As demand for data capacity continues to go through the roof, service providers are realizing that they need to deploy wireline access networks with massive bandwidth in order to compete. And that means rolling out fiber networks. But seeing as it costs about $2,000 per subscriber to deliver fiber to the home connectivity, it’s expensive and the payback period is too long.
High speed, low latency and increased capacity are all promised by this emerging 4G mobile technology which will expand the range of services, devices and applications used wirelessly. But LTE isn’t simply an incremental step in radio interface design. Architectural changes towards a flatter, self-organising network have significant impact on how the new technology will be planned and managed.
Ethernet has become the dominant and ubiquitous transmission technology for high speed data, whether in the home, office or carrier network. Ethernet technology bring improved manageability and scalability for transporting both variable and constant bit-rate services. As demand grows for business services based on Ethernet networks, service providers know they have to deliver these services quickly.
There’s no doubt that IP (Internet Protocol) has become the ubiquitous data networking protocol that powers the world-wide internet. It has proved highly scalable from residential up to corporate Gigabit speeds. But as traffic increases and more demanding services such as video take hold, the “best effort” capacity management approach isn’t good enough. More rigorous network engineering is essential for future success.