Packet Networking for Mobile Backhaul

Are you ready for LTE?

October 2012

Agenda

Mobile has become the new broadband

Mobile Internet
10 Billion+
Units/Users

Smartphones have outstripped

PC/laptop/notebook sales in
2012 (Yankee Group)

Desktop Internet
1 Billion+
Units/Users

PC
10 Million+
Units

1 Million+
Units

1960

100 Million+
Units

Minicomputer

Mainframe

1970

1980

More than just phones:

Source:InternetTrends,April2010,MorganStanley

1990

2000

2010

2020

Ethernet Technology is Mature

Heavy Reading

Mobile Backhaul is Booming!

Higher
consumption of
mobile multimedia
services & M2M
communications
5

3.8M cells sites by 2015

5-10x small cells
increase bandwidth per user
fill coverage gaps
More tower sharing

Service Providers
continue to
upgrade their
backhaul
networks!

Mobile Backhauls Migration to Packet

TDM

PDH/SONET/SDH

MSC

PDH/SONET/SDH

HYBRID
Packet Transport

PACKET

MSC

Packet Transport

MSC

2008
6

2012

2016

Weighing Performance, Complexity and Cost

Cost
Throughput
Protection

Flexibility
Latency

Flexibility of a CE Service is coupled to performance, complexity, & cost . A

[mobile backhaul] service which offers flexibility, but does not meet the
requirements for latency, throughput, protection, or cost, is useless.
- Major European Mobile Operator
7

LTE Brings new Requirements & Pain Points

Higher user speeds greater capacity requirements in BH & Core
Lower latencies

New logical interface support (X2)

Clock synchronization (phase and frequency)
Small cell extensions from macro cells

Heterogeneous networking (HETNET

integrating macro/small/femto cells, wifi)

$
$

IP security

Better QoS
Mobile core elements expensive and congested
Better determinism, protection, availability, performance
Lower Costs
8

$
$

Connecting Cell Sites with Mobile Switching Centers

BS

RAN Backhaul Network

Microwave & Fiber

eNB
(IP endpoint)

Fiber
L2

L2

X2
Cluster

MSC
MNO1
L3

L2 +L1

10GE
DWDM
POTS

100-300Mbps
GE

GE
10GE

100GE
10GE

MNO2

Simple, secure separation of user IP from backhaul

9

MBH Costs = f(BW, Complexity, Uncertainty)

Bandwidth: equipment, space, power
Complexity: training, errors, failures, mtce
Uncertainty: Just in case overspending

Scalability, Performance
Simplicity, Complete OAM Tools
Deterministic Behavior

Time

10

Transport-class Packet Networks

Retain key advantages of
legacy transport services

Add key packet efficiency

attributes

True
Convergence

Transport-class Packet Networks

bridge the gap between the transport and packet worlds
11

Carrier Ethernet for Mobile Backhaul

MEF CE 1.0 started with a framework and 3 std
services applied to metro & regional networks
CE 2.0 delivers 3 new features relevant to MBH:
Multi-CoS, Interconnection, Management
CE supports key MBH requirements:
Higher capacities, lower latency
Flexible Network Topologies:
hub-&-spoke, ring, mesh
Microwave and fiber media
Resiliency: quick, predictable failover
2G, 3G, and LTE on same BH network
Seamless integration: MNO owned uWave
backhaul leased SP wireline backhaul service

Less complex, more efficient operation than layer 3 routing

12

Carrier Ethernet for LTE Backhaul

Standard interoperable interface: MNO backhaul network

CE Service connectivity supports S1 and X2 logical interfaces
Service definitions with Service Level Specifications (SLS)
Service connectivity facilitates scalability
13

MPLS-TP for Mobile BH

Cleans up deficiencies from MPLS, focuses on transport
Looks like MPLS on the surface (LSPs, PW labels, etc)
Functionally more like Carrier Ethernet
L2 encapsulation/networking/protection mechanisms
Deterministic connection-oriented packet transport
Complete OAM
Enables direct (static) provisioning

Mobile Backhaul connections tend to have longevity

Pre-determined paths are less complex and more scalable

Dynamic path establishment options also optional

MPLS dynamic label distribution protocols are costly and overly complex for mobile BH
As MPLS migrates from core into backhaul, IP control plane functionality adds
security, stability, scalability and OPEX concerns.

Less complex, more efficient operation than IP/MPLS

14

Key Architectural Consideration Packet Transport

IP Forwarding

MPLS-TE

MSC
MPLS-TP

Ethernet

Ethernet

Requirement: Lowest cost transport between IP Endpoints

15

Increasing Cost & Complexity

Service/Application Layer
IP Endpoints

The Cost of Complexity

Backhaul

EPC
MME
S-GW

POTS

eNB
User IP (hidden from backhaul network)

User IP

3
2
1

Internet

2
1

L2

2
1

L2

Transport IP

2
1

L2

User IP

2
1

3
L2

2
1

L2 Backhaul connectivity
Fewer protocol layers provisioning, management, restoration
Lower equipment cost, people cost, complexity, risk, reroute complexity / time
Independence between the BH transport layer and the client eNB/EPC (IP) layer
Smooth migration path from legacy backhaul to LTE
Best options are MEF-CE or MPLS-TP

Lower Complexity = Lower Total Cost of Ownership

16

2
1

The Cost of Complexity

L2 and L3 Protocol Stacks for LTE BH

L3
L2

IP Routed BH

L2 Switched Backhaul

IP-VPN

Carrier-Ethernet-VPN

eNB IP

MPLS

GE

BGP
Topol . LDP
RSVP-TE
Targeted LDP
mpoint LSP
OSPF-TE
ISIS-TE
Hop-by-hop
\ routing

L3 networking is managed by MNO

and is optional for backhaul

Q-in-Q
G.8032 / G.8031

MPLS-TP Provisioned

GE

eNB

IP

H-VPLS tLDP
MPLS-TP

PBB

SPBM
(S-MAC + SPBM-TE
eNB-MAC)

GE

L2 CONSISTENTLY > 30% TCO SAVINGS

Carriers seek a simplified de-layered network

17

Using Carrier Ethernet to Backhaul LTE

Infonetics Research White Paper Feb 2011

18

AdvancedPacketHandlingforMobileBackhaul
Bandwidth Control

Synchronization

High Throughput, Low Latency,

Scalability, Protocol Flexibility

1588
GM
1588 slave

Physical Switch
MPLS

VS

Packet
Network

VS
VS
VS
VS

Sync E

Freq. Phase ToD

Rapid Network Turn Up

Resiliency

Hi Performance
G.8032 ERP

E-2-E Tunnel
Protection

Order

Deliver

Auto IP Address

Auto Device Config

Auto Discover

Service Wizard

Ethernet

CE

VS

VS
1,000s

Rich Instrumentation

CE

Service
EVC (E-Line)

EVC (E-LAN)
EVC (E-Tree)
OVC Services

Metro

802.1ag, Y.1731, EFM, etc.

Link + Flow OAM, Benchmarking

Low Cost, High Performance Packet Infrastructure

19

Multi-Service Backhaul
Traffic Separation and QoS Enforcement through Pseudowires
End-to-end Management

GSM

1588V2
Grand Master

UMTS

BSC 2G

TDM

LTE or HSPA

PW Tunnels

ATM

RNC 3G UMTS
RNC 3G HSPA

Ethernet

E1/T1
ATM/IMA

MME
S-GW
P-GW

Ethernet

Packet Switched Network

Reduced Reliance
on TDM/PDH/SDH
Network
20

LTE

Small Cell Evolution

Definite trend toward shrinking cell sizes.

Provide better capacity and coverage
Backhaul is biggest hurdle
HR 2015 breakdown on Small Cell BH media: 58% radio, 36% fiber, 6% Cu
Key NID features include SLA monitoring, Complete OAM CFM and
Performance Monitoring functionality and synchronization standards.
21

SP Competition Shifting from Tech Specs to Experience

256K dynamic RAM. 3-1/2 floppy

disk LCD displayIBM compatible,
3 1/2 720KB floppy disk drive.
22

ultra-responsive, ultra-sleek
you wont sacrifice power for beauty.

Analyst View
Metro access and aggregation networks continue to
be built out at a furious pace to accommodate the
increasing amount of bandwidth required by mobile
lowest TCO
TCO
backhaul.Operators are looking for the lowest
(total cost of ownership), which includes the greatest
ease of operation and fastest speed of deployment.
Automation and rapid turn-up of services certainly
focuses on what providers are looking for to help
enable them to gain footprint and competitive
advantage.
- Michael Howard, co-founder and principal analyst at Infonetics Research

23

LTE Backhaul - Built for Speed

Service providers must compete on end-user experience rather than technology

24

MNO Self-Build - Case Study #1

Access

lowest cost solution

Metro/Aggregation

BS

Agg POP

MSC Controllers &

Core Routed Network
MSC

GE

BS

SR
N x 10 GE

BS

N x10 GE

BGP
VRRP

SR

BS
GE

BS

BS

Primary Path
Backup Path

Over 16K Carrier Ethernet enabled cell towers (3G & 4G Traffic)
Microwave/mmwave access (95%) with fiber aggregation
Robust tiered resiliency, low latency, and architectural stability
Carrier grade networking, QoS, OAM and SLA guarantees
Simple, fast tunnel & service provisioning (avg. turn up time per tower < 5 min)
Enhanced scalability (1000+ sites per Metro / millions of services)
25

MNO & Wholesale - Case Study #2

Combining IP/Ethernet Mobile Backhaul & Business Services
CPE

Customer

OSP/RT

CO

Hub-CO

NTE

MNO#2 NTE

MNO#1

EMUX
MPLS (over
Ethernet) for
VPLS/VPWS

EMUX

P Router

MNO#3 NTE

802.1Q

NTE
NTE

802.1ad

EMUX

EMUX

Ethernet
(Q-in-Q)

EMUX

SER/BRAS
LAG

NTE
NTE

Broad portfolio with common OS

Both Indoor and outdoor extended temperature devices
Automated on-net provisioning via templates
Extensive Ethernet OAM Toolset
Leading edge IETF TWAMP monitoring protocol to
measure L3 latency/jitter for SLA enforcement

Service
Demarcation
26

IP Edge
&
Core

Simplified training, certification & support

QoS / Ingress metering

Ethernet
(Q-in-Q)
for L3

De-cost Backhaul with Packet Transport

Avoid complexity at all cost
Use Layer 2 wherever possible for mobile backhaul
Seamless operations of IP/MPLS from core to cell tower higher costs

Consolidate 2G-3G-4G backhaul onto converged packet network

Insist on a rich set of OAM tools
Design for scalable, resilient & deterministic backhaul
Leverage newer topologies and protection mechanisms
Trust packet microwave to Ethernet-enable cell sites
Automate operations (take the human steps out of provisioning)

Choose Packet Transport solutions for lowest TCO

27

Networks That Change the Way You Compete