Nokia Siemens Networks Managed Services Nokia Siemens Networks Smart Labs Edition 2013 Version 12.2
2/12 Nokia Siemens Networks Smart Labs are hot-beds of ideas and research that help operators to understand and take advantage of the fast-changing communications market in exciting new ways. Throughout 2012, Nokia Siemens Smart Labs have continued to come up with new results and technology application ideas that could have a huge impact on the way the communications industry designs and uses networks. Here are a few highlights from the year. Table of Contents Category: Performance optimization SPA - Smart Lab Performance Advisor... 3 Category: Battery lifetime Smart networks boost smartphone battery life by 42%... 4 Faster connections, longer-lasting batteries... 5 Category: Mobile broadband Smartphone users upload data like crazy... 6 World s first LTE-enabled quadricopter takes off... 7 Category: Mobile applications Smart Labs support the GSMA Smarter App Challenge... 8 Report: FaceTime over cellular... 9 Category: Smartphones VoIP on Smartphones... 10 Category: Testimonial of the year Telefónica shows how to get smart... 11
3/12 Category: Performance optimization SPA - Smart Lab Performance Advisor This consultative service helps clients achieve the ideal balance between the best user experience and the lowest impact on network performance Nokia Siemens Networks Smart Labs allow operators, smartphone and operating system (OS) vendors and application developers to analyze application and device performance in real mobile network environments, including LTE. The new Smart Lab Performance Advisor (SPA) service enables mobile operators to find the ideal balance between the best user experience and the lowest impact on network performance. SPA is a reporting dashboard that presents a performance rating of applications and smart devices based on Key Network Performance Indicators. It includes all known smart devices from vendors such as Apple, HTC, LG, Nokia, Samsung and so on, running on operating systems including Android, Windows Phone, ios and Symbian, among others. The devices are tested with applications or services such as Voice over IP (VoIP), mobile video and social media to reveal the differences between networks. The SPA provides essential insight into the interaction between factors such as smart device battery life and applications or operating systems. It helps mobile operators to understand the end-to-end impact of smart devices, operating systems and applications on the customer experience, network load and performance. Our experience delivering this analysis and the resulting improvements has saved millions of euros and achieved best-in-class network optimization. With locations spanning the globe from the Americas to Asia, the Smart Lab teams can support operators locally to find the ideal balance between the best user experience and the lowest impact on network performance. Find out more from your local Nokia Siemens Networks representative or smart.labs@nsn.com.
4/12 Category: Battery lifetime Smart networks boost smartphone battery life by 42% Battery life is high on the agenda of both smartphone users and mobile operators. In recent tests of 3G radio parameters, the Nokia Siemens Networks Smart Labs team demonstrated how mobile operators can significantly increase smartphone battery life. It all comes down to radio network parameter values. By measuring the impact of changes in parameter values, the Smart Lab experts were able to achieve improvements of up to 42% in the battery life of a typical smartphone in a real 3G and LTE network conditions. In this case, the team focused on the Discontinuous Reception (DRX) paging cycle, which determines the length of time a phone spends in sleep mode, and the delay in responding to a paging message. By measuring the battery consumption of the smart phone as paging cycle lengths rose from 640ms to 1280ms, the team showed that longer cycle lengths resulted in a corresponding increase in battery life. On the flipside, longer DRX cycle lengths led to higher average call setup times. For example, when the DRX cycle length increased from 640ms to 1280ms, the terminating call setup time was 320ms higher on average. End-to-end capabilities are crucial here to see the big picture and to optimize 3G network performance across radio and core networks. Many mobile operators are already using Nokia Siemens Networks equipment to increase cycle length and boost smartphone battery life for subscribers. In LTE networks, any data transmission requires that the smartphone is in a highpower RRC-connected state. Yet there are moments in any data application when no data is sent or received, and swapping to connected state DRX (cdrx) during those intervals can save energy. cdrx cyclically wakes up and shuts down the receiver circuits in order to save energy. Optimal parameter settings result in a lower signaling load in the network and improve the battery life of end-users smart phones. To help operators investigate the viability of this technology, Smart Labs offer a consultancy service to analyze detailed the DRX capability of smart devices, look at how well DRX works in different LTE services, such as best-effort Internet applications and VoLTE, and provide performance analysis and comparison for different applications and devices. Our Smart Lab Performance Advisor consultancy service will analyze: The detailed cdrx capability in devices cdrx for different LTE services, from best-effort Internet to VoLTE cdrx performance analysis and comparison for different applications and devices
5/12 Category: Battery lifetime Faster connections, longer-lasting batteries A European 3G network is benefiting from a 30% reduction in signaling traffic just three months after Network Controlled Fast Dormancy (NCFD) was implemented by Nokia Siemens Networks. That s good news for mobile operators, since up to 20% of all smartphones in 3G networks are now NCFD-enabled. NCFD combats the nearconstant signaling from smartphones on mobile broadband networks. So, if your smartphone appears to be lasting longer than usual on a single charge after a day of hitting the web, congratulations you re probably your NCFD-enabled phone in a Nokia Siemens Networks-supported 3G network. Nokia and Apple decided early on to support NCFD on their smartphones, with Blackberry and Android OS device manufacturers like Samsung, LG and Sony Ericsson following suit. Smartphones support an impressive range of applications, such as IM, push email, social networking and VoIP services. Such applications typically maintain heart-beat connectivity with the network, sending messages as often as every 30 or 60 seconds. Nokia Siemens Networks Smart Labs tested popular over-the-top (OTT) VoIP applications running on different smartphone operating systems. One of the findings was the huge signaling load caused by VoIP applications in non-ncfd-enabled smartphones, which generated 600% more signaling traffic. Since smartphones aren t yet smart enough to predict when you ll need a network connection, they switch into an idle state when not in use and reconnect as needed. This takes time, creates local network congestion and drains the handset s battery. Standardized in 3GPP Release 8, Nokia Siemens Networks NCFD introduces an intermediate state: one with less signaling and faster reconnections. People whose smartphones support NCFD benefit twice: First, it takes them less time to reconnect to the mobile Internet. Second, their phones consume less power when doing so, which in turn doubles their battery life. We offer our consultancy service Smart Lab Performance Advisor to analyze: Detailed NCFD capability in devices NCFD analysis and comparison for different applications and devices
6/12 Category: Mobile broadband Smartphone users upload data like crazy Think of it as the Super Bowl Effect. The use of video and other bandwidth-heavy mobile applications is set to grow in future, and the behavior of fans at this year s Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, shows how. Some 60% of mobile traffic during the event was uplink traffic. Fans uploaded more data to the network than they downloaded (125GB compared with 90GB). They sent photos, videos and messages to their social networks like Facebook and Google+, and to friends who couldn t be there. While the Super Bowl is a special case, it is not always possible to dedicate so much extra firepower to each and every event. Continuous Packet Connectivity (CPC) provides another option. In world class sports events the sufficient bandwidth capacity in the uplink is crucial. To meet this demand, CPC bundles HSPA+ radio network extensions together with features that enable more uplink capacity, higher data rates and less smartphone battery consumption. Experts at Nokia Siemens Networks Smart Labs have tested the feature set offered by CPC using commercial Nokia Siemens Networks radio equipment. The figures below underline the striking benefits of CPC: 5x more HSPA+ capacity (users) 4x more cell throughput (Mbps) 15% more smartphone battery life (hours) They is also clear evidence that the CPC radio feature set is a very efficient way to increase upload capacity and improve the user experience, especially when subscribers are uploading pictures, videos and files in social media and other services. In other words, this could be the key to helping mobile operators to prepare for the Super Bowl effect and get ready today for the next major event in their market.
7/12 Category: Mobile broadband World s first LTE-enabled quadricopter takes off Nokia Siemens Networks Smart Labs are hot-beds of ideas and research that help operators to understand and take advantage of the fast-changing communications market in exciting new ways. One such idea recently emerged from the Smart Lab in Seoul, South Korea, which demonstrated a high-flying proof-of-concept with LTE latency and performance. The team integrated an LTE USB dongle and modified firmware into an augmented reality quadricopter, with remote control of the device and video communication achieved over LTE. The Smart Labs team used an ipad app to guide the quadricopter and stream real-time video from its on-board camera, proving that the high bandwidth and low latency of LTE is ideally suited to supporting remote control flight. Needless to say, the results were awesome. See the YouTube video During Mobile World Congress 2013 in Barcelona, the Nokia Siemens Networks Smart Lab team will again present spectacular results and findings about the impact of smartphones and applications on mobile networks. All the major developments will be paired with exciting live demonstrations, so don t miss out and make sure you visit the Nokia Siemens Networks booth.
8/12 Category: Mobile applications Smart Labs support the GSMA Smarter App Challenge More mobile operators than ever are supporting the GSMA s Smarter App Challenge, which aims to drive improvements in application connectivity, power consumption, network reliability, security and other areas. The Challenge called on developers to implement GSMA s recommendations and create more efficient mobile applications. All entries in the competition had to be commercially available mobile apps, available on any platform. The judges were Korea Telecom and Nokia Siemens Networks Smart Labs, as well as GSMA. Nokia Siemens Networks also played another important role in the initiative, using its Smart Labs to conduct performance tests on all the applications that reached the final rounds of the competition. Based on the results, we provided a comprehensive test report to GSMA to help identify the most network-friendly applications. The winner of the 2012 Smarter App Challenge developer competition was Jun-ho Choi from Seoul, South Korea, who took home a grand prize of $10,000 for his Flow It Restaurant app. GSMA unveiled the results at the Mobile Asia Expo in Shanghai, China. Caption: Yi Rong from Nokia Siemens Networks (left) with Smarter App Challenge winner Jun-Ho Choi from South Korea (right) The explosive growth in the use of smartphones can have a major impact on network performance, almost bringing networks to a standstill in some cases. This issue affects everyone in the mobile industry and has implications for the user experience, software platforms and applications. To meet this challenge, our experts at the Nokia Siemens Networks Smart Labs offering a technical consultancy service to find the best combination of network technology enhancements, software platform efficiencies and developer education to ensure that applications are as network-friendly as possible. This kind of developer education is also promoted by industry-wide initiatives such as the GSMA s Smarter Apps challenge. Ralph Cochrane, community manager of the company loudsource, which organized the contest on behalf of GSMA, expressed his gratitude to Nokia Siemens Networks: It's great to see GSMA members getting involved to showcase great developer talent and educate the market about important issues for all of us, like app efficiency. Thank you for helping to promote the GSMA Smarter App Challenge. Nokia Siemens Networks opened its first Smart Lab in 2009, and since then has established labs across North America, Europe and Asia. By engaging with all the players in the mobile ecosystem application developers, smartphone manufactures and mobile operators the labs bring industry together to improve network performance. In fact, this collaboration has already resulted in major network improvements, including lower signaling load, increased cell throughput and higher WCDMA capacity.
9/12 Category: Mobile applications Report: FaceTime over cellular In September 2012, Apple released FaceTime over cellular in ios 6. Nokia Siemens Networks tested the behavior and performance of the FaceTime application in Smart Labs equipped with end-to-end HSPA and LTE access networks. The whole Smart Labs network is based on commercial Nokia Siemens Networks mobile network products, which are widely used by operators in live mobile networks. We measured the call setup times in different network environments and analyzed the FaceTime behavior when establishing calls. The team analyzed the traffic generated by FaceTime calls, delved into the data and analyzed the audio and video traffic components separately. This service could give mobile operators a boost as they look to find new ways to charge for data usage. But is it ready for operation on mobile networks? When Apple rolls out new services or changes, as it did in ios 6, it can have a big and immediate impact on mobile network load and performance. The Smart Labs FaceTime study provides deep insight into the architecture of Apple s service, including call flows, audio quality, video bit rates, signaling and data load. It focuses on network impacts for mobile operators. This study is valuable for all mobile operators who want to offer video call services. Buy a report: All Smart Lab report studies are commercially available Contact us via our local Nokia Siemens Networks representative or smart.labs@nsn.com
10/12 Category: Smartphones VoIP on Smartphones The excessive signaling load generated by some smartphones during VoIP calls depends on the behavior of specific handsets, according to results of tests at Nokia Siemens Networks Smart Labs. The tests looked at devices using Nimbuzz, GoogleTalk and Skype, and found huge discrepancies. For example, a Skype voice call on Samsung s Android phones generated 600% more signaling traffic than Nokia phones and iphones. The resulting increase in network congestion is directly caused by proprietary device-controlled fast dormancy in the Android phones. This differs from the Network Controlled Fast Dormancy (NCFD) defined in 3GPP Release 8, which enables radio access technology to reduce signaling so that smartphones can benefit from a longer battery life. Unlike the Android phones, the iphone4 and Nokia N8 both feature NCFD, so in an NCFD-enabled network (like those from Nokia Siemens Networks), they enjoy two hours more speech time in a Skype call. These impressive results have convinced a number of device manufacturers using an Android operating system (OS) or a Blackberry OS to step back from proprietary device-driven fast dormancy and adopt standardized NCFD, as supported by Nokia Siemens Networks. One European mobile operator that enabled NCFD-featured WCDMA by Nokia Siemens Networks in its network was able to reduce the network signaling load by 30% after six months of operation, while data traffic continued to grow. Nokia Siemens Networks uses this insight to develop leading network solutions and network optimization services that will help mobile operators to improve their network operations and customer experience. We offer our Smart Lab Performance Advisor consultancy service to analyze: VoIP/ IM analysis and comparison for different applications and devices Technical parameter optimization to mitigate the signaling load
11/12 Category: Testimonial of the year Telefónica shows how to get smart Together we are smarter than ever. At our Smart Lab in Madrid, Spain, Telefónica and Nokia Siemens Networks are investigating how networks, applications and smartphones can work together more smoothly and effectively to deliver the best customer experience. Telefónica reported that the Madrid Smart Lab played a key role in helping reduce signaling load and extend smartphone battery life. Support from the Smart Lab also included professional services, such as radio network performance optimization. Using multiple measurement methods, we jointly analyzed signaling load on radio and packet core networks, and successfully reduced the load by 30% with our Network Controlled Fast Dormancy (NCFD) feature. The Smart Lab in Madrid, which was established in August 2010 is fully equipped to test smart device behavior on mobile networks using GSM, 3G, LTE and WiFi technologies, among others. The Smart Lab in Madrid also benefits from continuous information exchange with Nokia Siemens Networks other five Smart Labs, which are located in North America, Europe and Asia. Smart Labs offer in-depth knowledge, proven experience and real success in working to deliver mobile network optimization, service quality improvements and a better user experience The Nokia Siemens Networks Smart Lab offers technical consulting services for mobile operators to analyze and improve their network performance. This helps them deliver an improved subscriber experience with smart phones and mobile Internet apps. Many mobile operators already benefit from our Smart Lab Performance Advisor technical consultancy service.
12/12 Nokia Siemens Networks P.O. Box 1 FI-02022 NOKIA SIEMENS NETWORKS Finland Visiting address: Karaportti 3, ESPOO, Finland Switchboard +358 71 400 4000 (Finland) Switchboard +49 89 5159 01 (Germany) Copyright 2012 Nokia Siemens Networks. Nokia is a registered trademark of Nokia Corporation, Siemens is a registered trademark of Siemens AG. The wave logo is a trademark of Nokia Siemens Networks Oy. Other company and product names mentioned in this document may be trademarks of their respective owners, and they are mentioned for identification purposes only. This publication is issued to provide information only and is not to form part of any order or contract. The products and services described herein are subject to availability and change without notice.