Enable a smooth fiber-based Ethernet backhaul migration
This article was originally published in the Fierce Wireless eBook, Telco Backhaul Strategies.
Most operators' ultimate goal is a fiber-based Ethernet backhaul network. Fiber has virtually unlimited capacity. Plus, compared with TDM or SDH/SONET, Ethernet offers lower costs, greater scalability and flexibility and better support for IP-based applications.
With these benefits, you'd expect operators to rush to implement fiber-based Ethernet backhaul. However, that's not the case.
For many operators, it's a challenge to implement fiber-based Ethernet backhaul without disrupting operations and budgets. It's not a question of technology. Solutions exist today and will continue to evolve. Rather, the challenge lies with operators' individual business models.
Ethernet can match TDM in the backhaul
Ethernet has undergone a standards-driven evolution from its LAN origins. It's now a carrier-grade transport technology and service-enabling protocol. So, Ethernet now can take over from TDM in several critical areas, including deterministic behavior, timing synchronization and operators, administration and maintenance (OAM).
Flexibility to handle legacy backhaul infrastructure
As both a transport technology and a service-enabling protocol, Ethernet must co-exist initially with legacy transport technologies and protocols. So, operators can upgrade their backhaul through their own infrastructure or lease it from wholesale backhaul providers. In either scenario, operators need flexible backhaul solutions that leverage legacy investments while handling rising traffic volumes and session propagation.
For example, advanced router solutions offer dynamic IP/MPLS capabilities which serve as the "glue" between the transport and service layers. These capabilities enable Ethernet to perform well at both layers. These advanced router solutions are IP-aware from the cell site to the packet core and feature higher-speed Ethernet interfaces. An advanced router solution should also protect existing 2G/3G investments by supporting native ATM switching and TDM circuit emulation in conjunction with Ethernet and IP/MPLS protocols and existing physical infrastructure investments in TDM, SDH/SONET, copper and microwave. An advanced router solution can protect these investments while also providing an avenue to Ethernet over fiber migration. Finally, and perhaps most crucially, advanced router solutions provide value as the network transforms toward a more content-centric one, with data centers proliferating and becoming inexorably distributed closer to the end user.
Cell site solutions that support both Ethernet and TDM interfaces enable operators to choose the transport technology that best fits their individual needs and investment profile. Based on packet-switched technology, these platforms effectively converge voice and data services in a common network. They also incorporate guaranteed QoS and bandwidth functionalities. A centralized, end-to-end network-management system further enhances these benefits.
Ethernet first, then an all-IP infrastructure
Equipped with these next-generation solutions, operators can migrate their backhaul networks to Ethernet while protecting their legacy assets--and the revenues based on them. This enables operators to migrate easily to an IP-centric backhaul network and lay the foundation for the transformation.
To learn how you can implement the unlimited capacity and lower cost of Ethernet into your network faster, read our latest white paper, Deploy Fiber-Based Ethernet Backhaul Without Disrupting Your Business.
