Ruckus Smart Mesh: Leveraging small cell mobile backhauling

Small cells are a new architectural approach to increase capacity of service provider networks. Essentially miniaturized base stations, they combine licensed and unlicensed radio technology with wireless backhaul. The result: Short-ranged, lower-powered wireless signals that deliver better signal coverage, improved voice quality, and higher data performance to mobile users.

Small cell technology can be used to generate high-quality mobile signals indoors and at remote outdoor locations. It can also satisfy the growing demand for mobile data by expanding a macro network’s data capacity at a fraction of the cost.

Robert Joyce, chief radio engineer at Telefonica UK, noted that the major obstacle to deploying small cell was finding a reliable and yet inexpensive way to backhaul traffic from hundreds or even thousands of small cell nodes.

That is where Ruckus Wireless’ Smart Mesh technology comes in. Smart Mesh combines advanced self-organizing network (SON) principles with Ruckus-patented adaptive antenna arrays and predictive channel management techniques. The synergized technologies and techniques result in Wi-Fi mesh backbone links between nodes that are highly resilient and rated at speeds of 5 GHz.

These links automatically adapt to changes in environmental conditions. Wireless service providers like O2 and its owner, Telefonica UK, can use those links to mesh traffic. The innovative method will allow delivery of reliable backhaul for licensed cellular and unlicensed Wi-Fi traffic in both line of sight and non-line of site environments.

The Ruckus SmartCell system allows the innovative use of LTE small cells to give mobile operators a boost in capacity. By co-locating and combining LTE small cells with Wi-Fi access points, which allows LTE small cells to share site-lease agreements and backhaul, wireless network operators can simplify operations and save money.

In addition, by integrating Wi-Fi and LTE small cells within the cellular core, operators can better optimize network utilization across the radio access network. Subscribers will get to enjoy further improvement in performance and a seamless Wi-Fi experience.

Mr. Joyce can attest to the effectiveness of the SmartMesh-empowered mobile backhauling services. "With Smart Mesh,” said the Telefonica chief radio engineer, “we are running fiber to just one of every five nodes.” Reducing the amount of fiber led to savings in capital and OPEX. It also allowed faster deployment of the system and similarly speedy delivery of the wireless service.

RAD ETX-5300 joins Best Carrier Ethernet Aggregation Product Award final list

A prestigious panel of industry judges at the 2012 Carrier Ethernet World Congress added RAD Data Communications's ETX-5300A Ethernet service aggregation platform to the list of finalists for this year's Carrier Ethernet Award.

The brand new RAD product snagged a shortlisted position in the Best Carrier Ethernet Aggregation Product category for the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) market.

The ETX-5300A moves Ethernet and TDM traffic from the access network to the provider’s edge over native 10-Gigabit Ethernet links. It allows operators to optimize converged business, wholesale, and mobile backhaul services using a single device. This will bring significant reductions to operational costs per Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) link. 

Judges will be drawn from leading industry analyst firms (such as Ovum and Infonetics) and telecom operators (like Telus, Colt, Oi Brasil, and NTT Japan.) 

The Best Carrier Ethernet Aggregation Product will be presented under the auspices of event organizer IIR Telecoms & Technology in front of the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF).

The Spanish city of Barcelona will host this year's Carrier Ethernet World Congress. The ceremony for its Carrier Ethernet Awards will be held on September 18.

In 2011, RAD received two Carrier Ethernet Awards at two different Carrier Ethernet gatherings. The company, which primary handle mobile backhauling, is the only vendor which received more than one award.

Last year's winning products were ETX-203A, which Singapore acknowledged as the "best Carrier Ethernet demarcation product in Asia-Pacific;" and the ETX-205A, which won the award for "Best Carrier Ethernet mobile backhaul product in EMEA" during the Carrier Ethernet World Congress 2011 in Amsterdam.

Lemko DiMoWiNe offers mobile backhaul-free LTE

Lemko Corporation is advertising its Distributed Mobile Wireless Network (DiMoWiNe) as a cheaper yet similarly-effective substitute for backhaul services. And it's putting its Long Term Evolution (LTE) concept on its first big trial with a Canadian Tier 1 operator.

In a Light Reading article, the small Illinois-based company proposes doing away with the intermediate links between the core/backbone network and the subnetworks at the edge of the hierarchical network.

Instead, Lemko suggested virtualizing the network's Evolved Packet Core (EPC) and IMS functionality. By removing the backhaul and converting the entire switching center into software, a network operator could perform all LTE operations -authentication, switching, routing, and rating- at the eNodeB, a Layer 7 cloud application at the network's edge.

DiMoWiNe is expected to reduce operating expenses by four-fifths, with Lemko estimating that the cost spent for each gigabyte will drop from $5 to $1. The new technology will also decongest the spectrum, allowing wireless operators to reduce their dependency on expensive Wi-Fi offload.


"DiMoWiNe turns cellular into an app that jumps on the Internet right away," says Lemko COO Bohdan Pyskir.

Lemko's DiMoWiNe has been deployed at more than 500 commercial and military-operated locations. One notable example cited are the primarily rural wireless operators in remote areas like Alaskan fishing towns. Big operators do not cover these areas because of the lack of infrastructure and- according to COO Psikyir- motivation.

The biggest test for Lemko is a five-month trial with a Canadian Tier 1 operator. Lemko is also pitching its DiMoWiNe concept to other Tier 1 operators as a competitive substitute to backhaul.

On July 24, 2012, Lemko Corporation also announced that its DiMoWiNe 4G system has reached interoperability for roaming between 700MHz LTE lower band class 12 and band class 17.

Infonetics: Cloud services, data traffic pushing Ethernet, IP MPLS VPN services to $81B by 2016

Excerpts from Infonetics Research's 2012 Ethernet and IP MPLS VPN Services report suggests that the IP MPLS VPNs and Ethernet service markets will hit a combined total of $81 billion by 2016.

Infonetics, a market research firm, analyzed the market for both managed and unmanaged layer 2 and layer 3 IP MPLS VPN services, as well as wholesale and retail Ethernet services, in order to make short-term and long-term forecasts.

Michael Howard, the firm's co-founder and principal analyst, explained that the migration from legacy frame relay, ATM, and leased line services to Ethernet and IP services is accelerating.  Businesses intent on maintaining competitiveness in the highly-interconnected, mobile, video- and cloud-oriented world were hastening the move to the newer mediums.

"By 2015, ATM and frame relay will virtually vanish," Mr. Howard predicted, "While private leased lines will be around a bit longer."

According to Mr. Howard, Europe's 2011-2012 slowdown was not going to slow the "solid growth" of both IP MPLS VPNs and Ethernet services. He predicted that the two services together would reach $81 billion worldwide in four years.

Cost-cutting initiatives, cloud services, and surging data traffic fueled the growth of Global Ethernet and MPLS IP VPN. Their service revenue grew a combined 13% in 2011 to just over $50 billion. In comparison, the growth rate of telecom service provider revenue is a distant second, even though actual service provider revenue has been increasing.

In addition, according to Infonetics Research, the Asia Pacific region already leads the EMEA in Ethernet services. Asia will be expected to become the leading region for IP MPLS VPN services by 2012. It will also remain the leader for the combined IP MPLS VPN and Ethernet services market, with China and India leading the market. IP/Ethernet gear accounted for 90% of mobile backhaul equipment expenditure in 2011.

BTI deploys mobile backhaul solutions for Fiberail in Malaysia

Metro networking company BTI Systems announced on July 19, 2012 that major Malaysian wholesale operator Fiberail expanded its deployment of BTI's Integrated Services Delivery Platform solutions.

Fiberail will be delivering Mobile Backhaul and Carrier Ethernet Business services across Malaysia through BTI's network solution. The Malaysian operator will also be able to provide "international interconnect" services to Thailand and Singapore.

Malaysia's telecommunications providers and its leading 3G Mobile and 4G WiMax operators rely upon Fiberail's extensive infrastructure and ancillary services throughout Peninsular Malaysia. Fiberail operates three fiber optic cable networks thousands of kilometers long that deliver voice, data and video capabilities through all major Malaysian towns. In addition, Fiberail recently expanded its metro Ethernet services to operators and financial service organizations, and it also provides services for global customers.

Fiberail chose the BTI 7000 Series packet optical networking platform, which converges Carrier Ethernet and wavelength services delivery at the metro service edge. The wavelength services are used by Fiberail to interconnect operators in neighboring countries, and the 7000 series' packetVX module cost-effective aggregation of 10G capacity for Mobile Backhaul and Ethernet services delivery. The use of a single platform to integrate different services also obviated the need for new infrastructure equipment.

In addition, Fiberail will also use the BTI 700 Series to directly deliver Ethernet connectivity to customer premises through the access network. Fiberail will be able to extend Carrier Ethernet services to business customers, carriers, cell towers, and data center operators.

The synergy between the BTI 7000 Series and 700 Series gives Fiberail the ability to provide end-to-end, low-latency Mobile Backhaul services to its many customers.

The rapidly-growing Malaysia market for broadband and mobile services currently has more than 34 million mobile subscribers. with one out of every three of those mobile subscribers owning 3G devices that require rapid content access. Broadband is estimated to have penetrated more than 55 percent of the households.

The market's growth is driven by mobile data and the demand for fixed broadband. Pyramid Research expects the telecom market to reach $14.6 billion service revenue by 2017. With BTI's help, Fiberail aims to leverage those new opportunities through its upgrades and expanded services.

MEF adds mobile backhaul to CE 2.0 agenda

The recent Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) took a look at mobile backhaul services as another application to be developed for the planned Carrier Ethernet (CE) 2.0 standard.

The MEF concluded the fiscal year 2012 with numerous highlights. This included passing the 200-member company mark, certifying over 150 service providers and equipment vendors to CE 1.0, and bringing the number of MEF-CECPs (MEF Carrier Ethernet Certified Professionals) up to 300.

In addition to demonstrating current CE 2.0 service capabilities for private cloud environments and improving Carrier Ethernet's dynamism and responsiveness to future requirements, the MEF also recently released MEF 22.1 (Mobile Backhaul Implementation Agreement Phase 2.)

"As the demand for Ethernet Services for Mobile Backhaul continues to skyrocket," said Brian Rose, Director of Product Development at Cox Business, "MEF’s standards-based framework helps us continue to scale and optimize this business.”

More than 200 organizations make up the MEF global industry alliance. Member groups include telecommunications service providers, cable MSOs, network equipment/software manufacturers, semiconductor vendors, and testing organizations.

The MEF aims to hasten the worldwide adoption of standardized Carrier-class Ethernet networks and services. To this end, it enacted Carrier Ethernet technical specifications and implementation agreements that advance interoperability and Carrier Ethernet deployment.

CE 2.0 possess powerful and standardized attributes of Multi-CoS, Interconnect and Manageability. It will take Carrier Ethernet and telecommunications to the next level of capabilities and cost-efficiency in order to handle exponential growth of data in business, mobile, and cloud applications.

Wireless Broadband Services now from Cablevision

Over the years, Cablevision has been offering digital TV, high-speed internet, as well as home phone services to its customers. Now, the company is extending its services to fixed wireless broadband called OMGFAST in Florida. For a 50 mbps connection, customers are charged at a competitive $29.95.


Since 2004, Cablevision has been working in acquiring several broadband license in more than 45 markets, all through the subsidiary DTV Norwich, bidding in an auction by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Multichannel Video Data Distribution Services or MVDDS spectrum. 


The MVDDS spectrum delivers Internet services, as well as wireless video and voice to fixed receivers. Cablevision hopes to use the technology to also provide mobile backhaul services to wireless phone carriers. The company has already requested the FCC to increase the power levels of MVDSS transmitters. Since the release of powerful smartphones running on the Android platform courtesy of Google, and the seeming ubiquitous quality of iPhone's, the demands for mobile data has increased.


Mobile backhaul solutions are becoming more and more important with the proliferation of powerful, wireless gadgets. Just recently, the Farmers Mutual Telephone Company partnered with ADTRAN for the deployment of wireless backhaul communications. 

NSR: HTS, O3b shakes up wireless backhaul market

In its recently-released Wireless Backhaul via Satellite, 6th Edition, NSR identified significant short- and long-term shift from legacy SCPC and TDMA wireless backhaul systems to satellite-based systems that use High Throughput Satellites (HTS) and O3b.

According to the NSR, market players involved in space segment capacity and end-to-end services will encounter new opportunities and threats will arise as the market shifts. The same applies for companies who handle the equipment segment.

The global satellite backhaul market currently has a $800 million annual revenue base. But the NSR report expected the market's revenue to hit $2.3 billion in 2021.

In addition to their long-term effects, HTS and O3b will impose significant short-term changes in the wireless backhaul industry.

According to Jose Del Rosario, Senior Analyst for NSR and author of the wireless backhaul study, OPEX considerations brought about high bandwidth costs that slowed down the wireless backhaul market's adoption of satellite solutions.

HTs and 03b will make bandwidth much cheaper.  Coupled with the needs of the mobile workforce, market players will benefit from higher penetration levels in key markets for both developing and developed countries.

Furthermore, new programs may lead to a new look at currently-deployed solutions, which may then be abandoned for newer, more cost-efficient platforms. The space segment side has HTS and O3b; del Rosario also looks at cheaper, modestly-sized picocells. These picocells come with the benefit of lower CAPEX, which makes them more attractive for deployment on ground towers, maritime vessels, and commercial aircraft.

Cisco Routers in More Mobile Backhaul Facilities

Frontier Communications has began deploying Cisco ultra-fast router, making a great improvement on its carrier-grade 4G mobile backhaul facilities.

Cisco's Aggregation Services Router 9000 Series (ASR 9000) is expected to significantly improve Frontier's mobile backhaul performance in up to 20 US service areas. Frontier Communications is a broadband provider focusing in underserved regions. The embattled company is struggling to reverse declining sales. Its profit declined by 50% year-on-year last quarter as itloses more clients. 


Reallocation of resources from rural broadband to wireless backhaul business seems to be the most logical step to do to revive sales. China Telecom is also deploying Cisco routers. The telco will be rolling out IPTV services via ASR 9000, offering converged IPTV and VPN services. China Telecom is the country's biggest mobile telecommunications firm. The router will first be deployed in Chinese coastal areas, such as Shanghai, Guangdong and Fujian.Last year, Kabel Deutschland (KDG) also announced plans to deploy ASR 9000 for aggregation and distribution of video, voice and data services across its IP architecture, paving the way for enhanced services like 3-D TVchannels.


Other Backhaul Industry News


Belden will buy Miranda Technologies for about $330 million. The deal is seen as the end of the long battle between Miranda's management and investors, who believe that the firm is undervalued. Miranda elected a board member who finalized the sale at a price of $17 a share, amounting to C$345million or U.S. $330 million in total. For the most part of 2011, Miranda shares traded at $8. But share price rose late last year as stockholders called for partnership or a sale. 


Belden said Miranda's current operations , such as manufacturing and R&D, are so far not subject to planned changes.With no significant product overlap, the main concern is to maintain the continuity of supply and support for customers of both companies, said Belden. Miranda Technologies President Strath Goodship said Belden benefits from long list of successful businesses. The company has served a number of broadcast customers and is a highly reputed company in Canada and Montreal. He said collaborative efforts between Belden and Miranda will deliver value for all parties involved. He claims that the deal is fully supported by the management team of Miranda. 


In March, Miranda sided with dissidentinvestment group to endorse Tim Thorsteinson for inclusion to the board as areplacement of Thomas Cantwell. Miranda issued a separate release to affirmtheir support to Cantwell.

Comtech subsidiaries gets $1.7M equipment order from Asian mobile operator

Comtech Telecommunications Corp. announced yesterday that an Asian mobile network operator placed a $1.7 million equipment and optimization order with its Arizona-based subsidiary, Comtech EF Data Corp.

The mobile operator is planning to upgrade and expand its satellite-based mobile backhaul network using Comtech EF Data's Modems and RF Products. It will also procure RAN Optimization from another Comtech TC subsidiary, Memotec.

The Asian mobile operator will install the proven combination of Comtech EF Data's CDM-625 Advanced Satellite Modems and Memotec's CX-U Series RAN Optimization at new sites. Existing sites will also be upgraded with the new Comtech equipment to best optimize their network.

Comtech's CDM-625 Advanced Satellite Modem blends advanced forward error correction and bandwidth compression as provided by DoubleTalk(R) Carrier-in-Carrier(R.) DoubleTalk(R) allows a duplex link's transmit and receive carriers to share the same transponder space. These synergized technologies will help users minimize operational and capital expenditures by maximizing throughput/availability without the need to purchase and power additional transponders.

The CX-U Series combines the roles of a flexible access device and mobile backhaul traffic optimization. It offers a staggering range of backhaul interfaces and transmission options which includes Abis/Ater optimization, 2G/3G aggregation, DCME voice trunking optimization, TDM Pseudowire, all-over-IP, Frame Relay, or MLPPP protocol support.

Because of the CX-U's versatility and the critical role it plays in optimizing its mobile backhaul network, the Asian mobile operator decided to order several models -including the CX-U 1010, 1220 and 1280- to achieve a superb mix of access and optimization services.

In addition, Comtech's customer procured both indoor and outdoor models of Comtech EF Data's frequency conversion RF Products. The LPOD Block Up Converter, UT-4505 Up Converter, and the DT-4503 Down Converter will provide frequency conversion for outdoor environments. The rugged LPOD is weatherproof and designed to withstand harsh conditions, while the UT-4505 and the DT-4503 units can be mounted on a rack and are considered to be the end-all of high-performance and cost-effective frequency converters.

Comtech's new customer is the latest in a long list of similar companies and service providers around the world that have widely adopted Comtech's market-leading satellite communications solution featuring the CDM-625 modem and CX-U Series Double Talk(R) Carrier-in-Carrier(R.) The Comtech combination has been proven time and time again to deliver quality transmissions at a cost-efficient rate.

Omnitron iConverter GM4 NID successfully integrated with Cyan CyPortal

Omnitron Systems announced that it has succeeded in integrating its iConverter GM4 Network Interface Device (NID) into Cyan's multi-layer customer portal CyPortal.

Omnitron's iConverter GM4 NID is an industry-leading demarcation device that compiles key SLA performance metrics. The performance data gathered by iConverter is put to good use by Cyportal, the SLA assurance and customer portal component of Cyan's 360 OS.

CyPortal correlates the data gathered by iConverter and simila NIDS with individual customer services. It will then present that data through a customer-oriented view. CyPortal's SLA reports will detail key Ethernet service quality parameters like availability, delay, jitter, throughput, and packet loss across multi-vendor networks.

Service level assurance reports cover key Ethernet service quality parameters like availability, delay, jitter, throughput, and packet loss across networks that host multiple vendors. Accurate data like that provided by iConverter is important.

In a statement made by Frank Wiener, Vice President of Marketing for Cyan, the ability to provide uniform SLA performance reporting and customer portal services across heterogeneous networks through a range of industry-leading products was determined to be a key CyPortal attribute. Omnitron's iConverter GM4 was considered to be a very welcome addition to CyPortal's solution portfolio because the NID brought powerful new options for innovation and expansion of service providers' SLA assurance services

Known as a supplier of excellent fiber access products, Omnitron offers a number of critical services for Carrier Ethernet business services and mobile backhaul networks. Its iConverter GM4 provides comprehensive support for the IEEE 802.1ag and ITU-T Y.1731 standards, and is considered an industry leader when it comes to interoperability and monitoring SLA performance.

Safaricom exchanges legacy mobile backhaul for hybrid microwave backhaul

Kenyan mobile operator Safaricom is moving from legacy TDM mobile backhaul networks to hybrid microwave backhaul in order to better handle ever-expanding WiMAX and 3G data traffic.

Mobile operators around the world are upgrading legacy mobile backhaul networks designed for TDM traffic in order to handle high-speed Ethernet data for 3G and 4G mobile technologies. No two cases are the same, and operators are forced to carefully balance the introduction of new technologies, expenditures, and maintenance of existing services lest they lose customers.

Safaricom is working on maintaining its legacy E1 capacity for voice calls while also adding Ethernet/IP bandwidth for relatively-new but rapidly-growing 3G and WiMAX data traffic.

The Safaricom network is a typical mobile network built up over time with the additional complication of Safaricom's status as the leading mobile operator in Kenya and one of the largest African mobile operators. Many parts of its vast network still use legacy 2G TDM technology with Ethernet-to-E1 converters, .

More and more 3G subscribers have been signing up to Safaricom in recent years. These subscribers are using ever-increasing amounts of data bandwidth, which Safaricom’s TDM-based mobile backhaul is barely able to satisfy.

Safaricom responded to this gap by drawing on the expertise and technology of solution provider Aviat Networks. Aviat deployed its hybrid radio solution, the market-leading modular Eclipse microwave networking platform, which allows Safaricom to add IP data capacity for the unique needs of 3G subscribers while ensuring sufficient E1 capacity for voice calls.

In addition to solving its immediate issue, Eclipse will allow Safaricom to migrate to all-IP, 3G/4G-compatible mobile backhaul.

BTI, EMAXX will debut first 4G wireless service in Cambodia

BTI Systems will team up with Cambodian telecommunications provider EMAXX Telecom to provide mobile backhaul and other related satellite communications services to the lucrative Cambodian market.

EMAXX intends to become the first Cambodian telecom company to offer 4G/WiMAX services, mobile backhaul services, IPLC/DPLC connections, and Ethernet Business Line services to the rapidly-expanding Cambodian market.

To achieve this, it will cooperate with BTI to deploy the BTI 7000 Series platform and pair it with a high-capacity 10G metro Ethernet ring. In addition, EMAXX will be employing the MEF-certified BTI 700 Series to offer a complete range of Ethernet services, such as E-LINE and E-LAN. The proNX Service Management Suite will handle service configuration for both systems.

The new EMAXX system is set for a tentative debut in the capital city of Phnom Penh.

The market for data and mobile services in Cambodia has grown in leaps and bounds. It has also become very competitive. There were nine mobile operators by 2011, and by 2012 it was estimated that those nine operators -including EMAXX- are providing services for 13 million mobile subscribers.