Mobile Backhaul Innovations & Challenges in a 4G World Mobile Backhaul International CTIA Wireless 2012, New Orleans, Louisiana Tuesday May 8, 10:45 am 3:30 pm, Room 344 Organized by: Telecomengine, Telecommunications Media Group Moderated by: Michael Howard, Principal Analyst and Co- Founder, Infonetics Research, Inc.
Innovations & Challenges in a 4G World Design and Business Considerations for Bridging the Gap in LTE Backhaul Moderator: Michael Howard, Principal Analyst & Co-Founder, Infonetics Research Panelists: Prakash Nagpal, Director of Solutions Marketing, Actelis Networks Yoav Valadarsky, Associate VP, Solutions Management, ECI Telecom Business case for macrocell versus microcell Business case for various backhaul technologies Macrocell, small cell, and het-net network configurations
Design and Business Considerations for Bridging the Gap in LTE Backhaul Agenda Market Trends Problems and Challenges New Options and Solutions Service Provider Deployment Applications Sponsor Approaches Conclusions Q&A Prakash Nagpal Director of Solutions Marketing Actelis Yoav Valadarsky Associate VP, Solutions Management ECI Telecom
Design and Business Considerations for Bridging the Gap in LTE Backhaul Market Trends
HSPA+ paves the way to 4G LTE All major operators have HSPA, nearly all plan LTE 39 live HSPA+ networks at 42M 74 live LTE networks Theoretical Peak Downlink Speed (Mbps) 400 300 200 100 0 Theoretical Peak Downlink Rates Race Past 300M for HSPA+ and LTE in the Latest 3GPP Releases 14 28 42 84 168 336 100 150 300 326 HSPA+ Source: 3GPP LTE
Operators investing now for LTE MBH Percent of Respondents 100% 75% 50% 25% Investment and Deployment Plans for LTE Backhaul Networks 89% 74% 100% 100% Infonetics survey of 27 operators worldwide 2/3 mobile operators 1/3 MBH transport Together represent more than 50% of 2010 global capex and revenue 0% 2011 2012 Investing Deploying Infonetics Research: Small Cell and LTE Backhaul Strategies: Global Service Provider Survey, November 2011
Strong moves to MPLS in MBH Percent of Respondents 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% Mobile Operators and Backhaul Providers Are Increasing MPLS Use in Cell Site MBH Connections 2011 2013 and later 50% 67% 56% 78% 0% Mobile operators Transport-only Infonetics Research: Small Cell and LTE Backhaul Strategies: Global Service Provider Survey, November 2011
Backhaul bandwidth growing: In urban areas to over 100M/site 100% Urban Peak Macro Cell Backhaul Load per Cell Site Percent of Respondents 80% 60% 40% 20% Over 100M Up to 100M Over 100M Operators needing >100M grows from 15% to 75% by 2013 Up to 100M 0% 2011 2013 Infonetics Research: Small Cell and LTE Backhaul Strategies: Global Service Provider Survey, November 2011
In non-urban areas to over 50M/site 100% Non-Urban Peak Macro Backhaul Load per Cell Site Percent of Respondents 80% 60% 40% 20% Over 50M Up to 50M Over 50M Up to 50M Operators needing >50M grows from 15% to 67% by 2013 0% 2011 2013 Infonetics Research: Small Cell and LTE Backhaul Strategies: Global Service Provider Survey, November 2011
3 Factors: Coverage, Capability, Capacity LTE provides coverage advantage over 3G in the lower frequency bands: 2.6 GHz poorer coverage & for capacity 850 MHz digital dividend extends coverage Base station capacity = avg. rate per users across area. Much lower than the peak. LTE better than HSPA+, but most capacity benefit is from spectrum Headline peak rates available by devoting all the shared capacity to 1 user close to mast BT Technology Teach-in, Dr. Tim Whitley, 3 October 2011
The Role of L2 & L3 Protocols in Packet Backhaul Evolution In the access layer, by the end of 2015, VLAN & MPLS-TP will account for 64%. In the aggregation layer, by the end of 2015, VLAN & MPLS-TP will account for 38%. Source: Ethernet Backhaul, July 2011
Design and Business Considerations for Bridging the Gap in LTE Backhaul Problems and Challenges
Making A Backhaul Choice
Addressing Challenges Must Fit Into the Context of Affordability & ROI
Coverage
3GPP Does Not Define Backhaul Architecture Variety of packet technologies and architectures to choose from Other forums are filling the gap Vendors differentiate themselves via deployment schemes Operators set their internal standards Each cellular manufacturer has it s own set of requirements
It s a Balancing Act Availability and cost of alternatives Implementation timeframe Projected growth rate Optimization criteria Technology expertise and comfort zone Internal standards or directives Mobile/transport relationships Wholesale/mobile carriers relationships Possible alternatives Make Buy Copper Wireline Fiber Wireless Copper Wireline Fiber Wireless
Design and Business Considerations for Bridging the Gap in LTE Backhaul New Options and Solutions
Capacity & Capability
Making A Choice
Backhaul Considerations Solution per site, solution for clusters or one size fits all? Defining clusters Managing expense, management & scalability Need driven versus technology driven Cost CapEx and OpEx Need assessment Time to market
Transport-friendly MPLS A connection-oriented technology is required for deterministic performance, resiliency and TE MPLS is the de facto standard in networks, but which version? Strengths MPLS - TP Transport network paradigm Operationally simpler NMS-oriented skills Protocol skills not required Simple OAM more suited for large networks IP/MPLS Automated provisioning/protection Scalable to Regional / Global Widely deployed Well-standardized Deployment Scenarios Access layer, limited path diversity Simple, inexpensive spoke devices Networks with centralized IP intelligence Access /metro Points of heavy service concentration Multi-vendor environments Service Edge / IP core
Unified MPLS End-to-end services can be offered across MPLS-TP and IP/MPLS domains, with gateway functionality Static LSP Dynamic Signaled LSP Signaling Gateway MPLS-TP Domain IP-MPLS Domain
All-Native Backhaul Enabled by equipment that supports independent packet processing for LTE backhauling, together with TDM processing for 2G or 3G ATM native E1 backhauling Packet Transport Network All-Native Transport Bandwidth flexibility Scalability Hard QoS TDM support Statistical multiplexing Eth. overlay, High capacity packet switch Connection oriented, MPLS-TP based Native or optional CES Protection and resiliency Full redundancy, < 50 msec OAM MPLS-TP BFD and Y.1731 Synchronization Packet (SyncE and 1588v2) and TDM
All-Native Backhaul Two Networks One Element STM16/64 SDH ETH E1 GigE/10GigE Fiber Ethernet TDM Transport Packet Transport
NextGen Microwave Topology agnostic Capacity and topology can be adjusted to LTE rollout requirements Mixed MW and Fiber Both are supported simultaneously Media exchange does not require equipment replacement MPLS-TP over MW Fiber
Design and Business Considerations for Bridging the Gap in LTE Backhaul Service Provider Deployment Applications
Developed Market, Pico Cell Deployment Core Network Switch Copper pairs Copper pairs Pico cell site 100Mbps, or more, over existing copper Reliable, Robust Clock synchronization Aggregation Point Profile Leading Cellular service provider, scaling with macro & micro cell deployment No cost justification for micro cell fiber and regulation allows lease of copper lines Solution Pico cell site Lease copper (10 s of Mbps B/W) for microcell, targeted for in building use Macro cells combination of fiber and microwave
Emerging Economy Feature Phones Dominant Profile Demographics include wealthy urban dwellers and price sensitive rural subscriber base No justification for 3G & 4G upgrades in rural areas SMS & Voice dominate usage & revenue Solution Use leased and owned copper for backhaul 10 s of Mbps of B/W Urban areas upgraded to fiber Limited use of microwave, driven by density and existing structures
Examples: Asian and European SPs Require: Significant amount of high quality TDM Solution: Native TDM & Ethernet (All Native) Two networks over the same elements Decommissions SDH when and if required 2G, 3G, LTE Carrier Ethernet Overlay 2G, 3G, LTE SDH
Examples: US Wholesale Solution: Packet infrastructure: MPLS-TP with GW functionality Attractive also for: Greenfield/packet network extensions Departments without significant IP expertise Transport groups Business customers 2G, 3G, LTE Packet Transport (Fiber/Microwave/ Optical infrastructure) 2G, 3G, LTE
Examples: US Wholesale (Cont.)
Design and Business Considerations for Bridging the Gap in LTE Backhaul Sponsor Approaches
Actelis: Fitting Cinderella s Shoe Backhaul ~500Mbps (DS+US) Internet 100Mbps symmetric Mobile / WiFi / WiMAX EFM Repeaters Metro Network Micro cell / WiFi / Mobile Remote Locations >100Kft Actelis BBA ~4M, 20kft, 26AWG Copper cables Fiber Femto cell reach extension (Residential)
1Net for Mobile Backhaul Variety of packet technologies, architectures and evolution paths to choose from: All Native All Packet Mix and match Microwave, Fiber and Optical infrastructure as need arises Tailored solutions for Cellular Operators Wholesale
Design and Business Considerations for Bridging the Gap in LTE Backhaul Conclusions
Conclusions: Reaching LTE MBH MBH truth: 1 capacity, 1 technology does not fit all Networks are not uniform: in a single network, different sites will have varied requirements or preferred options Standardize on small number of solution sets Migrating to IP/Packet for LTE many paths, many issues Network architectures Packet handling technologies Media: copper, microwave, fiber Availability and cost always play a key role in selection Mobile operators and backhaul providers are deploying solutions today
Design and Business Considerations for Bridging the Gap in LTE Backhaul Q&A Prakash Nagpal Director of Solutions Marketing Actelis Yoav Valadarsky Associate VP, Solutions Management ECI Telecom