Resilient Synchronous Gigabit Ethernet for True 4G

Mobile Backhaul Network

Over the next several years, LTE
worldwide deployments by
mobile operators will continue to
grow in support of the increased
bandwidth demands being driven
by new data services.

According to Ciscos recent
pro!ections, there will be a "#$
compound growth rate in mobile
data traffic from #%&% to #%&'
and '.( billion personal devices
will be connected to mobile
networ)s by #%&'. #* and +*
service subscriptions will be
around for ,uite some time
although this number will drop
steadily with the growing adoption of -*.LTE services, according to /nfonetics
0esearch 1www.infonetics.com2. 13ee 4igures & and #.2

Connection speeds of mobile devices increase with each new generation5 #*,
+* and -* mobile devices are designed to handle speeds of #+% )bps, &-
6bps and & *bps, respectively resulting in a &'7fold increase in bandwidth
capacity re,uirements as more subscribers convert to -* services.

8uilding the next generation mobile networ) in support of these trends
re,uires careful consideration of all the building bloc)s that ma)e up the
networ). 6obile bac)haul is a critical component, playing a pivotal role in the
overall performance of the networ). /t connects to multiple cell sites
supporting thousands of roaming subscribers and must efficiently handle
changing traffic patterns.

The widely deployed T96 and circuit7switched bac)haul networ)s, such as
3O:ET.39; are recogni<ed as highly resilient and reliable but are expensive
to operate and the shift to
an all7pac)et mobile
bac)haul is driven by the
need to lower the total
cost of ownership. 4or
this reason, Ethernet is
todays choice for mobile
bac)haul.

The pro!ected mobile
landscape calls for a true
-* Ethernet mobile
bac)haul networ) = one that is capable of providing simultaneous support for
multiple generations of high ,uality services = while efficiently handling the
exponential increase in data traffic that will traverse the networ).

A true -* Ethernet mobile bac)haul networ) must meet three fundamental
design re,uirements = resiliency that provides five "s availability,
synchroni<ation of real7time services and low7latency, line7rate performance.
The ob!ective is to provide subscribers access to the highest level of service
,uality at anytime from anywhere while providing the scale to meet future
bandwidth capacity re,uirements.

Two types of Ethernet mobile bac)haul deployments include the 6ulti 0adio
Access :etwor) 10A:2 and 0esilient 6icrowave Access 0ing. 13ee 4igure +.2

/n the multi70A:, cell7site routers with multiple T&.E& and Ethernet ports are
deployed at the cell site and collect traffic from #*, +* and -* radio towers
for handoff to the mobile bac)haul over fiber or copper. 8uilt7in pseudowire
capability converts T&.E& connections from #* and +* services to Ethernet
mobile bac)haul to enable the simultaneous support of all three generations
of services over the same bac)haul networ). This is an important re,uirement
given the wide deployment of #* and +* base stations and mobile operators
have a need to preserve existing investments as new radio towers are
deployed for LTE services.

At the cell7site aggregation, cell7site aggregation routers are connected to via
multiple, resilient synchronous *igabit Ethernet rings and are responsible for
aggregating multiple Ethernet lin)s from various cell sites and routing the
traffic to the mobile core.
0esilient microwave access rings will be commonly deployed in many parts of
the world where microwave deployments are a predominant choice for
bac)haul access due to its relative low7cost. 0ing configurations, as opposed
to the commonly deployed point7to7point configuration provide both high
capacity and the re,uired level of resiliency.

Resiliency

An important component to achieving five nines availability is through the
implementation of pac)et ring resiliency protocols, namely, /T>7T *.?%+# and
04C +(&" Ethernet Automatic @rotection 3witching 1EA@32 both at the cell
site for microwave access rings and at cell site aggregation for the
implementation of multiple resilient Ethernet rings. *.?%+# and EA@3 provide
protection switching5 EA@3 is a proven technology currently deployed in
thousands of service provider networ)s around the world today and*.?%+# is
a standard that builds on the proven success of EA@3. 9epending on the
re,uirements, mobile operators with EA@3 already deployed in their networ),
can choose to migrate to *.?%+#.

Synchronization

3ynchroni<ation is enabled through /EEE &'??v# 1also referred to as
@recision Time @rotocol, or @T@2 and /T>7T *.?#(& 3ynchronous Ethernet
13yncE2. 0eal7time traffic synchroni<ation is crucial to ensure a smooth radio
tower to radio tower handoff during roaming in order to avoid dropped voice
calls and to maintain the re,uired ,uality of service. These protocols ensure
the same level of service performance supported by legacy bac)haul
networ)s based on T&.E& and 3O:ET.39; technologies that achieve
synchroni<ation of real time services using Time 9ivision 6ultiplexing.

As a physical layer protocol, 3yncE derives its reference timing signal from a
cloc) source such as 8uilding /ntegrated Timing 3ystem 18/T32. The physical
layer of the Ethernet port is used to distribute the cloc) fre,uency among all
the nodes in the networ). /t provides the benefit of predictable service
performance independent of the amount of traffic traversing the networ).
&'??v# distributes both time and fre,uency, operates at a higher level
1Ethernet.>9@2 and utili<es time stamps to synchroni<e the networ) nodes
with a master cloc). /n certain deployments, the two protocols are used
together in hybrid mode where the fre,uency is obtained through 3yncE and
time of day is obtained through &'??v#.

Line-Rate Gigabit Ethernet Access and 10 Gigabit Uplink Ports

3ingle or multiple ports of gigabit line7rate access at the cell site to the mobile
bac)haul provides ample current capacity and more lin)s can be added to
address the future data traffic growth. Additionally, the cell7site aggregation
routers that provide high7density line7rate gigabit Ethernet rings are crucial for
scalable service performance. ;igh capacity connections to the mobile core
and intra7ring connections are achieved via single and multiple full line7rate &%
*igabit lin)s.

Suary

/n order to enable true -* services, the Ethernet mobile bac)haul networ)
must provide a combination of resiliency, synchroni<ation, and full capacity
line7rate *bE and &% *bE performances. /t is essential to meet subscriber
expectations in service ,uality for all generations of services while preparing
for the explosive mobile data traffic growth over the next decade and beyond.