DPI/QoS Announcements: Cell Congestion Management Solutions from Openet and Sycamore

 

Optimizing and managing mobile data at the cell/radio or backhaul level gains lots of vendor attention. Reasons are simple:

• Radio capacity is limited, and operators wish to accommodate as many as possible "happy" subscribers on each cell (see "AT&T: Times Square needs a Wifi Boost to cope with 3G Traffic" - here)
   
• Upgrading backhaul capacity is expensive, due to the huge number of links that need upgrade
   
• It seems that managing traffic for congested section of the network will be allowed by Net Neutrality’s "reasonable network management" (here)

Considering all the above, with the exponential increase  in the demand for mobile bandwidth (here) require that the subscriber's location (cell and backhaul link) will be added to the policy conditions DPI/QoS solutions offer, in addition to the subscriber's profile and application QoS goals.
  
Openet and Sycamore announced new solutions in this category recently:

• On June 30, Openet announced support for RAN congestion in its policy manager. (see "Openet Provides RAN Congestion Solution to Solve Wireless Network Bottlenecks" -here)
  
  "Being able to diagnose where and when a problem is going to occur is only useful if action can be taken dynamically. Openet’s RAN Congestion only targets points where congestion is predicted to happen for policy controls, rather than entire network. This capability enables operators to implement targeted Quality of Service controls that block, redirect or modify traffic to match service requests with available network resources..Openet’s solution enables operators to take real-time decisions based on subscriber profiles and type of usage requests. When a network or cell-site is congested, it is able to combine subscriber entitlements e.g. high priority subscriber, with service awareness e.g. identifying an activity as a low priority routine over-the-air update, to balance to prioritize network requests with the resources available."
    

• Sycamore announced on July 13 IQstream™, a solution that "dynamically adapts to mobile data traffic patterns, including peak usage periods and flash events". (see "Sycamore Introduces Unique Mobile Broadband Optimization Solution" - here).
  
  Key benefits of the IQstream solution include (see video below):
   
• Superior delivery of rich media content, particularly high-quality video in the RAN
• Improved quality of experience for subscribers during peak usage periods
• Optimal utilization of existing network infrastructure
• Enhanced ability to serve large numbers of subscribers simultaneously accessing popular broadband content
• Simplified mobile broadband network planning and backhaul dimensioning

I admit I can’t find what type of product IQstream is - a network element, software for end-devices or a management solution. Announced availability is Q4 - I guess that by then we see a product and not just a technology marketing pitch.

Back in March we saw an announcement from Allot (see "DPI Announcements - Allot Launches CellWise" - here) - which combines policy management and QoS control.

Related post - "NSN: "Radio capacity can be boosted further by applying QoS differentiation" - here.