Carrier Ethernet for Mobile Backhaul

and MEF Implementation Agreement

MEF Reference Presentation March 2009

Carrier Ethernet for Mobile Backhaul

Part 1
Service Provider Drivers, Challenges Introducing the MEF Mobile Backhaul Implementation Agreement (MEF 22)

Topics
Market Dynamics and Challenges Carrier Ethernet for Mobile Operators Key Mobile Backhaul Issues Existing Mobile Carriers for Service Providers driven by MEF 22: Mobile Backhaul demand & next gen services Implementation Agreement Overview New Revenue Opportunities for Wire-line opportunities for wire-line Service Providers
service providers

Carrier Ethernet for Mobile Operators

Ethernet is the accepted solution, but there are concerns to understand
What are these concerns? How does the new MEF Mobile Backhaul Agreement address them? What is its scope?
Carrier Ethernet for Mobile Carriers

What are the analysts saying?

Ethernet is seen as the only solution for next generation MBH networks legacy technology cant scale surge in spending on Ethernet over microwave
Michael Howard, principal analyst at Infonetics Research

Ethernet Options Solve Backhaul Cost Problem

PDH and ATM over PDH vs New Wireline: Mobile First Mile Backhaul Service Charges per Connection Stay on PDH
Backhaul Service Charges per Connection

$40,000
$37,044

PDH (T1/E1 etc.) costs climb directly with bandwidth Ethernet wireline costs grow incrementally with large bandwidth increases (Ethernet, DSL, PON, cable)

$30,000

$20,000

Or, move to Ethernet

$10,000
$6,887

$0 CY07

CY08

CY09

CY10

CY11

PDH and ATM over PDH

New wireline MBK

New IP/Ethernet wireline options to satisfy the #1 investment driver: operational cost savings

Source: Infonetics Research, Mobile Backhaul Equipment, Installed Base, and Services October 2008

Backhaul Capacity Requirements at the Cell Site

BACKHAUL CAPACITY REQUIREMENTS The amount of capacity a given operator will require to support mobile broadband services is going to vary widely, according to a number of factors. These range from the operators end user market to the network topology that the operator has deployed. The chart above is an approximation of typical bandwidth requirements for an advanced operator in a mature market. With the rollout of mobile broadband air interfaces like EV-DO and HSPA, operators have been adding one or two E1s to their sites. Going forward this backhaul capacity at the cell site will increase significantly from an average of 5 Megabit/s of capacity supported at the site today to 16 Mbit/s. Its easy to see why the cost of adding all that capacity in T1/E1s is prohibitive, particularly if its being paid to a thirdparty wireline wholesaler. The forecast reflects the intent of many operators relayed in surveys and conversations with Heavy Reading to make up to 60 Mbit/s of capacity at some cell sites within three to four years. As shown in slide 12, Verizon and Verizon Wireless are now planning around assumptions of in excess of 100 Mbit/s of capacity being required to some cell sites to support its LTE roll-out.

Carrier Ethernet for Mobile Backhaul

NPRG forecasts Carrier Ethernet services gain traction in 2009, driven by accelerating 3G cellular data plan penetration and mainstreaming of broadband wireless services (e.g., Clear WiMAX from Clearwire) Revenue gains for Ethernet providers could be dramatic, as NPRG forecasts solid doubledigit CAGR for the overall backhaul market through 2013 In 2008, notable contract wins were scored by Ethernet providers in the Midwest, New York, Florida, and California; additional wins are on the horizon for 2009

Key Questions about Using Carrier Ethernet in the Radio Access Network Backhaul

Operational experience
Can I rapidly isolate a fault?

Carrier Ethernet for Mobile Carriers

Synchronization
How do I accurately time my Radio interface if there is no PDH clocking?

Reliability and availability

Are the circuits highly available?

Support for legacy and future generations

How will I support multiple generations of wireless technology?

Are there simple, proven steps to implement?

Where do I start? Is it straightforward?
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MEF 22 Mobile Backhaul Implementation Agreement

Approved Jan 29th 2009

Uniquely enables the deployment of profitable data driven mobile services

Carrier Ethernet for Mobile Carriers

Provides straightforward guidance for service providers to implement Carrier Ethernet for Mobile Backhaul Provides the language to communicate both benefits and technical implementation details to Mobile Operator customers Meets the current dynamic market conditions of disruptive technology (new mobile devices) and financial conditions Provides solutions for transition from legacy technologies Preserves key voice based service revenue
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How MEF 22 Addresses the Key Questions

Operational experience
OAM is built in to todays equipment
Carrier Ethernet for Mobile Carriers

Ethernet OAM allows monitoring of Ethernet services Draws on and includes existing standards

Synchronization
Migration to all packet networks means loss of TDM clock source Phase 1 of the IA covers packet based synchronization Several options are available for clock recovery

Reliability and availability

Reliability is a key Carrier Ethernet attribute Required at network controller Not mandatory at base station

Further Details in the following Technical Overview

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How MEF 22 Addresses Migration from Legacy Networks MEF Implementation Agreement specifies 4 use cases Allows migration or immediate transition to Carrier Ethernet separating backhaul of voice and data or integrated mobile data and voice in a Carrier Ethernet network.
Legacy Network

NonEthernet Interface

GIWF

GIWF

Carrier Ethernet Network

UNI UNI

NonEthernet Interface

Radio Access Network Base Station

Ethernet interface

Ethernet interface

RAN Network Controller

Further Details in the following Technical Overview

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How MEF 22 Addresses Scalability

BTS/NodeB BTS/NodeB

Splitter

ONT

BTS/NodeB

Ethernet over Microwave

PON Fiber

MBH architecture accommodates all popular access networks

N x GigE Wireless CO (RNC/BSC)

Direct Fiber or FTTC

Carrier

BTS/NodeB

Carrier
BTS/NodeB

MBH Generic Interworking Function (GIWF) User to Network Interface (UNI) Network to Network Interface (NNI) (under development)
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How MEF 22 Addresses Evolution

Supports Multiple Generations of Mobile Backhaul
Scalable consolidation enables backhaul of any combination of 2G/3G voice and data traffic over a single CE RAN Designed to support 4G/LTE networks
4G NC

2G

RNC

3G

BTS

T1/E1 (TDM and ATM)

NodeB Ethernet (EVDO/HSPA/3G Rel.5)

Eth

Carrier Ethernet
Gateway BSC

Access Device

4G
eNodeB (LTE) BS (WiMAX)

MBH Generic Interworking Function (GIWF) User to Network Interface (UNI)

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A New Opportunity for Wire-line Service Providers

Opportunity
The new agreement provides a new wholesale opportunity to leverage existing wire-line backhaul infrastructure and capacity Driven by the migration of mobile technologies to Ethernet backhaul
New Revenue opportunities for wire-line service providers

The MBH Implementation agreements helps wholesalers

It states the requirements Includes specific Service Level Specifications that are required for transport of Mobile Backhaul across wire-line backhaul Back-up slides at the end of the deck contain further business case and Mobile Backhaul fundamentals for these wholesale opportunities

Other deliverables for wire-line wholesalers

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Summary
Mobile Operators must upgrade their backhaul to Ethernet MEF Implementation agreement defines a common approach for all Service providers Carrier Ethernet in the RAN opens new opportunities for fixed line operators The migration to Ethernet RAN has started Carrier Ethernet mandated for 4G/LTE

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Carrier Ethernet for Mobile Backhaul

Part 2 MEF 22 Technical Overview

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Topics
MEF 22 Technical Overview MEF 22: Elements
Legacy Mobile Backhaul Migration Traffic separation Ethernet OAM RAN BS Synchronization UNI
UNI

Related Topics
Circuit Emulation Services
UNI IP/MPLS Forums Specification RAN BS Comparison between MEFs MBH IA and the IP/MPLS Forums Specification

Carrier Ethernet Network

RAN NC

MEF Resources
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MEF Elements
What is it?
Provides generic specification for Ethernet backhaul architectures for mobile networks (2G, 3G, 4G) Explains how to apply existing MEF specifications User-Network Interface requirements Service Requirements Service Definitions RAN BS UNI Clock synchronization
UNI

UNI RAN BS

Carrier Ethernet Network

RAN NC

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Terminology and Concepts (1)

The scope of the Mobile Backhaul network as defined for the specification
The Mobile Backhaul is defined as the network between the: Radio Network Controllers (RNCs), and Radio Access Networks Base Station (RAN BS). Mobile Backhaul Implementation Agreement provides guidelines to architecture, equipment & operation to that part of the network

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Terminology and Concepts (2)

Network Elements addressed by the Specification
Terminology used in the specification and this overview
GIWF PCP PEC PTP RAN RAN BS RAN CE RAN NC RNC Generic Inter-working Function Priority Code Point Packet based Equipment Clocks Precision Time Protocol Radio Access Network RAN Base Station RAN Customer Edge RAN Network Controller Radio Network Controller

The RAN CE is a generic term that identifies a mobile network node or site, such as a RAN network Controller or RAN Base Station A RAN NC may be a single network controller or a site composed of several network elements including: OSS, WCDMA Radio Network Controller or Synchronization Server.

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Terminology and Concepts (3)

The RAN Base Station is shown in the specification as in the diagram on the right However, this is intended to represent all varieties of configurations typically enclosed and may support several cell towers

Carrier Ethernet Network

A RAN BS may also be a single base station or a collection of several base stations as shown on the right. The actual implementations may integrate the GIWF function, microwave backhaul functions, etc.,

RAN BS

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Service Requirements Addressed

Carrier Ethernet Services for Mobile Backhaul
Typically there are 1-2 RNC sites and between hundreds to thousands of RAN BS sites Bandwidth requirements for a base station site will vary and may range from a few Mbps to over a Gbps Generally, the requirement is to follow one of the following MEF services: Ethernet Private Line Service Ethernet Virtual Private Line Service Ethernet Private LAN Service Ethernet Virtual Private LAN service Ethernet Private Tree Service Ethernet Virtual Private Tree Service
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MEF services

Legacy Mobile Backhaul Migration

Packet offload over Carrier Ethernet Use Case 1a
Legacy Network

Carrier Ethernet Network

RAN BS Non-Ethernet I/F GIWF UNI UNI GIWF Non-Ethernet I/F RAN NC

Emulation over Carrier Ethernet Use Case 1b

Carrier Ethernet Network

RAN BS Non-Ethernet I/F GIWF UNI UNI GIWF Non-Ethernet I/F RAN NC

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When RAN nodes are equipped with Ethernet

RAN dual stack Use Case 2a
Legacy Network

Carrier Ethernet Network

RAN BS UNI UNI RAN NC

Full Ethernet Use Case 2b

Carrier Ethernet Network

RAN BS UNI UNI RAN NC

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Mobile Backhaul Generic Interworking Function

The Mobile backhaul GIWF (Generic Interworking Function)
Mobile Backhaul Generic Interworking Function (GIWF) provides adaptation and interconnection between any legacy mobile equipments (TDM/ATM/HDLC based) in the base station and network controller and the Metro Ethernet network at the UNI. It enables the joint backhaul of any combination of 2G, 2.5G, 3G (legacy based) and Evolved-3G & 4G (Ethernet based) voice and data traffic over a single Carrier Ethernet RAN (Radio Access Network). The adaptation of the legacy mobile traffic to the Carrier Ethernet service can be based on TDM circuit emulation standards as well as ATM/HDLC pseudo-wire standards.

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MEF Mobile Backhaul and GSM

How does the GIWF handles existing GSM based networks?
GSM uses a number of T1 (1.5 Mbit/s) or E1 (2 Mbit/s) circuits to connect the base station with the network controller. The GIWF terminates a circuit emulation service (CES) per such E1/T1 circuit at the cell site or service edge and at the network controller site A variety of circuit emulation services can be used in the implementation agreement (MEF8 (CESoE), TDMoMPLS (MFA8), SAToP (RFC4553), CESoPSN (RFC5086))

Service Provider Network

ATM Pseudo-wire
ATM/TDM
Carrier Ethernet Network

CES Ethernet IWF Ethernet UNI

Carrier Ethernet Network

Ethernet CES

ATM/TDM

IWF
RAN NC

RAN BS

E-Line Service

ATM / TDM BS demarcation

Ethernet UNI

ATM / TDM Network Interface

CES IWF: Circuit Emulation Interworking Function

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MEF Mobile Backhaul and UMTS / WCDMA

How does the GIWF handles existing UMTS / WCDMA based networks?
These Technologies uses ATM over a number of bundled T1 (1.5 Mbit/s) or E1 (2 Mbit/s) circuits to connect the base station with the network controller. The GIWF terminates an ATM pseudo-wire or a TDM circuit emulation tunnel at the cell site or service edge and at the network controller site A variety of ATM pseudo-wire and/or TDM circuit emulation standards can be used in the implementation agreement

Service Provider Network

ATM Pseudo-wire
ATM/TDM
Carrier Ethernet Network

CES Ethernet IWF Ethernet UNI

Carrier Ethernet Network

Ethernet CES

ATM/TDM

IWF
RAN NC

RAN BS

E-Line Service

ATM / TDM BS demarcation

Ethernet UNI

ATM / TDM Network Interface

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Traffic Separation
Guidelines for the number of CoS classes to use Bundling traffic types into limited number of CoS classes CoS class performance requirements
Service Class Name
Very High (H+) High (H)

Example of Generic Traffic Classes mapping into CoS 4 CoS Model

Synchronization Conversational, Signaling and Control Streaming Interactive and Background

3 CoS Model
Conversational and Synchronization, Signaling and Control Streaming Interactive and Background

2 CoS Model
Conversational and Synchronization, Signaling and Control Streaming Interactive and Background

Medium (M) Low (L)

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Ethernet OAM*
Ethernet OAM entities configuration options Fault Management fault localization and accountability Performance Monitoring service performance validation (next phase of IA)

Carrier Ethernet Network

RAN NC
RAN BS

Link MA Mobile Operator MA

Link MA

MEP

MIP

* Available with MEF 20 UNI Type 2

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Ethernet OAM (Continued)

Ethernet OAM allows monitoring of Ethernet services
Verify connectivity Identify configuration faults Measure service performance Loop back testing Further Phase 2 work
Carrier Ethernet for Mobile Carriers

Draws on and includes existing standards

IEEE 802.3ah : Link OAM IEEE 802.1ag : Connectivity Fault Management ITU-T Y.1731 : Performance Monitoring
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Ethernet OAM (Continued)

Carrier Ethernet for Mobile Carriers

Class of Service requirements aligned with 3GPP and WiMAX recommendations

Conversational class (voice, whether IP- or TDM/ATM-based) Streaming class (streaming video) Interactive class (web browsing) Background (non-interactive data) Potentially synchronization and other control traffic in a separate class

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Synchronization
Migration to all packet networks means loss of TDM clock source Components of sync
Frequency (2G, 3G, 3.5G) Phase (4G in some cases) Time of Day
Carrier Ethernet for Mobile Carriers

Packet based
Out-of-band (GPS, legacy E1 clocking) is outside of scope Packet based methods are in scope for Phase 1 Synchronization quality requirements reference the ITU G.8261 standard The IA is agnostic to specific methods/implementations like adaptive clocking, RTP-extended adaptive clocking, IEEE1588 etc. Synchronous Ethernet in scope for future phases Eliminates the cost and need for retention of T1/E1 circuit solely for synchronization

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MEF Mobile Backhaul Q&A (Continued)

On what other MEF documents is the Mobile Backhaul Implementation Agreement based?
The services and requirements that appear at the Mobile Backhaul Implementation Agreement doc are based on: The services defined in MEF 6.1 Ethernet Service Definition Phase 2 The attributes defined in MEF 10.1 Ethernet Service Attributes Phase 2 MEF 13 & MEF 20 (UNI Types 1 & 2) Other documents currently under development by the MEF Technical Committee (Ethernet Classes of Service, Service-OAM and External Network-to-Network Interface technical specifications) It is highly recommended to be familiar with the requirements in the above two documents before reading the Mobile Backhaul Implementation Agreement document. These are available on the MEF Public web site Information Center

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MEF Mobile Backhaul Phased Development

Phase 1 (The first Specification: MEF 22 January 2009)
Ethernet Virtual Connections (EVC) span a single MEN. Synchronization is either delivered outside of the Ethernet transport network or using a packet based method that is transparent to the MEN*, e.g. treated as standard Service Frames. The mobile standards that are considered are: GSM, WCDMA, CDMA2000, and WiMAX 802.16e.

Later phases
Ethernet Virtual Connections (EVCs) spanning arbitrary number of Carrier Ethernet networks Detailed Service fault and performance OAM recommendations Other synchronization methods. Other mobile standards, such as LTE (Long Term Evolution). Extended architecture scope, e.g. mobile core network and additional mobile network reference points.
* For consistency Carrier Ethernet networks are referred to Metro Ethernet Networks (MEN) in the specifications
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Migration: Circuit Emulation Services (CES)

CES is a major step in industrys progression toward entirely converged networks
Transports TDM services over Carrier Ethernet services Converged networks for data, video and voice have been a dream of the industry Technical challenges to combine TDM and data are not trivial MEF 8 was designed to meet these challenges, MEF 18 to certify conformance

Transition Path
Legacy voice traffic is transported via TDM and CES over Carrier Ethernet (CESoETH) Data growth is handled by Carrier Ethernet Traffic is merged over time

MEF 8, MEF 18

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MEF 18 Certification
MEF 18 provides standard testing of Circuit Emulation Services over Ethernet 334 tests and certification in the suite Industry first impairment testing brings first test of emulation of clock recovery MEF certification speeds implementation and enables full inter-operability MEF 18 has many applications but is key to Mobile Backhaul migration strategies

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Relationship between the MEFs MBH IA and the IP/MPLS forums specification
The MEF MBH IA describes a superset of potential implementations that fulfill the service layer requirements (UNIs, EVCs) of mobile radio systems (RAN CE devices) with Ethernet interfaces. The MBH work of the IP/MPLS Forum provides a specific network implementation reference based on MPLS that fulfils the performance and connectivity requirements of mobile radio systems.

Carrier Ethernet Network MPLS Network

Ethernet

Ethernet

Base Station

E-Line Service Ethernet UNI

Pseudo-wire MPLS Service Service Termination

Network MPLS Service Ethernet Controller

Termination
UNI

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MEF Mobile Backhaul Resources

Available on the MEF Web site today MEF 22 MBH IA specification
MEF 22 Technical Overview (PowerPoint) MEF White Paper MEF MBH Q&A Briefings & Presentations

Available Shortly
Webinar with the interactive Q&A MBH case studies and articles
http://www.metroethernetforum.org (Carrier Ethernet in Action Carrier Ethernet for Mobile Backhaul)
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http://www.metroethernetforum.org (Carrier Ethernet in Action Carrier Ethernet for Mobile Backhaul)

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