BICS Implemented BroadForward Diameter Signaling Controller; Replaces Oracle?

BICS announced it has launched a "Next Generation signaling solution delivered and implemented by leading network solutions provider Infradata ..  Infradata has implemented the BroadForward BFX Interface Gateway, a Next Generation Diameter Signaling Controller (DSC) with fully integrated Diameter Edge Agent (DEA) and interworking function across BICS' entire global IPX (IP Exchange) network".

It seems that BroadForward BICS deployment replaces the ACME (Oracle) solution used by BICS since December 2012 (here).

Broadforward GUI Based Configuration 

"With the migration to BFX, Infradata has equipped BICS with a state-of-the-art Diameter Signaling Solution to cost-effectively enable innovative IPX services, as well as the ability to faster onboard new customers, generate detailed traffic insight and seamless interworking between Diameter, SS7 and RADIUS networks along with integration with IT systems" 

See "Infradata Implements Next Generation Diameter Signaling Solution at BICS" - here.

ASPIDER-NGI Integrates BroadForward’s DSC into its IaaS Offering

ASPIDER-NGI announced it has "integrated the BFX Interface Gateway, BroadForward’s software-based signaling solution for Diameter routing and interworking.

ASPIDER-NGI delivers branded services for mobile network operators, helping them to improve customer engagements, provide better service delivery, and boost profitability. The company provides services to traditional mobile operators, MVNOs, MVNEs and Enterprise Internet of Things (IoT) initiatives to help them manage connectivity to manage loyalty and revenue". 

Jan Mooijman [pictured], CEO, ASPIDER-NGI said: “We launched the BroadForward Diameter solution specifically for NFV and service orchestration across different signaling technologies and vendors. This supports our innovation strategy by optimizing network policy, providing legacy mediation and adding dynamic routing for geo-redundancy. Bottom line: this helps us improve our services to our customers and increase our flexibility”.

ASPIDER-NGI Multi Brand Platform & Service Environment

See "ASPIDER-NGI launches BroadForward Diameter Solution" - here.

BroadForward's DSC Gets Traction: Selected by 7 Tier1s

BroadForward announced that "over the course of last months, its flagship product BFX Interface Gateway has been selected by seven tier-1 service providers" [see - Polkomtel]. 

"BFX is used for various use cases including Diameter routing, multi-protocol interworking and mediation, LTE roaming, VoLTE, 2G/3G network interworking, M2M communications and network function virtualization (NFV). The Diameter Signaling Controller (DSC) market is quickly developing, driven by the phenomenal growth in LTE rollouts and 4G data services". 

    

Taco Schoute [pictured], CEO, BroadForward: “Our customers typically have requirements and roadmaps which go further than managing and controlling Diameter traffic. They select BFX for being the most advanced Diameter router in the market. BFX enables service orchestration across signaling assets and disparate technologies, without the need for any scripting or development. These aspects, in combination with virtualization and cost reduction, are fundamental in their decision process for core network investments.. Our recent high-profile wins are a testament to BroadForward’s leadership in the Next Generation DSC space”

See "BroadForward announces seven tier 1 Diameter router wins" - here.

DSC Deployments [342]:Polkomtel [Poland] Uses BroadForward

Polkomtel announced it has launched the ".. BFX Interface Gateway from BroadForward [see "Diameter Router List Updated" - here], delivered and implemented by leading network solutions provider Infradata. 

With the implementation of BFX, Polkomtel becomes the first Polish operator to launch a Next Generation Diameter Signaling Controller, keeping up its tradition of being a pioneer in introducing the latest technological solutions to the Polish market. 

..it has implemented the BFX Interface Gateway to enable advanced Diameter based services starting with LTE roaming .. Certified reseller and signaling expert Infradata has delivered BFX to Polkomtel and configured several advanced signaling scenarios such as 

• intelligent topology hiding  
• activating LTE Roaming by enabling a virtual MME solution to overcome HSS limitations, thus allowing Polkomtel to achieve a much faster time to market to roll-out LTE roaming. 

See "Polkomtel first Polish operator to launch Next Generation Diameter signaling solution" - here.

[Blog News]: Diameter Router List Updated

The Diameter Router Product list (here) has been updated.

The update includes broken links fixes and the addition of BroadFoward's product, BFX Interface Gateway, which was covered recently [here].

DSC Deployments[332]: Teleena [Netherlands] Uses BroadForward

  

Teleena announced it has "..become the first European MVNE (operates over 20 brands for customers like Vodafone, BT and Liberty Global) to go live with a Next Generation Diameter Signaling Controller (DSC). BroadForward’s BFX Interface Gateway enables multiple use cases for Teleena including Diameter routing, load-balancing, mediation and 3G-4G interworking for LTE roaming ..  It facilitates the ever-increasing use of Diameter signaling in Teleena’s mobile network.

The flexibility to innovate at the speed of the ecosystem is increasingly important to Teleena as it offers managed mobile service solutions to many different types of customers, such as mobile (virtual) network operators, cable companies, retail brands and other enterprises throughout the world. 

See "Teleena first MVNE to launch Next Gen Diameter Signaling Solution" - here.

BroadForward Enables MVNO to Upgrade to LTE with Old Generation HLR

BroadForward announced that Voiceworks [MVNO, Netherlands] has "extended the use of the BFX Interface Gateway to support integration with KPN’s 4G network. Like for Voiceworks and hundreds of other operators and MVNO’s worldwide, it used to be impossible to connect to 4G/LTE networks with existing, older generation HLR’s (pre 3GPP release 8). This limitation is now removed with the latest release of BFX, facilitating connectivity with LTE networks for various generations of HLR’s.

Working in close cooperation with Voiceworks, BroadForward has developed a unique solution to address this limitation, provided as an on-board function of the BFX product. Now service providers with older generation HLR’s can establish LTE connectivity with a cost-effective and independent solution. This offers providers the opportunity to avoid the usual route of upgrading their HLR, often involving high cost, risky projects and vendor lock-in".

See "Voiceworks launches 4G service with unique interworking solution from BroadForward" - here.

DSC Deployments [294]: Tango [Luxembourg] Uses BroadForward

   

Infradata announced that  "Tango Luxembourg, part of the Belgacom Group, has selected leading European network solutions provider Infradata to deploy the BroadForward BFX Interface Gateway .. As part of this deal with Tango, Infradata will enable various Diameter-related service scenarios, while further providing Tango with hands-on support and expertise in setting up interworking and routing scenarios across multiple access and signaling technologies, using the BFX service orchestration environment".

Related post - "BroadForward CEO: 'We have a very ambitious 5 year growth plan'" - here.

At the end of Q3, 2013. Tango had 278M subscribers. Tango uses NSN's PCC  - see "Tango [Luxembourg] Use NSN for Differentiating Services" - here.

See "Infradata Provides TangoLuxembourg with Next-Generation Diameter Signaling Solution" - here.

[More] PCRF Vendors Respond to Bell Canada Observations

I got more responses from vendors regarding the recent post I had with quotes from an interview with Cassio Sampaio, Bell Canada about policy management (see "Bell Canada: 'Network Policy is one of those things that are easier said than done'" - here; see previous responses from Torres Networks, FTS, Openet and Ericsson - here).

• Arash Razzaghi, Director, CMS ACI-BSS Domain, Americas Region, HP

As the traditional boundaries between Network and IT dissolve further in a world where the network is the application and the application is the network, the types of complexities like the ones Bell Canada is experiencing in the area of Policy Management become more prevalent. Traditional IT application management processes and governance are key to managing such complex environments. The trick seems to be in Products and Solutions that are based on cross disciplined approach: finding the right balance between Network Engineering grade solutions, combined with IT Service Management discipline .

This is the secret ingredient for maximizing revenue and optimizing operations in a merged Network Engineering and IT environment which is today’s reality for our Telecom clients globally. Given our heritage, HP CMS solutions are conceived, designed, developed, and deployed with this fundamental principal in mind.

• Taco Schoute, CEO, BroadForward

Recent surveys of Informa and Heavy Reading indeed identify integration as the main obstacle for deploying Policy Control. The key culprits here are limited interoperability between systems and the lack of flexibility to adapt to changes quickly. What make this issue worse is that carriers have to deal with multiple vendors to enable even the simplest of use cases. This raises questions of ownership and the associated cost vs. benefit. Most vendors rather concentrate on investing in core product functionality than on external interface customizations.

To have a fighting chance to reduce time-to-market for services in the competitive world of LTE, the industry needs to be way more agile. What’s needed is the ability to quickly integrate systems as well as adapt connections to changing requirements on the spot. No-one will dispute this, however the key question that remains is how to achieve multi-vendor interworking in a fast, repeatable and cost-effective manner.

BroadForward Helps Convergence w/RADIUS to Diameter Interworking

BroadForward (see "BroadForward CEO: 'We have a very ambitious 5 year growth plan'" - here) announced that the "..latest release of the BFX Interface Gateway introduces further service logic enhancements for advanced RADIUS to Diameter Interworking scenarios. Users of BFX get sample configuration templates to quickly connect RADIUS based Fixed network elements such as Edge Gateways and Wi-Fi Packet Gateways with Diameter based Mobile network elements such as PCRF, OCS, optionally through a DRA. 

The ability to connect RADIUS and Diameter network elements allows service providers to enable service continuity scenarios with converged policy control and integrated data bundles. Examples of such converged services are: common charging and subscriber policies across access networks, automatic access to Wi-Fi offload, seamless roaming scenarios between access providers including authentication and accounting of the subscriber, portable security and service assurance amongst others".

See "BroadForward enables advanced RADIUS -Diameter interworking for Fixed-Mobile Convergence" - here.

BroadForward Adds Support for MAP-Diameter Interworking gateway

BroadForward announced they have extended the "BFX interface gateway with support for the Interworking Function (IWF) between MAP-based Gr, Gf interfaces and Diameter-based S6a, S6d, S13, S13a interfaces".

See background - "BroadForward CEO: 'We have a very ambitious 5 year growth plan'" - here.

Steven van Zanen (pictured), Head of Product Management and Marketing, said: “The availability of a complete MAP-Diameter Interworking function in BFX provides operators and vendors with an essential capability for many LTE and Wi-Fi services. In combination with the advanced interworking functions and wide range of supported protocols, BFX offers a future-proof, multi-purpose solution. Moreover, it offers a very cost-effective approach to solve integration issues. The extensive configuration options and built-in flexibility enable users to quickly adjust and customize interfaces to specific network environments, new use cases and future system updates.”

See "BroadForward delivers advanced MAP Diameter Interworking gateway" - here.

News [Part-1]: Qwilt, Procera, Tilera, ipoque, BroadForward, Acme Packet, Tekelec, Roke, Smith Micro, Greenpacket

   

It seems that many consider the first day of MWC to be the best day for press releases. I am not sure about that. With the load of press releases in one day, the attention for each is naturally lower.

Here is the first part:

• Qwilt announced that its "QB-Series Universal Video Delivery appliance supports the new Internet Protocol, IPv6. Qwilt's QB-Series is the industry's first fully integrated, purpose-built carrier-grade transparent caching platform that identifies, monitors, stores and delivers over-the-top (OTT) streaming video in fixed and mobile networks. With this feature update, the QB-Series enables carriers to transparently cache and deliver all types of video content traversing over both IPv4 and the emerging IPv6 protocols in their networks".
  
  See "Qwilt Unveils IPv6 Support For Its Transparent Caching And Video Delivery Solution" - here.


• Procera Networks and Tilera announced they have "..achieved 200Gbps of Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) performance deploying the Procera Network Application Visibility Library (NAVL) on TILExtreme-Gx™ Duo platform, utilizing approximately 70 percent of the TILE-Gx cores .. the solution can be deployed in a variety of networking scenarios including Network Security (IDS/IPS, DPI, DLP), Cyber Security, Network Monitoring, Data Forensics, Analytics and Big Data" processing.
  
  See "Procera Networks and Tilera Unleash 200Gbps Deep Packet Inspection Solution" - here.
     
• ipoque announced [with BroadForward]  the ".. availability of advanced interfacing capabilities for its PRX Internet Traffic Management solution .. Gaining network visibility, intelligence and management has traditionally been a complex integration issue and long-term project within network operators. Multi-vendor environments and often proprietary protocols create challenging conditions which prohibit fast time to market, require additional resources and drive up cost. This new DPI advancement addresses these issues faced by network operators. Now, a traffic management solution and elements such as an online policy and charging function can be integrated reliably in a matter of days rather than weeks or months".
  
  See "ipoque & BroadForward partner to deliver advanced DPI interworking" - here.
   
• Tekelec is expanding its "Policy Everywhere” partner ecosystem to help mobile operators deliver a superior subscriber experience. Tekelec is testing interoperability between its Mobile Policy Gateway (MPG) and solutions from Roke Manor Research Ltd. (SmartSwitch™), Greenpacket (Intouch Mobile Data Offload platform) and Smith Micro (NetWise Director™). This testing includes standards-compliant Access Network Discovery and Selection Function (ANDSF) capabilities, as well as advanced use cases that extend the reach of policy directly to mobile devices.
  
  See "Tekelec takes ‘policy everywhere’ with new partners" - here
   
• Acme Packet announced the "..release of Palladion 3.0 .. a non-intrusive monitoring solution, consists of three new management options: Communications Operations Monitor to track network signaling and media in real-time and enable detailed troubleshooting capabilities; Fraud Detection and Prevention to discover and prevent voice fraud; and Control Plane Monitor to track and troubleshoot Diameter signaling traffic in IMS and LTE networks". 
  
  See "Acme Packet Announces Real-Time Monitoring Solution for Next-Generation Service Provider Networks" - here.

BroadForward Provides Diameter Performance Test Results

BroadForward (here) joins the recent trend of publishing policy management performance data, following similar announcements by Openet, Tango, BroadHop, Amdocs (during Bridgewater days) and Tekelec.
 
The vendor of interfacing software announced that it has ".. completed benchmark tests showing the BFX Broadband Policy Gateway capable of handling over 100,000 Diameter messages per second on a single 1U server".

Raymond van der Laan (pictured), Head of Engineering of BroadForward, said: “Interface gateways such as BFX handle multiple connections on different interfaces in the operator’s network. With high performance and low latency being crucial attributes, only very lean and efficient middleware layers are therefore found suitable for modern broadband systems and networks .. We have set a new Diameter performance benchmark. At a CPU utilization of 80%, BFX is capable of handling over 100,000 Diameter messages per second, on a single 1U server (see chart below)".

See "BroadForward sets new Diameter performance benchmark for the BFX Broadband Policy Gateway" - here.

BroadForward CEO: "We have a very ambitious 5 year growth plan"

 
Last week BroadForward announced its first product, BFX (see "BroadForward Offers "Policy Gateway" - Connectivity to Broadband, Policy, Charging or IT interface" - here).

In order to learn more on the young Dutch start-up, I had a short interview with BroadForward's CEO, Taco Schoute (pictured).

Q: What was the reaction to your recent announcement?

A: We got very positive feedback from the industry at large. The launch of the BFX Broadband Policy Gateway is the result of over 12 months engagement with various operators, product vendors and system integrators. The announcement at MWC immediately generated additional requests for support of specific broadband use cases and reaffirmed that implementing policy management in the operator network is a major challenge, in particular integration with IT systems. Operators, vendors and SI’s generally do not underestimate the integration challenge. However, until BFX they did not really have a straightforward, productized way to tackle these issues uniformly. BFX opens completely new ways for them to speed up implementation of policy use cases and reduce time and money spent on customizations and professional services.

Q: Who are you competitors?

A: BFX has no direct competitors. It is designed solely to be supportive to the mobile broadband network ecosystem. BFX provides a productized “software toolkit” for mobile broadband connectivity and integration, and can be embedded and re-branded to be part of any network or product. Our software is extremely useful for many players in the value chain, including operators, product vendors and system integrators. In fact, already a significant number of large operators, policy vendors and integrators are showing interest in using BFX, which proves they see it this way too. Using BFX helps them to fully concentrate R&D efforts on their core product.

Q: What are your plans?

A: We have a very ambitious 5 year growth plan, which is backed by informal investors. BroadForward management, employees and investors all have a strong background in carrier-grade mobile telecoms software development, and share the passion to build world-class software and innovate continuously. We do one thing only, and that is to create the best possible connectivity and mediation product on the planet. Based on our global experience in mobile broadband use cases and associated integration and connectivity requirements, we are able to stay ahead of the game. We will continue to engage with our customers and provide them with the functions and features they require. We will remain successful as long as we continue to make our customers successful in mobile broadband.

Q: Recently I had some posts pointing out the pros and cons of having an integrated Policy and Charging/billing solution vs. independent solutions (see "Why Not a Single Vendor for Policy and Charging Controls?" vs. "Policy and Charging: The Value of Independence"). What is your take on the subject?

  

A: There is no vendor that can honestly claim to be without integration needs. Integration with peripheral systems will always be a challenge. For sure, some vendors have fewer challenges than others, but surrounding systems and functionality are constantly updated and renewed. In many conversations we have with operators, economic considerations and time-to-market requirements prevail. From that perspective, it’s not likely that there are many operators that can afford to obtain a pre-integrated solution, if that means replacing systems that are not written-off yet and still perform to satisfaction. Moreover, the promise of pre-integrated solutions has limited value, as we know that there are no “seamless” and “ubiquitous” solutions in the fast evolving mobile broadband space. Even a pre-integrated solution needs to be integrated in the operator network, and with the operator’s IT environment, which means dealing with multiple vendors’ products, different interfaces, proprietary solutions and non-aligned product roadmaps. So whatever approach is taken, with pre-integrated or independent solutions, integration remains a major challenge.

BroadForward Offers "Policy Gateway" - Connectivity to Broadband, Policy, Charging or IT interface

   

BroadForward announced the "BFX Broadband Policy Gateway enables connections to and from virtually any Broadband, Policy, Charging or IT interface, straight out-of-the-box. BFX features a rich set of translation, mediation and service logic functions for a wide range of protocols, such as Diameter, XML/HTTP, SOAP and Radius. The availability and flexibility of on-board protocols and functions prevents high customisation costs or upgrades associated with EPC, IMS or BSS systems that are required to fit within targeted Policy Control architectures. Either standalone or as embedded software, BFX can simultaneously handle multiple connections and roles on different interfaces in the operator’s network, at a small footprint". 

See "BroadForward announces BFX, the world’s first Broadband Policy Gateway" - here.