monetization models. Operators can charge directly for Wi-Fi or increase revenue indirectly by intelligently maximizing usage of 3G/4G before offloading to Wi-Fi, preventing potential revenue leakages. Amdocs Smart Net can optimize network connections in conjunction with QoE-based decisions and location-driven policy changes. Provide differentiated offload decisions based on subscriber profiling improves customer satisfaction. Churn is reduced by optimizing the customer experience and providing always-best-connected advantages. Create Wi-Fi roaming agreements with Wi-Fi wholesalers and partners to quickly provision new Wi-Fi access networks for subscribers. Subscriber Benefits Subscriber-related benefits to be realized from the Amdocs Smart Net Solution: BENEFIT Always best connected Improve mobility DETAILS Amdocs Smart Net always connects users to networks that provide the best experience according to their specific needs. It never offloads to a Wi-Fi network that could degrade the user s QoE. With Amdocs Smart Net, user mobility does not require manual intervention, and all connections are made automatically, with minimum effect to the subscriber s experience.

6 Typical use cases at a glance Amdocs Smart Net supports a number of basic and advanced pre-tested use cases for improved time to market and fast deployment advantage. These include: Discovery of network elements (Wi-Fi access points) and authentication mechanisms. Intelligent network selection based on quota consumption, subscriber profile, time of day, location, real-time QoE monitoring, network costs and segmentation (powered by Amdocs BSS systems). The ability (utilizing Amdocs Congestion Detection component) to make offload decisions based on unanticipated and anticipated congestion across networks. Understanding the relationship between network traffic and QoE by using Big Data collection and analytics to determine traffic patterns, device behavior and Wi-Fi activity. Integrated roaming services with automatic detection of Wi-Fi networks and authentication to enable new sources of revenue. Deployment scenarios Amdocs Smart Net can be deployed in cellular networks and other fixed and converged networking environments. It can integrate into existing Amdocs products and solutions seamlessly for fast time to market. BSS ANDSF Engine S14 Smart Net Access Controller BSS OCS QoE Engine QoE Update Amdocs Smart Net Agent Smart Net QoE Profiler Amdocs Smart Net Server HSS/HLR 3GPP-AAA AAA Policy Control SDB Contents GGSN/P-GW DPI TWAN Internet Figure 3: Deployment scenario WAG

7 Four steps to intelligent offload 1. Detect Network condition and device behavior Detects available networks for device connectivity (3G, 4G or Wi-Fi), as well as new Wi-Fi networks for crowd-sourcing functionalities. Detects the QoE available on the current data connection, from the perspectives of both the network and application. Retrieves real-time information about the networks (3G, 4G and Wi-Fi) and subscriber characteristics (from BSS systems). Analyzes real-time device/environmental parameters, such as battery life and signal strength (RSSI). Sends the detected data from the handset for further statistical analysis (see Connect on the right). 2. Select Best networks for the subscriber Identifies the best network connection available through the use of a rule engine that manages policies and ranks the networks based on their capacities and reliability. Interacts with Amdocs (pre-integrated) BSS, Amdocs Insight, or third-party BSS to enable real-time and offline feedback on user behavior, such as subscriber usage, billing and charging events, and customer management events. Creates advanced policies that take into consideration real-time and historical QoE data and subscriber profiling. Extends the real-time ANDSF, standard-compliant mechanism upon which it is based. Eliminates the need for user interaction as part of the selection process. 3. Connect Seamless connectivity Based on the decision made during the Select phase, reconnects the user to the right network. Reconnects in the most efficient manner based on response time, battery usage and other criteria. Securely authenticates and grants network access (using the latest standards such as EAP, EAP-SIM, Hotspot 2.0, etc.). Non-intrusive The Connect process recognizes if the user prefers to select a different connection or wishes to connect manually. 4. Analyze Assess networks QoE, crowd-source networks and collect user profiles Analyzes hotspot-level QoE measurements from both the device and network to provide historical and predictive analytics, thereby ensuring an always best connected experience. Crowd-sources Wi-Fi hotspots into a single database with QoE levels indicators. Analyzes data from external BSS (CRM, OCS, DPI or external feeds) to create subscriber profiling (or retrieves the data from the existing operator s customer profiling system), which can be used for applying monetization connection policies.

8 System Specifications Management and administration Configurable virtual server architecture for simultaneous support in a multi-vendor architecture Command line interface, Web-based administration UI and REST API for administration and platform configuration IETF RFC 2068 (HTTP v1.1) RFC 2818 (HTTPS) RFC 2617 (HTTP Basic and Digest Access Authentication) RFC 3962 (AES) RFC 1157 (SNMP) Client runtime environment Device OS Android v4.0 and higher Smart Net Agent as Android service Device management with OMA DM v1.2.1 Radio interfaces 3GPP 3G, 3GPP LTE, IEEE (x) Back-end runtime environment Operating system Linux Red Hat (RHEL 5.6 & 6.3) Hardware platform IBM x3650 M4 and IBM HS23 with dual E JAVA EE 6 & 7 JSR 262 (JMX) 3GPP & OMA 3GPP TS v (ANDSF) OMA DM v1.2.1 support for message types and objects, and for authentication (OMA DM Bootstrap) Copyright 2014 Amdocs. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction or distribution other than for intended purposes is prohibited, without the prior written consent of Amdocs. Amdocs owns or has rights to use trademarks or trade names in conjunction with the sale of our products and services, including, without limitation, each of the following: Amdocs, Bridgewater Systems, ChangingWorlds, Clarify, Cramer, CES, Collabrent, DST Innovis, Ensemble, Enabler, Intelecable, Intentional Customer Experience, JacobsRimell, jnetx, MX Telecom, OpenMarket, Qpass, SigValue, Streamezzo, Stibo Graphic Software, Xacct, Aging in Place, Embrace Challenge, Experience Success, and Quality Consumption.