A Simple, Powerful Converged Network Edge

In the past decade, the telecommunications industry has introduced a plethora of service innovations, based on Internet Protocol (IP), that improve the customer experience in all service domains and help businesses run more efficiently. Residential broadband providers have introduced triple-play packages that now include IP-video and high-definition IPTV services. Providers that serve the business segment have deployed IP-based VPNs and Carrier Ethernet services to accommodate higher bandwidth demand.  And now mobile operators are introducing IP-based 4G LTE networks, which will increase wireless traffic for mobile data, video and web applications.

More edge for your money: simplify operations, reduce costs

The telecommunications industry's adoption of IP as a ubiquitous foundation for services and access technologies has made these types of innovations possible. For infrastructure providers, the transition to IP-based technologies and services has also created an unprecedented opportunity to rethink the way in which networks are constructed. In particular, IP technologies have introduced many opportunities to converge previously disparate hardware and software components on common platforms, which can streamline operations and break down service network silos created by legacy infrastructure. The benefits are substantial and far-reaching and service providers continue to find ways to consolidate platforms with IP as they evolve their networks.

"Service providers have been slowly moving their many single purpose networks toward a single IP network. They are examining, planning, and deploying new network architectures that have a common goal of reducing the service provider's number of networks, with the final target of a single network that converges fixed and mobile, wireless and wireline, Internet traffic and premium services into a single network," wrote Michael Howard, co-founder and principal analyst at Infonetics Research, in a recent report.

"This network not only delivers all the services previously each [delivered] on single purpose networks, but is the most efficient way to launch new applications quickly and develop new revenue sources."

One of the more compelling examples of this trend is taking place at the network edge, where service providers are now adopting converged IP-based edge service routing platforms to replace the multiple aging or capacity-constrained IP edge network overlays they previously used to deliver services and applications to the residential, business and mobile domains. 

Edge convergence is a natural step in the network evolution currently underway in the industry and it is an important one because edge components are used to process and enforce service policies for all the IP packets that flow through the network. By deploying a converged IP services edge as part of a High Leverage Network^TM, service providers will be able to streamline network architectures and simplify operations in ways that have not been possible before.  

For example, because the converged IP services edge can eliminate service silos, companies will be able to integrate network management systems and interfaces for the three principal service domains, such as previously disparate OSS/BSS systems, into a single platform. They will also be able to use a single platform to perform metering, traffic control, quality-of-service and other application assurance functions for mass-market converged services that operate across one or more of the service domains.

Because a converged IP services edge combines services for previously segmented domains, it will also reduce costs traditionally associated with launching and operating IP-based services for residential, business or mobile sectors.

A recent study by Alcatel-Lucent's Bell Labs found that the deployment of a "fully" converged IP edge-one that uses a single platform and infrastructure for all service domains-can yield a 62% savings in OpEx and a 24% savings in CapEx for a service provider, providing a 28% savings in total cost of ownership over five years.  An "operationally" converged IP services edge-one that uses a common edge platform technology while maintaining separate infrastructure for each service domain-will lower the company's upfront costs and yield OpEx savings of up to 35%.

The simplified network architecture and simplified operations also make it easier for service providers to quickly respond to customer demands for innovative services and to reduce the time and effort it requires to introduce converged services that customers are now beginning to expect.  

"Time to market for the introduction of new or enhanced services is critically important in a competitive industry," said John Davies, senior marketing manager at Alcatel-Lucent. "With converged edge platforms leveraging a common operational approach, companies can launch new services in a much faster and more efficient manner."

Competitive services that operate on one or more networks, such as multi-screen video applications that can seamlessly transition from residential fixed networks to mobile networks, represent an important example of the types of services that a converged IP edge can facilitate.

Alcatel-Lucent's 7750 Service Router is ideally suited to fulfill the role of a converged IP services edge platform. The router was the first converged edge platform in the industry to enable multiple services at 100 Gbps, using network processors designed in-house by Alcatel-Lucent.

With the trend toward edge convergence on common platforms, it becomes critically important that these platforms can scale across both performance and services dimensions in order to keep pace with growing network demands and the increasing importance placed on this element of the network. Alcatel-Lucent's 7750 SR has a market-leading technology base and now, with the introduction of the FP3 400G Network Processor, it is positioned to drive platform scale and services without compromise in performance, and across the residential, business and mobile domains, for many years to come.