[Survey]: RAN Congestion is Getting Worse

  

A new research by Graham Finnie, Chief Analyst, Heavy Reading (and Movik Networks) finds that "the majority of operators believe RAN congestion is getting worse, with half saying it is also less predictable .. the main objective of new RAN controls is to improve the customer Quality of Experience (QoE) .. and the need to improve the quality of operators’ key services, from controlling signaling congestion, to improving understanding of subscriber behavior and to monetizing features like QoE"

"Other key findings from the study 

• A majority of operators want real-time or near-real-time information on congestion when applying controls
   
• Operators want any controls to be applied holistically across all the networks they owned, with seamless control between 3G/4G and WiFi the biggest motivator
   
• Operators are looking for alternative, cost effective solutions to deploy RAN congestion control measures".

See "Movik and Heavy Reading Study: RAN Congestion Getting Worse, More Unpredictable" - here.

[Ovum]: Wireless Optimization can Take Different Forms: 4 Examples

Daryl Schoolar (pictured), principal Analyst of Wireless Infrastructure, Ovum writes about wireless optimization - "optimization can take different forms. The two I see the most are optimization solutions targeting improved network performance, like self-optimizing networks (SON), and those looking to improve the delivery of network content, specifically video. Even in these two areas companies have different approaches as to how they achieve optimization. Network optimization can be performed in the mobile core, at the access layer, or can involve software in the device. Network optimization can also be centralized or distributed. As for content optimization this can range from solutions that focus on traditional areas like compression, transcoding, or transrating all the way to managing the actual flow of content across the network"

The article cover 4 vendors (with links to my coverage): Avvasi (here,here), Movik (here, here, here), Newfield Wireless (here) and Vasona Netwroks (here, here)

See "Schoolar: 4 vendors to watch in optimization" - here.

Movik Adds Cloud Enabled End-to-End Intelligent RAN Deployment Lifecycle

Movik Networks announced cREACH ".. the industry’s first cloud enabled end-to-end intelligent RAN deployment lifecycle solution empowering operators with network sharing at the cellular level, bandwidth-on-demand across multiple networks, and unprecedented access to user and control plane actionable intelligence .. cREACH enables operators to:

• Aggregate a time series of what is transpiring across access technologies (3G/4G, LTE, WiFi offload), services, and content, independent of network design and geographic distribution.
• Create real-time actionable events by realizing relationships between disparate network technologies.
• Facilitate new relationships by tapping into other data feeds (OSS feeds, PM statistics, Customer Care, etc).
• Gain insight into real-time analytics.
• Expedite network planning, new services roll-out, address ‘what-if’ questions by bringing all aspects of the network to the operator’s finger-tips, shortening the process from weeks to minutes and even seconds.

cREACH is currently in trial with several mobile operators who are moving their data to the cloud".

See "Movik Launches cREACH, Industry’s First Cloud Enabled End-to-End Intelligent RAN Deployment Lifecycle" - here.

Movik Expects to "announce several major MNOs as customers within six months"

   

In an interview to Kyle Alspach, Boston Business Journal, Movik Networks CEO, John St. Amand says the company expects to "to announce several major wireless firms as customers within six months".

Movik's "technology gives mobile operators a close-up look at "everything that's going on" in the RAN — "every location, by device, by user, by content type .. That allows operators to understand where to invest in new equipment, potentially reducing the operators' collective $70 billion per year in capital expenditures and $17 billion per year spent running the equipment .. Movik's technology also helps to manage the delivery of mobile content in real-time, For instance, the technology could automatically slow down the video loading for some users, so that other users could get rapid views of the Internet, while still keeping the video moving"

See also "Movik's RAN Intelligence and Control" - here and "Movik Demos RAN Awareness Solution" - here.

See "With parallels to Starent, Movik aims to revolutionize mobile content delivery" - here.

NI Announcements: Movik's RAN Intelligence and Control

 
Most traffic management/DPI solutions for mobile networks (PCEFs) do not have location, or mobile awareness. As a result, they have to make some  assumptions as for the actual load on network elements in order to manage traffic where it is really needed ("reasonable traffic management").

Simply put - these solutions cannot track when subscribers move to a different cell or backhaul link - the expensive and congested elements of the network. Recently, several vendors added some technology to support subscriber location/mobile/cell awareness including Sandvine and CommProve to their traffic management solutions.

Movik Networks, unveiled its "REACH (Report, Export, Act, Control, HetNet) architecture, the foundation of its intelligent RAN solution. Exposing real-time intelligence from the RAN, the part of the network that can impact efficiency and QoE the most ,.. With Movik’s REACH architecture each individual element of the access network, down to the sector" 

"Movik’s REACH architecture provides the following key functions: REPORT: Movik extracts intelligence from multiple sources including the RAN, UE, circuit and packet networks, content types and deep application awareness .. EXPORT: trigger real-time actions on an operator’s existing policy, content optimization, and traffic management platforms ..ACT: autonomously with a broad range of capabilities from admission control to relevant content delivery. As an active PCEF, Movik can be used to simultaneously reduce traffic to congested sectors while turbo-boosting subscriber connections in unloaded regions .. CONTROL: provide input into multi technology heterogeneous networks (HetNets) including SON (Self Organizing Networks) deployments and HetNet: delivers a multi RAT heterogeneous overlay network that is optimally loaded across disparate wireless verticals in real-time, based on UE demands to drastically lower an operator’s CAPEX and increase subscriber QoE".
 
See "Movik Introduces REACH™ Architecture, the Foundation of the Intelligent RAN" - here.

Movik Demos RAN Awareness Solution

As we are approaching  MWC 2012, the stream of products announcements is growing. While last year I spotted the trend of moving DPI based mobile traffic management solutions closer to the subscribers, this year vendors try to get more granular, and track subscriber mobility for a more accurate traffic management.  

I recently covered several mobility-aware traffic management solution (Sandvine, Broadband Systems), and saw now another one, from Movik Networks. 

The Boston based vendor annoucned that at MWC 2012 it will ".. showcase the industry’s first Intelligent RAN Awareness Platform that correlates and acts in real-time on all traffic from the RAN, enabling mobile operators to better plan, optimize and manage their most valuable network asset. With Movik’s Intelligent RAN Awareness solution, the individual elements of the access network -- right down to the sector --become independently visible and controllable, allowing mobile operators to tailor actions and policies on a per-sector, per-condition, per-content, and per-subscriber basis .. Movik’s Intelligent RAN Awareness Platform delivers 50% reduction in page download times, 45% reduction in video start times with no user impact and 30% reduction in network traffic".

Unfortunately, I can’t find additional supporting material in the web site, to better understand the offering.

See "Movik Showcases Industry’s First Intelligent RAN Awareness Platform at Mobile World Congress" - here.